MISCHA DIDN'T KNOW if time was standing still or accelerating. It became irrelevant. Two bottles of Champagne became four. Three cigarettes became six. The dizzying lights began to seem natural. The throbbing, percussive music became her pulse.335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsO5uD0u5BC
The darkness cast Benito's face in shadow, but somehow she could see him clearly. The powerful, scruffy jaw, the warm eyes, the messy hair. At some point, his hand had become planted on her knee. At some point, that had felt natural, too.
"I love this song!" Rihanna shouted. Something in French, a woman's husky, sultry voice over pounding electronic music. The four of them had become eight. Rihanna with the wealthy Frenchman, a man called Diego. Lindsay with the Grand prix driver, Renaud. Nicole Richie was with a well-dressed musician from Morocco named Gilbert.
Make that nine. An American, whom Benito seemed to know, a thickset man in a silk shirt, assorted jewelry on his fingers, and a goofy hat. He was pretty goofy himself, but it seemed like he was paying for the booze and smokes and nobody was complaining.
"Do want to dance?" Benito asked Mischa. The way those signature eyebrows arched, Mischa could see that he didn't.
"I'm fine right where I am," Mischa said. They'd formed their own little cocoon at the table.
"Are you?" That strong hand, moving slightly on her leg.
She leaned into him. "Can I be honest?"
"Why, yes."
"I didn't like being the star of 1/2 Shelly. I liked being one of the supporting characters in Ad Nation, though. And my cameo in Being Thar was a little barrel of fun, too. But 1/2 Shelly? A burned out executive teams up with a street wise kid----played, unfortunately, by me---to prove his innocence of federal fraud charges? C'mon."
Benito nodded. "They wanted that one. I didn't want to do it but they did."
"They?"
"The money men," he said. "The investors. You're in show-biz, you know that we actors get contracts for so many movies and they usually let us decide, but----once in a while...."
"Yeah, I know. They make us do one that sucks."
He smiled widely, as if genuinely amused. "I have to tell you, Mischa, most actresses wouldn't say out loud that they hated a movie they got to co-star with me in."
"I'm not most actresses."
"No." He sipped from his Champagne. "No, you're not."
A group women Mischa's age stood a distance from them in slinky, sparkling outfits, noticing the famous actors making each other's acquaintances. One of them called out to Benito. He turned and gave them a warm smile, sending them into hysteria, before turning back.
"Admirers," Mischa said. "That does get old."
He considered that. "Only when I'm trying to focus on something else. Or someone else."
Lindsay broke into hysterical laughter, something Gilbert said. Rihanna, who was stroking the trimmed beard of her Frenchman, Diego, as if she thought it was funny. She'd grown very comfortable with him, and he with her. Nicole Richie was leaning in so close to the macho race-car driver that they were on the verge of kissing.
So was Mischa, she suddenly realized, as she turned back to Benito. "Are you making any movies right now?" she asked.
His eyebrows arched. "Well, yeah, I'm making a movie. And you're the star. Like that idea?"
He smelled so good. Mischa was getting lost in those eyes. Dreamy was a word she'd used as a child, and she could see why. A fantasy. Someone else's life.
"Tell me something nobody else knows about you," Mischa said. It felt exiting to ask. It felt intimate. It felt right.
He thought about that a moment. "I guess there is one thing," he said, his eyes sparkling. "Whenever one of my movies comes out. I've never told anybody."
"Tell me," said Mischa.
He brought his lips to Mischa's ear. The whiskers from his two days' growth brushed against her cheek. He whispered to her, sharing something nobody else knew. Or so he claimed. But Mischa believed him. She believed everything about him right now.
"I think that's cute," said Mischa, when he was finished.
"Cute," he repeated. "Cute."
"No, I mean----it really shows that acting means as much to you as it does to me."335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡABLCIWfWNO
"A window into the soul of the actor? Into my soul?"335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFoiWCsRGkc
"Yeah, I---I guess so," said Mischa.335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5yjTI7Vgs
"Which brings me to something else I'd like to tell you." He leaned in again. Mischa felt a chill run up and down her spine. "I want to touch you, Mischa," he said. "I want to put my hands on you. Tonight. Just one night."335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCFuUmXsN0
"Where?" Mischa said without thinking. She was done thinking. She was finished with rational calculation. She was ready to surrender. "Where do you want me to touch you?"335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAbd2FoaLP
He never moved from Mischa's face. But he answered her in a whisper, his lips tickling her ear. He told her where.335Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnitTwiF4u3
