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Chapter 52: This Can't Be Happening
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2023-11-25 14:08:28Related chapters
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 53: And I Thought We Were Complicated
"What about the press?" I ask Dante."We'll face together. We might have to deal with some rumors after word gets out that I've dropped Cataclysm: Aftermath. But we'll manage. Maybe I can arrange for us to take an extended trip to Bali."I laugh and wipe away a tear. "You know I can't leave my bakery for that long.""Then we'll figure out something else. But we'll do it together." He sobers a little. "I want you to tell me if you get any more harassing messages.""Only if you promise to tell me what's going on with your work." I look down at my hands on his chest. "I'm not trying to pry, I just...""I know." He tilts my face back up toward his. "We have a lot to share. A lot to keep discovering about each other." He twirls a loose strand of my hair around his finger, still looking far too serious. "You'll still have reporters and paparazzi poking around for a while, I'm afraid. I'm hoping that if I stay away from any high-profile projects, we might get a little privacy, but you ne
Last Updated : 2023-11-25The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 54: The Fontaines
The mansion of Charles and Giovanna Fontaine is insane.It's huge, of course. And gorgeous. And surrounded by grounds that make it look like we're somewhere in Tuscany. If I thought Dante's house was intimidating, it's nothing compared to this.Though I'm sure the fact that I'm about to meet his parents isn't helping my nerves.I'm a bundle of anxiety as Dante leads me through the front door. His arm is hooked through mine, his fingers offering a reassuring touch on my inner wrist."You look gorgeous," he murmurs to me as he leads me across the foyer and into the formal living room. "They're going to love you."The rest of his family is already here, and my breath stops as I take them in. At least one of the advantages of dating a Fontaine is that I already know the names of many of the people here in this room - there won't be any awkward lapses of memory later. Still, meeting everyone at once is more than a little intimidating. It's not just the fact that they're Dante's family,
Last Updated : 2023-11-25The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 55: Is This Our Happily Ever After?
My stomach explodes with butterflies - but I'm not sure whether I'm excited or anxious as Dante slides his arm around me and leads me from the room. This whole evening - this whole relationship - is a lot to take in.He takes me out behind the house. The sun has gone down, casting the grounds in shadow, but from what I can see, the property is gorgeous. Like Dante, Charles and Giovanna have a large pool, but Dante leads me around the edge of the water to the terrace overlooking the gardens below.I grab onto the wrought-iron rail and tilt my head back, looking up at the sky. It's a clear night, and though the lights of the city cast a green-gold glow on the sky, there are still hundreds of stars winking back at me.Dante is quiet - too quiet. After a moment, I glance over at him, and I find him looking up at the sky with an expression I can't read. But he's got his lips pressed tightly together."What is it?" I ask.One corner of his mouth drifts up. "I was just trying to think of
Last Updated : 2023-11-25The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 1: Cakes and Cataclysms
In my opinion, there's no greater pleasure in the world than the buttery, slightly nutty flavor of a classic caramel sauce. The secret is, of course, to add a pinch of salt - just enough to stimulate the taste buds but not so much that you overpower the sauce's warm, buttery sweetness. For such a simple recipe, even the smallest change can make a huge difference - using brown sugar instead of white, for example - and after hours of experimenting, I think I've gotten my version just right. I've finally created a mouthwatering, toe-curling, devilishly perfect caramel sauce.Who needs sex when the world holds pleasures like this?I'm still licking bits of it off my spoon when I hear the jingle of the bell hanging on my bakery's front door."I'm coming!" I call around my mouthful of caramel. I toss my spoon aside and wipe my hands on my apron as I jog out of the kitchen.Jack Teegan, my best friend, is standing at the counter with a large to-go bag in his hand. His eyes are roaming ove
Last Updated : 2023-11-25The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 2: The Guy Who Made Me Swear Off Men Forever
I've done everything in my power to pretend the entire Fontaine family doesn't exist. But that's next to impossible in this town, especially with Cataclysm: Earth coming out. The Fontaines are everywhere. On magazines. On every television channel. All over the internet. I can't even walk down the street without seeing one of their faces plastered on the side of a bus. You can't escape them.Meanwhile, Jack is looking at me expectantly."Well...?" he says, spreading his arms. "This is huge, right?"I want to be excited. I want to squeal and jump up and down and proclaim my undying love for Jack for getting me this opportunity. But even if I thought he'd buy my bullshit - which he won't - I can't lie to him.And Jack, as usual, is two steps ahead of me. He crosses his arms."What?" he demands. "What could possibly be wrong with the greatest opportunity you've ever had?" He snatches my chili fries out of my reach before I can stuff any more of them in my mouth to avoid answering his
Last Updated : 2023-11-25The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 3: The Devil Himself
I have to admit - it's one of the most impressive cakes I've ever made. I started with a classic tiered cake, then used the Cataclysm: Earth movie poster for inspiration as I decorated the layers, creating an apocalyptic scene in sugar and icing. There aren't many bakers in this world who can make a cake that's both elegant and captures the essence of a disaster film, but I'm pretty sure I've managed it. This cake could get me work for months - maybe even years.For luck, I wear my favorite dress - a knee-length plum garment that sets off my red hair to perfection - and I pay one of my pastry assistants overtime to help me transport the cake to the events facility where they're holding the after-party. I don't have enough money to have a full-time driver, and so usually I end up doing the deliveries myself.Which is why there's absolutely no excuse when I end up getting caught in traffic and showing up at the facility almost forty-five minutes after our designated delivery time.I'm
Last Updated : 2023-11-25The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 4: I Need A Very Strong Drink
The box of sugar decorations slips from my hands, crashing to the floor.Immediately the couple freezes. Emilia's head jerks around, her dark eyes widening in shock, but it's Dante's gaze that locks on mine. The emotions flash quickly across his expression: surprise, annoyance, and then recognition. By the time he gets to that last one, my feet have come unglued from the floor, and I stumble backwards through the doorway.But I only make it two steps before I remember the sugar decorations. I curse and hurl myself back into the room, falling immediately to the floor and gathering them up as quickly as I can. I don't dare look at the other two, but I hear the shifting of bodies and clothes as they rise and cover themselves.Thank God, I think. Half of me was afraid they'd just start going at it again, ignoring the crazy baker girl who interrupted them, and the very thought makes me want to be sick. I'm still in shock. Emilia and Dante. Emilia. And Dante.My Dante.Three years ago,
Last Updated : 2023-11-25The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 5: Aftermath
No matter how much I drink that night, or how much I pour myself into my work the next day, I can't get him out of my mind. Get them out of my mind. For Emilia is every bit a part of the images that haunt me as he is. Waking or sleeping, I can't close my eyes without seeing the pair of them writhing together. Without their groans of pleasure ringing in my ears. Without the heat of humiliation flooding my skin yet again.It's wrong, how much this hurts. How much it stings like betrayal - but that's unfair, because it's not like I expected him to be celibate all this time, even if I've been more or less a nun. But it brings up feelings that are a little too familiar, feelings that crept in slowly during those last few weeks of our relationship. Very pathetic feelings, I'll be the first to admit. But I loved him so deeply, so intensely, and I always wondered why a huge celebrity like Dante Fontaine - a guy who could have any woman in the world - would choose me instead of some starlet or
Last Updated : 2023-11-25
Latest chapter
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 55: Is This Our Happily Ever After?
My stomach explodes with butterflies - but I'm not sure whether I'm excited or anxious as Dante slides his arm around me and leads me from the room. This whole evening - this whole relationship - is a lot to take in.He takes me out behind the house. The sun has gone down, casting the grounds in shadow, but from what I can see, the property is gorgeous. Like Dante, Charles and Giovanna have a large pool, but Dante leads me around the edge of the water to the terrace overlooking the gardens below.I grab onto the wrought-iron rail and tilt my head back, looking up at the sky. It's a clear night, and though the lights of the city cast a green-gold glow on the sky, there are still hundreds of stars winking back at me.Dante is quiet - too quiet. After a moment, I glance over at him, and I find him looking up at the sky with an expression I can't read. But he's got his lips pressed tightly together."What is it?" I ask.One corner of his mouth drifts up. "I was just trying to think of
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 54: The Fontaines
The mansion of Charles and Giovanna Fontaine is insane.It's huge, of course. And gorgeous. And surrounded by grounds that make it look like we're somewhere in Tuscany. If I thought Dante's house was intimidating, it's nothing compared to this.Though I'm sure the fact that I'm about to meet his parents isn't helping my nerves.I'm a bundle of anxiety as Dante leads me through the front door. His arm is hooked through mine, his fingers offering a reassuring touch on my inner wrist."You look gorgeous," he murmurs to me as he leads me across the foyer and into the formal living room. "They're going to love you."The rest of his family is already here, and my breath stops as I take them in. At least one of the advantages of dating a Fontaine is that I already know the names of many of the people here in this room - there won't be any awkward lapses of memory later. Still, meeting everyone at once is more than a little intimidating. It's not just the fact that they're Dante's family,
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 53: And I Thought We Were Complicated
"What about the press?" I ask Dante."We'll face together. We might have to deal with some rumors after word gets out that I've dropped Cataclysm: Aftermath. But we'll manage. Maybe I can arrange for us to take an extended trip to Bali."I laugh and wipe away a tear. "You know I can't leave my bakery for that long.""Then we'll figure out something else. But we'll do it together." He sobers a little. "I want you to tell me if you get any more harassing messages.""Only if you promise to tell me what's going on with your work." I look down at my hands on his chest. "I'm not trying to pry, I just...""I know." He tilts my face back up toward his. "We have a lot to share. A lot to keep discovering about each other." He twirls a loose strand of my hair around his finger, still looking far too serious. "You'll still have reporters and paparazzi poking around for a while, I'm afraid. I'm hoping that if I stay away from any high-profile projects, we might get a little privacy, but you ne
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 52: This Can't Be Happening
This can't be happening. Not here, not like this. This is too soon. This is too crazy."Dante..." I whisper. I can't make this decision with all of these people watching."I shredded that script," he murmurs against the backs of my fingers. "I told them to find someone else to rewrite it.""You didn't have to - ""I did. And I'd do it again."Panic is rising in my chest. "Dante, if we could go somewhere a little more private..."He brushes his lips against my knuckles. "I'll follow you anywhere you wish to go."I pull him to his feet and lead him back through the kitchen, past a wide-eyed Mama Pat and straight into the walk-in cooler. I have no idea what I'm going to say or do. But the moment the door is shut behind us, I find myself sinking against his chest.His arms come up around me - one around my waist, the other around my upper back, squeezing me to him as if he never intends to let me go. I press my face against his shirt."I'm scared," I whisper. "I'm so scared, Dante
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 51: Oh. My. God.
My "vacation" doesn't leave me feeling much better.Sure, I get plenty of food and plenty of sleep - and both Mama Pat and her husband are kind, generous hosts - but my heart still feels heavy. I feel lost. Dragged out by a rip tide. And I'm not sure what to do but continue to push on. The moment I heard back from Jack - he agreed to meet for lunch this coming week, thank goodness - I switched off my phone. I've avoided television and the internet. I need time to think.But thinking is hard when I'm like this. Every time I close my eyes I feel Dante's arms around me. Feel his lips against mine. Feel his fingers on my skin. Sometimes, I let myself sink into those fantasies. But every time I do, the feelings of love and desire are quickly drowned beneath a rush of pain and fear. I love him. I love him so much I don't know what to do with myself. He holds my heart in his hands, could break it without any effort at all - and he knows exactly where my weak spots are. I hate that he has th
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 50: Running Away
Mama Pat is my savior. She picks me up from Dante's house, and I don't think I've ever been happier to have a mama hen in my entire life.The moment I slide into her car she looks me up and down. "Need to talk about it, honey?"I shake my head. If I say a word about Dante, I'll lose my carefully maintained self-control, and I'm barely holding myself together as it is."Thank you for coming to get me," I tell her. "Normally I'd have called Jack, but he and I aren't exactly on good terms right now.""You know I'm always here for you, my dear."I do know. Mama Pat's been the closest thing I've had to a mother since my own died, and something about the way she's looking at me now - with compassion and understanding - softens me. I need a friend, a mom, right now."I'm an idiot," I say, leaning my head against the car window. "I should have known I wasn't strong enough to handle this. I knew I was being stupid and emotional... but I let myself fall right back into his arms.""Don't b
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 49: My Heart Breaks Again
I can tell the exact moment Dante's eyes land on the sheet of paper because his fingers freeze. "Where did you get that?""Your notes blew off the table and I was picking them up." I shouldn't have looked at them, I know, but it's too late for such regrets. "Is this a character in your script? You're using this? Using me?"He doesn't speak for a long moment. Too long. And when the words finally come, he talks slowly, as if choosing every word carefully. "Writers use real people as inspiration sometimes, Ash. It helps us create characters that feel authentic. But a lot of influences go into a character. Bits and pieces from different people and different experiences."I'm still frozen in his arms. "Her name is Ashley.""That was the director's decision. It's his girlfriend's name - purely a coincidence.""But this note about me isn't a coincidence. You have a comment about her running a bakery... about her having emotional baggage..." But my eyes keep going back to the weaknesses:
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 48: Finding the Script
I wake to the soft in-and-out of Dante's breath against my cheek.We're in his bed, and for once, I've woken before him. My body is draped across his, and his chest rises and falls beneath my arm. I can feel his slow, steady heartbeat beneath the pads of my fingers.For a long moment, I just lie there and stare at him. Watch the slight flutter of his dark lashes against his cheeks. Admire the long, hard lines of his body. He has a habit of kicking the sheets off while he sleeps, so most of his well-muscled form is in view. I let my fingers drift across the plane of his chest, following the path my mouth took last night. It must be close to dawn because the light that leaks in through the window is pale pink against his skin.I'm not sure how long I lie there watching him. My body feels languid, content. Any tension or anxiety I felt last night disappeared beneath Dante's passionate touch. I feel like we could take on the world together.We left the window cracked last night, and a
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 47: All The Truth I Need
"Men were threatening you?" Dante demands. "Men you know?" His voice is so strained that he hardly even sounds like himself.I shake my head. "Strangers."The muscles of his chest are rigid beneath my hands. He doesn't move - doesn't even breathe - for a full minute."Why didn't you tell me this?" he demands finally. His eyes bore into me."I knew it would upset you.""Of course it upsets me!""Well, it's not like there's anything we can do about it," I say."You still should have told me." He releases me and turns away, his hands going to his hair."What good has it done, telling you?" I say. "You don't tell me everything, either. We've just started seeing each other again. It's okay to still have some secrets."He turns back toward me. "And what secrets do you think I'm hiding from you?""Not secrets, necessarily," I say. "But you dodge all of my questions about your work." Between the tense phone calls and his odd behavior at the studio, something is definitely going on.
