Flawless Surrender (The Surrender Trilogy, #2)(23)

For twelve years he had flirted with fame in Hollywood. Bit parts, the occasional commercial, but nothing meaty came his way. He dated actresses and models, but he was one of the thousands that never were discovered. Oh sure, he had an agent who thought he was the next Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt, but only until he couldn’t pay his fee anymore. Then it was “Hit the road kid, you aren’t cut out for this business.”

When he took off for California at eighteen, he knew he was destined for fame. Everyone told him that he had a movie star face, and he had starred in all of the community theater programs at home. He figured if he didn’t land a great movie deal right away, he could always pose for a few magazines or catalogues to get by. What he hadn’t counted on was the competition. In Stone River, Texas, there was no competition. In Los Angeles, California, every waitress, bus boy, hotel clerk, and phone operator was a star in waiting.

The promise he made to his mother a few years ago when pops had his heart attack had snuck up on him. Now he was thirty, and he knew in his heart that his acting days were over. In truth, he was tired of the game. He missed home, but he would never admit that to his family. Not that it would make a difference. They always thought he was a dreamer, and his choice to run away to be an actor solidified that assumption for them.

Clint hadn’t even spoken to Tanner in six or eight months. Hell, he hadn’t talked to Dalton in almost a year other than the occasional email. A heavy ball of guilt sat in his gut. It was as much his fault as theirs. He hadn’t wanted to admit to them that he was still a struggling actor when they were doing so well. Dalton was a doctor, and Tanner owned the ranch for fu-cks sake. Clint was just the failure who could make people laugh.

The sun was low and his belly was growling as he paid the cab, then retrieved his suitcase. Standing in front of his childhood home, he was flooded with memories of playing basketball behind the barn, shooting BB guns at tin cans from the front porch, Christmases and Easters and everything in between. The smell of home hit him as he pulled the front door open. It was still exactly as it had been when his parents lived there, and he was comforted by that. Maybe being home wouldn’t be so terrible.

Of course, in all likelihood, Tanner didn’t have the extra resources to redecorate, but still, his mother would be pleased he had left it the way she had it, if she came home for Christmas. A noise in the kitchen surprised him, and he lowered his bag to the floor before walking through the living room. Expecting to find Tanner microwaving a frozen dinner, he was shocked to find a sexy woman dancing around the kitchen with a bowl in her hands and ear buds in her ears. She was humming a tune Clint recognized from the radio and stirring whatever was in her bowl like a mad woman.

Her long dark hair drifted around her swaying hips as she grooved to the music, and Clint couldn’t take his eyes off her ass. Perfectly shaped with just enough junk in the trunk to make it soft. It made his mouth water.

He wondered what the rest of her looked like, and when she continued to work with the goop in her bowl like she hadn't heard him, he figured he better announce himself. Reaching out, he plucked one of the black ear buds from her ear, and said, “How did Tanner manage to catch an angel and put her to work in his kitchen?”

Instead of laughing, the woman screamed and Clint found himself covered in white icing from nipples to nose as the bowl she had been holding flew at him.

“Holy shit, angel! I wanted a taste, but I didn’t need to wear it!”

The woman stood across the kitchen with both hands over her mouth. She had mesmerizing cornflower blue eyes that were wide with shock, and then crinkling with laughter as she began to giggle. Clint should have been pissed, but the soft sound of her giggles went straight to his cock making him hard as concrete.

“Clint? Oh my God! I didn’t know you were coming home!” She went to the sink to collect a washcloth and wet it before hurrying to his side. “I’m so sorry! I can’t believe I threw that at you! Here, let me help.”

Her tiny hands began running over his face, neck, and chest as she attempted to wipe the creamy goop from his skin. His mouth quirked up in a grin when he finally realized who was giving him a sponge bath. “Zoey Carson?”

She froze and lifted those beautiful blue eyes to his, “Yes, but I’m surprised you remembered me.”

“Oh I never forget a gorgeous face. So how did Tanner manage to land you? Last I knew he was living like a priest, paying more attention to his land than his dick.” Clint took the cloth she held out and completed the job before using paper towels to dry his face. His shirt was sticky, so he tugged it off over his head. Awareness zipped through him when her eyes zeroed in on his cut chest. He might not have made any movies, but he still had a movie star body thanks to the ten hours a day he had been putting in as a landscaper for the last couple of years.

“Uh…um…Tanner didn’t land me. I’m just living with him, er…well…temporarily. He’s giving me a place to stay for a couple of weeks. Does he know you’re back? He didn’t say anything to me.” Zoey seemed flustered as she retrieved the now empty bowl and put it in the sink to be washed. He watched as she pulled another bowl from the cabinet and began making the icing again.

“Not yet, but he’ll know soon enough. So you’re not Tanner’s girl then?”

She hesitated before shaking her head no, and Clint was intrigued. They might not be an official couple, but something was up between the two of them.