Never Been Ready (Ready #2)(9)

"I don't know, but I do know one thing. It will be on my f**king terms."

Chapter Three

~Declan~

"Just get it f**king done!" I roared, causing the personal assistant on the other end of the line to whimper in fear.

He sputtered off an acknowledgment, and I ended the call, sighing in frustration. I paced the floor of the hotel room that would be home for the next three months. I was usually calm and fairly easygoing. At times, I was intense maybe, but I was never one to cause a PA to piss himself with my voice alone. Angry and pissed-off Declan was a new thing. The people on the set didn't know how to react, and personally, I didn't either.

I had managed to screw up every one of my lines at the read-through yesterday, gotten in an argument with my director, and even pissed off the caterer because there wasn't enough coffee. I was now known as the bitchy diva on the set. Fucking great.

I couldn't concentrate. I was restless, irritable, and so goddamn horny.

Leah had said no. She had f**king said no...to me. In my entire adult life, I'd never been turned down by a woman I had pursued. Call me cocky, but when I put my sights on something, I always got my prize. I'd stepped off the plane that night, ready to put Leah Morgan in my past. She was an aching need I couldn't squelch, and I wanted nothing more than to sink into those silky thighs once more, so I could walk away a cured man. But then, she'd opened that door, wearing a bathrobe and slippers, with a mug in her hand, looking absolutely dumbstruck. It was...well, adorable. Fuck! I hated that word.

Seeing her flustered and off her game had given me great pleasure. It reminded me of the quiet woman I'd met that night in the bar. I'd thought, This will be easy, simple. I'll be cured by morning, ready to start fresh and begin my life again —free of Leah Morgan.

I had taken advantage of her shock, playing into her bewildered reaction to my surprising presence. I'd stalked her, reminding her of how good we had been together that night, and her body had instantly blossomed under my touch. I'd had her in my grasp. Everything had been perfect.

And then, she'd said no. Her eyes had heated in anger, and she had taken a firm stance that had clearly backed up her words. It had taken a total one-eighty from the woman I'd just seduced not a minute before. I was learning there were many sides to Leah Morgan.

I'd never felt so angry, frustrated, and more turned-on in my entire life. No? What the hell? I couldn't leave, but I couldn't stay. I'd practically thrown my hotel information at her before walking out the door. As the door had clicked into place, I'd heard her curse in frustration, and I'd known that this wasn't over.

She was playing me or simply delaying the inevitable, and it would only be a matter of time before she came knocking on my door, begging me for more. I just had to wait it out. She'd be crawling back to my hotel, begging me to take her, in a day, two tops. I couldn't contain the all-out grin I had spread all over my face that night as I'd driven back to my hotel.

But now, it had been a week —a motherf*cking week. I didn't play games, and I wasn't a patient man. This cat-and-mouse game was making me restless, but I still couldn't back down. No matter how many women passed me in the hotel lobby, giving me a shy smile and wave, I couldn't give in. Even a blatant invite from my costar to visit her trailer had gotten nothing in return. I couldn't do it. I had unfinished business, and it demanded closure.

But now, it had been a week, and I felt like a fool. Did she think this was funny? Was I a f**king joke to her? Did I misread the signals? Maybe she wasn't coming at all.

Declan James wasn't some pu**y who waited around for a woman. Women waited around for me, and it was time I got back in the game. This addiction or infatuation I had would cure itself over time. Screw this. I was done waiting.

After giving myself a pep talk that even I didn't believe, I made about fifty laps around my room trying to get my head in the game. Then, I threw on my leather jacket and stalked over to the front door, setting my sights for the hotel bar. It was an upscale hotel, and single women were always mingling around, hoping to score a lonely rich man on a business trip. Feeling much less excited than I should be, considering I was headed downstairs to pick up an easy lay, I opened the door and nearly ran headfirst into a stunned Leah, who had her fist raised in the air like she was about to knock.

"Holy shit! You just about killed me!" she yelled.

I steadied us both in the doorway. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

The look on her face abruptly changed from stunned to pissed, and I realized my question sounded more than a little rude.

"Sorry. I meant to say, how did you get up here, alone?"

I had left instructions with the front desk not to let anyone up without calling me first. I was booked under an alias. It sounds crazy, but there were all kinds of new requirements in the shitty life I'd acquired.

Leah grinned widely as we walked into the room.

"Men," she answered. "I can pretty much talk them into doing anything. And it just so happened that men were working the front desk, and they were very accommodating when I told them I wanted to surprise my boyfriend with an impromptu striptease, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise with a call."

"That's bullshit. That seriously didn't work," I countered.

"Oh, but it did. All I had to do was say the word striptease, and I had them eating out of my hand."