Kissing Games

She’s a Hollywood star used to being in control. He’s a tattooed bodyguard who's going to show her how to let go.

Valentina Valverde’s been all work and no play her entire life. But when filming Braveheart 2 in the Highlands of Scotland gives her unexpected downtime, she has no idea what to do with it.

Enter Charlie Hamilton, the flirtatious, ex-special-forces bodyguard who’s determined to teach her how to have fun – with a bucket list that’s all about letting loose.

From skinny dipping to spin the bottle, Valentina’s well-ordered life takes a wild turn. But when no-strings fun becomes something more, they have to face the hardest truth of all – can a bodyguard and a movie star be more than a Highland fling?

An actress who’s all work, a bodyguard who’s all play – and a bucket list that will change their lives forever…

Outside Valentina’s room Charlie paused, wiping his palms on the sides of his jeans. He could hear people talking loudly in Spanish inside. Did she have visitors? 

He knocked. There was a brief silence, then the voices started up, even louder. He was about to knock again when Valentina opened the door an inch, her eyes widening a fraction as she saw him.

She whipped her head away and yelled, ‘¡Espera un segundo!’, then turned back to Charlie. ‘One moment please.’ She shut the door and he heard more Spanish before it abruptly cut off. 

When the door re-opened wider than before, his heart stuttered. Valentina’s baseball cap and coat were off and there was nothing left to hide her beauty. 

Her hair was deeper than night, framing her face and falling to below her shoulders. Her chestnut brown eyes held his.

‘Mr Hamilton,’ she said, her eyes alight with mischief. ‘Mr Charlie Hamilton.’

Fuck! Her voice was aural Viagra, sending blood surging to his cock.

She smiled. ‘I know why you’re here.’

He swallowed. ‘You do?’ His voice cracked like a teenager.

‘Yes.’ Valentina lowered her long, dark lashes and peeked up at him through them. ‘You’re here to light my fire.’

If Charlie’s blood was hot before, now it was thermonuclear. His brain melted, frying any cognitive function beyond imagining her in his arms, his lips on hers, the gasping sounds of her pleasure as he buried himself inside her. His mouth fell open, but no sound came out.

A bark broke the silence and Valentina glanced down. 

‘Oh! And who are you?’ She dropped to her knees to pet Bandit, her face inches from Charlie’s straining cock. ‘What a big boy. You’re so gorgeous! What a gorgeous big boy you are.’

Fuck’s sake! He turned away, willing his body to behave. Valentina laughed as Bandit said hello.

‘And what is your name?’ she asked him.

‘Bandit,’ Charlie managed through gritted teeth.

‘Woah! Down boy,’ she said before he heard a thump. His head snapped around to see her sitting on the floor, Bandit still licking her face.

‘Bandit! Heel!’ The dog immediately fell back. Charlie helped Valentina up. ‘I’m sorry. He’s a bit over excited to meet you and lost control. He’s usually much better behaved.’

She brushed her trousers with her hands, then combed her fingers through her hair. ‘It’s fine. It reminds me of wrestling with my brothers when I was growing up. You here for the fire safety thing?’ 

He nodded, once again robbed of the power of speech. 

‘Okay, come in, Charlie and Bandit.’

He followed her into the large and spacious room with bay windows looking out onto the front courtyard of Kinloch Castle. An enormous four-poster bed was set back against a panelled wall opposite an open fire surrounded by ornate tiles. 

In the window alcove was a desk, and on it sat a scuffed tablet and the same filming schedule Rory had given him. Through a door he could see into the bathroom, with a roll-top bath and Valentina’s toiletries lined up neatly by the sink.

She looked around the room with him. ‘Isn’t it beautiful?’

He nodded, his eyes filled with her. Bandit barked and he started, as if waking from a dream only to find he was in a fantasy.

‘The fire… okay, yes. Er, I’m here to show you how to use it safely.’ 

He crouched and cleared his throat. Valentina knelt beside him, her hands resting on the front of her thighs. He stared at them, the back of his neck heating up. 

‘Um, so, er, you’ve—’

‘The fire guard is here and must be used whenever the fire is lit. I should only use wood provided. To make a fire, start by twisting whorls of paper, then put tinder on top, making sure to create a tepee to keep air flowing in from the bottom, then add the larger logs. It is always preferable to use the wall heaters instead of the fire, and there is a fire extinguisher in case of a conflagration,’ she rattled off.

He glanced up, his brain refusing to work properly. ‘Conflagration?’

‘A large, destructive fire.’ She smiled sympathetically, as if dealing with a confused child. ‘I learned to make a fire when I was a kid. I read the information pack left on the bed. And I know long words because I went through an English dictionary with Abuela for all the years I was on La Vida Familiar.’

‘Is that who you were talking to?’

Valentina glanced behind her at the tablet on the desk. ‘Yes, and Abuelita. I speak to them every day.’

‘Every day? Both of them?’ She probably spoke to them more in a week than he did with his entire family in a year.

She smiled, but he could see a tightness about it. ‘Yes, they live together. With mi abuelito, my granddad.’

‘Er, the three of them? Live together? Like, er…’

Her eyes widened. ‘Oh no!’ She slapped him on the arm. ‘How can you think such a thing? They are best friends from being little girls. Abuela is my papá’s mother and Abuelita is the mother of my mamá. When Abuelo, my grandfather, died, Abuela moved in with Abuelita and Abuelito, my granny and grandad.’ She got up. ‘I have to go for a costume fitting.’

He stood, his cheeks burning. She ushered him out the door, following him into the corridor.

‘See you later, Charlie Hamilton,’ she said with a wink before striding off, her hair swishing with every step.

Charlie gazed down at Bandit. The dog tipped his head to the side quizzically, as if asking how he could have been so uncool.

‘Yeah, I know, dude,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘Not my best work…’

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