by Lucy Kevin
What am I doing here? Meg asked herself.
There were so many women here who were surely more deserving of the lead role. Only the sight of Lucas waving to her from across the room kept her from turning and running out.
Slowly, she made her way over to him, past everyone who was still staring at her and the extensive lighting, makeup, styling, and film staff Seb had brought.
“I really am glad you’ve agreed to do this with me, Meg.” Lucas’s smile heated her up all over. “I promise you won’t regret it.”
“I just hope you don’t regret it.”
“I won’t.” He looked utterly certain.
She gestured toward the racks of clothes. “What do you want me to wear?”
He didn’t even bother to scan her outfit. He simply looked into her eyes and said, “I like you just the way you are.”
Though she knew he must be talking about her outfit of dark jeans, sleeveless silk top and ankle boots, it felt as though he was saying so much more.
“Okay…but if I turn out to be really bad at this, promise you’ll tell me. You won’t hurt my feelings if you decide not to use me.”
“I promise,” he agreed. “But I already know that you and I are perfect together.”
Again, it almost seemed as though he was talking about more than just the video they were about to film. But that was surely just down to the romantic fantasies she hadn’t quite been able to control where Lucas was concerned…
Hair and makeup gave her a quick once-over and then the next thing she knew, they were ready to go. For the extras, that meant dancing along with Lucas’s new single. For Meg, however, it meant walking into the room, looking into his eyes, then moving close to him so that he could whisper in her ear and make her laugh.
Amazingly, each time Seb had them film the scene, Lucas did manage to make her laugh.
“Did I ever tell you about the time the crew put a battery-powered frog in my amplifier?”
“Put your right foot in, take your right foot out, put your right foot in and shake it all about…”
“A rock star and a wedding designer walk into a bar…”
But he didn’t only make her laugh. His touch also made thrill bumps run up her arms and butterflies take flight in her stomach.
Could everyone in the room see what she was feeling?
As if to answer her silent question, Seb called out, “I can’t believe how much chemistry there is between you two.” The director stepped between them. “That’s a wrap, so we can head over to our next set now. I’ve already sent a second crew over, so we should be ready to film as soon as we get there.”
A half hour later, they were at the penguin sanctuary where they had started to bond for the first time, even if they’d occasionally been interrupted by Lucas’s fans. Now, however, their every move would be documented by cameras as they had their first “date.”
A part of her couldn’t help wishing that this was a real date. And as shooting wore on, she found herself forgetting more and more that she wasn’t supposed to actually fall in love with him.
“Are you sure you haven’t acted before?” Seb asked her between takes. “When you’re with Lucas, I could almost believe that you really are in love with him.” The director grinned at Lucas. “And that you’re in love with her too.”
Meg tried to laugh it off. “I took a few drama classes in high school,” she said, hoping that it would be enough to satisfy the director.
“Well, it certainly seems to have worked. Now, on to the penguin feeding.”
Soon, Meg was armed with a bucket of fish, while surrounded by very cute, but very insistent, birds. Lucas nearly fell over laughing at their attempts to grab the food from her even before she could hand it out.
The beautiful sound of his laughter had her losing another piece of her heart to him.
“I never thought I’d ever do something like this,” Meg said ninety minutes later, once they were done filming with the penguins. Meg had worn thick rubber gloves and a large green jumpsuit over her clothes to keep them clean. But she hadn’t minded getting a little dirty. Not when the penguins were so much fun to feed.
“You enjoyed that, didn’t you?” Lucas was grinning at her as they both kicked off their guano boots, peeled off their smelly rubber gloves, and stripped out of their coveralls.
“I really did.” She wrinkled her nose. “Although I’m pretty sure I’m going to need to soap up in the shower for quite a while. I don’t want to smell like penguin food while we’re shooting the concert scene in an hour.” Fortunately, they had already been told that they could use the staff facilities to shower and clean up.
Lucas’s eyes grew dark, as though he was imagining her in the shower. A shiver of desire ran through her. Though it was difficult, she forced herself to push her ridiculous imaginings away.
“I’ll hop in a shower too,” he said, his voice deep and sexy. “I wouldn’t want to give you a reason not to stand close to me.”
Didn’t he realize that it would take far more than that to keep her from wanting to stand close to him? Really, really close…
A short while later, they left the sanctuary and crawled through traffic to get to The Satellite. She hadn’t thought to bring her leather jacket, but fortunately there was one on the wardrobe rack.
The first time she’d worn leather, she’d felt like a fraud. This time, it felt exactly right. Especially when she caught the heat in Lucas’s eyes whenever he looked at her.
Seb’s plan was to cut between Lucas playing his new song with his band on stage and Meg dancing and singing along to it.
She was worried that she wouldn’t be able to feel the music as deeply as she should while surrounded by a bunch of cameras and strangers. But once Lucas started to sing…
Her heart was forever lost.
She’d been blown away when he’d played the acoustic guitar in her office, but watching him perform on stage was even more amazing. Especially because—despite the extras, the lights, the cameras—she felt as though he was singing the beautiful song just for her.
When the song ended, the extras cheered as though they were at a real gig, instead of a video shoot. And when Seb insisted on shooting the same scene a dozen more times, Meg was glad.
Because she never wanted today to end.
Everything she had done so far was completely outside of her comfort zone. Amazingly, it was also the most fun she’d ever had.
All because of Lucas.
* * *
Few things were more breathtaking than moonlight in Malibu. Especially when it was shining down on the most beautiful woman Lucas had ever known.
All day long, they had been surrounded by extras. Now, as they prepared to shoot the final scene of the day—their engagement scene on the beach in Married in Malibu’s private cove—it was just the two of them. Well, the film, lighting, wardrobe, and makeup crew were all still there too.
But Lucas only had eyes for Meg.
Seb came over with a blue velvet ring box and handed it to Lucas. Inside sat the biggest, gaudiest ring he’d ever seen. It was costume jewelry designed to make a statement. And it was awful.
“Seb, we can’t use this.”
“It will look great on camera,” the director insisted.
But Lucas didn’t care how great it might look in the video. This wasn’t a ring he could ever imagine offering to Meg. “Meg, would you mind giving us your opinion on the engagement ring?”
She was silent for several seconds as she studied it. “You know what? It’s not actually about the ring.” She looked at Lucas as she spoke. “It’s about sharing a beautiful moment in the moonlight—and having a soul-deep connection. We don’t even have to see the ring. We only need to see you popping the question, then opening the box, looking totally in love.”
Lucas wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and tell her how he felt about her, regardless of the film crew watching them…or the fact that none of this was supposed to be rea
l.
Seb looked pensive, before finally nodding. “You know what? I think you’re right again, Meg.” He slapped Lucas on the back. “Mark my words, this is going to be your best video yet.”
“This really is going to be my best video by far,” Lucas said to Meg. “All thanks to you.”
Not only had she come up with so many of the ideas for the video—but as far as Lucas was concerned, this wasn’t about the two of them acting like they were falling for each other.
He had fallen for Meg from the first moment he’d set eyes on her…and he just kept falling harder and harder with every moment they spent together.
More than ever, he wanted to tell her this, wanted her to know exactly how he felt. But Seb was calling for them to take their places.
“Is everyone ready? Action!”
Lucas and Meg walked along the beach together in the moonlight, their arms around each other’s waists. And then he stepped back, reached into his pocket for the ring box, and got down on one knee.
He paused to take in her radiant beauty. She was the one he’d been waiting for, everything he wanted. He opened the ring box. “Will you marry me?”
Meg didn’t even look at the ring as she stared into his eyes, her gaze so full of emotion, more than he’d ever dreamed she could feel for him. He held his breath as he waited for her response.
Finally, she whispered, “Yes.”
In one smooth move, he stood and swept her into his arms, twirling her around in a burst of sheer joy with the stars spinning in the night sky above them and the waves crashing against the shore in the background.
Meg felt so right in his arms that Lucas didn’t stop to think, didn’t hesitate this time, before lowering his mouth to hers.
She gasped softly against his lips, and then she was kissing him back passionately.
He couldn’t get over how sweet she tasted, how good she felt pressed against him. He wanted to keep kissing her forever—
“Cut! Amazing!” Seb’s voice broke the spell.
Meg didn’t jump out of Lucas’s arms at the interruption, simply drew back, looking a little confused. More than anything, he hoped he wasn’t the only one who had forgotten it wasn’t a real proposal.
“I can’t believe we got nearly everything we needed in one take!” Seb enthused. “You two are on fire.”
Lucas was still reeling from the incredible kiss, which had been so much more than just physical. It had been about their emotional connection, one that was so much deeper than he’d ever felt with anyone else.
Tuning out his director, he said in a low voice to Meg, “It felt right, didn’t it?” Again, he held his breath as he waited for her response.
She lifted her hand to touch her lips for a brief moment. “It felt perfect.”
Lucas knew they needed to talk about what had just happened. What their kiss meant. Because he needed to make it clear that, to him, it hadn’t just been acting for a video. Their kiss had meant everything.
“Meg—”
“Okay, Lucas,” Seb called, “I’m going to need you by yourself for a few more shots.”
Lucas barely kept from growling, “I thought you said you got everything you needed.”
“Almost everything. We still need shots of you with the ring box in the moonlight before the clouds shift and make continuity difficult during editing. And then another with you singing along to your track on the beach in case we want to splice some of that in.” Seb turned to Meg. “You were great today. We’ve got an early start tomorrow, so you should probably head home and get some rest.”
Lucas’s heart fell at the prospect of Meg’s leaving. He was tremendously frustrated at not being able to talk with her. He understood that they needed to get the final night shots for the video…but all he wanted was to finally tell Meg how he felt about her.
Unfortunately, she was already moving back, edging away with a look on her face that seemed to say she was rethinking the wisdom of their spontaneous kiss.
He stepped forward, ready to do or say whatever he could to take away her uncertainty.
But she was already turning away from him and saying, “I’ll see you in the morning, Lucas. Good luck with the rest of the shoot tonight.”
And then she was gone.
Chapter Ten
Today was the day Meg Ashworth married Lucas Crosby.
No, she reminded herself, today was the day she played the part of his bride.
After the kiss they’d shared the night before, it had been nearly impossible to remember that they were just acting for a music video. Especially now that Meg could no longer hide from the truth.
She was head over heels for him.
All this time, she’d cautioned herself not to make the mistake of falling for him. But how could she possibly resist when he was so sweet and kind and talented…and when his kiss had filled her with such deep desire?
It didn’t help to find several messages waiting from her mother when she finally returned home and had a chance to turn on her cell phone for the first time all day. Meg’s mother was, to put it mildly, furious that she had been a no-show for dinner.
Meg couldn’t believe she had forgotten to get back to her mother about not being able to attend dinner. It was just that things with Lucas and his video shoot were such a whirlwind, and he’d been all she could think about.
Once she’d returned home last night, after such a long day of filming, Meg hadn’t had the energy to deal with her mother. Even sending a text, she knew, would be akin to poking an angry bear. While climbing into bed, she had sleepily vowed to get in touch with her mother the next day to explain. After filming, of course, given that she didn’t want anything to disrupt her focus on Lucas’s project until they were done.
By the time Meg arrived at Married in Malibu, Travis was busy herding the crew and extras into their designated areas, while working hard to keep the paparazzi—who had finally gotten wind of the video—out of the venue.
Meg’s co-workers had done a wonderful job of transforming the hall during the last couple of days, turning it into a beautifully classic chapel. The flowers were gloriously in bloom, the three-tiered cake was breathtaking, and Amy had transformed the walls with paint so that they looked like stone.
The extras looked like a real wedding party in their suits and dresses. Some sipped apple cider in lieu of champagne, given that they were heading into a long day of filming. Others nibbled on Jenn’s pastries and drank coffee from Tamara’s café across the street.
At the heart of it all stood Lucas, dressed in a formal three-piece wedding suit.
When he saw her, he smiled and came toward her. “I’ve really been looking forward this morning to seeing you again.”
Meg opened her mouth to reply, but she wasn’t sure what to say. How could she, when she still had no idea whether Lucas’s kiss had simply been acting…or if he’d kissed her because he was falling for her too?
“I’ve been looking forward to seeing you too,” she said softly.
She couldn’t quite meet his eyes, not when she was sure that if she did, he’d see everything she was feeling. The last thing she wanted was to put him in an uncomfortable position where he felt she was acting like one of his groupies, rather than his colleague.
He moved closer, taking her hands. “Meg—” He waited until she lifted her gaze to his. “I don’t want to do anything that’s going to make you unhappy. If something’s wrong, you can tell me.”
She thought she had mastered the art of not letting her emotions show. How could he see through her so easily?
“No, really, I’m a bit nervous about getting it all right today.” That was the safest plan. Deflect everything she was feeling into work. Pretend everything was okay, the way she always had before. “We’ve got so much to get through—the wedding, the cake cutting, the first dance…”
And their next on-camera kiss.
“In fact,” she added, desperate to move away before she did something crazy like b
eg him for another kiss, “I should probably get into the dress.”
“You’re going to be amazing,” Lucas said in an encouraging voice. “But as soon as we get a break, we need to talk. I had hoped we could talk privately last night, but with the film crew needing the moonlight shots…” His frustration shone through. “Promise me we’ll find a moment alone today.”
She stared at him for a long moment before nodding. “Okay.”
We need to talk never meant anything good. Most likely, it meant one of the following:
It’s not you, it’s me.
I hope I haven’t given you the wrong idea.
It’s been fun while it lasted—now go have a nice life without me.
Her gut churned as she realized he must have guessed the way she felt about him. Knowing Lucas, he was planning to let her down gently. Sit her down somewhere quiet, make sure that she was comfortable…and then tell her that he didn’t feel the same way she did. He’d put it nicely—Meg couldn’t imagine Lucas being anything other than kind or considerate. But he’d still talk about how they were very different people. And maybe how he was always on the road and couldn’t sustain a relationship with anyone, let alone her.
Ultimately, it would all come down to one thing: They were never going to be together, because he would never see her as more than just a colleague or a friend.
Liz was waiting for her in the dressing room. She held out the beautiful gown. “What do you think?”
The wedding dress was incredible, a flowing net of lacework set over shimmering white silk, with discreet pastel sequins at the sleeves and hem giving flashes of color.
“It’s…” She had to work very hard to keep from crying. “It’s perfect.”
Liz looked at her with concern. “Are you all right?”
Again, she’d let too much show on her face. What had happened to the days when she’d been so good at hiding her feelings that no one had been able to see behind the polite façade?
Or maybe it was simply that the people she used to spend time with hadn’t cared enough about her to look that deeply.
