by Bianca D’Arc
“She was?” Katrina couldn’t help asking. She’d received the director’s vote of confidence in person earlier that day, but it was reassuring to know Sonia hadn’t just been being polite.
Guermo nodded. “I heard her say that she got a lot of really good material.”
“I saw some of the rough footage when we were going over what she wanted for makeup tomorrow, and it looked really good,” Franny put in.
“That’s a relief,” Katrina told them. “I’m still so new at this.”
Guermo popped out of his seat, and Franny followed. “We’re going to go get something to eat. Do you want anything from that barbeque place down the street?”
Barbeque sounded way too heavy to Katrina, so she declined, but Adela decided to go with them. They promised to be back in fifteen minutes, but Katrina assured them she had plenty to keep her busy, and she wasn’t really that hungry just yet. The trio left, and Katrina took out her planner. She had a lot to write down, and yes, she liked to embellish the pages with little drawings. She had a half dozen colored pencils in her bag that she pulled out to doodle. It was relaxing.
She got so lost in her drawing that she didn’t notice Ren at first. He’d come up to her table and was standing over her, watching her draw. Looking up, she met his gaze, startled.
“You’ve got a gift,” he told her, gesturing toward the little doodle she’d been working on in the wide page margin. She was tempted to close her planner, but he’d already seen it, so she decided to brazen it out.
“I was dreaming about big cats all night. Again,” she told him, rolling her eyes as she tried to make light of her words. “I don’t understand why. I guess seeing that…apparition…or whatever it was, the night before last, affected me more than I thought. I’m just not sure what color to make his fur. I was considering black because that’s all I basically saw, but somehow, that just doesn’t seem right.”
He looked at her almost suspiciously but then shrugged. “I think he needs spots.”
“Spots? Like a leopard?” she asked, surprised.
He shook his head just once. “No. Like a jaguar.”
“Don’t they kind of look alike?” she asked, narrowing her gaze in confusion.
“Not to me,” he told her, “but my mother is from Argentina. I was raised on legends of the jaguar.”
“Oh.” She hadn’t known that about his mother. She wondered if that was something he shared with the world or if he’d just given her a little bit of his trust. Either way, she was intrigued.
“I stopped by to see if you had dinner coming or if you needed a reminder that nearest place that does takeout closes in an hour. If you don’t get something soon, you might have to scrounge for something later.” His words were casual, but the concern she saw on his face seemed genuine. She was touched at how nice it was that he was concerned for her comfort.
“Thanks for telling me. I guess I’m used to New York, where there’s always something open, no matter what time of day or night.” She gathered her things and put them back in the tote bag. “I was sitting with Adela, Franny and Guermo, but they all went to get barbeque. That sounded a bit heavy to me, so I told them to go ahead without me. Have you eaten yet?”
He patted his flat midsection. “As a matter of fact, I just got back from the barbeque place. It was delicious, but if you’re looking for lighter fare, the place I mentioned has a lot of different choices. They had what looked like a well-stocked salad bar.”
“Say no more. You’ve convinced me,” Katrina told him as she stood. For a moment, he was much closer than she’d expected, but he moved out of her space after a slight pause.
“Enjoy,” he said, already turning away.
Hurt for no reason she could think of by his casual dismissal, she shouldered her purse and tote bag and headed out of the hotel to make the short walk down the street to the place they’d talked about. The restaurant was on the corner, and there was a long vestibule with a roped off lane where people waited to be seated or to place to-go orders. Katrina went in, and no sooner had she taken a step toward the roped lane than a camera flash went off almost in her face.
Katrina was taken aback by the unexpected flash and looked over to see a group of people standing off to one side in the vestibule, fielding professional-looking cameras. Could they be paparazzi? The local news had let the cat out of the bag last night, disclosing that Ren was in town. Maybe a group of eager beavers had set up camp on the off chance he might show up somewhere and were taking pictures of anyone who looked like they might be involved in the film.
“Hey, sweetheart,” one of the men called out to her. Not wanting to be rude, she looked at him as he moved a little closer. “There’s fifty bucks in it for you if you tell me where to find Rendall Smith.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t help you,” Katrina said instantly. No way would she sell out Ren for fifty bucks—or any amount, for that matter.
“A hundred,” the bald-headed man upped his offer.
Katrina shook her head. “Sorry. I really don’t know where he is.” That was the truth. At this exact moment in time, she didn’t know for sure where he was.
“Well, tell your friends. I’ll pay for information on his location. Shots of him sell high,” he claimed, but something about his words rang a little false to Katrina’s ears. She couldn’t say why, but the man with the shaved head gave her the creeps.
He didn’t look much like a photographer, come to think of it. He had bulging muscles, as if he was a gym rat, and tattoos she couldn’t really see peeping out from under the tight short sleeves of his T-shirt. Something about him felt…almost…dangerous, though she couldn’t say exactly why.
Katrina decided to put on her best movie star attitude and brazen it out as she walked away from the man. There was a short line of people waiting to be seated or give their orders, so she made a beeline for them. The other camera-wielders took a few more pictures, but they didn’t make a move to block her path or anything overt, so they probably were after Ren or some of the other, more familiar, faces in the cast.
Frankly, she was glad to be an unknown at the moment. She just wanted to get her dinner and go back to the comparative safety of the hotel. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like for Ren, to have people stalking him with camera or autograph books at all times. For a moment, she almost felt sorry for him, then she realized how ludicrous that was. Poor little super star, can’t get dinner without being photographed. That really wasn’t such a big problem to have in the grand scheme of things.
Katrina walked down the little path that somehow felt like a catwalk runway all of a sudden. She made it to the ropes and walked between them as casually as possible. Recognizing a few faces from the fight scene she’d watched that afternoon, she felt more confident.
They saw her and smiled, so she walked up to them and decided to introduce herself, feeling a bit like she was still on display with the camera people watching her every move. She smiled at them and felt somehow safer joining them, even though she didn’t know these people personally.
“Hi, I’m Kat. I saw you both in the melee this afternoon, right?” She held out her hand, and the men shook it, one after the other, welcoming her.
“I’m Tom, and this is Jeffrey. We’re Merry Men,” the first man told her.
“Stick with us, Kat. Those paparazzi are vicious,” Jeffrey put in, winking as he joked.
She laughed with them. “I’ve never encountered anything like this before,” she told them. “Is this normal?”
“With Ren in the area, it can get weird,” Tom replied, rolling his eyes. “That boy attracts cameras like flies to honey.”
They moved up in the line and were only one group away from putting in their orders. Some newcomers filled in the rope line behind them, blocking the cameras somewhat.
“You’re playing Marian,” Jeffrey said, not asking but stating it as fact. Katrina nodded anyway.
“It’s my first film,” she replied. “I guess you can
tell.”
“Not at all,” Tom assured her. “We’ve heard good things about your work this morning. Sonia certainly seemed pleased.”
Shocked that everyone seemed to have heard about the morning’s work, Katrina blushed a bit.
“Don’t worry,” Jeffrey put in. “You’re doing fine.”
“Are you eating in or taking out?” Tom asked as they moved a little closer to the head of the line.
“I was just going to get a salad to go,” she told them. “Everybody is sitting in the lobby, chatting and eating takeout.”
“Yeah, we’ll join the group later,” Jeffrey said. “But, after all that leaping about earlier, I want to sit down and be waited on for an hour.” He chuckled, and Katrina smiled back.
“I can appreciate that,” she agreed.
“You’re welcome to join us, of course,” Tom added, politely, but she could tell they had made their plans, and she didn’t want to horn in on them.
“Oh, that’s very kind of you, but I’m just going to get mine to go. Maybe another night,” she answered. By that time, they were at the head of the line, and the hostess took the two men to their table while the counter person dealt with Katrina’s order.
She got her salad and walked back to the hotel without further incident. The run-in with the paparazzi made her shake her head as she thought about it on her way back. By the time she returned to the lobby, she could see that her trio of tablemates were back and already eating.
There were takeout containers everywhere, and someone had dragged over a set of rubber trash cans the management had probably brought out from storage, for everyone to throw away their used wrappers of various shapes, sizes and materials. The recycling bin was already overflowing, but even as she walked past, a hotel employee was emptying it and setting up a new plastic bag in the receptacle.
Katrina made her way through the crowd to the back table, and the others welcomed her back. She took out her little salad and diet soft drink while they picked through multiple boxes filled with barbequed meat, and little else, it seemed. Did these people never eat vegetables?
Katrina pushed the thought away and began to eat. Conversation flowed, and she found herself alternately amused and scandalized by the stories they all told about previous jobs and film shoots. They asked Katrina about her background, and she told them about her parents and the restaurant, sharing some of the funnier stories from her time working there. She enjoyed herself immensely, and when dinner was done and the lobby started to empty out, Katrina was glad to go back to her room to get an early night. She had to be up at the crack of dawn for tomorrow’s shoot.
Chapter Nine
From that point on, each day followed pretty much the same pattern. Katrina would enter the makeup room at the hotel, sit in the chair, and chat with Franny while she transformed Kat into a much better-looking version of herself. They’d go to the location together, and Katrina would get into costume. Then, Guermo would do her hair, and she’d chat with him for a few minutes while he made her hair look however it was supposed to for the scenes they were shooting that day.
During any downtime, Kat would usually study her notes and the script, though she already had it committed to memory. A little repetition never hurt, and it had been so long since she had thought seriously about acting as a profession that she was nervous enough to want to go over things in her mind, again and again.
The pattern held for the next couple of days, but then, one day, the makeup room was not empty when she got there. Far from it. No, Ren and his larger-than-life personality was taking up a lot of the space, all by himself.
He was laying on the unused bed, on top of the covers, fully dressed. His head was propped up on two of the pillows, and his hands were folded across his abdomen. His hair, worn longer than his usual cut for this production, looked artfully mussed. How did the man manage to look so darn sexy even when he had those knock-out green eyes closed?
Katrina stopped short in the doorway, but it turned out, he was awake, despite appearances to the contrary. He lifted one hand and waved her in, all without opening his eyes.
“Come in, Kat. Franny will be right back.”
“How did you know it was me?” Katrina asked as she edged into the room and shut the door behind her.
He opened his eyes and smiled at her, making her heart skip a beat. It really should be illegal for him to be that good looking so early in the morning—or at any time of the day, really.
“I have my ways,” he replied mysteriously. “Go, sit in the chair. Franny doesn’t have to do much to me because I refuse to get made up like a clown just for a few close-ups,” he grumbled. “Though, I will allow her to take the shine off my face when necessary for photographic purposes. So, she’ll do your makeup first, then we’ll argue a bit about my face. Then, she’ll give in, and we’ll head over to the location. One big happy family.”
“Funny, I never heard that you were difficult on set,” Katrina dared to tease him as she sat down in the makeup chair.
“I’m never difficult,” he told her from his sprawl on the bed. “I’m just right.”
Katrina laughed out loud as the door opened and Franny came in.
“Glad to see you two getting along,” Franny observed, eyeing Ren suspiciously. “Are you going to give me trouble today?”
“That is never my intention,” Ren replied, closing his eyes, as if too tired to keep them open. It was clearly a strategy to avoid confrontation until it was necessary. Franny huffed and came over to Katrina.
“At least you trust me to do my job,” Franny said, patting Katrina’s shoulder. “His highness doesn’t trust anybody’s judgment but his own.”
“I guess you two have worked together before,” Katrina commented, looking from Franny to Ren and back again.
“Oh, yes. Many times,” Franny replied. “A lot of us are doing this film as a favor to Sonia. We usually work for the bigger studios, but we all like Sonia and want to help her get her own production company off the ground.”
“She’s lucky to have friends like you guys.” Katrina was impressed that Sonia had been able to get people who normally worked for big bucks to do her little low-budget film.
Franny started working on Katrina’s makeup, which meant she couldn’t make too many more comments because she had to hold somewhat still while Franny worked. She faced the mirror and tried not to fidget. She could feel Ren behind her, reclining on that bed. Seeing him laying on a bed, of all things, brought to mind naughty images. It was the association of bed and sexy Ren that turned her imagination to things she probably shouldn’t be thinking about. Ever.
Ren was not for her. He’d been alternately friendly and stand-offish, but never had she gotten the impression that he was attracted to her. Not really. He’d been kind. He’d been encouraging with her acting. He’d even been protective when he’d seen her safely to her room that first night. But he’d never given her any real sign that he was interested in her in any sort of romantic way.
For all she knew, he had girls in every port—or the Hollywood equivalent. She knew she wasn’t anything special, and worse, starting some kind of on-set romance would end in a broken heart from which she might never recover. And that’s if—and that was a big if—he was even interested.
No. For her own sake, she had to keep her attraction to him under wraps. She couldn’t afford the emotional turmoil. Katrina knew from past experience that she wasn’t the type of woman who could get involved with a man without investing at least part of her heart in the relationship. If there wasn’t even a chance of a future with someone, there was no point in starting anything, was her philosophy. It might be a little extreme, but she didn’t want to get her heart broken, and a guy like Ren—who could have any woman he wanted—wasn’t a good bet.
She looked up into the mirror as Franny worked and caught Ren watching her with those almost glowing green eyes that had made him justly famous. Their gazes met and held for a beat, then two. She couldn’t l
ook away. That famous green gaze was magnetic. Almost hypnotic.
Why was he looking at her? It felt almost as if he was studying her. Like a bug under a microscope. She did her best not to fidget.
Then, Franny moved and blocked the view in the mirror. Thank goodness.
A moment later, Franny pronounced Katrina done for now and turned to confront her clearly reluctant next victim. Katrina didn’t exactly run from the room, but she needed a few minutes and some distance from Ren to regain her composure. She wasn’t sure what had been going on in there, but when she hit the hallway, she felt like both a coward and someone who had just decided retreat was better than standing and fighting against something she didn’t completely understand.
Katrina went to the lobby and sat down in one of the chairs, going through her notes to keep herself busy while her mind spun in all sorts of wild directions. Ren was too good looking for her peace of mind, and he’d been so nice to her. Nice and also a little distant. But all that was going to end today.
For today, they were scheduled to film Marian and Robin’s first kiss. Katrina had known it was coming and had tried her best to be professional and ignore the girlish giggles that wanted to pour forth from her mouth whenever she thought about it. She’d been extra rigorous with brushing her teeth this morning and even had mints in her bag, just in case. She was prepared, but was she ready mentally?
Sadly, she didn’t think so. Not after the previous few minutes in the makeup room.
Or had Ren been deliberately trying to unnerve her for some reason? It didn’t make sense, but the man was as inscrutable as a cat, sometimes. She never knew what he was going to do, or not do. One minute, he was being kind and solicitous. The next, he was ignoring her. It was enough to make her a little crazy.
How in the world was she going to kiss him on screen? Or anywhere, for that matter? The situation felt absurd. A movie star she’d had a crush on for years had to kiss her, and she was freaking out about it. Not necessarily in a good way.
Ren had been making movies for the past decade and had been at the top of the A list of celebrities for the past four to five years. He’d kissed all the biggest leading ladies of the day and had been pictured with supermodels and other women who were his social equals or up-and-comers in Hollywood.
