by Anne Styles
'We should eat now,' James told her. 'I don't suppose either of us will feel like eating at lunchtime.'
'Don't tell me you're nervous!' exclaimed Sarah in surprise.
'I know, I'm supposed to be the one who doesn't worry about anything.' James's velvety brown eyes twinkled. 'If it's any consolation, Sarah, I'm probably as nervous as you are. I've spent about an hour in the bath this morning, and I shaved twice because I forgot I'd just done it!'
Sarah laughed with relief to find she was not alone. 'And I'll have to buy some more body lotion. I've put so much on I'll probably slide off the bed!'
'The worst thing is I've let Cress take the Mere this morning. I wouldn't have done that if I hadn't been worrying about today.' The Mercedes sports car was James's pride and joy, and Sarah lifted her eyebrows in astonishment.
'You must be serious about Cress to even consider it.'
James waved to the waitress for more coffee. 'Yes, I suppose I must be,' he said slowly. 'Funny, isn't it? With two bust up marriages I ought to know better. Still, third time lucky, perhaps. I've always liked Cress. She's different from all the bimbos I have been seeing - excluding you, of course!' 'Of course excluding me! She already bosses you around like a wife!'
'Cress bosses everyone - even Nick sometimes! You should have heard her, when she went for him over bullying you! I thought she'd take him apart. Even he quailed!' Sarah smiled at the thought of Cress being the instrument of her new friendship with Nick.
'I wondered why he suddenly apologized,' she mused. 'Cress is tougher than I thought!'
'I think it comes with the job,' James said thoughtfully. 'Whatever it is, I think I rather like it.' 'Well, miracles do happen occasionally! Come on, we'd better go, if you really are serious about me driving you to work.' She drove over to Hastings with the roof off the car in her usual brisk style.
'If I am shit-scared,' he announced as she pulled into the yard, 'it's because of your driving! Have you never heard of brakes, woman?'
'Only in an emergency!' Sarah retorted, waltzing into make-up.
Patti began teasing about body make-up the minute they appeared, and the laughing and joking that went on relaxed them both. By the time Nick came in, they were fully made up and Ronnie was putting Sarah's hair up.
'OK, plan of campaign!' he said firmly. He was wearing his glasses to go through the script with them, and it made him seem more remote, somehow. 'This morning we'll do the first three shots, to the point where your clothes come off, then we'll rehearse the rest and shoot that this after-noon. So we're going to have to motor a bit.' He smiled at Sarah. 'You can wear something to rehearse in, as long as it's skin-coloured and doesn't leave marks.' Cress had already organized that, Sarah realized with relief. 'Jenny, go and get Sarah into that camisole and petticoat so I can see it, please.' Cress had thoughtfully stitched another layer of chiffon under the petticoat and put more lace on the bodice, but as Sarah put it on she began to shiver with fear. In the dressing room mirror it looked opaque, but she knew enough of film lighting to know it would look transparent on camera, and there was a full crew for the morning shots.
Jenny had gone to get Sarah's dress when Nick came into her dressing room. Laughing with mischief, Sarah fell into his arms, hugging him, and Nick couldn't resist a long, deep kiss. 'I missed you last night,' he confessed as they drew apart. 'We'll make up for it later, I promise!' He turned her around, gently. 'That is lovely. Cress was right,' he added as Jenny came back with her dress and he slipped back into being the impersonal director. 'Bare feet,' he instructed. 'And your pants show through - sorry, Sarah.'
She laughed. 'I knew you'd spot that.'
'I don't miss much,' he reminded her as she stepped carefully into the delicate voile dress. 'Did you alter those buttonholes. Jenny?'
'Every bloody one!' Jenny said, with feeling. She had spent hours adding elastic to the button loops, after Cress had discovered they were too tight for James to unfasten them easily.
'I'll take your word for it, then.' Nick remembered the camisole buttons he'd ripped off. 'I won't try them!'
'It does feel wicked,' Sarah told James as they walked down to the pavilion, 'to walk around without any knickers on. My mother would have had a fit about all this!'
'Mine gets embarrassed in the Co-op every time I do a scene like this,' James admitted.
'Have you really done that many?'
'A few. I did one with Tam once. We had a real row halfway through!' Sarah was giggling with amusement at his wicked description of that as they walked into the set.
The main room of the pavilion had been turned into the doctor's bedroom by the set designer, because a double height ceiling meant they could use a tower, and shoot from above. Heavy velvet drapes were closed over the windows, and a fire blazing in the hearth already made it warm. With a smoke machine misting the dimly lit atmosphere, it seemed oppressive to both of them.
'Bloody hard bed,' said James, testing it. 'One of us is going to get bruises on her backside from that!' Even in the warm room Sarah began to shiver and, when Nick touched her as he was positioning them her hands were icy. He ached to comfort her, but knew he couldn't in front of the crew. Wistfully, he retreated to the high stool he used behind the camera to watch the monitor. They had three shots, the two running into the room, as if from downstairs, some dialogue, and then James unfastening her dress and letting her hair down before kissing her. The first two they did in a couple of takes, although Sarah wanted them to go on for ever.
Strangely, the audible gasp of admiration from the crew as the dress fell and she turned into James's arms wearing the thin chiffon comforted her more than words ever could. Holding position, as Lenny moved some lamps and changed filters to light Sarah's cascading hair, James hugged her to him. 'They're all lusting after you,' he said, and grinned. 'Does that make you feel better?'
'A bit - but I still wish it was all over.' She only began to laugh again when Nick asked James to lift her up and slide her down his body. After a couple of attempts he turned to Nick in exasperation.
'I'm going to do myself a mischief,' he complained. 'Have you any idea how heavy she is?'
'Yes, I have, and you're just not doing it properly.' To the amusement of the crew, he demonstrated exactly what he wanted, with an easy skill that had Sarah laughing in seconds.
'So he's Superman.' James grinned and tried again, more successfully.
'Yes, but I wish he'd taken that pen out of his pocket!'
* * *
By the time they had done the shot to Nick's satisfaction, and then repeated it for the reverse, her hair had been repinned a dozen times and her head ached from the constant pulling and pinning.
'Your head aches from too much coffee first thing,' Jenny admonished, proffering tea and aspirin as they changed in the Winnebago while the camera was moved and the lighting changed for the afternoon shots.
'Or the wine last night,' James reminded her.
'I'm just tense as hell,' Sarah grumbled as Ronnie brushed out her hair.
'Soon fix that,' James swung her hair over one shoulder and began massaging her neck and shoulders. 'Told you I was good at this, didn't I?' .
'Oh, that's wonderful,' she breathed. 'I think I might marry you after all, James.'
'Well, we'd have a very public honeymoon first, if you did!' As James had forecast, neither of them wanted the lunch that Joanna brought them. Even the wine Nick sent went mainly untouched. Alone together in the Winnebago, James smoked moodily and Sarah sat hunched up on the banquette, hugging her knees, her face hidden by the curtain of hair falling over it.
'It must be bad if you can't even drink champagne,' he teased at last, perturbed by her silence.
Sarah raised stricken eyes to his. 'James, I can't do it! I had no idea he would ask us to do all that - I'm not surprised he made himself scarce just now. He daren't face me, the bastard! None of that was in the script! He was making it up as he went along, I swear it!'
'Don't be silly, s
weetheart.' James put a comforting arm around her. 'I told him to leave us alone. I thought you'd prefer it. Look, Sarah, he really has tried -I promise you. The last time I did a love scene for Nick, the actress and I were stark naked for two whole days! He's cut this right down to one afternoon for your benefit, I'm sure. We can do it - you know we can - we just need to get into the mood.'
'And how do you propose we do that?' she demanded. 'I'm going to throw up in a minute, I'm sure I am!'
'Rubbish!' James had a glearn in his eye that she suddenly didn't like. 'We have two options. Plan A, I could take you into the bedroom here and prove you can do it . . .'
'No!' Her cry of protest was so immediate and sharp that he had to laugh.
'OK, then,' he relented. 'Plan B. Put your shoes on, we'll go for a walk and I'll wear you out instead!'
'Like this?' Sarah looked down doubtfully at the towelling robes which were all they were wearing so that they wouldn't have clothes marks on their skin.
'No one will see us - except perhaps the crew, and they won't worry. Come on, we won't go far. The fresh air will do us good.' They walked up into the woods that stretched from behind the pavilion way up into the far distance. It was cooler under the trees, and totally peaceful, with the only noise coming from the odd bird above them and the rustling of the dead leaves under their feet. Sarah began to relax, as she always did in the open air, breathing in the scent of the wild garlic and laughing as a squirrel bur-rowed around in the undergrowth.
James held out a hand to her as they walked, and she let hers creep into it. 'Better?' he smiled. 'Not feeling sick now?' Smiling back, she shook her head.
James perched himself comfortably on a fallen log. 'Has Nick got you into bed yet?' he asked casually. 'He is fussing about you enough to make me think so, and he's fancied you ever since that audition.'
'Mind your own business,' she retorted, far too quickly, and James frowned.
'Be careful with Nick, sweetheart,' he warned her quietly. 'He can be a ruthless bastard, and I'd hate to see you get hurt. I'm very fond of you, you know.'
'Just because I look young it doesn't mean I can't look after myself,' she retaliated. 'Anyway, Nick is worried about it himself - he's not as ruthless as you think.'
'He's proved he is more than once, my love,' James said. 'You may think I screw around, and occasionally I do, but I didn't when I was married - at least only once, and I suffered for that!'
'I heard about that one!' She grinned. 'It's a very small world in this business!'
'Yes, and as far as Nick is concerned, don't you forget it.'
'Don't worry, I won't!' Surer of herself now, she kissed him, then was astonished to find him kissing her back with a surprisingly passionate sensuality.
'You're pushing your luck,' he told her. 'Especially when that dressing gown is falling off like that!'
'Wasn't that the general idea? I feel much better now, James.'
'Come on, then, let's go and face them before we lose our courage!'
Cress, back from shopping, greeted them cheerfully, alternately encouraging Sarah and threatening James. 'I'm going to stay out here,' she told them. 'I'll pop in from time to time, and Alex will call me if you need me. Nick won't mind, and I have phone calls to make.' Anything she thought, rather than watch James make love to Sarah, even if they were acting.
'Are you OK?' Nick asked as Sarah sat on the bed to brush out her hair and check her make-up. She resisted the temptation to giggle, and put on a sober face. Aware of the crew, he bent and kissed her cheek lightly. 'It will soon be over, angel,' he comforted. 'Then we can really relax.'
'I still think we should make the crew all strip off as well.' She tried to joke as they took off their dressing gowns and tossed them to Cress, before settling themselves into position on the bed.
James began to laugh. 'Tam did that once. She got the entire crew down to their underpants, including the director, before she gave in. It wasn't a pretty sight, I assure you. Watch it though, guys, she might mean it!' He was turning it into a joke, thought Sarah gratefully, laughing with him as Lenny made last-minute adjustments to the camera, high above them on the tower. She was suddenly aware that the crew were all tactfully busying themselves with their equipment.
'I expect they have a bet on as to whether you're a natural blonde or not!' James whispered in her ear as he twisted a strand of her hair in his fingers. 'You're gorgeous, Sarah. Come on, relax - we'll show them. You could really make Nick squirm if you wanted to. Wind him up, sweetheart - he deserves it!' She began to shiver as he stroked her face gently. Nick was way above them on the tower, seemingly concentrating on his script, his glasses perched on the end of his nose. He didn't seem to care at all, she thought miserably.
'Tip your head back, Sarah,' he instructed, suddenly breaking into her thoughts, 'James, move your shoulder, you're blocking Sarah's key light.' And then they were both aware of the unusual gentleness in his voice.
It was easy while the camera and the operator were far above them. It was agony when they brought it down to floor-level, and it seemed to be only inches from them as James was poised over her. In terror, Sarah shut her eyes when she heard the familiar 'Speed', 'Mark it' and Nick's soft, 'Action' and she wanted to cry with embarrassment as James slid down her body, kissing her breasts, then her stomach, as Nick had instructed in rehearsal.
'Oh, come on, you two,' Nick pleaded. 'You can do better than that. She won't break, James!' 'Yes, I will!' murmured Sarah into James's ear and he quietly waved Nick away. 'Oh, God! Help me, James.' So concerned with Sarah was he, that James forgot to be nervous himself. Gently, he concentrated his energies on coaxing her to relax, and Nick made the crew wait until she seemed almost to unfold, stretching out against James.
Watching them. Nick thought bitterly how well their beautiful young bodies matched. He knew he was pushing them to the limits all the time, despite shortening the scene, and hated what he was putting them through. Never in his long career had Nick ever found himself in the position he was in now, helplessly watching Sarah naked in James's arms, physically feeling desperate enough to want to wrench her away from him, and knowing that he couldn't.
As the afternoon wore on, however, he began to be both amused at the sweat on Lcnny's brow and then unaccountably irritable as Sarah began to respond to James's expertly caressing hands. It became a kind of game between them - how far they could go before Nick blew up - and Sarah began to almost enjoy what James was doing, being drawn into the game despite herself.
Only when it got to the last close-up shot did they complain. They were hot and tired, their backs and legs ached, and they had both run the full gamut of cramp and pins and needles in their arms and legs. It was almost seven o'clock, and they'd both had it.
'I've never felt less like an orgasm in my life!' James groaned when Nick told them what he wanted. 'No disrespect, sweetheart.'
'Just do your best,' Nick cajoled. 'You'll feel a lot more like it here than trying to dub it on over the long shot in a sound studio!' Sarah reached for the glass of water that Alex held out for her and swallowed some gratefully. Laughingly, she dipped her fingers into it and smoothed them over James's forehead in an intimate gesture that made Nick furious, but it seemed to wake James up.
'He should've done this earlier,' he complained as they settled down again, waiting for Alex to rearrange the covers around them.
'Golly, I'd forgotten how heavy you are!' she exclaimed. The last couple of shots had been side by side.
James hugged her tighter. 'So soon,' he whispered back, 'I'll show you!'
'In your own time.' Nick sighed, watching them giggling together, ignoring him. The camera was almost on James's shoulder, tight on their faces, and Nick turned away to concentrate on the monitor behind it, signalling to Lenny to start the camera to hide his discomfort.
James pulled himself together, and Sarah struggled to bring Nick's lovemaking to the front of her mind for inspiration. As she twisted against James she cou
ld almost feel him, and James's body, astonishingly after such an exhausting afternoon, hardened against hers. She was so strung out, it seemed only a few seconds before she frightened them all - and herself- by giving a shuddering scream of pleasure, clutching James's head down to her, her fingers grasping into his hair. To his credit, though she had yanked incredibly hard on his hair, James just about managed to keep control and produce a creditable conclusion.
'OK, we got it,' Nick announced with a sigh of relief. 'Check the gate!' He watched with an aching jealousy as, locked together, James and Sarah fell back, their eyes closed as the crew tactfully melted away round them. Then he too turned away, and walked out of the room without a word.
They lay exhausted in each other's arms for long minutes, until James eased himself from her and slowly lifted her up as he realized they were alone. Almost loath to let go of him, Sarah let him wrap her in her dressing gown before he put his own on.
'It's all right,' he said. 'It's all over, sweetheart, and it's going to look great, I'm sure.' He sat down again on the bed and curved a hand around her neck, pulling her towards him. 'I really wanted you just now. If you knew how much control I had to exercise to keep from actually screwing you, I'd get a special Oscar for it! Apart from the fact that you pulled half my hair out, of course!'
Sarah leant her hot face against him. 'I really didn't mean that to happen. I just. . . well. . . sort of got carried away.'
'Really? Well, never mind, I enjoyed most of it! Thank goodness we had the blanket! It's the first time I've had a hard-on during a take!'
'I am sorry, James,' she said shamefacedly, suddenly thinking of Cress. 'I think we'd better forget it happened, don't you? Let's go and finish the champagne.' They walked slowly across to the Winnebago, breathing in the luxury of the fresh air after the hot smoky room.
Cress had made tea for them and they sat on the steps drinking it while she went to retrieve their costumes from the set.
'You shower first,' Sarah suggested. 'I just want to sit here and recover for a while.'
'There won't be a scrap of hot water left,' Cress warned as she came back. 'I've never known anyone who can stay in the shower as long as he can!' She sat on the grass in front of Sarah, smiling warmly at her. 'Are you feeling better now?'
