Playing the Part

by Kimberly Van Meter

  At that Lindy burst out laughing. “Are you on drugs? Carys, did your dad smoke something before we left? Nobody is calling you old.”

  Carys hooted in laughter. “Dad, you’re so funny.”

  Gabe’s cheeks heated but a grin found his mouth just the same. He chuckled. “Yeah, I don’t know where that came from,” he admitted, embarrassed. “Forget I said anything.”

  “Sorry, buddy, it’s logged and filed away for future reference,” Lindy said, the tease in her voice matching the mischievous spark in her eyes that made Gabe want to put a kiss on her that would show just how fit and able he was. He forced himself to look away before his body language revealed everything he was feeling. Lindy parked the Jeep and they climbed out. “Ah, okay, follow me, guys,” she instructed, striking off toward a fancy trailer. She climbed the short steps, knocked twice and then the door popped open. A man, probably a few years older than Gabe, stuck his head out and when he saw Lindy, a big smile wreathed his face as he gathered her in his arms without hesitation. Lindy laughed a bit nervously as if she sensed Gabe taking exception to this man’s familiarity, and she disentangled herself quickly to point out she wasn’t alone. “Paul, I’d like you to meet my friend Gabe and his daughter, Carys,” she said.

  The man descended from the trailer, all smiles and professional courtesy, but Gabe couldn’t erase the image of how easily he had wrapped his arms around Lindy.

  “Carys wanted to see what a real movie set was like, so I thought they could tag along. Is that cool?”

  Paul stuck his hand out to Gabe with a cavalier smile, saying, “Any friend of Lindy’s is a friend of mine. Gabe, is it? What do you do, my man?”

  “CEO of Weston Enterprises,” Gabe answered, shaking Paul’s hand firmly.

  “CEO, eh? Have you ever considered investing in a movie?” he asked, joking, yet perhaps not.

  “Not really,” Gabe answered ruefully. “Are you saying you need investors?”

  Paul laughed. “Well, Gage—”

  “Gabe,” he corrected him with a smile, knowing full well the man was testing him. Businessmen ran the gamut, and that included too-slick-to-be-trusted Hollywood types, too.

  “Right, Gabe, in Hollywood, you can never have too much money or too many investors.” He glanced down at Carys, who was watching him with wide, fascinated eyes, and he said, “You ever done any acting, kid?”

  “Not real acting but I was once in a school play,” Carys answered in earnest.

  “And you were the best darn carrot in the entire vegetable garden,” Gabe said playfully, earning himself a scowl for bringing in the specifics of that production.

  “How’d you like to be in a real movie?” Paul asked, and Lindy’s attention shot to Gabe as if worried he’d overreact, but Gabe played it cool.

  “She’s probably a little too young for a Paul Hossiter film,” Gabe said, putting his hand on Carys’s shoulder. “But we’d be happy to just hang out and watch the magic.”

  “True enough, but it just so happens the scene that Lindy is in has room for a pint-size extra with a cute smile and tiny freckles dancing across her nose.”

  Carys’s fingers strayed to her nose and she grinned. “I have freckles,” she said.

  “Which makes you perfect for the part. C’mon, Dad, how can you ever say no to this adorable little face? This is why I only see my kids on weekends and holidays. I’m such a pushover. What do you say?” he asked Gabe, but he was looking at Carys.

  Gabe sent a look to Lindy, who seemed genuinely shocked by Paul’s offer, and he realized he’d been put into a difficult position. If he went with his instincts and declined Paul’s offer, he would put himself at odds with Carys again; if he said yes, he had a feeling Carys would never get the acting bug out of her system. Frankly, neither scenario appealed but he found himself grudgingly agreeing for the sake of peace with his daughter. “As long as it’s not inappropriate...I suppose it’s okay,” he said, and Carys squealed and jumped into Gabe’s arms.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Daddy!” she exclaimed, squeezing a reluctant chuckle from him in her enthusiasm.

  Carys let go and Paul said, “If you and your dad would go over there—” he pointed to another trailer

  “—you’ll find all the necessary paperwork and whatnot that details all the legalese like pay scale and liability, blah blah blah. You know, all that unfun stuff.”

  “C’mon, Daddy,” Carys said, grabbing his hand and pulling him along. Gabe spared one last look at Lindy before reluctantly allowing himself to be dragged off to sign paperwork.

  * * *

  PAUL WAITED FOR Gabe and Carys to be out of earshot before saying, “What’s up with bringing the boyfriend along?”

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” Lindy said. “He’s just a friend.”

  “Oh, well, in that case,” he said, pulling her into his arms, murmuring, “So, about that gratitude...” before his lips were covering hers. Under normal circumstances, she would’ve allowed the kiss but nothing more. If she were offended by every stolen kiss in this business, she’d spend half her life in lawyer depositions for the countless pending sexual harassment cases.

  “Paul,” she admonished, breaking away and putting distance between them. “You know I don’t play that game. Either you gave me the part because you believed I could do it, or not. If you think that giving me a bit part is going to give you an all-access pass to my bed, you don’t know me very well.”

  “Of course not,” Paul said easily, not the least bit put off by her admonishment. “But you can’t fault a man for trying.”

  “Yeah, well, try to keep it on a leash. Gabe is a friend and I don’t want to make him feel weird.”

  Paul eyed her speculatively. “Friends with benefits, huh? I didn’t think that was your style.”

  “It’s not my style with you,” Lindy quipped lightly. “Now, where is hair and makeup?”

  Paul sighed and pointed to the appropriate trailer. “One of these days I’ll either get you out of my system or I’ll just have to marry you, Lindy Bell.”

  “Keep dreaming, Paul.”

  He chuckled and Lindy grinned as she walked away.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  AFTER GABE HAD signed all the appropriate paperwork and his eyes had bugged at the amount of money they were going to pay Carys for her tiny, nonspeaking role, he’d followed the girls into hair and makeup because he felt awkward just standing around.

  Carys fairly beamed, her eyes alight with unadulterated joy as she sat in the makeup chair while the makeup artist made some minor touch-ups on her baby skin. Carys was just supposed to be a little girl on the beach with her family. All she would do was walk by the principal actors to provide a little beachy atmosphere. And they were going to pay her $250 for it.

  “I think I’m going to go on a shopping spree,” Carys said to Lindy from her chair. “Dad always puts the skids on the clothes I want to buy, but if I’m paying, then he can’t say anything, right?”

  “Nice try, sweetheart,” Gabe interjected drily. “I still have a say even if you’re buying, which you won’t be because that money will go into your savings account.”

  “D-a-ad,” Carys whined and pouted. “But this is the first money I’ve ever earned on my own. I want to spend some of it on something fun. C’mon, Lindy, help me out. Shouldn’t I get to spend at least a little bit?”

  “I have to side with her on this one,” Lindy admitted. “A girl’s gotta have her rewards or else what’s the point of working hard? How about half goes into savings, the other half she can spend—within reason—on some fun stuff of her choosing?”

  “Half?” Gabe repeated incredulously, then quickly countered with, “How about a quarter?”

  “Gabe, seriously. When was the last time you went girl-shopping? You can’t buy anything wort
h buying for less than $50. Give the girl half. She’ll have earned it.”

  “Yeah, Dad,” Carys piped up, then batted her eyelashes at him, saying, “Please?”

  “No fair. I’m getting tag teamed here,” he grumbled but he supposed half wasn’t a bad deal. She deserved a little fun after the year they’d had. “Okay,” he finally agreed. “But I better not find out you’re shopping in some place like Victoria’s Secret. I know what her secret is, and I don’t need my eleven-year-old daughter figuring it out, too.”

  Lindy laughed and Gabe smiled. The makeup artist worked silently and quickly and before long both Carys and Lindy were ready. Carys looked like herself on a really good hair day; Lindy, in full hair and makeup, was stunning.

  Then some production assistant came with their wardrobes and when both emerged from the dressing room, Gabe had to work to swallow when he saw Lindy.

  She was dressed in an itty-bitty, hot-pink bikini that barely covered the right places and Gabe couldn’t help but stare.

  “Dad, you’re practically drooling,” Carys said, giggling, and he recovered with an embarrassed clearing of his throat as he looked at his daughter. She was wearing a bikini, too, but one that was age appropriate and cute. “How do I look?” she asked, twirling for him.

  “You both look great,” he said, smiling, but he didn’t trust himself to look Lindy’s way again. She was hot enough to set his eyes on fire.

  “Boy, this doesn’t leave much to the imagination, does it?” Lindy said, twisting to check out her rear end in the mirror. “Geesh. I haven’t worn so little on a film set since... Well, it’s been a while,” she quickly finished when she realized her story might not be appropriate for young ears.

  “So what exactly are you supposed to do in this scene?” Gabe asked.

  “Um, it’s a bit of an action shot,” she answered evasively. “And, well, it goes pretty fast. You’ll see.”

  “Great. I can’t wait,” Gabe said.

  Lindy flashed a small smile, and then Lindy and Carys went one way and Gabe went another as the production started to roll.

  He was directed to sit near Paul Hossiter, who had his own executive chair set up in the shade of a tent with a clear view of where the action would be, and yet another production assistant rushed to get Gabe a chair, too.

  “So how long you known Lindy?” Paul asked conversationally as they waited for the cameras to start rolling.

  “Not long,” he answered, his gaze searching for Carys. He found her waiting beside her fake parents on the beach. “We’re staying at her family’s resort, Larimar.”

  “Ah yes, she mentioned her family’s resort. I’ll have to check it out sometime. Lindy and I go way back. She mention me at all?”

  “Can’t say that I remember your name popping up, but like I said, we haven’t known each other long.”

  Paul’s sigh was filled with longing. “But she sure as hell has a way about her, doesn’t she? The first time I met her I thought, holy hell, that woman’s going to be a star. She had that certain something about her. Made you take notice.”

  Gabe couldn’t disagree. “She’s a special woman.”

  “And it doesn’t hurt that she’s probably one of the hottest pieces of tail to twitch past my nose in a long time and trust me, I’ve seen plenty.”

  Gabe shot him a look but otherwise ignored that comment. He didn’t talk about women in that way and he wasn’t about to start, even if some A-list celebrity producer had started it.

  “So, you gotta tell me, you hitting that?” he asked, as if it weren’t completely rude to ask. Gabe sent him a cool look and Paul chuckled. “I get it. You’re not a kiss-and-tell kind of guy. I can respect that. Sometimes I spend so much time in the company of Hollywood players that I forget not everyone wants everyone else in their business.”

  Gabe nodded and returned his gaze to where he could see Lindy chatting and laughing with the actor who would play opposite her. He was a Tom Cruise type—hell, for all Gabe knew it could’ve been Tom Cruise—and he was bare-chested and sporting board shorts. There was a buzz of activity and suddenly everyone quieted as the director yelled, “Action.”

  The actor grabbed Lindy and jammed his tongue down her throat, causing Gabe to stare in growing discomfort as the kiss turned hot and heavy with plenty of the guy’s hands roaming her backside. Gabe shifted and forced himself to look away, but found he couldn’t stop watching. Lindy was hot enough to melt lead—so why should he be shocked that they wanted her for a sexy role?—but even reasoning things out, he still wanted nothing more than to plant his fist in the actor’s face for daring to put his tongue where it didn’t belong.

  The appearance of jealousy was an unwelcome shock as Gabe had never considered himself the jealous type, but he was smart enough to recognize the telltale warning signs.

  “And cut!” the director yelled and Gabe actually breathed an audible sound of relief. “That was great, guys. We’re going to go again. Back to one.”

  “Again?” Gabe asked, surprised. “It looked pretty good to me. Did something go wrong?”

  “Oh, no. Lindy did great. But the director likes to make sure he has what he needs when it goes to the editor and the only way to assure that is multiple takes. But it’s no hardship to watch Lindy in action, that’s for sure. I’d do anything to be able to trade places with the actor in this scene.” Paul chuckled at his comment, seemingly missing the fact that Gabe hadn’t appreciated his candid statement.

  “Multiple takes?” Gabe repeated, feeling a bit queasy. He didn’t know if he could sit there and watch Lindy getting felt up for even one more take. This was much harder than he could’ve imagined. “Whatever happened to being efficient or frugal,” he half joked. “I mean, don’t multiple takes cost money? Seems like an inefficient way to do business, if you ask me.”

  Paul chuckled. “Ahh, that’s right. You’re a CEO. Always looking for ways to improve the bottom line so the shareholders get their fair share, right?”

  “Something like that,” he said, trying not to stare at Lindy. “So, how do you know Lindy? You two go way back, you said?”

  Paul shrugged. “Hollywood is an incestuous little circle. Eventually, everyone knows—and sleeps with—everyone else.”

  Gabe looked at Paul sharply, hating the idea that Lindy may have slept with the guy, and Paul laughed as if reading his mind. “No, I’ve never been lucky enough to share quality time with Lindy. She’s...particular.”

  That gave Gabe a modicum of relief but before he could take a breath, the director yelled action and the actor had his hands all over Lindy. This time, the actor gave her behind a firm squeeze as he kissed her like there was no tomorrow.

  “Criminy,” Gabe muttered, shifting in the chair and forcing himself to look away. Instead, he focused on Carys, watching as she skipped down the beach beside her fake parents. She looked truly happy, pretending to be someone else. He exhaled softly and wondered what Charlotte would have to say about all this craziness. She’d been a no-nonsense woman for all her seemingly gentle nature. The thought of her daughter wanting to become an actress would’ve distressed her. She’d always hoped Carys would go into the medical profession or perhaps be a lawyer or dentist. Certainly not the next Julia Roberts.

  Ten takes later Gabe had to excuse himself. It was getting ridiculous and he couldn’t take it any longer. He made some excuse about wanting to get some coffee and hustled away from the shooting area. He found the catering cart and was surprised to find custom smoothie preparation was available. He shook his head at the sheer strangeness of this alien profession and ordered a fresh strawberry coconut.

  He was sipping at his smoothie when Lindy found him.

  “There you are,” she said, smiling, her eyes alighting on the smoothie. “Oh, that looks good. Can I have a sip?”

  “Sure,” he said, but
then remembered whose tongue had just been in her mouth and he grimaced. “I’m trying not to be weird about this but...you were just pretty intimate with a complete stranger. Should I even ask what his hygiene was like? Hopefully he brushed his teeth before the scene started rolling. I mean, who knows what kind of stuff was floating around in his mouth.”

  Lindy laughed, mistaking his wry question for one based on humor, but he was serious. When she realized this, she paused and stared at Gabe, her smile fading. “What’s going on?” she asked. “It was just a kiss, Gabe.”

  “No, a peck on the cheek is just a kiss. What was happening out there...that was a make-out session.”

  “Gabe.” She sighed. “This is my job.”

  “Yeah, I know, but I don’t think I want to come to any more shoots,” he said, hating that he sounded like a prudish jerk, but he wasn’t any good at pretending to feel something other than what he was feeling. And right now, he was seething with something he had no right to feel. The best course of action would be to remove himself from the situation.

  Lindy looked hurt but she nodded. “I understand. I should’ve known this wasn’t a good idea. I guess I wasn’t thinking. I’m so used to everyone being in the same business as me that it never occurred to me that it might not be normal.” She shot him a halfhearted smile and shrugged. “Occupational hazard, I guess.”

  “So, how much longer before you’re released for the day?”

  “A few hours probably,” she said. “Sorry. If you want, you can take the Jeep back to Larimar. I’ll bring Carys home later.”

  “How?”

  “Paul will drive us. It’ll be okay.”

  Paul? No way. “I can wait,” he said, determined to suck it up for the sake of getting through the day without Paul weaseling his way into Lindy’s affections. It was thinly veiled, but the guy had the hots for Lindy; Gabe was willing to bet his eyeteeth on it.