Spring Into Love

by Chantel Rhondeau

  She moved things around on my belt. I figured it was easier to let her do it, and I held my arms out of the way so that she could get it set up. She probably didn’t realize that I had used these things before, or how many years I had worn ample gear around my waist that had “just the right spot” to sit. I’d adjust it all once she was done.

  I heard a small buzz emanating from the earpiece that hung over my shoulder. I lifted it up to my ear and slipped it in, reaching for the radio to adjust the volume. I thought this place was busy before, but all of a sudden, the area around me got a whole lot busier. All those people who had been talking to themselves came into focus, and I realized they’d been having intense conversations with other people.

  With the ear bud firmly in place, I felt like I was back on patrol. Static came and went along with crackling, both of those punctuated by different voices asking for something or someone. I flipped through the channels, listening for a few seconds to make sure I was able to pick them all up.

  I felt at home with this in my ear, like I was back to doing my job. I grinned.

  “Just make sure you only talk on channel five. That’s our channel,” Roseanne said as she started to tuck my shirt back in.

  I laughed and stepped away from her. “I can do that, Roseanne. Yes, Markus already told me about the channel.”

  “We should get back to the trailer, Ryan will be here soon.” Roseanne said as she reached out to put her hand on Mandy’s arm. “See you later, Mandy.”

  “Where is Jackie?” a male voice came over the headset just seconds after she had spoken. Roseanne and I shared a raised eyebrow look and laughed.

  “Troy, we’re on our way back to the trailer now. I assume Ryan is there?” Roseanne answered by pushing a small button on the wire from the headset.

  “Yes, he is, and he wants her here,” Troy replied quickly.

  I sighed. And the show begins. “I take it Ryan doesn’t have a headset?” I asked Roseanne as we made our way back through the lot where the stars’ trailers were all lined up.

  Roseanne laughed. “No, we don’t allow him to play with our toys.”

  “Thank God,” I said dramatically, and we both burst out laughing again.

  “Jackie, you on here yet?” Troy’s voice filled my ear.

  “Yes, Troy. I copy you. Do you need something, or are you just concerned I might not know how to use the technology?” Roseanne snorted beside me.

  Troy laughed as he keyed up on the headset. “No, just making sure you’re hot.”

  “Yeah, I’m hot, but we already knew that.” Roseanne snapped her head to me with a look of surprise.

  “Yes, we know you are.” His laughter reached us both and Roseanne grinned beside me. “See you in a few minutes.”

  “I can’t believe you just said that.” Her laughter was contagious; I couldn’t believe I said that either.

  “Have you ever been on a movie set before?” Roseanne asked as we walked along.

  “Nope, can’t say that I have. I know we’ve had a few movies filmed out here and our patrol officers would assist with traffic and stuff, but I have never been around one.”

  “Well, I hope you find it interesting. I do. I think it’s amazing how many times we have to do scenes over and over again and then when the director finally puts it all together, so much of the scene ends up sitting on the cutting room floor, or they use the first take of the thirty that were shot.”

  “I’m sure it will be interesting.” I thought for a second before I spoke again. “Roseanne, what do you really think of Markus?”

  She blew air through her lips as though she was blowing bubbles in water. “He’s weird.”

  Weird, yeah, that would describe him pretty well. “How long has he been working with you guys?”

  “Hmmm…” Apparently, she was thinking. “We hired him on the last film, so about eight, maybe nine months ago.”

  “Do you know someone named LaLa?” I watched her as she screwed up her face trying to recall the name and coming up empty.

  “LaLa, no I don’t think so. Why?” She turned to me and looked away.

  “No particular reason, just wondering.”

  When we got to Ryan’s trailer, she turned to face me before reaching for the knob. “Look at you, getting all into investigation mode.”

  I glanced around us to make sure we were alone. “That is what I’m being paid to do.”

  “And other things,” she added.

  “I’d rather not think about those other things right now, thanks,” I muttered and put my hands into my pockets.

  “Ryan’s not a bad guy. He really does like you, you know.”

  I swallowed and was about to say something when the door opened and knocked Roseanne off the first step and into me.

  “Oh, sorry, Rose,” Troy called out as he stepped out quickly and grabbed her arm. She had slammed right into me, and thankfully, I got my hands out of my pockets in time to catch her or we would’ve both landed on the ground.

  “Damn, Troy! What’s the freaking hurry?” She pulled out of Troy’s hold.

  “Sorry, I was just opening the door to look for you ladies. Jackie, go in and calm him down, please.”

  After I rolled my eyes, I stepped around Troy and Roseanne and climbed the three steps into the trailer.

  The inside took me by surprise. After being in the tech trailer, this one was amazing. The floor was hard wood, and the track lighting made it shine as if it were wet.

  There was a small bar area to the right and the cabinets looked like mahogany and were as clean and shiny as the floor. The granite counter sparkled along with the crystal decanter and glasses that sat along the back edge.

  I continued to inspect the inside and turned to the left. Along the right wall was a long beige couch with big fluffy pillows. A mahogany coffee table sat in front of it and across from it, attached to the wall, was a 60-inch television. Holy cow! This place must cost more than my entire house!

  Mirrors on the ceiling reflected the images back down and made the room look even bigger. At the end of the trailer were two doors and a small galley-style kitchen, but even that area was fancier than what I lived with.

  One of the doors opened, and Ryan stepped out wiping his hands on a towel. He was wearing a button-down blue shirt, and it was completely undone. My breath caught in my throat as I got the first glimpse of his bare chest live and in person.

  I’d seen it in the movies, and it was incredible there, but I had no words for what I was looking at. His skin was smooth and not bulging with muscles, but toned to perfection and begging to be touched. My palms dampened at my sides, and I slipped my hands back into my pockets to control the shaking that had started for some unknown reason. Yeah, right.

  Ryan leaned against the wall, a towel hanging limply from his right hand. The shirt pulled away from his left side as he leaned and gave me the view of his perfect abs running along his body. He cleared his throat, and I jerked my stare from his body to his smiling eyes. My cheeks started to warm as a blush stole across them.

  He pushed off the wall and moved lazily toward me. His feet were bare and made no noise on the glossy floor. I forced myself to swallow the excess saliva that gathered in my mouth.

  “If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to be late to the set.” His voice was deep and smooth as he stopped directly in front of me. My chin rose as he grew closer, my head tipped back so that I could keep looking him right in those beautiful eyes.

  His musky fresh scent stirred my senses alive, and I wanted to lean in and inhale him deeply. He grasped my chin gently between his thumb and a knuckle and slowly lowered his lips to brush them against mine. I took the moment to draw his scent deeply into my chest, holding it there while he feathered another kiss over my partially open mouth. The tip of his tongue had barely reached out for a taste but it felt like I had gotten too close to a match.

  He straightened slowly, watching me. I was lost in him and a sudden realization struck
me: I was in a whole lot of trouble.

  He lifted one side of his mouth in a lazy grin, my heart galloped out of my chest. Yep, right away from me and any chance in hell that I had at getting out of this without a scar on it when I finally captured it and put it back inside my body; the chance of that was now long gone.

  The trailer door opened and Troy, Roseanne, and another woman walked in. Ryan slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me to his side.

  “Well, well, well…” the woman said as she inspected me from head to toe. “You’re cuter than I remembered.”

  She walked over to Ryan and kissed him on the cheek. “Hello, Ryan.”

  “Jackie, this is Beth, my agent. What are you doing here?” She dropped her large, garishly styled purse-slash-briefcase down on the floor with a loud thunk.

  “Is that any way to talk to the person who gets you these gigs? I came to see her in person, and I have another script I want you to look at.” She plopped on the couch behind her, lifted her feet up, and dropped them onto the coffee table. Bits of dirt and dust dropped off the bottom and onto the wood.

  I looked at the dirt briefly and felt like it was a sign of things to come. Great, just great.

  Chapter 17

  Ryan

  “Hello, Ryan,” Beth said after placing a sloppy kiss on my cheek.

  “Jackie, this is Beth, my agent. What are you doing here?” She wasn’t supposed to be at the set. In fact, she never came on location, ever.

  “Is that anyway to talk to the person who gets you these gigs? I came to see her in person, and I have another script I want you to look at.”

  “Would you mind getting your dirty feet off the furniture?” She rolled her eyes dramatically but put them back on the ground. “Since when do you ever deliver a script in person? That’s what FedEx is for.”

  “Do you have any coffee? I took the red-eye to get here this early. Aren’t you happy to see me?”

  I glanced at Roseanne and was about to ask her to go get Beth some coffee when she spoke. “One coffee coming up, anyone else?”

  “No thanks,” I replied and directed my attention back to Beth as Roseanne bolted out the door. “You know I love to see you, Beth. I just don’t get why you’re here.”

  She stood and pulled her black blazer down into place. “I told you, I wanted to see her for myself.”

  Absently, I pulled Jackie tighter to my side, and she slipped her arm around my waist. The tips of her fingers brushed the skin just over the top of my waistband and sent a jolt of sensation right to my groin.

  “So, Miss ‘I fear no evil,’ it’s nice to finally meet you.” I felt Jackie stiffen at my side, but she responded politely enough.

  “A pleasure to see you again, Beth.” She held her hand out to Beth without leaving my side, and Beth flicked a glance my way before shaking it.

  “Oh, that’s right, we did meet briefly in the hospital after you rescued him from the car accident. I forgot about that.” She grinned like a tiger about to attack Jackie. Then she moved her eyes back and forth between us and observed how we were standing.

  “You two keep up the act when you’re alone, too. Good idea. Probably makes it easier to do it in public if you rehearse in private.”

  “Maybe it’s not an act,” I replied slowly and felt Jackie stand still once again beside me.

  Beth threw her head back and laughed. “You and her together? For real? Yeah, all right, Ryan. Go ahead and have your little affair or whatever it is, and then we can move forward.”

  I wasn’t sure which one of us had a stiffer spine after that comment left Beth’s lips. I gently squeezed Jackie’s hip where my hand rested.

  “That was rude, even for you Beth,” I spit out through a tight jaw.

  She was about to answer when Troy stepped into the conversation. “Ryan, they’re calling for us in the director’s trailer, we need to go.”

  “All right.” I pulled away from Jackie and walked over to where I’d left my loafers. I slipped them on while I buttoned up my shirt.

  When I started for the door, I reached for Jackie’s left hand while Beth grabbed her right arm. “Leave her here with me for a few minutes. I want to get to know her.”

  Something flashed in Jackie’s eyes, but it appeared more like determination than concern.

  “It’s all right, Ryan, you go ahead. I’ll stay here with Beth while you’re in your meeting.”

  “You sure?”

  She gave me a gentle smile and lifted her chin. I leaned down and kissed her. “Yeah, I’m sure,” she said after I released her lips.

  Troy pulled me toward the door. “They are waiting for us, let’s go.”

  I glanced over my shoulder as I stepped down and saw Beth and Jackie practically glaring at each other. They looked like they were about to go into battle, I wondered who would win. Maybe I should have insisted that she come with me.

  “She’ll be fine. They need to work things out for themselves.”

  “Yeah, but I’m not sure she’s used to sharks.” Troy laughed beside me, and we stepped up the stairs into another trailer for the meeting.

  “She may not have dealt with sharks, but the woman carries a gun, I wouldn’t worry,” Troy whispered as we joined the rest of the group there.

  When we finished the meeting, Troy nudged me and said quietly, “Heads up, Kayla’s here.”

  “Are you serious? She doesn’t have a scene until next week. I don’t have time for her crap right now.”

  “I don’t think you need to worry, sounds like Beth handled it.”

  I turned to gape at him when we stepped outside. “Beth?”

  “Yeah, from what Rose just told me, Beth told her to take a hike and leave you alone.” He grinned.

  “I thought they were friends? Beth always said that Kayla and I should settle down.”

  “Well,” he shrugged, “maybe she likes Jackie better.” We passed a few of the production crew as we walked and exchanged casual hellos.

  “Somehow, I don’t see Beth picking Jackie over Kayla,” I said dryly.

  “It’s a good thing that you have the choice then, huh?” He slapped me on the back and we stepped into my trailer. Beth and Marie were sitting on the couch chatting when we walked in. I looked around for Jackie, but she wasn’t there.

  “She left when your dragon lady tried to get her hooks into her,” Beth said casually.

  “What do you mean she tried to get her hooks into her?” I gawked at her.

  “Kayla came in here all self-righteous telling her to get away from her man, and your new lady handled it like a pro.”

  I leaned back against the bar and crossed my arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Beth stood up and came to stand in front of me. “It means she put Kayla back in her place. If you’re a smart man, and I believe you are, you won’t screw this up. That woman is good for you, probably too good for you.”

  I tried not to wince at her last words, she was probably correct in her assumption that Jackie was too good for me, but I was more interested in how she put Kayla in her place. “What did she say to Kayla?”

  She cocked her head to the side. “You are going to have to ask her the particulars, but I will say she left Kayla standing there with her mouth hanging open. That’s not something I’ve ever seen, and it won me over. I like the girl.” She grinned, and I shook my head. This was a first.

  The details would have to wait, because Marie rushed me into the chair to get my makeup done so that I could head over to wardrobe. We were starting the first scene in less than an hour, and she had a lot of work to do.

  Troy spent the time talking on his cell phone while Marie and I chatted casually in front of the mirror in the back room. I wasn’t sure where Beth had disappeared to, or Jackie for that matter.

  Just about the time we were done, Markus walked into the room. “Hey, Ryan, you have your cell phone on you?”

  “No, sorry, forgot it at home, why?”

  “Oh, I just w
anted to update some data on it, no biggie. I’ll get it next time.” He turned to walk out, and I studied him. I had never been comfortable with him, but he was highly recommended for the job. When it came to the technology for our team, he was right on; but suddenly the conversation I had with Jackie about my cell phone made me wonder about him and what exactly was on my phone.

  Marie finished up with me while doing a good job of hiding my dark circles. That is, after she gave me a five-minute lecture about the importance of getting my rest.

  Troy and Drew showed up to get me to wardrobe, and I chuckled as I got dressed in the police officer’s uniform that I was wearing for the scene. As I put the vest on and then the shirt over it, a sense of pride washed over me. This is what Jackie is used to wearing, and it made me feel just a tad bit closer to her.

  As we piled into a white van with tinted windows along with eight other people, I asked Troy, “Where is Jackie?”

  “She’ll be over soon. She and Rose are going over some stuff and the list that she made.”

  I ground my teeth. I wish I could have spoken to Jackie before Rose gave her a list.

  Troy barked out a laugh. “Chill man, I saw the list. It isn’t as bad as you think.”

  “Yeah, whatever,” I muttered. I forced thoughts of my past and of Jackie out of my head and began to focus on the scene we were about to do.

  It was a major scene in the parking lot behind a building. Sheila Burke, who was the female lead, and I were starting off with an intense moment right off the bat. This scene would set the tone for the rest of the movie, a paranormal love affair that was forbidden.

  We arrived on scene, and only four of the actors were part of the filming today. Sheila, Devon Storms, Erik Walters, and I would spend the day getting the scene set to perfection. I huddled around the other actors to start working through the choreography. For the majority of the scene, it was just Sheila and me. When it was time for Devon and Erik, Shelia and I would be in the background. Like I normally did, I got lost in the job and didn’t think of Jackie until Sheila and I were supposed to share our first kiss.