Fire and Temptation

by Melanie Shawn

  With Ruby and Nolan, she’d always had a kiss and tell policy with her other “relationships.” It’s not as if she went into graphic detail about her intimate adventures, or misadventures, but she wasn’t a closed door either. Part of that, she realized now, was that since it was never very enjoyable or memorable, emotionally or physically, she never felt as if she was revealing anything personal.

  But just like everything Evan related, this was different. Special. She wanted to protect what they’d shared.

  During those few, precious hours, Evan had taken her to places that she’d never known existed, both emotionally and physically. Physically speaking, they’d gone three rounds as he’d put it. The first was on the floor in his front room. After that he’d carried her upstairs to his room and they’d laid in his bed talking, laughing, touching, and kissing for an hour that led seamlessly into round two. Then they’d gone downstairs and binged on leftover pizza and ice cream where there had been more talking, laughing, touching and kissing before he bent her over the counter for round three.

  Then the clock struck midnight, literally, and the magic was over. Her car arrived and she had to go. Their bubble popped. She got dressed and rushed out to her version of a pumpkin, a black Town Car.

  The rest of the weekend, her body kept reminding her of that night. Every time she sat down, stood up, took a shower, or got dressed. She’d been sore in places she’d never thought she could get sore in. Everything ached. Her lower back, her calves, even the top of her feet. She didn’t even know that someone could be tender on the top of their feet, but she had been. But it was all worth it.

  Still, her favorite part of the night had been the talking and laughing. Just like in the car after the hike, she’d opened up to Evan about things she’d never talked about with anyone. And he’d talked to her about his days playing professional baseball, his time on the hotshot crew in Southern California, his family, and even a little about his ex. That was where the true intimacy happened. But round three was a close runner up. It had been so raw and erotic, and there had been some light spanking, which she’d loved. She felt herself blushing as she remembered how her body had clenched with pleasure at the sting of his large hand.

  “You feeling okay?” She felt Nolan fanning her skin. “You’re getting flushed.”

  “I’m fine. Just a little warm,” she lied. Again.

  Her eyes remained shut but she heard him switch on the mini fan that sat beside the vanity mirror. No more spanking memories, she chided herself.

  This was the time that she needed to use to prepare for the next scene. And she tried to do just that. But her mind was on one track. The Evan track. He consumed her thoughts and she wasn’t sure when that was going to change.

  When they’d said goodbye at his door, she’d panicked, not knowing what to say or do so she’d made some comment about being relieved that they got that out of their system.

  She’d never experienced any morning-after awkwardness because she hadn’t cared enough about any of her partners. But she did care about Evan, and she wasn’t sure that was a great idea. Ruby had made it clear that he wasn’t interested in a relationship, and she didn’t want him to think that she was one of those girls that had some fairytale idea of what their time together had meant. Even if the truth was, she sort of did.

  All weekend she kept telling herself that happily-ever-afters didn’t exist. But then she’d think about Ruby and Ty and Nolan and Pierce. They had theirs, and part of her wondered if she could have hers, too.

  The door opened and her lids lifted to see Ruby coming in.

  “Do you want to lose an eye?”

  She shut her eyes. “Sorry.”

  “They’re ready for you,” Ruby singsonged, sounding downright giddy as she lowered her voice. “And guess what.”

  “What?” Both Nolan and Shayne replied.

  “He’s here.”

  Shayne’s eyes popped wide open and looked around the small space. The only people in the room were Ruby, Nolan, and herself.

  “Not here, here. He’s out with Kyle.”

  “Brawny Man is here?” Nolan sounded as excited as Ruby.

  Ruby nodded emphatically and the door opened again. All three of them whipped their heads toward the sound expectantly. When they saw it was just a PA, they let out a collective breath.

  “Kyle asked if you could go over a few things. They’re almost ready to shoot.”

  “She’s ready.” Nolan stepped back, allowing Shayne to get out of the chair.

  As she made her way down the metal steps, she heard Nolan and Ruby whispering behind her. She tuned them out. She was too busy with the voices in her head. She wondered what it would be like when they saw each other again. Would anyone be able to pick up on what they’d done? She considered herself a serviceable actress but would she be able to disguise her feelings? And exactly what were her feelings?

  Those questions were circling in her mind as they followed the PA to set. Suddenly, she heard Nolan gasp beside her.

  She looked up and there was Evan, standing beside Kyle. His feet were planted shoulder width apart in an authoritative stance. His arms were crossed, which caused the cotton material on his thermal shirt to pull against his bulging bicep.

  “He’s even better than you described.” Nolan whispered in her ear.

  Just then, Evan looked up. Their eyes locked and Shayne felt herself smile, suddenly not caring in the least if people noticed the connection between them.

  “Shayne Fox! Just the woman I wanted to see.” Kyle said as he approached her, script in hand.

  As Kyle went over the changes he wanted to make to the dialogue, the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Evan was watching her. She knew it.

  Discreetly, she snuck a glance in his direction. He was talking to Ruby and Nolan with only his profile visible to her. It seemed impossible that he could still be looking at her, but she knew different.

  He was.

  He is looking.

  *

  “Roll sound.”

  “Speed.”

  “Background action.”

  “Action,” the assistant director shouted.

  Evan sat, mesmerized, in a director’s chair in video village. It was basically a tent with monitors being fed from the cameras on it and chairs surrounding them. They were on location in the National Forest off Highway 50. He was wearing headphones so he could hear the scene play out on each take.

  He’d been watching Shayne in her element for the past couple of hours and he was blown away. He hated to admit it, but he’d always dismissed acting as a glamorous and easy job.

  Now that he’d gotten a behind-the-scenes look at the production, his opinion was changing. For the last two hours, he’d watched take after take of Shayne and Kyle going to emotional places he’d never even dared to go to privately.

  When he watched movies, he’d never thought about what it would take to get multiple shots. How many times an actor would have to make themselves cry, or scream, or laugh in a single day. He guessed that was the point in entertainment, though. Suspended reality. The audience wasn’t supposed to be thinking about those things.

  “You don’t understand.” Shayne pushed Kyle’s chest.

  Kyle stood his ground, unmoved. “Then make me, Joey. Make me understand.”

  “It was my fault. It was my fault.” She repeated the words over and over again as she started pounding on Kyle’s chest and dissolving into tears. He was wearing a special vest so he wouldn’t be hurt and she was really going for it. “It was my fault.”

  “Cut.”

  “We have a plane.”

  That was the fourth time that they’d had to stop shooting because of something totally out of their control. Earlier, a bird flew down and landed on a branch between Kyle and Shane and chirped. The two of them decided to have a little fun and continued as if the bird were part of the scene. Someone said that that would be making the outtakes for sure. Another time a light they were u
sing went out. And then there were campers that wandered onto the set and stood in frame watching. If it was Evan he would’ve been frustrated that he’d have to start over but Kyle and Shayne seemed to take it all in stride.

  “So, how are you liking Hope Falls so far?” Kyle asked Shayne as they waited for the plane to be out of range.

  “I love it. I can see why you and Karina settled down here. The people are so nice, friendly, and welcoming.”

  “They are. They welcomed me with open arms and Aurora and Angel as well. The community is truly a family,” Kyle sang Hope Falls praises. “And it’s a magical place where true love reveals itself.”

  Shayne chuckled, thinking that Kyle must be joking.

  Kyle continued, “Some say that it’s in the water, other’s say it’s in the air, but people are known to find their true loves, their soul mates, their lobsters, here surrounded by these sacred woods.”

  Evan watched Shayne’s face on the monitors. She looked…terrified. He didn’t think it had anything to do with Kyle’s eccentricities but rather the L-word that had her looking like she’d just seen a ghost.

  “What’s wrong, my dear?” Kyle obviously noticed that all of the color had drained from her face. It was made even more evident thanks to the angry, red prosthetic gash she had across half of her face. “You look pale. Can we get a retouch?”

  “I’m fine,” she shook her head. “Just a little tired.”

  Nolan let out a bark of laughter as he appeared in frame and started applying makeup to her cheeks.

  “This one doesn’t believe in love,” her stylist said.

  “Yes, I do,” Shayne defended herself.

  With that, Evan slumped back in his chair as relief spread through him. He hadn’t even realized that he’d been on the edge of his seat.

  “I believe in love,” Shayne continued. “For other people. Just not for me.”

  Nolan scrunched his nose at her and gave her a wink as a PA yelled, “We’re clear!”

  Love was a subject that they hadn’t covered during their night together. They’d talked about everything else, but not love. Her revelation didn’t surprise him. Her life had not been easy. She’d had her make-shift family in Ruby and Nolan, but never one of her own.

  In his mind, family was what taught people about love. They were the people that should be there for you no matter what. Like his Grandpa Doug said, love is a life sentence. It’s unconditional. It’s a responsibility. That’s how his parents had raised him and his brothers. To always be there for each other no matter what.

  “Back to one,” another crew member announced.

  Nolan finished up Shayne’s makeup and everyone got back into position.

  “Reset.”

  “Roll sound.”

  “Speed.”

  “Background action.”

  “Action,” the assistant director shouted.

  The camera started on a close up of Shayne and Evan found himself leaning forward in his chair once again. Even with a fake cut across her face, she was stunning.

  The entire weekend, every time he’d closed his eyes, he’d seen that face in agonizing detail. He’d see the cupid’s bow of her full, pink lips. The midnight blue flakes that floated in her aqua irises. The arch of her symmetrical brows that perfectly framed her sweetheart face. The indentation at the tip of her turned up nose. It was as if every nuance of her features were imprinted on the back of his lids.

  By Sunday, it had driven him so crazy that he decided to get out of town and visit his parents in Sacramento. It hadn’t helped him get his mind off of her. All his mom had wanted to talk about was Shayne Fox. She bombarded him with questions about what she was like. If she was as pretty in person. How tall she was. What she smelled like. If she and Evan had gotten to know each other.

  He knew all the answers, and he gave his mom versions of the truth.

  He’d told his mom that she was prettier in person. But the truth was as photogenic as she was, the camera didn’t come close to doing her justice. It could never capture the most attractive thing about her which was her essence.

  He’d told his mom that she was about five foot two. But the truth was she came up to his chest exactly. And that she fit perfectly when he pulled her into his arms.

  He’d told his mom that she smelled nice. But the truth was she smelled like a field of wild flowers in summer. Fresh. Clean. Crisp. And that it was the most intoxicating scent he’d ever had the luxury of inhaling. If she could bottle her scent she’d be a millionaire.

  He’d told his mom that they’d gotten to know each other a little bit. He didn’t tell her that from the moment he’d laid eyes on her it was as if his soul recognized her. He’d never felt intimacy the way he’d felt it that night with Shayne as they talked, laughed, kissed, and touched. He didn’t tell his mom that, either.

  Normally, he had to force himself to speak. To open up. To share what was going on in his head. But with Shayne it was so easy that it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

  “Damn. She’s really good.” Evan whispered under his breath.

  “She is,” Nolan agreed.

  Evan had been so caught up in his own thoughts he hadn’t even noticed him come into the tent.

  Nolan leaned closer, as he spoke in a very low, quiet voice. “And just so you know, she was lying about the love stuff. I mean, she doesn’t believe that. She thinks she does, but that’s just her turtle talking.”

  “Her turtle?” Evan had no idea what Nolan was talking about.

  “The shell that she keeps on her back and retreats into to protect herself. She’s been singin’ that same song since I met her. It wasn’t true then, and it’s not true now. She wants and deserves love. Just like we all do.”

  Evan’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out. “I have to take this.”

  Nolan gave him an assessing look as he scooted by him out of the tent. He walked several yards away from the makeshift set and over a ridge so that his conversation would not disturb the filming.

  “Hey, man. Thanks for getting back to me.” He’d put in a call on Saturday to one of his old teammates from the Waves. Troy Valentine.

  “No worries. I just got off the phone with Donavon and I have a name for you. He’s discreet. Ex-CIA and still works in counterintelligence but he does some contract work by referral. I’ll send you his info.”

  “Thanks. I really appreciate it.”

  “You gonna tell me what this is about? Anything I need to worry about.”

  “No. I’m good. It’s not for me.” Evan changed the subject. “How’s Mila?”

  “She’s almost a teenager.” The way his friend said it made Evan laugh for real this time.

  Troy had left the team after his parents were killed in a car accident. He’d moved home to a small town on the Oregon coast to take care of his baby sister. She was barely three at the time.

  “I’m actually taking her to Disneyland for her birthday in a couple of weeks. If you’re around maybe we’ll take a detour to see you in Hope Falls.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “Alright, man. Later.”

  The call disconnected and seconds later, the info Troy had promised him appeared in a text. He pressed the number to call it before he lost his nerve. Evan looked over his shoulder to make sure that he was alone as he lifted the phone to his ear.

  He still wasn’t sure if he was doing the right or smart thing, but just like everything where Shayne was involved, he found himself doing it anyway.

  Chapter 17

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  Shayne was still not used to the butterflies that showed up whenever she was faced with a new Evan situation. Or any Evan situation. Tonight, Deanna had invited her for dinner at Evan’s brother’s house. She hadn’t spoken to him about it, but Deanna had said that he was going to be there.

  Her lips vibrated against themselves as she blew out a breath and grabbed her purse. She took one last look in the full-lengt
h mirror that stood in the corner. Nolan had picked out several (five!) “casual-chic ensembles” for her to choose from. God bless him.

  The outfit she’d settled on was a coral deep V-neck shirt with a black lace bralette that peeked out from the low neckline. It was paired with black skinny jeans and gray ankle boots. Accessorized with silver hoops and bangle, an infinity necklace, and a metal-tipped leather belt.

  She looked fine. Cute even. So why did she want to change so badly?

  This was the fifth outfit that she’d tried on. Nolan had given up and gone out in the other room to hang with Ruby after she tried on the first outfit for the third time. She’d tried on number two and four twice but finally landed on lucky number five.

  Is five lucky?

  She knew seven was lucky. Maybe she should ask Nolan to pick out two more outfits and choose the seventh.

  “Stop it,” she reprimanded herself as she forced herself to leave. On her way down the hall she wondered if attraction makes everyone this insane or was it just her?

  If romcoms were to be believed she wasn’t alone, she concluded as she entered the front room where Nolan and Ruby were lounging on the oversized couch watching Stranger Things.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” Shayne offered once more. It was a long shot that either of their answers would’ve changed, but she figured that she didn’t have anything to lose.

  “We weren’t invited,” Ruby chirped, sounding pleased as punch to stay put.

  “So?” Shayne shrugged, desperate for their backup.

  “I think it’s considered rude to bring plus one, or two–,” Nolan responded as he lifted Ruby’s foot, which he was massaging as she lay on the couch next to him, “—to a family dinner.”

  “Don’t stop!” Ruby protested as she dipped her spoon into her pint of Cinnamon Roll Halo Top ice cream, her current preferred craving.