by Jaci Burton
It was intense, a little bit overwhelming, and damned good. He groaned with his release, shuddering against her.
And when they both came down, she lay against his shoulder, the wood stairs biting against his back.
He didn't care. He held on to her, stroking her skin.
Des finally sat up and smiled at him.
"You're not much for words, are you, Logan?"
"Hey, you're the one who came over here and attacked me. I would have been fine with a conversation."
She laughed. "Sure. You just wanted to talk."
"Okay. Maybe not."
They headed upstairs to the bathroom to clean up. Des got redressed.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Back to my trailer."
He pulled her against him and kissed her, a long, thorough kiss that got him hard again. "I don't think so. We still haven't had that deep, intense conversation you want to have."
She untied the strings at the top of her dress and let it fall, then came toward him. "Okay, Logan. Get to talking."
He stepped backward toward the bed, leading Des with him. "I might have forgotten what I was going to say."
She pushed him onto the bed and he rolled her onto her side, tugging her against him. But she smiled as she laid her palm on his chest. "That's okay. I don't feel much like talking tonight."
And that's why he liked her. No relationship talk. No What Does This Mean Now That We've Had Sex? conversation. Just the two of them enjoying each other. No thinking about tomorrow.
Which worked just about perfectly for him. And, apparently, for Des, too.
He bent his head and kissed her, with no thought at all about that whole tomorrow thing.
Chapter 10
DES HADN'T EXPECTED to ever see Logan sitting in the makeup trailer of her movie set.
She'd challenged him and baited him about it, of course, mainly because he'd criticized her weaponry moves. She'd had to fight back, right? And she figured he'd never agree to get into costume, and especially not makeup. Most men would laugh and say they would, then never follow through. She should have known Logan wasn't most men.
While they were lying in bed two nights ago, he'd asked her when she wanted him to fulfill his obligation to act as an extra in her movie. Shocked, she'd told him today, and he'd said he'd make arrangements for him and Martha to be here.
Bright and early this morning, they'd shown up on set and had been directed right away to makeup. When she'd heard he was there, she wandered over to find him being fitted for a giant alien head, his face already being painted a hideous shade of purple on one side and green on the other, horns sticking out from his brows.
Des stayed mostly out of the way as she sipped her coffee and leaned against a nearby desk. "You look attractive," she said.
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "I think this is a new look for me. It makes me look mean. I think I'll get a lot of respect from the hands."
She laughed. "I think you'll scare the cattle."
"Maybe they'll respect me more, too."
She laughed. "Maybe. I'm going to go check on Martha."
Martha was in the trailer next door. Des could hear her talking as she walked in.
The makeup team was laughing as Martha told them stories about the ranch.
"Hey, Des." Eddie, one of the makeup guys, nodded to her.
"Hi, Eddie. How's it going?"
"Great. Martha's going to be hideous."
Martha laughed. "Thank you, Eddie. That might be the nicest compliment I've had in ages. Good morning, Des."
"Morning, Martha. Are you having fun?" She regarded Martha in the mirror. She had hair sticking up everywhere, black and white and purple to match the alien race, and her face makeup was moving along nicely.
"I'm having the time of my life. I can't wait for the hideous teeth of the Quazena people."
"They are pretty hideous. I hope you have a wonderful day on set, and you don't find it too tiring."
"Are you kidding? This is a lifelong dream."
Des patted her arm. "Great. Have fun, and I'll see you on set."
Des had to get her own makeup and hair done, so she was busy for a while. She didn't see Logan and Martha again until they were setting up for the scene. It was a crowd scene in a courtyard. The Quazena people were gathered for Des and Colt's trial. It was a loud and raucous scene, and the extras who were brought on were supposed to gesture in grunts and monosyllabic tones, which would be dubbed in later in Quazenic language tones--whatever those were going to be. The lead actors who were playing aliens had been trained to speak in the Quazena language, but the extras would mainly be panned over, so getting the language perfect wasn't an issue for them.
The assistant director came out and explained the scene to the extras, then Des and Colt and the other actors came out and got into position. Theo then called for action, and the high council of Quazena called out and asked the people to pass judgment for the invasion. Colt looked over at Des, and she gave him a look that told them they were going to be judged for crimes they hadn't committed. When the crowd rallied behind the council, shaking fists, some of the assigned actors throwing things at Des and Colt, she looked over at Colt, who tried to fight his bindings. She shook her head at him.
And then Des began to speak in Quazena, at least the first few words, something that shocked the council. She switched to English so the movie viewers would know what she was saying, but it would be understood she was speaking in the alien language.
"You judge us, but you don't even know who we are. My father brokered for peace for your nation. You knew him. You fought alongside him. He died trying to free your people." Des brought forth the tears needed for this emotional scene as the crowd and the council quieted to hear her speak. "He told me many stories of how peaceful the Quazena were, how they only wanted this war to end."
She looked out over the crowd, spotted both Martha and Logan standing near the front, their expressions giving nothing away.
"And now all you want is war. Where has your compassion gone, your quest for peace?"
"It died along with our mates and our children, when your people tore it away with your weapons."
"That's not true!" Colt tore against his chains. "Tell them that's not true."
She shook her head. "They won't believe us." She lifted her head to the council. "Someone is lying to you, trying to make you believe that it was the humans who betrayed you. We are your allies. My father was your friend."
The leader stood and came over to her, lifted her chin with one of his claws. "We have no friends." He took a step back and looked out over the crowd.
"They die."
The crowd exploded with cheers.
"And . . . cut," Theo said, loud enough to be heard over the roar of the crowd. "Thank you, everyone. That's a wrap for this scene."
Everyone clapped. Des and Colt were released from their chains and Colt hugged her. So did Richard, the actor playing the alien king.
"Incredible scene, Des. You killed it," Richard said.
"Thanks, Richard. So did you."
She wandered down the stairs and through the crowd of extras to find Logan and Martha standing together.
"Oh, honey. You were magnificent. I had to stop myself from crying, since I had to be against you in that scene."
"Thanks, Martha. I'm so glad you liked it."
"Martha's right. You pretty much nailed it up there. I kind of felt some sympathy for you."
She laughed. "Well, thanks. That's high praise coming from you."
"Do you have more today?" Logan asked.
"Yes. One more scene after this one. You're welcome to stay around and watch."
"No, thanks. I have work to do. I need to get this junk off of me and get back to work."
"Wait," Martha said. "First we need photos."
Logan rolled his eyes.
"Martha's right. You do look pretty incredible." Logan had on green and purple makeup, a stee
l breastplate, and leather pants. Despite the hideous makeup, the pants were sexy as all get-out on him, and the breastplate made him look like a fierce warrior. She'd like to get him naked except for the pants. Unfortunately, she had a call coming up soon, and she couldn't think of a legitimate reason to get him away from Martha.
Too bad. Maybe she'd steal the leather pants from the costume department and see if he'd wear them for her again.
"Did you bring your camera, Martha?"
"I did." She pulled it out of her leather apron and handed it over to Des.
Des snapped a couple pictures of Martha and Logan together, and then the two of them separately.
"How about one with you in it, too, Des?" Martha asked.
"Sure." Des grabbed her assistant, and Jessica took some pictures of her with Martha and Logan.
"This is so amazing. Thank you. We'll go turn our costumes in now," Martha said.
"Okay, if you head back to makeup, they'll help chisel off some of the major stuff, then you can shower off the rest."
Martha wandered off.
"Did you have fun?" she asked Logan.
"Actually, I did. More fun than I thought I would. Thanks for making me do this."
"You're welcome. Now go get that stuff off your face and hands before I laugh."
He did laugh. "Okay, I'll see you later."
He wandered off, and she turned and watched him, admiring the tight fit of the leather across his very fine ass.
AFTER TURNING IN his costume, it took a while to get the horns off Logan's eyebrows, and the people in makeup were nice enough to use whatever cream they had on hand to remove the majority of the stuff from his face. He got to use their bathroom to wash the rest off his face and hands.
Martha was busy watching some of the alien actors practice a battle scene, so he decided to wander around for a bit and let her enjoy. Ranch work could wait for a little while longer. He'd hate to drag Martha away from all this.
He looked for Des on a few of the sets, but didn't see her. Maybe she was taking a break, so he headed to her trailer to see if he could grab a few minutes with her before he had to head back to the ranch.
He walked up the steps and was about to knock, but heard the sound of voices. Not wanting to interrupt if she had someone in there, he was about to walk away, but then stopped.
"And I told you, Theo, I'm not interested. Now get the hell out of my trailer."
"I can make this bad for you, Des. I can make sure you'll never work again."
Logan frowned. Was this jackass serious?
He heard Des laugh. "And with one well-placed phone call to the media, there'll be a front-page story about how you're constantly hitting on your leading ladies, and then your wife will know what a cheating bastard you really are. Don't ever threaten me, Theo, and don't ever hit on me again. Because I have way more ammunition than you do, and plenty of other actresses who are more than willing to come forward and testify to what a scumbag you are."
Logan wanted to kick this sonofabitch's ass. He started to knock on the door, but it was swung open wide by Theo, who shot a glare at Logan, then shoved past him and down the steps. Des was right there at the door, her eyes widening when she saw him.
Logan turned to go after Theo, but Des grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
"He needs to be taught a lesson about how to treat women."
"I took care of it, Logan. He won't be bothering me again."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
He stared after the now-long-gone director, anger still boiling inside of him. "I don't like that guy."
She laughed. "Neither do I. But trust me, I can handle him."
He shifted his gaze to Des. "I trust you, and you did handle him."
But Theo was still an asshole, and he needed to be reminded about the right way to treat a woman. Logan would make sure of that. Maybe not today, but he was going to have a serious conversation with Des's director at some point.
Chapter 11
ON THE DAY before the Fourth of July, Des finished up her scenes by noon. She'd been avoiding Theo, much to his irritation, but she didn't care. She hit her marks, did what she was told, and anything beyond that he could kiss her ass.
Colt had the same scenes as she did today, so he finished up early, too.
"We should head over to the ranch today," Des suggested as they walked off the set and headed back to their trailers.
"Yeah? And why is that? So you can ogle the hot rancher?"
Des smiled. "I was thinking maybe Martha could use some help with preparations for tomorrow."
Martha had invited the entire cast and crew over to the ranch for tomorrow's big party. Since the Fourth landed in the middle of the week and Theo was being a dick about the tight shooting schedule, no one was getting more than a couple of days off. Some people had family flying in today, and Martha said there'd be plenty of food for families, too.
Des could only imagine the chaos.
"She probably could." He stopped at his trailer. "I'll take a shower, then meet you at yours and we'll head up to the ranch."
Des smiled. "Awesome."
Des hurried down the path to her trailer, took a quick shower, and decided on shorts and a T-shirt with a pair of tennis shoes. After being in makeup for the past two days, she didn't want to put any on, figuring Logan would be busy working today, anyway. Besides, he likely wouldn't care if she wore makeup or not, which was one of the reasons she liked him.
One of the many reasons she liked him.
Warning bells clanged in her head and her stomach tightened at the thought of Logan.
They'd only had two nights together, and it wasn't like he communicated with her regularly--or at all--when they were apart. She knew the score with him and what their relationship was--and wasn't. But still, she liked spending time with him. He was honest with her, never gave her any bullshit, and that was refreshing.
She finished drying her hair just as Colt showed up at her trailer.
"Ready?" he asked.
She gave him the once-over. He wore jeans, a tight T-shirt, and boots, his hair combed back and his skin tanned from being in the sun, which showcased his gorgeous steely blue eyes. "Is Tony flying in tomorrow?"
"Tonight. Along with Sarah and Callie."
"It'll be great to see them all. And Tony's going to die when he sees you dressed like that. You might not ever leave the trailer."
"Wouldn't that leave the gossips talking."
She looped her arm in his. "Well, we'll have to see about finding time for the two of you to be alone. I know how much you miss him."
"I do, Des. But you know how it is and has to be--for now."
She laid her head on his shoulder. "I want you to be able to live an honest life, Colt. And a happy one."
She heard Colt's sigh, knew how very unhappy he was with living the lie. But she also knew how important his career was and how afraid he was to risk it all by coming out.
Though she still didn't feel it was that much of a risk. His millions of female fans adored him and would love him no matter what. She was certain of it.
Then again, this was a monumental decision--both a career and a life decision, and not hers to make, so she'd just butt out.
They climbed into one of the available SUVs and drove over to the ranch. On the way over, she spotted several men on horseback leading cattle from one of the pastures. It was easy to pinpoint which of them was Logan.
"Colt, slow down," she said.
She rolled down the window and gaped as Logan and several of the other hands maneuvered the cattle across the rise. There had to be a couple hundred head of cattle, and five hands working them, expertly keeping them from straying. Logan was closest to her, easily maneuvering his horse as he moved the cattle in the direction he wanted them to go.
They disappeared over the rise in a cloud of dust, heading toward the ranch.
"You've got it so bad for him," Colt said.
She tu
rned to him. "Shut up. I do not. I just find the whole cattle operation fascinating."
He put the car back in gear with a grin. "It wasn't the cattle you were looking at."
No, it hadn't been. But she'd be damned if she'd admit that to Colt.
They pulled up in front of the house. A couple of the dogs were hanging out nearby, so Des stopped to pet them.
"Hi, kids. How's it going today?"
She lingered for a few minutes to play with the dogs, then they went to the front door and rang the bell. Martha came to the door, surprise lighting her face when she saw them.
"Des. Colt. What are you two doing here?"
"We thought you could use some help with prepping stuff for tomorrow," Des said as Martha let them in.
"Oh, that's so sweet of both of you. But don't you have to work today?"
"Finished up for the day," Colt said, laying a kiss on her cheek.
Martha blushed and led them into the kitchen.
There was a lot going on in there. Several pies had already been baked, and Martha had food cooking on all the burners at the stove. Plus, there was something in the oven, and she was prepping fruit at the counter.
"I'd like to say I have it all under control, but it's crazy here."
"That's why we're here to help," Des said. "We'd be bored in our trailers, and this looks like a lot more fun."
She and Colt went to the sink to wash their hands, then dove in, and, with Martha's instructions, got to work. Colt peeled bags and bags of potatoes, and Des sliced enough fruit to feed the entire town of Hope. They went from one task to another.
"Just how many people are coming tomorrow, Martha?" Colt asked as he dropped the ten pounds of potatoes he'd sliced into a giant pot of boiling water.
"I'd say we usually end up with about a hundred people. Plus your movie crew. And you said you had some friends showing up, too?"
"Just a few, I promise," Des said. "But if it's too much--"
She waved her hand. "It's no problem. Trust me, I'm not the only one doing the food. I'm just making a few side dishes. Everyone from town and the neighboring ranches also bring food. And we provide all the meat."
"That's very generous, considering it's quite a lot of people." Des couldn't imagine feeding that many.
"Well, we're a big ranch, and we like to give back to our community. It's like we're one big family. We have a huge area out to the side yard where we set up picnic tables for people to eat at. Logan and the crew will finish work early today and they'll start cleaning up the area and set up the tables."
