And the Winner Is

by Olivia Jaymes

  She picked up her wine glass but didn’t take a drink, slapping it back on the table.

  “So I guess I’ll just be up front and ask. How do we do this tomorrow? Do we pretend we barely know each other? Do we act like good friends? I’m not familiar with how this works the next day.”

  That’s why she’d been acting so strangely. It wasn’t a bad question, either. They’d promised no recriminations, no regrets. Have a fun, sexy affair and then move on with their lives but they hadn’t really talked about how to do that. Already he was thinking that he didn’t really want it to end. They had another week to ten days of shooting and he wouldn’t mind spending as much time as he could in bed with Sierra.

  Bad idea. She’s the kind of woman you get serious about. Don’t go there, dude.

  Ryan wasn’t in any position to make any promises. His career was too demanding and he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to be tied down to one woman.

  He was pretty sure he didn’t.

  This also wasn’t his first casual affair but it was Sierra’s. Of course, she was going to be feeling a little unsure as to the next steps. He wanted to reassure her that he wasn’t going to turn into an asshole. They would still be friends. Good friends.

  “I’m not going to pretend not to know you,” he replied after a long pause. “We’ll just act naturally, like we did before. We’re friends.”

  Her smile was sad. “Not really. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my short time in the movie business is that a person rarely stays friends with those they’ve met on set. You come together to do this huge project, and you get incredibly close to people, and then you all go your separate ways when it’s over. It’s strange but I’m getting used to it.”

  Sierra was right. Sure, there were a few people he’d clicked with and had stayed close with over the years but for the most part everyone moved on to the next movie without a backward glance. It didn’t make them bad people, it was simply the nature of the beast. Making a film was an all-encompassing activity. It took all of his time, attention, and passion. It didn’t leave much of anything for others.

  “It doesn’t make us less than friends right now,” he argued. “Just because we won’t text each other every five minutes doesn’t mean that this doesn’t matter. I just don’t do relationships very well. I’m not good at compromise, and if I’m honest, I don’t think I’ve ever compromised for any woman.”

  She was silent but she nodded as if she agreed.

  “So we’re buddies…pals? But we don’t ask each other for compromises? Okay.”

  “If you were in trouble and needed help, you could call me. I’d be there.”

  Her brows rose and she didn’t look convinced.

  “I mean it. If you were arrested and thrown in a Turkish prison I’d pull every string I know to try and get you out. I’d probably fail but I’d try.”

  He’d made her laugh, which was a relief. This conversation had become far too serious.

  “A Turkish prison? Really, Ryan? What would I be doing in a Turkish prison?”

  “That was for illustrative purposes only, but you know what I mean. If you need me, I’ll be there.”

  That answer seemed to satisfy her. “And I would do the same.”

  “So tomorrow…just act like you normally would. Don’t avoid me because I won’t be avoiding you. We have another seven days of shooting left. Let’s just enjoy it and have fun.”

  She nodded and yawned. “I can do that. It will be nice getting back to work. This was a nice little vacation but I hate being stuck in the house this much. It will be good to get outside.”

  It would be good to get back to work. There wasn’t much left to do on the picture and then he would have fulfilled his promise to Stan. He could then get back to his regularly scheduled projects. His career, which for all intents and purposes was his entire life.

  But there was a big part of him that wouldn’t mind staying here with Sierra for a while longer. A few days. Maybe a week.

  * * *

  The next day was easier than Sierra had imagined. Ryan was busy trying to catch up from the time they’d lost because of the storm so it wasn’t like they had the chance to hang out and chat. Any free time that he may have had was sucked up by Angela, the other actress planting her ass in Ryan’s trailer and not moving it unless she had a scene to do.

  Feeling jealous was stupid. Ryan had made it clear how he felt about Angela but that didn’t soothe Sierra even a little bit. The woman was making a fool of herself, that was for sure, but very few people seemed to be aware of it. Most of them thought that he was enjoying Angela’s attention. In fact, she overheard several people at lunch discussing “their affair” and wondering how quickly it would burn itself out.

  If they only knew.

  Sierra wasn’t anxious to announce that she’d slept with Ryan but perversely she didn’t want others to think he was sleeping with anyone else either.

  I’m an idiot.

  After grabbing a quick lunch, Sierra retreated to her own trailer for some peace and quiet. She tried to read but gave up after only a few pages. There was only one remedy for this mood. Billie.

  Her sister answered on the second ring.

  “Hey, how’s the weather? Are you still all iced in?”

  “It’s fifty-two degrees today. It’s like the ice never happened. I think spring has sprung.”

  “That’s great. When will you be home? Are you almost done there?”

  Sierra relaxed back in the soft chair, her tension beginning to melt. There was something about talking with family that did it for her. She could trust Billie with anything.

  “That’s a good question. The ice storm put us behind but Ryan’s been working all day to juggle the schedule to finish on time. I assume that means some late nights and early mornings.”

  “It always does.” Billie made a few sympathetic sounds before going silent for a moment. “So…how did it go?”

  Sierra knew exactly what her sister was referring to but for some reason she wasn’t feeling forthcoming about the details.

  “It went fine. All good.”

  “Fine?” There was doubt in Billie’s tone. “Just…fine? Oh honey, I’m so sorry.”

  Her sister thought that the sex had been bad or that Ryan had turned her down.

  “It’s not like what you’re thinking. Really. It was good. Ryan’s a great guy and we had a lot of fun. It’s just…”

  She didn’t quite know how to describe what she was feeling.

  “An inconsiderate lover?” Billie guessed. “A jerk? Did he not want to wear a condom? Men can be so selfish.”

  No one knew that better than Sierra, so it was funny that her sister was telling her that.

  “Nothing like that,” she assured Billie. “Seriously, he’s a great guy. It’s just so weird, I guess. We’re back on the set today and no one knows what we did for the last two days. It’s just surreal. I know it happened. I didn’t dream it, but we agreed it would be over when we came back to the set. We’re nice and friendly to one another but I can’t help but remember that he saw me naked about twelve hours ago.”

  There was quiet on the other end of the phone and for a moment Sierra thought she’d lost the call. But as usual, Billie was simply formulating her next question and it was a doozy.

  “It sounds like you really like him. I know you two made a deal but maybe you could talk to him about keeping this thing going between you. Have you thought about that?”

  For a brief moment this morning when Sierra had woken up alone in her bed, she had thought about it. However, reality was a bitch and she was immediately reminded of all the reasons it was a lousy idea, not the least of which was that she didn’t think Ryan was looking for anything more than a fling. The last thing Sierra needed was any kind of relationship. She was supposed to be exploring life and getting bogged down in emotions wasn’t on the list.

  “We made a deal,” Sierra said. “And I’m going to stick to it. Neither one of us
is in a place in our lives to do more than what we had. It was lovely but I guess I’m having a hard time moving on. This is all new to me. Maybe I’m not the wild and free type.”

  Billie’s laughter could be heard clearly through the phone. “You may not be but that’s okay. You tried and you had a good time. Everybody was an adult and nobody got hurt. You can move on to the next item on your list.”

  That’s exactly what Sierra would do. Always look forward, never back. The future was in front of her and Ryan Ward was in the rearview mirror.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Ryan stepped out of the tiny shower in his trailer and grabbed a towel to dry himself off, warm steam wafting around him. Wrapping the small rectangle around his waist, he stepped out of the closet they called a bathroom and into the main area only to find Angela lounging on his bed. This wasn’t going to end well.

  Shit. What in the hell did she want?

  She was becoming a bigger problem than he’d anticipated. Angela simply wouldn’t take no for an answer. He’d told her multiple times in multiple ways that he wasn’t interested but she kept coming back to hear it again. He was getting tired of it and her.

  “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in wardrobe?”

  The little bitch had been sifting through his private mail, but she looked up at him and smiled like she hadn’t just violated his privacy a few times over in the last few minutes.

  “I wanted to talk to you about that. I’m not sure my character would wear that outfit.”

  He had shit to do. Important stuff.

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass,” he growled, not bothering to temper his rising anger. He had a reputation for making grown men cry and it was well-deserved. He had all the patience in the world – for a long time – but eventually the well was going to run dry. “Wear whatever you want. Wear nothing. Just get out. I have real work to do.”

  Her gaze ran up and down his body, lingering on the towel he’d forgotten was his only garb. Turning his back to her, he shrugged into a terry cloth robe, tightening the belt around his waist.

  “Ohhhh, is Ryan a shy boy?” Angela cooed in a high squeaky voice that reminded him of nails on a chalkboard. She probably thought it was sexy. She’d be wrong. “I wouldn’t have imagined that you were modest. Not with your reputation.”

  He’d never minded his reputation with women but at this moment he kind of wished he was a monk.

  “Get out.”

  She stood up and walked closer to him. This trailer was far too small. “Now Ryan, don’t be that way. We can have so much fun.”

  “Jesus, woman. For the last time, I’m not interested. Go hit on one of the extras or that reporter that keeps trailing around after you. But I’m not on the menu. Got it?”

  She didn’t have a chance to answer. There was a knock on the door and Sierra’s voice on the other side.

  “Ryan? They said you wanted to see me.”

  A moment of blind panic hit him. What to do?

  “Just a second.”

  He needed to dress. He needed to get Angela out of here. And he needed to do it all in two seconds without alerting Sierra.

  This won’t look good.

  As unbright as Angela was on most occasions she must have seen that panic on Ryan’s face because she began to smile. Before he realized what she was doing or could even stop her, she’d pranced over to the door and opened it.

  Holy hell.

  “Come on in. Ryan and I are pretty much finished. For now.”

  Ryan could only stand in the middle of the trailer appalled at the entire situation that had to look damning to Sierra. He’d told her there was nothing going on with Angela and she’d believed him but this…

  She stepped in looking gorgeous, her long hair in a mass of curls courtesy of the hair department. Her lips were done up in some shiny gloss and the first thing he thought about was what that pretty mouth could do.

  Easy there, tiger.

  Her gaze darted from Angela to Ryan to Angela and then finally back to him. “You wanted to talk to me?”

  There was doubt in her tone and her body language was tense. Time to try and fix this.

  “I do,” he said firmly. “Angela, you should be in wardrobe.”

  The little bitch had been watching the back and forth with a shrewd gaze. Maybe she wasn’t quite as dumb as he’d thought because she was putting two and two together and coming up with the fact that there was something between Ryan and Sierra.

  Angela opened the door again and stepped out. “Ta ta, lover.”

  This time Ryan locked the door behind her. No one would get in without his knowing it.

  “That wasn’t what it looked like.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  They both knew what he was talking about.

  “She was here when I came out of the shower. I didn’t invite her.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’m not interested in her.”

  “You told me that.”

  “Well, it’s true.”

  “I believe you.” Sierra glanced over her shoulder to the closed door. “I’m not sure the rest of the cast and crew believe you, but I do.”

  He was relieved. “Good. Because it’s the truth.”

  “It’s none of my business anyway. We’re not a couple or anything. You’re free to do whatever or whomever you want.”

  Ryan sure as hell was. Why wasn’t he happier about it? Sierra was smiling as if she’d received a pony for her birthday.

  “I just wanted to be clear.”

  “You are. As crystal.” She raised her brows in question. “You wanted to see me?”

  What? Right. He had asked to see her. He’d spent all fucking night working on the stupid schedule and he wanted to tell her about the changes himself. He could have just posted them but that’s not how he handled his actors. Whether he’d slept with them or not.

  Now that she was here, however, and looking so beautiful he was thinking that maybe the changes he’d made to the schedule needed to be changed back. There were a million reasons why they couldn’t continue their relationship but damned if he could remember even one of them at this moment. He did vaguely recall that those reasons were important though, so he needed to keep a lid on his libido. His little head didn’t make the decisions around here.

  “It’s about the schedule.”

  “You were going to work on it.”

  He nodded and grabbed his tablet from the counter. “I was up all night and I’ve decided to cut the shopping scene. It’s really not needed and we have the rest of the makeover scene, which is written far better.”

  Sierra didn’t have the ego he’d seen in so many he’d worked with. She’d take her scene being cut like the professional that she was. But he’d still wanted to tell her personally.

  “Okay, I think that’s a good call. The scene was a little redundant.”

  She’d taken the news as he’d expected. He wouldn’t mind working with her again. She’d done a great job with her character Molly. Sierra had talent, although she didn’t seem to know it.

  “So I moved your last scene up to tomorrow.”

  Tilting her head, her brows pulled together. “You moved the scene?”

  He nodded, perusing the color-coded schedule one more time. “I did. This way you’ll be all finished by end of day tomorrow. I’m not sure what travel arrangements you’ve made but if you need help changing them just let one of the production assistants know and we’ll help you. They can be available to give you a ride to the airport if you need it. Of course, you’re welcome to stay in town and attend the wrap party. It’s up to you.”

  He didn’t want to look up and see her face but he did it anyway. Her cheeks were pink and her arms were crossed in front of her chest protectively. Shit, she’d taken it the wrong way. This was why he’d wanted to give her the news. Privately.

  “This isn’t what you’re thinking, Sierra. I had to make changes to the schedule. You’re only lea
ving three days early.”

  And I argued with myself for an hour at two in the morning before finally relenting and making the change.

  “It’s just a surprise, that’s all. Actually, I’m anxious to get back home where it’s warm.”

  He couldn’t seem to stop explaining even though he had nothing to feel guilty for. This was business, and they were over. They’d agreed on that.

  “This has nothing to do with us or what happened between us. This is how I can bring the movie in on time.”

  “It’s fine, Ryan. There’s little difference in tomorrow or a few days later. I do appreciate you letting me know. Is there anything else?”

  He wanted to yes, that there was more but he wasn’t sure what it was. He didn’t want to see her go but their parting was inevitable. In the wee hours of the morning, he’d finally come to that conclusion. They had a great couple of days but that time was over. He had work to concentrate on and so did she. He really liked Sierra Oliver and if he’d been in a different place in his life…or a different person altogether…this scene might have a different ending.

  “No, there’s nothing else.”

  She murmured a thank you and turned on her heel and walked out of his trailer. For a brief moment he wanted to call to her, bring her back but that would have been a mistake.

  They’d made an agreement. A fling and then go their separate ways. It was only coming three days earlier than planned. It didn’t change the fact that there was no future between them.

  With any other woman he would have been relieved that she was going home sooner rather than later. It just showed that Sierra wasn’t just any woman. The man that she ended up with would be a lucky bastard.

  It just wouldn’t be Ryan.

  * * *

  Numb, Sierra walked back to the trailer she shared, grateful that she had it to herself. She wasn’t sure what all she was feeling – or not feeling – and she wanted to sort it out alone. She’d purposely not allowed emotion to show on her face as she’d left Ryan’s trailer. A movie set was a viper pit of gossip and she didn’t want stories about her to begin making the rounds, although they wouldn’t do it for long. The movie was scheduled to end production in a week.