by Dani Dundee
Touching him for the sheer pleasure of feeling his skin against mine.
His eyes darkened, and I thought my heart would stop with what I saw in the depths.
Desire.
“Pretty sure if we keep this up, I won’t be working anything but the clasp on the back of your bra.” His voice was even, but he shifted his weight, adjusting his pants. This was the Luke I knew, an atrocious flirt who said the first thing that came to his mind, especially with me.
A flush of feminine pride flushed through me.
I am lioness, hear me roar. Ha-ha.
I stifled a laugh. “That’s going to be awfully hard for you.” I scooped up my palette and began to brush on the base makeup that would help keep the lights from shining on his skin under the camera. I moved around him, looking him in the face.
“Really? I think I could manage.” He grinned up at me and I shook my head.
“No smiling.” I brushed over the slight puckering of skin around the left side of his lips that ran down his neck. Really, for the explosion to have done so little damage he was lucky. I kinda liked the look; it made him more rugged. He flinched under my hand and I drew it away.
“You don’t think I could unhook the back of your bra?” His eyebrows shot up and I let myself relax into the game we’d played since I’d met him. He would say something outrageous and totally off key, and I found a way to stump him.
“No, I don’t.”
“Why’s that?” His hand was on my knee, sliding up my thigh to my hip leaving behind it a trail of energy that urged me closer to him. I obliged, lowering my face as though I needed to get closer to apply the base around his eyes.
I winked at him even as my face heated. “It clasps in the front.”
His lips twitched and the laugh that burst out of him made me smile. “Damn, that’s a good point.”
I focused on my job, or at least tried to as Luke found ways to touch me, sometimes subtle, sometimes not so much. Being left handed, I kept my right hand on his shoulder, just because I could as I worked the makeup over his skin. The time flew and I found myself standing back. “There, that should keep you from shining into the cameras.”
“Better that it keeps him from breaking them.”
I knew that voice—Luke’s ex. She’d been badmouthing him ever since we found out he was to be on set for the day. Under my hands, Luke’s body tensed, but he said nothing to defend himself. He couldn’t possibly believe she was right, could he?
My spine stiffened and I turned, not even questioning the urge to protect him. Even so, the words stuck on my tongue. “Abby, is that really necessary?”
Around us, the room seemed to draw in a deep breath and then went silent. A mere makeup girl did not question the assistant director. But someone had to stand up for Luke.
Abby glared at me. “What did you say?”
I cleared my throat, feeling every eye on the room on me, most especially Luke’s. “I asked if that was really necessary? Moral should be kept up, not taken down. Right? Isn’t that your job, to keep the team motivated?”
The color in her face went from bright red to a near purple. Crap, this was going to turn out badly however it went. I swallowed hard but didn’t look away from her.
With a shaking hand Abby pointed at me. “Get out. You’re fired.”
For a split second I was horrified, and then I realized why she fired me.
Because I’d stood up to her. “You can’t fire the whole crew, Abby. And that’s what you’re going to have to do if you fire everyone who is honest with you.”
The room kinda gasped and I turned my back, quickly packing my tote with my brushes and pallets. Tears burned hot along the edges of my eyes, and I dashed them away as I all but ran from the makeup room, and across the open set. I’d lost my job and my chance with Luke all in one fell swoop.
The sound of hurrying footsteps made me move faster. The last thing I wanted was to face anyone else. So much for being brave and bold. “Go away!” I yelled, fear making my voice quiver.
Hands grabbed at me and spun me around. Reflexively I swung my tote. “Let me go!”
“Whoa, easy kitten, I’m not going to argue with you.” His held his hands up in mock surrender and I lowered my tote.
“I’m sorry. She’s been awful ever since we were told you were coming on set and I just . . . I couldn’t just let her say those things to you without saying a thing back.”
His shoulders shook and he dropped his hands to my shoulders. “I have never had anyone defend me before, at least, not a girl half my size.”
A shuddering breath escaped me. “You aren’t mad?”
He slid one hand from my shoulder down my arm to my hand where he twinned our fingers, sending my heart rate through the roof. “Mad? Damn, I need to take you to my next family reunion and watch you put all the old biddies in their places. You’d make them choke on their tea for sure.”
Laughing softly, I put my free hand to my lips. “I really am sorry. I wasn’t that bad, was I?” Worry filled me, what if he thought I was a bitch?
“You’re the one who got fired. I should be apologizing. And you weren’t bad at all, kitten. I doubt anyone’s ever told her off that nicely.”
I nodded and found myself looking at the ground again, fighting to lift my eyes to his. The hard chiseled cut of his jaw and those sweet sensual lips all but sang to me of the heaven I’d find if we actually kissed.
Bold, I thought to myself, be bold. No more shrinking wallflower that he will forget the minute he walks away.
“You want to make it up to me?” I arched an eyebrow.
A slow smile spread over those so kissable lips. “You obviously have something in mind.”
I drew in a breath and watched as his eyes dipped to my chest. I had his attention, that wasn’t in doubt. “I haven’t been on a date in a long time. Think you’ll have enough energy after work for me?”
He lowered his head, and for just a split second, I thought he was going to kiss me, but he went to the side of my face. His lips brushed along the edge of my ear as he spoke, sending shivers down my spine and raising goose bumps along my arms. “And what do you want for your reward, because you just gave me exactly what I wanted.”
Luke stepped back, a wicked grin lighting his face and eyes, stealing what was left of my breath. His every move was liquid grace, mesmerizing me, making me want to touch him even more, if that was possible.
He held his hand out, palm up. “Can I have your phone?”
Unable to talk due to the sensations he’d raised all over my body, I handed him my phone obediently. He took it, typed a few things and then handed it back. “I want to see you tonight, Soleil. Now you have my number. Text me so I have yours, in case things run late.” With one last wink, he turned and headed toward the makeup room.
I watched him walk away, enjoying the view. I’d finally done what I’d been waiting to do for years. Luke knew I was here, knew I wanted him.
And he wanted me.
Lord have mercy, what had I done?
***
Chapter Three
Luke
I walked back to the makeup room, feeling Soleil’s eyes on me, and for the first time since my accident, I forgot I had scars, that I was injured. Abby met me at the door, her face twisted, and I wondered what I’d ever seen in her. Long legs, nice rack, but where was the heart?
“You set that little nobody up to do that, didn’t you?” She poked a finger in my chest, hard enough that it bent the tip back. I didn’t flinch.
“Seriously, Abby, someone stands up to you and you . . . what . . . can’t handle it? Soleil is right. It’s your job to keep things positive. But instead, you’re a bitch to us all and dealing with you is nobody’s idea of a good day.”
I brushed past her, calling over my shoulder. “You might be able to fire a makeup girl, but only the stunt coordinator can let me go. Which means you have to put up with me, Abs.”
A frustrated shriek followed
me and I grinned all the way to the director’s chair at the edge of the scene. The camera’s were set, lights were being powered up, and the sound guys were placing microphones. In front of me, the stunt waited.
Once there, a case of the jitters caught hold of me. The stunts required weren’t major, but there was height and an explosion involved, just like my last stunt. Sweat trickled down my face and I jumped when someone slapped me on the back.
Hugh stood there, concern in his eyes. “You don’t have to do this, man. Jet thought it was a good idea. I wasn’t so sure.”
My throat was tight and I struggled to swallow. “No, I do have to do this. Jet’s right.”
Hugh grimaced. “Don’t tell him. He’ll be hell to work with.”
The laugh died in my throat. “Yeah, no doubt.”
Concern was still in Hugh’s dark blue eyes. He was pretty soft under all that bluster. “Are you sure? I know he bullied you into this, but—”
I waved him off. “I know, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
With a shit-eating grin, he dropped to his knees and threw his hands over his head. “You’ll still be the idol I worship.” Another day I would have played along. Hell, I’d taught him everything I knew when it came to hiding the pain and fear behind the games and laughter.
“Not today, Hugh.”
Standing, he brushed off his knees and gave me two thumbs up. “Then make it a good one. Make that stunt sing for you.” He slapped me on the back again and walked to the side where Jet and the photographer Jasmine waited for him. Her camera was up and she was snapping shots, which only made me sweat more. She was on my left side, would the pictures pick up the scars?
A slight buzz in my front pocket snapped me out of my thoughts. I pulled my phone out.
You can do it. You’re the best this business has ever known, don’t doubt it.
I didn’t recognize the number but I could almost hear her voice as if she were standing there with me. Soleil. She was too good for me.
Didn’t mean I was going to turn her down.
Hugh handed me the harness I’d be wearing and helped me get it on. The stunt was fairly straightforward from the information I’d been sent. My stunt was filling in for a big guy who apparently was the next Arnold, according to industry insiders, but he refused all his own stunts. And it was damn hard to find someone big enough to play his part. So when the one guy backed out, they had no other option.
Which was where I came in.
In this particular scene I was to run across the fake street, through a burned out building and dive through a plate glass window to a huge drop into a pool. There would be an explosion over my head, and fire racing along the top of the water. Simple. I’d done stunts like this before. Except it wasn’t simple, not with the stunt that had burned me to a crisp. Fear tightened my chest as I checked the straps on my harness. I tossed my phone to Hugh who caught it easily, held his hands as if he were praying and then blew me a kiss. “Go get ‘em, Tiger.”
“You’re an idiot, Hugh.”
He shrugged, but was still smiling. “Then that makes two of us.”
The director yelled for quiet on the set. Sweat dripped down my face, and I focused on what was in front of me. Tried not to think about all the ways it could go wrong.
The director gave the signal and I took a deep breath. Replaying Soleil’s words in my head, hearing her voice.
“What’s it going to be, Luke? What do you want?”
I wanted to be free of this fear. To face my life again, whole and unbroken.
I sprinted across the street, but the seconds ticked by as slowly as if I ran in mud, colors and faces outlined in stark relief as my adrenaline soared. My heart hammered as I hit the plate glass with my shoulder, ducking my head.
The leap through the glass wasn’t quite right, I felt it pull me to one side, which sent me into the fall a split second too early. I bounced off the edge of the “cliff” and fell sideways. The world seemed to slow as I dropped and I had a moment to consider what the hell I was doing.
Wrenching to one side, I turned the fall into a dive at the last second, cutting into the water, above me the water lit up, flames dancing along the surface. A baptism by fire and water to start again, what more could a stuntman ask for?
Dragging myself up and out of the pool, I looked back at where I’d fallen from. Maybe fifteen feet up. Not too high. I’d worked with higher. “How was that?” I called out, hoping it was good enough.
The director shook his head. “We need to do it again. The third camera blipped off.”
Groaning, I stood and sloshed back to the costumer for a new set of clothes. And that was how the rest of my day was spent. Over and over again I ran across the street, through the replaced glass, dove into the pool, fire rushing across the top.
After the seventh shot of almost perfect stunts every time, I looked around. The crew had pretty much gone and no one was left except Hugh, Jet, Jasmine and the director. Even some of the lights had been turned off.
I realized what was happening, though obviously I was a bit slow on the uptake.
“How many times are you going to have me do this perfectly?” I walked toward them, as I ran a hand through my wet hair.
“Well, they got the shot on the first run, we just thought you could use a refresher course,” Jet said, a grin spreading wide over his face.
I could have punched him right in that smile.
Instead I gave him a knuckle bump. “Assholes.”
“That’s why you love us, right?” Hugh handed me my phone. I stared down at the screen. By the blinking light, she had sent me one more text—my heart raced as if I were facing another stunt.
I opened my phone, reading her last text.
3469 Fifth street.
***
Chapter Four
Soleil
I stood leaning against my apartment building, the only place I could afford in Redondo Beach. Close enough that I could get to the beach if I really wanted, but not so far from most of the shooting locations in Hollywood.
All I wanted, though, right at the moment, was to know what was taking Luke so long.
Fear and anxiety spooled through my body as I waited. Luke’s stunt should have been over and done with. Unless something had gone wrong.
Or maybe he’d changed his mind and decided to go home with someone else. A spurt of anger shot through me. Damn him if that was the case. And damn me for being a fool. Even with his scars, he was a gorgeous man. His storm cloud eyes and chiseled body were like something out of any girl’s fantasy. And I’d been fantasizing about him far too long to just give up.
The temptation to go back inside and hide . . . No, I would wait until the sun went down and not a minute longer.
After the blow up at the set, I’d gone home and showered, shaved my legs, and even waxed my bikini line. I’d made an attempt to straighten the unruly waves of my hair, but already they were curling back to their natural state. Hurrying, I’d been outside my apartment for over an hour. I stared down at my feet as I tapped my sandaled foot against the wall. “Luke, you’d better hope—”
“I’d better hope what?”
My head snapped up and I couldn’t help the fact that my mouth dropped open in surprise. A burning flush rose up my cheeks. “You’d better hope I forgive you for making me stand out here waiting.”
He grinned at me, holding his hand out. “I think I might be able to convince you I’m worth forgiving.” I placed my hand in his, our fingers naturally twinning around one another.
With a gentle tug, he pulled me forward until I was pressed against him, our bodies flush. The feel of his breathing, the rise and fall of his chest were intoxicating, and not just because it had been so long since a man held me.
This was Luke. And he was holding me as if I were someone special.
“You smell amazing,” he murmured in my ear, the warmth of his breath caressing the sensitive skin sending a shiver of delight down my
spine. It was too easy to imagine him blowing gently over other parts of my body just as sensitive.
He pulled back a little, changing the subject. “Are you hungry?”
What was he asking? I would never know what it was to hold him again if I didn’t play this right. I slid my hands up and down his arms as I kept my eyes locked on his. “For food? Or for you? Yes, to both, please.”
His whole body tensed, and he took in a sharp breath as his pupils dilated, the intensity making me wonder if we’d even get to dinner. “Food first.”
I wasn’t sure if I was disappointed or not. He did say first which meant the second request was still on the menu. I hoped.
Luke tucked my hand into the crook of his arm, and we walked past several small subdivisions to a local restaurant on the waterfront I’d seen but not ever gone into. Around us people walked the water’s edge, the sound of laughter and talking merging with the cries of the gulls over head.
“Are you sure this is a good place?” I asked as we stopped at the door. The outside was in total disrepair, the sign reading Bali faded and hanging by only a few bolts.
Luke held the door for me, the hinges in serious need of oil. “Trust me, I’ve checked out all the restaurants along here when I was working a set down the way a few years back, and this is one of the best.”
The food was amazing, brought out in a tapas style, bites of different combinations from all over the southern pacific. Coconut-covered chicken, deep-fried bananas, and several varieties of fish, one cooked with mangoes, another wrapped in palm fronds.
But it wasn’t the meal that I thought about. The laughing, smiling man in front of me had my attention as he told me stories of working in Hollywood.
“So how come you didn’t become an actor?” I put another bite of something into my mouth and bit down. Star fruit by the flavor.
“Couldn’t remember my lines worth shit.” He leaned back in his chair, his long legs brushing against mine under the table. “And I realized I was better at stunts. You can’t be afraid to fall, and I wasn’t for a long time.”
