A Touch of Scarlet

by Liz Talley

  Scarlet led them through a series of stretches. The guys complied with little enthusiasm but they followed her instructions.

  “Now, we’re going to do a repetition exercise. In this exercise one person makes an observation about his or her partner. For example, one may say, ‘You look happy,’ or ‘You look sad.’ Then the other person will respond in the same way. You use the phrase to bounce off the other person and try to garner nuances in the other person’s character. The goal is to establish a bond and, through the bond, to allow a moment to be created that catches the actors and transports them to a more truthful existence. So, essentially, though actors take direction, all actors strive to achieve this truthfulness.”

  She looked at Adam. He looked uncertain. And uncomfortable. He wasn’t the only one—the other guys looked as though she’d asked them to recite an entire encyclopedia.

  “It’s not hard. I’ll demonstrate with Chief Hinton.” She waved Adam over. “Now, come stand next to me and pretend we are alone.”

  He arched an eyebrow. She could almost hear his thoughts. You sure you want to do that?

  She repeated the gesture and added the tiniest of frowns as extra incentive. She needed his help. Needed him to treat what they were about to do seriously.

  “Okay, would you like to comment on me? Or shall I start?”

  “I’ll comment on you, gringita.” Miguel I snickered.

  Adam’s responding glare caused Miguel I to drop the hand he’d held up to Miguel II for a high five.

  “I’ll start,” Adam said, turning to meet her gaze. “You look nervous.”

  “You look nervous,” she replied, with a slight bob of her head.

  “But you look nervous,” he said, emphasizing her twisted fingers.

  She shrugged. “You look nervous.”

  “I’m not nervous. I’m irritated.”

  He’d veered off course. The focus was on reading each other’s external and internal cues. He now conversed. Not part of the exercise, but she would keep things a little loose with this crowd.

  “I’m nervous because this is important to me,” Scarlet said. “You look…uncomfortable.”

  “Not really, but I don’t want to do this.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I feel stupid.” His gaze flickered to the men watching them. Someone laughed.

  “It’s not stupid to want to keep the mask you wear for the world to see in place. More like it’s stupid not to get real with yourself. Are you being real with yourself?”

  “No. Are you being real with yourself?”

  She hesitated. “No.”

  His gaze probed hers, creating a cocoon of intimacy. It was as if the men in the room had disappeared. It was only Adam and Scarlet. She could feel the magic start. The tentative bond form. But it was more than acting. “So why can’t you be real?” she asked.

  “Because being real could get me into trouble. It could cause me to lose everything I’ve worked for. If I follow what I want, I’ll trample my honor. I’d hate myself if I became that man. A man like my father, who takes what he wants and forgets consequences.”

  Scarlet tilted her head. She couldn’t believe how easily he’d shed his reservations. His words were genuine. And now she knew something more about him. His hang-ups had to do with his father.

  He closed his eyes for a moment. Then opened them. “So why can’t you be real?”

  The expression in his eyes was soft, like the sticky sweetness of new spring growth. She knew he wanted her. Knew that if he could put away his convictions, they would end up in a tangle of limbs, sated from marathon sex. But Adam did have a conscience. He wanted to do what was right. And he wanted an ideal fantasy woman. A woman she’d never be. She stepped closer to him. “I can’t be real, because I’m afraid. I’m afraid to surrender a burden I’ve carried for a long time. This hurt has been my constant companion. I’m used to it.”

  “Burdens sometimes refuse to leave us.”

  She wanted to shutter herself from him, but the moment wouldn’t let her. “I don’t know how to make it go away.”

  “You have to want to move forward.” His voice was as soft as his gaze, like the stroke of a mother’s hand on her newborn’s back.

  “Maybe. But moving forward means letting go of something I thought I wanted. Someone I thought I loved.” Suddenly emotion overwhelmed her. Tears hovered in the back of her throat, making her voice husky.

  Adam moved closer. “You can’t be afraid. And you can’t make love work with someone who doesn’t want it to work. Can’t build something on sand. It’ll crumble and fall apart. Sometimes you can’t fix it. You have to walk away.”

  Scarlet nodded, reaching for the necklace that was no longer there. Her fingers brushed her chest and dropped. Adam picked up her hand and squeezed it. “So walk away from what can’t be fixed. Move toward someone new. Someone worthy of your love. Move toward—”

  “This is some serious shit,” Marco called out, breaking the bond Scarlet had created with Adam.

  She blinked and focused her attention on Marco. “You’re not supposed to interrupt.”

  “Oops. My bad,” Marco said, looking around at the other guys sitting around him. A few of them looked annoyed. Tito frowned.

  Adam stiffened beside her. What had he been about to say? Move toward…him? With all defenses, all the restrictions and rules, stripped away, maybe deep down inside that was his true desire. Something awakened in her at that thought. What if this thing between them was more than sexual attraction? What if there was some cosmic force at work, drawing them together, creating bonds, tugging them toward each other until there was no other recourse? Until they both accepted everything that had happened thus far had happened to push them together.

  The thought paralyzed her, so she tucked it in the recesses of her mind.

  Adam looked extremely ill at ease. As in, forgot-his-pants-this-morning uncomfortable.

  “Apology accepted,” Scarlet said to Marco. “But that’s a good point. Things can get deep when you do a repetition exercise. Allow yourself to get caught up, as Chief Hinton and I did. This is not therapy, but tapping into the truth of the moment. If you are given a scene of about a murder, you must be truthful under imaginary circumstances. If you have not had a person close to you murdered, you can still allow yourself to feel what a person who has would feel.”

  “What if you’ve had a friend murdered? Right in front of you,” Juan said. Anger laced his words. Real emotion. Not fabricated.

  “Then you already know, don’t you? You know what it feels like. You won’t have to dig deep to feel angry, lost, desperate for revenge,” Scarlet said.

  “No, I won’t,” Juan said.

  “But remember, this is an acting class. We will use repetition exercises to bond us to our partner. You may say, ‘You look angry,’ but you can’t act on it.”

  “Why not?” Tito asked, “We’re in acting class.”

  “Because you can’t,” Adam said.

  Scarlet sighed. This wasn’t going how she’d planned. She’d studied Meisner for years, adapting some of the legendary drama teacher’s techniques, fusing them with some of her own. She gave leeway, but she didn’t want too much flowing between guys who might have grudges against one another. “Let’s try something different.”

  The guys gave her their full attention.

  “I ended up in here because I stupidly refused to leave the scene of a protest.”

  Adam arched an eyebrow.

  “Okay, fine. I handcuffed myself to a flagpole, but what’s important is I took a stand on an issue I feel strongly about—censorship.”

  “What’s that mean?” Julio asked, scooting his folding chair closer.

  She explained a little about the children’s book and the reactions in the community about such books, citing the Harry Potter books as another example of debate over what children should be able to read. Then she told them her thoughts. “I want to get copies of the book for each of you
to read.”

  “Aw, man. That’s like homework,” Marco complained.

  “Well, if you don’t want to read it, then don’t,” Scarlet said. “But I thought we might focus on a few scenes from the book and work up a sort of screenplay. Any of you like to write?”

  Six blank stares met her query.

  “Okay, I’ll work up the scenes. Then we can use some of the emotions you delve into tonight to portray what happens in that book. Any objections?”

  More blank stares.

  “Can we act them out in front of Ms. Cox?” Julio asked. “She’d like that. She likes books and stuff.”

  “Who is Ms. Cox?”

  “Our teacher,” Tito said.

  “Of course. That’s a great idea. And we can invite Rick and Kate, too. Maybe a few other members of the community who protested the removal of the book.”

  “I don’t know about standing up and acting out shit,” Juan said, looking more like a kid than a gang member.

  “I won’t force you, but I bet you’ll like it.” She reminded herself that, as tough as these guys were, most of them were little more than kids. “Let’s take it slow. I’ve got three weeks to spend with you and you’d be amazed at what we can accomplish in that time. We could make it our last performance. Maybe even put up signs and charge a small admission fee.”

  “And have, like, cakes and punch afterward,” Tito said, his expression showing a smidgen of excitement. “My grammar school did that one time. It was cool.”

  Marco shrugged. “Whatever. Let’s get this over with. I want to watch TV before lights-out.”

  Scarlet looked at Adam. He’d remained silent but attentive during the discussion. Unlike the center’s clients who all wore gray, black or white—no hint of gang colors was allowed—Adam wore a deep green button-down shirt that enhanced his eyes, making them more prominent against his tanned skin.

  He gave her an encouraging nod. “Sounds like a nice conclusion to this class.”

  “Would you like to participate? Maybe do a scene or two with us?” Scarlet asked, hoping he might agree. She knew she’d gotten him here tonight by appealing to his sense of duty, his need to make some tenuous connection with the clients of the center, but maybe—

  “I don’t think so. This is your thing. I came tonight for moral support as your—”

  “Jura can’t hang with la mara,” Miguel II said. “We don’t need him.”

  “What do you mean I can’t hang with you? You still in a gang? You still breaking the law?” Adam crossed his arms. He didn’t seem defensive, merely inquisitive.

  “No, dude,” Marco said, sinking into his chair. “But it would be majareta to do that. Crazy, man.”

  Adam gestured between himself and Marco. “It’s crazy for me and you to be in a play together?”

  “Sí,” Tito said.

  Adam looked at her. “Well, in that case, count me in. I’ve learned that if someone doesn’t want you around, there’s usually a good reason. I’d like to find out what that reason is.”

  “Dude, we ain’t doing nothin’ wrong. We’re in this program. Doin’ what it takes,” Marco said. His muscular shoulders bunched beneath the white Phoenix T-shirt he wore, his posturing defensive, angry. It struck Scarlet at that moment that while these guys were scared boys, they were also dangerous. They’d seen and done things she could only imagine. It would make for interesting acting.

  “Again, we’re off task,” she said. “Chief Hinton can join us for a couple of scenes. I see nothing wrong with trying to improve community relations with the authorities. I’ll stop by tomorrow and talk to Kate and Rick about what we’re doing. I might even visit my first drama teacher, Mrs. Nolan, to see if she might be interested in helping with the production.”

  Adam nodded, but didn’t move. Marco shrugged and the other guys followed suit.

  “Good, now pair off for the repetition exercises. Just don’t leave this room.”

  As the clients paired off, Scarlet motioned Adam toward the door. He gave a perfunctory glance about the room as the guys started the exercise with comments such as “You look like a dog’s ass,” then followed her to the door.

  Scarlet stepped onto the porch and clasped her hands behind her back. “I wanted to thank you for coming tonight. I know it was—”

  “No problem.”

  “Don’t interrupt me. I’m trying to be—”

  “And you are dressed more appropriately,” he said.

  She considered the blousy navy shirt and loose cargo pants she’d borrowed from Meg. She looked stupid, unattractive and fashion-challenged. “If you want to call this atrocity to the eyes appropriate. I’ll be lucky not to end up in the back of the US magazine in the What Not to Wear section.”

  He shrugged. “It’s got more mystery. Makes a guy wonder what you’re hiding underneath there.”

  “That sounds like something a father might say,” Scarlet groused. “Just not my father. He never gave a flip what I wore out.”

  “Well, maybe it would be best if I stuck closer to that kind of role with you. I’m your probation officer, after all.”

  All her earlier thoughts about meant to be and fate pushing her in his direction came back to her, and she realized she’d been fooled by the honest moment between them. She and Adam weren’t on some crazy karma ride. Hadn’t he basically told her he wanted to sleep with her, but wouldn’t? Hadn’t he basically said she wasn’t the type of girl he wanted in his life?

  Her focus should be on serving her time in Oak Stand and getting gone. She needed to get back to her life.

  After all, she still loved John, didn’t she?

  Adam Hinton was nothing more than a Podunk police chief. She couldn’t have a future with him, could she?

  Yes answered one question and no answered the other. But she wasn’t certain which question.

  Damn.

  She shouldn’t have encouraged Adam to be involved in the play. That was hardly the way to get the distance from him she needed.

  But when her gaze encountered the hunger in his, distance was the last thing on her mind. Adam could say whatever he wished. She could protest, pretend and preach all she wanted about her past relationship and her lack of desire for a future one.

  But something rare bloomed between her and Adam.

  It was lust.

  And it was more than that, too.

  Which put Adam and her between a rock and a hard place.

  There could be no funny stuff between them.

  “What has changed between us?” she asked, then answered. “Nothing.”

  He didn’t say anything.

  “We are still two people, attracted to one another, who won’t do anything about it for good reason. You’re not my daddy, you’re not my friend and you’re damn sure not my lover. You’re exactly what you said you are—my probation officer.”

  “You’re wrong,” he said. “I am your friend.”

  “Maybe. But it doesn’t feel quite that way. I don’t think about my friends this way. This feels different.”

  He stared at her and she couldn’t read his expression.

  “I want to get this over with so I can move on with my life. I’m sure you want the same.” She entered the center and shut the door behind her, wishing it was as easy to shut out her thoughts.

  Obviously fate cared nothing for her wishes.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ADAM FLIPPED ON THE RADIO as he started down the driveway of Phoenix House. Bob Seger’s haunting melody about life on the road filled the car, complementing the stickiness of the night. Dusk had given way to full night and a velvet sky full of stars winked above. As he turned onto the road, the beams of the headlights caught a dark shape hidden behind a screen of pampas grass.

  What the hell?

  Adam slowed the cruiser and inched past the grass. He stopped, put the cruiser in Park and eased from the car.

  The shape moved.

  Fast.

  It was a man. A man who loped to
ward a car parked in the entrance to the pasture across from Phoenix.

  “Hey,” Adam called. “Stop!”

  The figure kept going, scrambling toward the dark sedan.

  “Ah, hell.” Adam ran after the man. Nothing pissed him off more. He hated to chase suspects down on foot. Especially over uneven ground on a dark night.

  The man had just reached the car when Adam slammed into him like a linebacker.

  “Oomph!” The air went out of the man. Adam immediately shoved him, facedown, near a rainwater-filled ditch, pressing his head into the mud.

  “Okay, okay!” the man yelled as Adam reached for the cuffs he didn’t have in his back pocket. He’d nearly forgotten he wasn’t in uniform.

  He flipped the man over and cocked his fist.

  “I give up,” the man cried when he saw Adam poised to deck him.

  “Who the hell are you and what are you doing lurking in the bushes?”

  “I’m Chris Miller.” The guy winced and turned his face away from Adam.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Just trying to get a picture, dude.”

  “A picture?”

  The man pointed toward his car. “My camera’s over there. Somewhere. Hell, I hope it’s not broken.”

  The man was a reporter. Adam stood and pulled him up by the collar of his shirt. “You’re a reporter?”

  “Nah. I’m a photographer. Paparazzi, you know?”

  “Paparazzi?”

  “What are you? Stupid? I get paid for taking pictures of celebrities. Get it?” The little man tugged at his collar and dusted at his jeans. His upper lip held a slight sneer.

  “Don’t be a smart-ass. I know what paparazzi are. I also know you’re trespassing.”

  The man adjusted the glasses that had slid down his nose during his takedown. “I wasn’t hurting nobody. Just tryin’ to feed my family, you know? I have to do what I have to do.”

  “What you have to do is get in your car and get your ass out of here.”

  “I will as soon as I get a picture of Scarlet Rose with her gang members. The editor of Star International wants one for his articles on celebs and community service. I drew the straw.”