Chapter 12
Star woke up early the next morning and went downstairs, not wanting Luke to come to her door with his promised wake up call. She’d eaten a bowl of Loopty O’s and was pouring herself a glass of orange juice when Luke entered the kitchen.
“You’re up early today.” He walked through the door and grabbed a clean glass from the dish drainer.
“I’m always up early.” Star tried not to look at him. “I’m surprised you’re not still sleeping after the busy night you had.” She could have kicked herself for saying that.
“How do you know I was busy?” Luke grabbed the glass container of orange juice from her, his fingers lingering a bit longer against hers than was necessary. Star jerked her hand away and went to stand by the stove.
“I just guessed. I heard you in the shower late last night, that’s all.” She wished she’d never opened the subject of showers. That was one conversation she’d rather forget right now.
Luke poured a glass of juice and put the jar back in the fridge, straddling a backwards chair. “I heard you in the bathroom just before me, sweetie.”
Oh God, she prayed he didn’t know she was listening at his door.
“Well, I hope I didn’t keep you up.” She glanced at Luke to see a smirk on his face. Their episode in the kitchen from the night before flashed through her mind. She needed to choose her words more carefully.
“No, Twinkles.” Luke reached down and purposely adjusted his belt. “You didn’t keep me up at all so don’t worry about it.”
“Who’s worried?” She tried to sound casual and took another sip of juice.
Luke’s eyes locked with hers and she felt like he could see through to her very soul. That feeling made her worried all right. It was too late to stop a relationship that had already started to bloom.
She tried to pull her gaze from his mesmerizing eyes by staring at the top of his head. It was no use. She was sucked into his physique. His dark hair looked soft and clean, thrown over one shoulder and trailing down his neck. His chest was bare again. Damn him for purposely exposing it to her. Her heart raced as she took in the amount of sinew and muscles that corded his chest and upper arms. His six-pack abs called out to her, begging to be touched. No man deserved to look this good so early in the morning.
“Ready for tricks?” he asked.
His words startled her and she almost dropped her glass of juice. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She felt her face reddening.
“It’s my own lingo for stunts. After all, you’re a stuntwoman now, Star. Get used to it.”
“Oh. Yes, I guess I’m ready.”
“You guess?” He lowered his head and looked at her in a way that made her feel like she’d said something wrong. “Sweetie, you’d better be damned sure of yourself before you even set foot in the field. There’s going to be a herd of cattle on your ass and if I’m to save it, you need to do more than just guess.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Star put her empty glass in the sink, trying to sound confident so she wouldn’t seem weak. “I’ll do my job and you do yours.”
Louise entered the kitchen and grabbed an apron from the counter. “I’m so sorry I overslept. I’ll have breakfast frying in the pan in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”
“Thanks, Louise,” said Luke. “Since I missed dinner last night, I won’t object.”
“Missed dinner? Oh you poor thing.” Louise hurriedly tied the apron around her hips and started pulling pots and pans from the cupboards. “I take one afternoon off and the whole place goes up for grabs. I thought maybe Daisy or Star would have whipped up some food for you working people.”
Luke grunted and Star knew it was directed toward her and the idea of her cooking.
“How about you, Star? Did you get something to eat last night?” Louise asked.
“I ate.”
Luke put his juice glass down on the table with a clink. His eyes bored into her, making her feel like a liar.
“A little,” she added.
“If you consider pickles and coffee a well rounded meal.” Luke busied himself playing with the glass.
“Pickles and coffee again, Star?” Louise pulled open the fridge and removed a couple dozen eggs. “You know you need to eat better if you expect to be running around herding cattle and doing the chores of three men.”
“Not to mention, stunt work,” added Luke.
“Stunt work?” Louise pulled her head from the fridge long enough to give Star a strange look. “Have you been jumping Licorice over the ravine again?”
“No.”
“She’s part of the cast now.” Luke jumped up and took a dish of leftover steak from Louise’s hands. “She’s taking over the stunts for Amber since she’s injured.”
“You are? Well how in heaven’s name did all this happen?”
Luke shut the refrigerator and leaned on the door waiting for Star to answer. He was waiting for her to admit she’d been the cause of a nasty scene, but she didn’t want to talk about it.
“Don’t ask.” Star headed for the door.
“Hold on, Missy. Aren’t you going to stay for breakfast? I’m making steak omelets.” Louise cracked an egg on the side of a bowl.
“I’m not hungry.” Star pulled open the door but stopped at hearing Luke’s next words.
“She’ll stay. She knows how important it is to have a good meal in her stomach before she starts a day of rigorous stunt work.” Luke walked over and put his hands on her shoulders, turning her around and closing the door. “Don’t you, Star?”
With his hand at the small of her back, Luke escorted her to a chair. He pulled it out for her and motioned for her to sit down. She did so without thinking. Maybe it was the feel of his touch that did it. Or maybe it was the way he pulled out her chair, she wasn’t sure. “Well, maybe just a bite.”
“And you, Louise?” asked Luke.
“What’s that, Mr. Tyler?” Louise was about to break open another egg on the bowl when Luke took it from her hand.
“Allow me.”
Star watched in awe as Louise giggled and wiped her hands in her apron, giving up the cooking to Luke. “You know how to cook, Mr. Tyler?” the older woman asked, eyeing up his chest like any female would do, despite Louise’s matronly age.
“I’ve been known to whip up an omelet or two in my days,” he answered with a smile. “Now, sit down there next to Star and take a load off your feet.”
“What!” Star couldn’t believe her ears. “You cook and yet you wanted me to do it for you?”
Luke found another apron in the drawer and tied it around his waist as he answered. “It’s not polite to overstep the hostess’ boundaries the first day I’m here.”
Not polite, indeed! Did he think demanding she cook for him along with performing other duties was gentlemanly either?
“Tyler, what the hell are you doing?” Brent walked into the kitchen, trying to straighten his toupee without anyone noticing. Velvet was right behind him with her pampered cat following at her heels.
“I’m making omelets,” he answered as he whipped up the eggs with a fork. “What do you want in yours?”
“I’ll pass,” said Velvet, dramatically waving her hand through the air. “There is too much cholesterol in omelets and they do nothing for keeping a womanly figure with all that cheese.” Brent pulled out Velvet’s chair and got her settled.
“Well, then just forget it, Ms. Cholester-belle,” Luke answered as he poured the eggs into the hot pan. “After all, we wouldn’t want you putting on love handles right before the love scene.”
“What love scene?” Star blurted out.
“The love scene Luke’s been screwing up since day one.” Brent walked over to examine what Luke was making. “We’re going to try reshooting it in a couple of days.”
“A love scene!” broke in Louise, getting up and grabbing a stack of plates from the cupboard. “How exciting, Mr. Tyler.” Then her eyes darted back and forth and she spoke in a much sof
ter voice. “Do you have to practice much?”
“More than you think,” answered Velvet, filing away on one of her long, red talons. Foo Foo jumped up on the table and inspected Luke’s glass of juice.
Star wondered what Velvet’s last comment meant. Was it her that was with Luke last night in his room? And just how in-depth did their practice go?
“There are some things a man just doesn’t need to practice.” Luke dropped part of an omelet on a plate and laid it in front of Star. “Don’t you agree, Star?”
All of a sudden, all eyes in the room were on her. Did they all think that she and Luke made love? She hoped not. After all, it was only a kiss. A little, innocent kiss. Or was it so innocent, after all?
Star took a bite of her food and smiled. “You’re absolutely right, Mr. Tyler. Your omelet is delicious. I do believe your cooking requires no practice at all.”
Star eagerly scanned the grounds and the crowds of people bustling around to get ready for the shoot. It was already late afternoon and, still, they hadn’t started. The production crew was having difficulties with the cattle and the hairdresser showed up an hour late. Then it had taken the makeup artist three tries to cover up Luke’s shiners.
Star spotted Velvet lounged back in a padded chaise lounge sitting atop a patch of lush grass. Her cat hid out of the sun under her chair. Velvet wore nothing more than a string bikini. It was tiny and left little to the imagination. Some sort of metal thing was balanced in her hands that she held in front of her to reflect the sun to her face.
The poor woman’s a masochist, Star thought. Shining light in her eyes for the lack of anything better to do. They should demand she do her own stunts since she seemed to have so much time on her hands.
Brent Valens rushed around with the hired hands, Buck, Zeke and Garvey following him like puppy dogs. The men hoped to play extras in Jimmy the Outlaw now that they heard Star would be in the film. Brent swished them away and they flocked toward Velvet like feeding time at the zoo.
Louise rushed out with a platter of fresh, homemade cookies, offering them to the entire crew. A pleased look crossed her face when the cookies disappeared in a matter of minutes. Star was thankful the crew had brought their own cook who used one of the trailers as a kitchen. Feeding a mob like this would run them into bankruptcy in no time flat. She was surprised at the size of the production crew, and wondered how they all fit into Dolley Mae’s Sundown Motel, the only motel in town.
Star gently nudged her horse forward. “C’mon, Licorice. We can do this stunt. We’ve done things trickier than this before.”
“Everyone in position,” yelled Brent through the megaphone. “We’re ready to start the stampede again. Let’s get it right the first time and do this in one take.”
Star clicked her tongue sending Licorice into a gallop toward the old hen house that was to be the post. She’d made certain, this time, that Baby was nowhere in sight. Baby was back in the house, locked in her own room for safekeeping. Maxi was told to stay out of the way in the barn.
Star would do this scene, and she’d be good at it, too. There wasn’t a thing to worry about. Licorice would listen to anything she said. Besides, Luke would never let anything happen to her or his neck would be on the line.
“Hold it, Ms. Brighton,” bellowed Brent’s voice through the megaphone.
“What’s wrong?” She stopped her horse and a crewmember ran up and grabbed the reins.
“You can’t use this horse in the scene,” the man told her.
“I can’t? Well, why not?” she asked.
“Wrong color.” He pointed to a brown horse that another helper was waiting with at the old chicken house. “Mr. Valens says the shot requires a brown horse. We can’t let you use a black one or it’d throw off the whole story line.”
“What’s the problem?” Luke rode up on Isobelle and stopped right in front of her.
“No problem.” Star slid off Licorice and glanced at the other horse in the distance. “I suppose it won’t matter, as I’m not going to really have to ride it for the shoot.”
“Star, are you sure you understand what you need to do?” asked Luke, sounding very concerned.
She knew what the scene called for, and she also knew Licorice felt at ease around a stampede of cattle. The horse they were asking her to ride was one of theirs. She wasn’t sure how it would react.
“I do,” she answered. “It’s just that –”
“With the way you’re looking at that horse I’d say you were scared of it,” said Luke.
She’d seen this horse the day the crew pulled in. It was a stallion, and a feisty one, too. Actually, skittish was a better word to describe it in her opinion.
“Take her horse back to the stable,” Luke instructed the man. “Star, you don’t have to go through with this.”
She looked at him and then back at the feisty stallion. “I’m just not used to the horse I’ll be using. It took me by surprise. Do you really think we should use it for the scene?”
“Afraid of studs?” Luke grinned and winked at her. Star was now determined to wipe that smirk right off his face. “Maybe you’d better practice the mount before you perform in front of everyone.”
“Let’s go,” shouted Brent. “What’s the problem? We’re already behind schedule.”
“No, my performance will be fine,” Star replied, although she felt a little sick at the moment. It was probably Luke’s cooking that was giving her a stomachache. Either that, or the fact that he made her eat two omelets even though she could barely finish one. She’d have to remember never to eat before a shoot again.
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Luke’s eyes settled on her low-cut prairie dress. It was the same dress Amber had been wearing when she broke her ankle. It was also the same dress that Velvet would be wearing for the last scene. Brent was so cheap that one dress was all he allowed. Amber and Velvet had quite a bit more on top than Star, and wardrobe had to pad her bra. Star pulled the ruffle up and covered the cleavage her miracle bra was creating. The last time she wore a dress was probably when she was about twelve years old.
Luke reached down from atop his horse and pulled the ruffle off her shoulders. “This is the way Jimmy’s girl wears her dress in the scene.”
“Well, I’m not Jimmy’s girl.” She went to pull the ruffle back up but Luke’s hand stopped her.
“You are now. Remember that. When you go out there, you’re Rosie McAllister, Jimmy the Outlaw’s lover, not Star Brighton the rancher’s daughter. You forget everything around you and any quarrels you had with the neighbors last week. You don’t think of modesty and you forget there are fifty people watching you now, not to mention thousands later. All you think of is what you’re supposed to be doing. Understand?”
Star pushed his hand away and pulled the ruffle back up anyway. What the hell was he trying to do? Scare her off the job? Well, it might be working but she’d never let him know he was succeeding. “I understand,” she replied curtly. “I can keep my concentration, but the question is, can you?”
“What’s the hold up?” Brent stormed over with a clipboard in his hand.
“I think maybe we ought to practice this scene once or twice before you bring in the cattle,” suggested Luke.
“Tyler, we don’t have time for that. You said the girl knew what she was doing. After all, she was right out there last time we shot the scene.”
“Yeah, but saving a chicken, not saving her own neck,” Luke answered in a low tone.
“That’s your job, to save her,” Brent answered. “It’s an easy scene. But if Ms. Brighton wants to practice then we will.”
“I don’t need practice, Mr. Valens,” Star said, holding her head high. “Let’s shoot the scene.” She gave a smug look to Luke, picked up her skirts, and ran over to the crewmember holding the feisty stallion in the middle of the field.
“Think she knows what she’s doing?” Brent asked Luke.
Luke pulled his Stetson low on his head and gave
Star one last glance before he turned his horse to get into position. “Oh, she knows what she’s doing all right. Only it has nothing to do with stunt work. I only hope she can pull this off without breaking her pretty little neck.”
Luke waited nervously atop Isobelle for the production assistant to give the signal to stampede the cattle. Star was in position, and gave him a slight nod as she went about her role, picking flowers and pretending to be oblivious to what was going on around her. He hoped it was acting and not just ignorance on her part. He’d agreed with this whole madness but still he had his doubts. She was new to this business and hadn’t actually ever performed a stunt for a shoot.
He looked over to Brent who was escorting Daisy away from him. He figured the woman was probably trying to tell him how to run the show, and succeeding. Velvet was still sunning herself in that outfit that always gave him a hard-on. She slowly removed her sunglasses and gave him a quaint little waggle of her fingers. Then she rolled over on the chair, exposing two tanned cheeks with only a thong between them.
How the hell was a man supposed to concentrate with all these women around? He wondered if Velvet was purposely distracting him so he’d blow the scene with Star. He had to maintain focus. One slip and someone could get hurt or even killed. This was nothing to be sloppy about. He’d always prided himself on his precision. But the fact that Velvet was nearly naked on one side and Star was too damned covered up on the other was throwing him for a loop.
He watched from across the field until Brent gave him a nod. Then Brent waved a flag and the men at the other side of the field started the stampede.
“Steady . . . steady . . .” Luke calmed his horse while he watched Star bend over to pick another flower. The ground shook thunderously beneath them. Star looked up and pretended to be surprised. Actually, it looked to him like terror and he marveled at how good she played the part.
Starstruck Cowboy (Working Man Series Book 1) Page 10