by Cat Johnson
“Ow!” She leaned down to inspect her ankle. “Something just bit me.”
In the chair next to her, Carl bent at the waist to inspect his leg before he smacked at his calf. “Fuck. Me too. What the hell? I’m covered in little black bugs.”
“Ow! I just got bit too.” In line to dance next, Brittany B stamped her feet. “I think they’re fleas.”
“How can we have fleas? We don’t even have a dog here.” Brittany K scowled.
Brittany B planted her hands on her hips. “I own dogs at home. I know a fucking flea when I see one and these bastards biting the hell out of me are fleas.”
One of the cameramen started to shake his foot. At the same time, Maria bent over and brushed at her feet.
“Shit.” She straightened again and glanced around. Spotting Dani, she said, “Call an exterminator. I want them over here tonight.”
Fleas? What could possibly happen next? Lightning coming down from out of the sky to strike down the groom?
Once the shock wore off, Dani reached for her cell and opened the browser. She glanced at the time. Eight p.m.. No exterminator was going to want to come out at this time of night to spray for fleas.
No one was going to answer their office phones this time of night either. She was on her third number after the first two went to voicemail when she got a human.
Surprised to not have an electronic voice answer, she jumped to speak, “Hi, we need someone to come out tonight and we’re willing to pay anything you want.”
“Five hundred for an emergency service call, on top of my normal fee.”
“That's fine. We’re in La Jolla. Can you be here within the hour?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“All right. Let me give you the address.”
As Dani relayed the address to the exterminator, Maria was still shouting orders. “Dave! Go buy me some flea spray or powder or I don’t know, flea collars for the cast before they scratch their skin off. The rest of the crew can go home.”
Dani disconnected her call and stepped up to Maria. “You’re shutting down production?”
“Yes, what would you have me do?”
Nick walked up. “I would think this would make good TV.”
She couldn’t believe she was going to argue with getting sent home early, but Dani couldn’t disagree with Nick. The cast running around screeching and scratching was pretty funny to watch. It would make for good TV.
Maria shot Nick a glare for his comment. “Fleas? No. This is a ratings killer if ever I saw one. Itchy scratching flea bitten cast members are not sexy. It’ll turn off every man and woman watching, and then they’ll turn off the show and we’re sunk.”
“Yeah, I guess she’s right. The memes on social would be relentless,” Dani agreed. “And can you imagine the gifs? God, the internet would have a field day.”
She watched Brittany B, still dancing around on one foot while trying to scratch. Meanwhile, the guys had all stripped and jumped into the pool to find relief. She could see it all now in an eternally repeating video loop on YouTube.
“Agreed.” Maria nodded. “We can’t let even a breath of this get out.”
Dave walked by and commented, “Now if someone came down with a case of crabs, then ooo yeah howdy. That’s some good drama filled TV right there.”
“Well, yeah. Crabs I could work with.” Maria nodded.
Dani considered that, and, sad but true, she could imagine the drama. She nodded. “Yup.”
Who gave them to whom? Who’d been diddling around with whom? Whose ex was the dirty ho who was ground zero for the start of the infestation. Yup. Good TV.
Nick cocked a brow and shook his head. “You people are sick.”
Sadly, another truth. She needed to get a new job.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Nick was trying to be happy that they were getting off early—which would mean he could get off earlier than expected at Dani’s house tonight—if you could call nearly nine o’clock early.
But something didn’t sit right. There were just too many things going wrong.
“Something feels off around here.” He shook his head and voiced his feelings to Dani.
“I know. It’s like this show is cursed or something,” she agreed.
“Yeah, but since I don’t believe in curses, I’m wondering if it’s more like sabotage.” He drew his focus away from the cast, still freaking out over the sudden and unexplained flea infestation and turned to Dani.
She swiveled her head to look at him. “If someone is trying to sabotage us, they're doing a great job.”
“You think that could be what’s happening?” Did Dani agree? Could he be right?
He’d learned to trust his gut instincts in the SEALs. But he wasn’t sure if he could trust them here, in a world so out of his element.
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Dani lifted a shoulder.
“Who'd want to do that?” he asked. “It seems weird to ask but does the show—or the producers or Maria—have any enemies?”
“Not that I know of specifically. But it could be anyone. A rival show. One of the cast. A disgruntled employee. Who the hell knows?” Dani eyed him more closely. “Do you really think that’s what’s happening?”
“No . . . Maybe.” He blew out a breath. “Hell, I don’t know.”
She let out a short laugh at his indecisiveness. “You want to know what I think?”
“Yes, of course.” He always wanted to know what Dani was thinking, even back when she’d only been thinking hateful things about him.
But in this situation particularly, hers was the voice of experience in this industry. At least, she had more experience than he did.
“Honestly, I just think we’ve had a run of some really bad luck. And it seems worse because every little thing that does go wrong is amplified. Blown out of proportion because New Millennia cast this show with the biggest drama queens they could find.”
“Makes sense.” Nick reached down and plucked a flea from his calf as it bit him.
He flicked it into the fountain nearby to drown. The operation required no screaming. No jumping around. No drama.
Yet there was plenty still going on with the cast as they waited, not so calmly, for the exterminator to arrive. Or at least for Dave to return with the flea collars.
That could be worth sticking around to see.
But Nick had already decided to stay a bit longer anyway. When his instincts spoke, he listened. If they were wrong, then he’d have worked a few extra hours for nothing. No harm done.
Well, except that he really, really wanted to leave now with Dani.
“You don’t have to wait around for me. Go home. I’ll stick around here until things get settled and then meet you at your place . . . um, if that’s okay.” He added the last part after realizing that even though they’d known each other forever, this thing between them was still very new. He shouldn’t make assumptions.
“Of course, it’s okay.” Her gaze told him she was thinking about the same post work activities he was.
That temptation had him saying, “I won’t be too long.”
He didn’t plan to hang around the beach house any longer than necessary. Not with Dani looking at him like that.
Man, and now he was getting hard. He blew out a breath. “Please go before I embarrass myself.”
As she rounded the pool and headed for the drive, the smile she shot him before she turned the corner was glorious, even if it was a bit too triumphant.
Let Dani take her victory lap. She could be proud of herself that she could turn him on with a simple glance. But he’d torture her into submission later with more pleasure than she’d ever felt.
He’d have her begging for more . . . then he’d give it to her.
Happy with that plan, he turned to Maria and said, “What can I do?”
“Can you magically get rid of fleas?”
“Uh, no.”
“Then I suppose if you calm down Katia, that would be a big help
. And Christ, try to get her to stop scratching. Those nails of hers are deadly.”
Somehow, Nick had gone from security guard to babysitter, but he had to admit Maria was right about the fingernails. He could see from there the red welts Katia was leaving on her skin as she scratched.
“Got it covered,” he said to Maria before making his way over to Katia. “Hey. Why don’t you go inside and take a shower? That’ll get the fleas off you and hopefully they haven’t made it into your bedroom yet.”
She nodded, looking teary eyed. “I can’t believe I have bugs. This is like totally disgusting.”
“Don’t worry about it. It seems like we all got them so . . .” he shrugged. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your room.”
“Okay.” She perked right up at that offer and even managed a smile.
They walked across the pool deck and he stopped before opening the sliding door to the house. “Let’s try to knock as many of these buggers off as we can, before we go inside. Okay?”
“Sure.”
He bent and started to brush her shins and feet with his hands, scattering the fleas, before he did the same to himself.
“Okay, let’s go.” He slid open the door, ushered her through, then slammed the door behind himself.
She smiled, obviously enjoying his little game of tag with the fleas. Maria should be very proud of him. Katia hadn’t scratched again since he’d been with her.
They walked through the kitchen and down the hall, following the now familiar path to her room.
“You have any antihistamines?” he asked as he did the usual monster-check under the bed. “That will take the itch away.”
“I don’t, but I bet Carl does. I told you. He’s got a bunch of pills and stuff in that bag of his in the bathroom.”
Something about that comment set the gears in Nick’s brain turning. “He ever give you any pills to take?”
“Carl? No.”
“You ever borrow any on your own? Like maybe pills to help you sleep?”
“No.” She shook her head and then her eyes narrowed. “But wait. I remember I had a headache the first week of shooting. I came back to my room early while everyone else was still out by the pool. I didn’t have anything to take so I went into Carl’s bag in the joint bathroom we share.”
“When was this exactly? What day?” Nick asked.
“I never know what day it is around here.” She stared at the ceiling, as if thinking, before her eyes widened. “Wait, I think it was the night that I can’t remember. Yeah. It was. Because I’d gotten too much sun that day and didn’t feel good. So I came in here and got some aspirin and that’s the last thing I remember.”
Nick’s heart rate sped. “Katia. What did the pill look like?”
“It was just an aspirin.” She shook her head.
He doubted that. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yeah. It was small and white. Carl has a whole bottle full of them.”
“Can you show me the bottle in his bag?” Nick asked.
“Sure.” She shrugged.
She waltzed into the bathroom that connected her and Carl’s room and came out with a bottle.
It was indeed an aspirin bottle, but when Nick cracked the lid and took one out, he found it was not aspirin inside.
If he told her what he suspected this was, she’d flip the hell out. He had to at least be sure first. He met her gaze. “Can I take one of these?”
“Sure. I guess.”
“Thanks.” He shook one out and wrapped it in a tissue from the box on the nightstand. He handed the bottle to her. “Can you put these back where they were?”
“Sure.”
“And, uh, do me a favor and don’t tell Carl that I borrowed one.”
She laughed. “He won’t mind—”
“Humor me. Please. Don’t tell him.”
“All right.”
“Good. Thanks. You’re the best.”
That pleased her . . . until he turned to go and she stepped forward. “Nick. Do you want to, maybe, stick around for a bit?”
“I can’t. I’ve got, uh, an assignment to do for the production company. But you go jump in that shower.”
“And take an antihistamine," she added. “I know. I know.”
He paused, very aware of what he suspected was in his pocket. He didn’t want her getting anything else out of Carl’s magic bag of tricks after what the supposed aspirin did to her last time. “On second thought. Don’t take anything. I just remembered it was proven that the best thing to take the itch out of flea bites is cool water.”
She nodded. “Good to know. Thank you, Nick.”
Guilty for the lying he seemed to do a lot, he said, “Good night, Katia.” Then he left.
There was a store open late on the way to Dani’s. He knew that because it was where he’d bought the stash of condoms last night.
He pulled in and perused the aisles. Just as he’d hoped, there it was, just what he needed. And while he was there, he grabbed another box of condoms.
Never hurt to be prepared. Next stop. Dani’s house.
She was dozing on the sofa in front of the TV again with the door unlocked, again. He was going to have to talk to her about that safety concern. But later.
He pressed a kiss to her cheek.
She stirred. “What time is it?”
“Probably way too late for me to be here and I'm here anyway.” He grinned. “That okay?”
She answered that question and the next one he was about to ask—did she want him to leave—by grabbing the back of his head and pressing her lips to his.
The pill in his pocket, and the date rape drug test kit in the bag he’d dropped on the counter on his way in, could both wait.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Dani was still pulsing inside, her hands clutching Nick’s ass cheeks to hold him deep as the orgasm subsided, when he pulled back.
Making eye contact, he blurted, “I have to tell you something and I can’t wait.”
Her eyes widened. What could he have to say that couldn’t wait until he wasn’t still inside her?
She froze. Was it the L-word? Did she want it to be?
Wasn’t it too soon for that? They were supposed to just be having fun. Getting this long-standing attraction out of their systems. Killing time until he went back to the SEALs.
She waited and he looked like he was about to explode from his need to say what he wanted to.
“Okay,” she said, her heart pounding.
“I think I figured out what happened to Katia.”
Dani bit her lip, getting pissed. Fucking Katia. She had to deal with her on set, but she shouldn’t have to hear her name here. In bed. With Nick still inside her!
L-word, her ass. Boy had that been an epically wrong guess on her part.
His lips twitched. “You’re pissed off.”
She felt the frown that had settled on her forehead and tried to relax it to prove him wrong. “Am not.”
“Yeah, you are.” He broke into a wide grin.
She frowned deeper and Nick growled in response.
“God, why is it so sexy when you’re mad at me?” he grit out between his teeth.
She felt exactly how much he enjoyed fighting with her as his slackening cock started to grow again.
She slapped at his arm. “You’re a perv. You know that?”
“No. Possibly a sadist though.” He pulled his semi-hard-on out of her and glanced back as he snapped off the used condom. “Lucky for you, I’d have to change to a fresh rubber or you’d be in for a pounding.”
She rolled her eyes. “I stand by my pervert comment.”
“Anyway. We’ll have to continue this later. Let me tell you what I found out.” He grabbed his shorts from the floor and started to walk toward the living room, butt ass naked.
In the doorway, he glanced back at her, shorts dangling from one hand as he looked like he had no intention of putting them on anytime soon. “You coming?”
“Not anymor
e,” she joked.
He grinned. “I’ll take care of that later. But seriously, I think you’re going to want to see this.”
“All right.”
There was no question she was following naked Nick out to the living room, if only to make sure the blinds were closed so no one got a look at him parading around like a nudist. She had to live in this neighborhood.
Not to mention, the view of Nick in nothing but his ever-present knee brace was pretty nice.
He might be an exhibitionist, but she was not. She snagged an oversized T-shirt from her drawer before she followed him out.
By the time she got to the kitchen, he was standing at the counter with a knife in his hand.
She perused what else he’d compiled for this mystery of his. A glass of water. A cutting board. A small pink box. And a tiny white pill.
He took the knife and crushed the pill on the cutting board, then took the powder and poured it into the glass of water, stirring it with the tip of the knife.
When it had dissolved, he opened the box and took out a small card, laying it on the counter.
He blew out a breath and glanced up at her. “The moment of truth.”
Apparently, this would be the big reveal for both of them, since she still had no idea what he was doing. That she hadn’t battered him with questions yet proved how distracting a naked Nick in her kitchen could be.
He drew the knife out of the glass and let a drop of the water drip onto the card.
She stepped closer, wondering what he was staring at. She saw a small circle on the card transform from white to a bright pink.
Nick shook his head.
“Mother fucker.” His gaze came up to meet hers. “So it looks like I figured out how Katia got drugged.”
“Oh, is that what you’ve been doing in her bedroom every night?”
Now was definitely not the place to obsess about how much time he’d been spending alone with Katia in her room lately. Particularly since it looked like he was enjoying her little bout of jealousy much too much.
His lips twitched with a barely controlled smile as he said, “Yes, it was. And it turns out my efforts paid off. She told me she took an aspirin out of Carl’s bag the night she can’t remember.” Nick held up the card. “Only it’s not aspirin.”