by Caroline Lee
She deserved an answer, so he glanced down at his hands when he confessed, “No.”
“’Archie’,” she repeated softly. “Does that mean we're friends?”
This time, his wince was a little theatrical when he peeked up at her. “I don't know what else to call a woman who just spent a half-hour making me pee in fear all over her upholstery.”
A little grin tweaked her too-wide lips. “That's why these seats are made out of rubber,” she quipped.
Taking heart from her joking tone, Archie managed to smile behind his bushy beard. “So you mean I'm not the first man you've had screaming like a terrified toddler up here?”
“And you probably won't be the last.” She lowered her hands from the steering wheel and turned to face him as fully as she could with them sitting side-by-side. “All of that was for show by the way,” she confessed cheerfully. “I'm the best UTV driver on the ranch... Maybe in the county.”
“Well,” he said, taking a deep breath, “that's why I hired you. Or rather, that's why Wade Weston suggested you.”
She stared at him for a few seconds longer than was comfortable, then raised a dark brow. Then, without having to even look at the latch, she undid the pitiful webbing—which in no way replaced a door, as far as he was concerned—and climbed out of the vehicle. Once she was standing in front of it, she placed her hands on her hips and stared out over the vista in front of them.
“Yeah, why is that, Archie? Can I assume this is for a role or something?”
He’d almost forgotten what they were talking about. “What?”
Still without turning, she explained. “You’re here on the ranch, super-mysterious, in disguise, willing to pay to have someone tutor you in very specific skills. What’s up with that?”
If Cait was going to be his tutor, maybe she should know the truth. Not only that, but Archie had the strangest urge to tell her everything…he felt as if he could trust her.
He knew he could trust her.
“It’s for a role,” he confirmed, fumbling with the latch to open the webbing. “We’re more than halfway through filming for—well, I don’t think it’s proprietary information. The title is Big Sky Divide. It’s about an Isolationist whose compound is raided by the FBI, and he goes rogue, all mountain man-y on the run.” There. Finally managing to get the webbing undone, he climbed out to stand on shaky legs. “We’ve got a few of the action sequences left to shoot, and I requested some time to learn the skills they need. We’re moving locations, so they gave me two weeks to find a ‘tutor’.”
“Why, though?” She turned slightly, so he could see her profile. “I mean, if you’re almost done filming, why not just get a stunt guy to do those shots?”
He moved up beside her and rested his butt on the still-warm hood of the UTV. “I don’t use stunt men if at all possible. I’m a method actor; that means I become the character to the best of my ability. I chartered time on the Vomit Comet airplane to learn how to act in zero-G for Vega Return. I took months of intense piano lessons for 30 Lincoln Center—although I’ll admit they dubbed the actual music—just so I could nail the hand movements.”
She made a noncommittal noise, and Archie felt the strangest urge to defend himself.
“So this role calls for a fairly intense UTV chase and a series of primitive survival scenes. So I need to know how to do those things—how it feels to do those things. So I can better become the character. I have to really feel like I’m in that situation if I want to—”
She swung around. “What about the disguise?”
Archie blinked. He wasn’t used to being interrupted, and wasn’t used to having his explanations dismissed. “What?”
“This.” She waved her hand dismissively towards his face. “The bod and the beard, okay, I guess that’s for the movie, yeah? But your eyes?”
He bristled. “What about—oh.” He was wearing his blue contact lenses, the ones he wore when he didn’t want to attract attention. “I tend to go incognito when I’m out in public.”
She snorted, her attention still—at least nominally—on the view. “Yeah, like you big-shot Hollywood stars could go anywhere incognito.”
“Really,” he said softly, not even trying to enjoy the vista. His arms were crossed in front of him, and he didn’t stop to wonder why it was so important this woman believe him. “I like becoming other people. It’s part of the fun of method acting. So even when I’m not on a job, I like to go out in public and pretend to be—I don’t know, nobody, I guess. A regular guy. Sometimes I give myself names and jobs and backstories, even.” He shrugged, a little embarrassed. “But I’ve noticed that it’s all about body language. If I move like a big shot, I am one, but if I stand and move and walk like a regular guy, no one gives me a second glance.”
This time she really did look at him, a skeptical stare with one brow raised sarcastically. “I sincerely doubt anyone could ‘not give a second glance’ to someone as hot as you.”
He’d been called “hot” before. He’d been called “sexy” before, even. Heck, one magazine once voted him the month’s “sexiest man”. But hearing that Cait thought he was hot…well, for some reason, Archie found himself flushing. In embarrassment? Or pleasure?
He made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a laugh, and shrugged with his arms still crossed, staring at his feet.
“Did I embarrass you? Sorry.” She didn’t sound sorry.
“No, I…” He met her lovely eyes again. “I just didn’t expect it. I came here to be just a regular guy. To learn some things.”
“To be James Smith?”
He thought for a moment. Then, “…yeah.”
When she stepped closer to him, he didn’t move, and before he was really sure what her intentions were, her rear end was propped up against the hood of the UTV next to him. She even crossed her arms in front of her, like him.
They stood like that for a few minutes, staring out over the view of the ranch. The sun was hitting the distant lake, glittering on the tops of the little waves thrown up by all the pleasure boats. He inhaled deeply. It really was beautiful here, and if he were the type of man to settle in one place, to be one person, he could see it being here.
But who would he be?
“You know…” She hesitated, then cleared her throat and started again. “I used to be really self-conscious about my eyes. It’s genetic abnormality, to have two different-colored eyes. I’ve even heard it’s caused by having parents who were related to one another, although that’s not true in my case.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw her shrug, as if brushing off the thought and the worry. He wasn’t sure if he should be comforting her or not.
She continued, “But then, about five years ago, I saw you on the cover of a magazine—I don’t remember which one.” A flash of a too-wide smile. “In all of your movies, you become the character so well, I hadn’t realized you had heterochromia too. I bought that magazine, just so I could see your eyes and remind myself it was okay to be different. Then I rented The Horror of Sunshine, so I could see you act with your real eyes.”
Archie’s heart was pounding against his chest, and he couldn’t figure out how to make his voice work. He knew he’d touched people’s lives. He knew there were fans out there who admired his acting and his skills. But he was standing here with a woman—a woman who seemed hard to impress—listening to how he’d affected her just by being…himself.
He cleared his throat. “I, uh… I grew up in Portsmouth, yeah? I wanted to be an actor, and I was good at it. Stage acting is more fun, because you can become a new person for two hours straight, and don’t ever have to break character. But the real money is in film acting, even though you have to do the same scene again and again and if you’re not really devoted to the role you end up breaking character in between.” He shook his head, remembering he wasn’t here to give a lesson on acting. “When I started auditioning, I wasn’t getting any roles. I’d worked hard to lose my accent, to look like eve
ryone else in Hollywood. I was even wearing these colored contact lenses.” He jerked a thumb towards his face. “Then I met someone at a party who told me that was my problem—I looked like everyone else. My very next interview, I went without my lenses, let them see that I had one blue eye, one green eye…and I got the part. I was unique enough to draw their attention. I used my British accent in the next role I landed, too, and it felt good to remember who I really was.”
Beside him, she made a little noise which might’ve been a grunt of approval…or not. “But now? You’re hiding your real self again.”
That surprised a burst of laughter out of him, and he dropped his arms. “No, don’t you see? I’m successful. That means I can be whomever I want, whenever I want.” In his attempt to get her to understand, he placed his hand on her upper arm. “That’s the fun of doing my job, and I don’t ever want to stop!”
She’d stiffened when he’d touched her, but he’d been too intent to notice. Now though, he noticed as she slowly relaxed, exhaling softly. When she dropped her arms and turned slightly to face him, he didn’t remove his hand from her arm, and she didn’t move away.
They stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed like forever…then she nodded.
“I think…I think I do understand,” she said softly. “I think stability—doing the same thing day after day—is boring, too. I don’t change who I am, but I like to change what I do, what I see. Life is an adventure, as long as it’s always changing.”
He liked that. “Life is an adventure,” he repeated in a whisper. “That’s a great philosophy.”
Another long moment of staring at one another, then she nodded once, firmly. “So, Mr. Big-Shot Hollywood, you wanna go on an adventure?”
“With you?” His huge smile wasn’t at all forced. “Anytime.”
Her smile matched his as she jerked her thumb. “Alright then. Climb in to the driver’s seat, and we’ll give you your first lesson.”
He was already moving, but called around from the back of the UTV. “I don’t have to drive up the same trail, do I?”
“Of course not,” she said with a laugh. “We’re already up the mountain! You get to drive back down!”
He groaned theatrically as he strapped himself in to the vehicle, but found he didn’t really mind. For some reason, being beside her made the impossible seem reachable. She was here to teach him, after all.
And life was an adventure.
CHAPTER FOUR
Cait laughed out loud as she chased Archie’s wake towards the north side of the lake. His jet ski was going full-throttle, since there weren’t any other craft around, and she was having an awesome time jumping the waves he was creating.
The sun was beating down on her shoulders, the cool water of River’s End Lake was dotting her legs, and she was testing her abilities. Her spirit was soaring, so why shouldn’t she laugh out loud? This, this, was pure joy.
Yesterday’s UTV lesson had lasted until lunchtime, when they’d headed for the Kafé sweaty and covered in dust. It hadn’t been an ideal eating situation, but for some reason, with Archie, Cait hadn’t cared. Maybe it was because he didn’t seem to care what she looked like, or how dirty they both were. Either way, it had ended up being a thoroughly relaxing meal, where they discussed the mechanics of various UTVs, and some of the tricks she’d seen done with them.
If lunch had been surprising, then the day had been even more surprising. Archie was good. He was a wonderful student; intent and eager to learn. He tried a technique again and again until he got it right…until even Cait herself was impressed at his devotion. He wanted to master this skill, and that was amazing to watch.
But this morning, when she’d showed up to pick him up for another day of lessons, she’d caught his slight grimace. Maybe he’d worn himself out the day before…or maybe he liked to switch things up as much as she did.
“Unless you’d rather try something else for the day, and go back to the trails tomorrow?” she’d suggested.
His eyes had lit up. “What else do you have around here?”
That’s when she suggested jet skis, thinking she’d have to teach him how to use them too. But he’d surprised her yet again by knowing not only how to ride one, but some tricks she’d never seen.
Yeah, she was enjoying jet skiing with Archie St. John. She told herself it had nothing to do with how amazing his rear end looked in those swim trunks, or the way his bare chest had that sprinkling of brown hair over those amazing pecs…but she suspected she was lying to herself.
The best part was that he’d left off his colored contact lenses. It was probably because he didn’t want to lose them in the water, but a part of Cait wondered if her words from yesterday had anything to do with his decision.
Up ahead, Archie—it was amazing how easy it had become to think of a world-famous actor by his first name—had looped around in a shallow turn, and was heading back towards her. She jerked her handlebars to the right to hit his wake; the trick was the glide over the first set of waves, and hit the second set hard enough to launch the jet ski into the air.
It worked, and she howled with glee as she slammed her machine back into the lake.
She was still laughing as she eased off on the throttle and turned back towards him. He’d also turned, and they were heading for one another once more, but more slowly. She was pleased to see he understood safety on these things, too.
Before they reached one another, both of them took their hands off the throttle completely, dropping their machines into idle speed. Then, right as they came abreast, Cait yanked her kill switch at the same time Archie mashed the ignition button, and both jet skis turned off.
Without speaking, they both reached their left hands towards one another, and clasped forearms. The simple way to catch and hold the machines steady pulled the jet skis towards one another, and again, they moved in tandem without discussion, leaning away and using their left feet to keep the machines from slamming into one another.
Impressed how coordinated they were, despite having only known each other one day, Cait looked up to see him smiling just as hugely as her. Anyone watching them might’ve assumed them to be old friends, at how well they worked together.
Old friends…or maybe more?
The thought flustered Cait, and although she didn’t stop smiling, she did loosen her grip on his arm. He did too, but didn’t drop it completely; her hand dropped into his, and he held it, so their jet skis were very slowly rotating around their clasped hands, out there in the middle of the lake.
In the sudden silence, Cait was sure he’d be able to hear her heart pounding. Not just from the excitement, or the sight of his bare chest sparkling with drops of water, but the feel of his hand in hers.
“So!” she blurted out, desperate to draw attention elsewhere. “Where’d you learn to ride like that?”
His smile grew. “Clapped Out.”
She hadn’t expected an answer like that. “What?”
As she watched, his entire demeanor changed. He slouched on the saddle, his free hand lying limply, palm up on his opposite knee. His shoulders slumped, but his hips were cocked, along with his chin. Between one blink and the next, he went from being a well-built fighter in the prime of his life, to being a surly teenager.
“I was like, playing Caleb Nutter, yeah? He’d been working in his dad’s shop, but what he really wanted to do was like, race bikes. Dirt bikes, yeah? And no one thought he was worth a thing, so he had to show ‘em all. So, like, I had to, like, learn the skills, ya know? Skills to pay the bills.”
Cait couldn’t help it; she burst out laughing. It was remarkable how he’d been able to not only nail the body language and tones of this character, but even the eye movements and facial expressions. The person she was holding hands with wasn’t Archie St. John anymore, he was a kid who was willing to claw his way up the charts to be the best.
“And jet skis came into this…where?” she managed in between her giggles.
He blinked, and just like that, became Archie again, sitting up straighter and moving his shoulders into a different position. He smiled slightly, and she liked that she could tell, even behind his beard.
“My trainer started me on jet skis, to learn the motion and the movements and the art of leaning. Because they hurt less when I fell off.”
She had to laugh again at that. “I’ll bet they did!”
It was hard to make herself drop his hand, but she did it knowing if she didn’t do it now, she wouldn’t be able to. Running her hand across her thick hair, she smirked at him. “And now you’re pretty good at it, huh?”
He shrugged modestly. “I work at things until I’m as good as my character would be, if possible.”
Yeah, he’d shown that yesterday. It was amazing how he was able to become so many different people so quickly.
“Well, Mr. Hollywood, I’ll race you back to the boat house!”
Without even acknowledging her challenge, Archie pressed his ignition button and surged away from her, making a tight turn back towards the far shore as she fumbled to replace her kill switch. His laughter floated back with his wake as she gunned the throttle to catch up.
A huge smile on her face as she raced to beat him, Cait was struck with a thought:
Life would never be boring with Archie St. John.
Archie didn’t think he’d laughed so often in his life. Being around Cait just made him want to smile, to chuckle, to laugh, and wasn’t that an odd response? He’d been around plenty of funny people—he’d been funny people—and Cait wasn’t particularly funny. It’s just…she made him happy. Made his chest feel lighter, somehow.
It was weird, but he liked it.
They’d stayed in their bathing suits after their fun on the lake, because Cait had mentioned the hot tub at the Aquatics Center, and he’d perked up.
“Is it big enough for two?” he asked.