by Melody Anne
“We came to celebrate my new job.” I touched my forehead and winced. It seemed like all of my scampering around under the table had reopened the cut from earlier. Oh, good. I was oozing blood in front of Gavin Hartley. Again. “Will you excuse me? I need to go clean up.”
I jumped out of the booth and pushed past Veronica and Gavin without a glance. When I got to the bathroom, I turned on the taps and sloshed water over my face, watching the blood swirl down the drain. The dizziness had passed now that I was no longer trapped in the confines of the tiny booth. I took a few deep breaths and grabbed a paper towel to press over the cut. The bandage hung in my hair and I grimaced as I pulled at it.
Reggie appeared in the mirror behind me. I jumped at her sudden manifestation by my side.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “More embarrassed than anything.”
“You like him.” Her eyes met mine in the glass. It wasn’t a question.
“Who? Clint? I told you he’s not my type. You should go for it if you want.”
And make me not regret turning him down.
Reggie shook her head. “I wasn’t talking about Clint. I meant Gavin.”
“Well, of course I like him. He’s a gorgeous movie star. I don’t know one girl who doesn’t have a crush on him.”
My roommate took my hand and turned me toward her. “This is different. More than a silly movie star crush. You really like him.”
“So what?” I tossed the bandage into the trash and tucked my hair behind my ear. “He was so sweet to me today and I wasn’t expecting that. But it doesn’t matter because someone like him . . . I wouldn’t stand a chance with someone like him. Look at me.”
“What’s your point?” Reggie asked. “Just because you have a stupid scar on your face? If you think your imperfections are what define you, you’re wrong. Look at me. I’m not exactly Heidi Klum. But I don’t give a crap. Anyone who judges me by my clothing size isn’t worth my time.”
She touched my face and I flinched.
“And anyone who judges you by this,” she said, “isn’t worth yours.”
The sincerity shone through her eyes and I surprised myself by pulling her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around me and held me tight.
“Thanks, Reggie,” I said into her thick mane. Vanilla shampoo wafted from her locks. “You’re a good friend.”
We parted and she held me by the shoulders and smiled. “I know. You’re lucky to have me. Now, come on, we left the thirsty cowboy alone. He’s probably polished off both of our drinks by now.”
I laughed and followed her out of the bathroom. As we headed to our table, I spotted Gavin and Veronica again. He steered her toward the exit with one hand pressed into the small of her back. She looked over her shoulder and our eyes locked. Then she broke my gaze and said something in Gavin’s ear. When he turned to reply, she wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed him.
Just like that. There was no gazing into each other’s eyes, no hesitation before a first kiss. One moment they were individuals and the next they formed a solid mass. Gavin’s eyes widened and he bristled in surprise. He touched her shoulders as though to push her away, but the sudden flash of a hundred camera phones lit up the bar, and Gavin seemed to think better of rejecting a beautiful woman in public. He closed his eyes, wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. I gave Reggie a pointed look that said I told you so, then studied the puke-stained floor, acid biting up my throat.
By the time the flashes died down and I looked up again, they were gone.
Any excitement I’d felt for the first day of filming had dissipated the moment I saw pictures of Veronica kissing Gavin all over the Internet the next day. Gossip sites teemed with stories about the kismet of the Viking Moon author dating the show’s star. It didn’t hurt that they were both totally gorgeous and easy to place on the cover of newspapers or Web pages.
I closed the news site on my phone and sighed as Veronica sauntered down her walkway to my car. My watch indicated we were already ten minutes late. Not that it was my fault.
I’d been sitting in front of Veronica’s house for half an hour, honking the horn and moaning in frustration when she’d respond to each blast by sticking her arm out the front door and giving me the finger. I finally realized her reaction was probably making her take longer, so I’d given up leaning on the horn and pulled out my phone instead.
Veronica got in the car and smiled at me as though she hadn’t spent the last half hour making obscene gestures in my direction.
“We’re late, thanks to you,” I snapped at her as she pulled the seat belt across her perky chest and buckled it.
“Who cares? These things are never on time anyway.”
“Because you’ve spent so much time on television sets?”
“No.” She pulled her sunglasses down her forehead to cover her eyes. “But everyone knows Hollywood is a lot of waiting around. You’ll see.”
Turned out, Veronica was wrong. As soon as we got to the set, an anxious assistant with a clipboard ushered us through the woods, a finger to her lips to tell us to keep quiet. When we broke into the clearing, I had to blink several times to make sure what I saw in front of me was real and not a product of my overactive imagination.
Camera tracks lined the grass, their heavy bases pressing the greenery into submission. I counted at least three cameras focused on the spot where the water met the sand. Stan sat in a chair marked DIRECTOR and his head bobbed between footage on a screen beside him and the action in front.
Gavin stood before the camera, sporting his customary pelts from the novels. The costume department had certainly made the most of his tightly honed body, leaving one shoulder bare and exposing half of his muscular chest. The absence of sleeves highlighted his toned shoulders and arms. I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen when they got to the winter scenes. The outfit wasn’t exactly suited for sword fights in snow. At least they’d given him boots.
His opponent, on the other hand, was covered almost head to foot in homemade armor. A silver plate hid the actor’s face as he pushed against Gavin. Their swords collided and the setting sun glistened off the blades. I shaded my eyes and cursed myself for losing my sunglasses in Boatgate the last time I was here.
The pair was locked in a perfect dance. Gavin threw off his attacker, the muscles in his back and arms straining with exertion. The attacker lunged again, his sword narrowly missing Gavin’s head by inches. I gasped and clapped my hand over my mouth. The same assistant from earlier snapped her head back at me and pressed her finger to her lips again. I mouthed an apology and returned my attention to the action.
Gavin had somehow found the way to perfectly embody Dag. His every move was precise and practiced. He stalked the attacker like a half-naked panther, his body hunched and his eyes never leaving the steel mask.
Veronica nudged my shoulder. “Isn’t he hot?”
The assistant appeared again with her finger on her mouth. Veronica mimicked her behind her back. I locked my jaw to contain my laughter.
By the time we returned our attention to the shore, the attacker had gotten the best of Gavin. He lay sprawled on the grass, his sword inches away. He reached for it and the attacker kicked it away with the toe of his heavy black boot. He placed his sword at Gavin’s throat, and Gavin raised his head. I already knew what he would say. After all, I’d written it, and read it more times than I could count.
“Wait,” Gavin/Dag said. “Before you kill me, can I at least see the face of my murderer? It seems the honorable thing to do.”
The attacker’s sword hovered over Gavin’s neck and the body stiffened beneath the armor. The silver-clad warrior reached up and pulled the mask and helmet off in one swoop.
Leila Clarke’s auburn hair fell down her back, blowing in the light breeze. Like Gavin, she had mastered her character. She was Thora as she scrutinized her prey; her green eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. Her jaw was set tight, and the muscles
in the back of her neck clenched as she met the man who would become the love of her life.
Gavin’s eyes widened and his body jerked right on cue. “You’re a girl!”
“Woman,” Leila/Thora said, her sword so close to Gavin’s throat it might have drawn blood if it had been real. “The woman who’s going to kill you.”
Gavin chuckled. I clenched my hands at my side to stop myself from clapping and jumping up and down. I felt giddy, like a kid who’d walked downstairs and discovered Santa Claus shoving presents beneath the tree.
“It would be an honor to die at your hands,” Gavin said. “At least the last thing I’ll see will be pure beauty. The gods themselves couldn’t greet me with anything more stunning in the afterlife.”
Leila placed a boot on Gavin’s chest. “You talk too much for a dead boy.”
“And you hesitate too much for a killer.”
Gavin swept his arm up and revealed he’d managed to reach his sword while he’d distracted her. He heaved and she flew off his chest, landing on her back in the grass. Their positions were now reversed from only a few moments before, with Gavin holding his sword at her throat.
“Go ahead,” Leila said. “Kill me. My brothers will avenge my death.”
“You know,” Gavin said, kicking her sword out of her hand, “I meant what I said earlier about you being beautiful. There is too little beauty in this world. For now, I choose to let beauty survive.”
He held his sword to her neck as he bent over and picked up her weapon. Then he tossed it into the bushes behind him, off camera. A tech dived out of the way as the sword flew over his head.
Gavin turned and ran off, leaving the camera’s frame and a perplexed Leila behind. Her confusion quickly turned to anger as her eyes flashed and her jaw tightened. “You should have killed me!” she called to us over the camera. “You’ll regret it! You’ll see!”
The scene froze and the director got out of his chair, waving his arms and appearing to shout orders at whoever would listen.
Something smacked me on my bare arm.
“Ow!” I gently massaged the area, already stinging red. “What the hell was that for?”
Veronica didn’t bother with an apology. “You’ve been making this ridiculous high-pitched noise since the director yelled ‘Cut.’ I was worried you were going to attract dolphins or something.”
“There aren’t any dolphins near here. They live in the ocean.”
“Whatever. It was annoying, okay?”
The scowl disappeared from her face as she spotted something over my shoulder. I turned to find Gavin standing so close to me, one step would instantly close the gap between us. I reminded myself to breathe as I watched a bead of sweat drip from his neck down his bare shoulder, nestling into the thick fur of the pelt slung low around his hips. I’d never wanted to be a drop of sweat more in my life.
It took all my willpower to stop imagining where that drop went and focus, instead, on his lips.
“What did you think?” His tongue darted out of his mouth to lick his lips and all reminders of breathing hopped on a train to God knows where.
I opened my mouth to tell him how perfect he’d been. How watching him swing his sword and tease Thora was like nothing my wildest dreams could conjure. Then I remembered. It wasn’t my validation he craved. I looked to Veronica and raised my eyebrows.
She scanned my face, as though my eyes or lips provided the answers she required. Finally, she broke into a grin. “Oh. My. God. That was wonderful! You were the perfect Dag!” Once again, a sweetness I rarely saw dripped off her as she slid a manicured finger up and down his bare arm. Oh, she was good. Jekyll and Hyde had nothing on this girl.
Gavin turned to me, all pearly white teeth and sweat. You liked it, too? he signed.
I swallowed and tried to recall if I’d eaten sandpaper for breakfast.
It was great. You were great. Veronica pinched me from behind, obviously annoyed she wasn’t part of the conversation. I ignored her. Not that my opinion matters. I’m just an assistant.
Your opinion matters to me, Gavin signed. Anyone who’s a fan of the series matters to me. I want this to be perfect.
It was, I signed. Trust me.
My eyes met Gavin’s and the way he stared at me, I knew he could read my sincerity.
Your ASL’s gotten better. I smiled. You’re not moving as slow.
I’ve been practicing. For when I saw you again.
Heat licked through my body, gnashing at my skin. Gavin Hartley had anticipated seeing me again. This couldn’t be real.
“Oh! I almost forgot!” He started, jolting me from my thoughts. “I have something for you. I hoped I’d see you today. Hang on, it’s over on my chair.”
Veronica gave me a death stare that practically branded nasty words into my skin as Gavin wandered to a cloth-covered chair with his name embroidered on the back. I knew I should’ve felt rude, leaving her out of the conversation like that, but for once, I had something she didn’t. She’d just have to deal.
Gavin returned with a copy of Carnivore’s Teeth cradled under his forearm.
Lucky book.
“I found this in the sand after you got smacked by the boat the other day. I think it fell out of your bag. It’s definitely yours. It has your name in it.” He opened it to the title page, where my professor had signed. “I have to know, how the hell did you meet Duncan Creed?”
“He’s my American Lit professor.” I did a double take. “Wait. You’re a Duncan Creed fan?”
“Are you kidding? The man’s a genius. Carnivore’s Teeth changed my life. It kills me he hasn’t written anything since.”
I planted my hands at my sides so I wouldn’t lunge across the sand at him in excitement. “Me too! I adore that book! I mean, I know it’s technically about outer space, but it’s actually about so much more than that, you know?”
“Exactly. I swear I’ve read this book, like, twenty times and I still can’t figure it all out.” He handed the book back to me, and I held it against my chest. “I can’t believe you have him as a teacher. Where do you go?”
“Fernbrooke U,” I said. “I’d invite you to come to class, but I doubt we’d get any work done. I’d be too busy staring at you—er, I mean, everyone would be too busy staring at you.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want you to do poorly in class because of me.”
“I’m pretty sure no one would do well that day.”
“Then I’ll try not to show up unexpected in any of your classes.”
We smiled at one another, the image of him attempting to take notes and have some semblance of being a normal student playing between us.
All of a sudden, Veronica stepped beside me, edging me away from Gavin with her shoulder. “Oh! I can’t believe how much we have in common!” she said. “I simply adore Douglas Creek. He’s one of the best writers out there. You know, besides me.”
She laughed, her fingernails grazing her chest in a way that drew every man’s eyes to their resting place.
Gavin laughed with her, apparently unaware that she’d screwed up Duncan Creed’s name. In fact, he seemed pretty unaware of anything but Veronica gliding toward him. She ran her fingers across his chest and smiled up at him. I gripped the book harder and turned away, choosing to allow the sun to blind me as opposed to enduring yet another of their PDA sessions.
Leila Clarke stepped in front of me and sneered at the couple. “Oh, there he goes again. Is she the new flavor of the week?”
“You don’t think they make an adorable couple? Everyone else does.”
She scrunched her face. “She’s exactly the same woman he dates over and over. Absolutely stunning and famous enough to keep his name in the press.”
The sun was relentless against my face. Heat brimmed in my cheeks and forehead. “He cares about that stuff?”
“Of course. He wouldn’t be Gavin Hartley if he didn’t.”
Well, there was my answer. I was right. Gavin would never want a girl l
ike me. A girl who would be edited off magazine covers and who would rather pay someone to be her than live in the spotlight of her own fame.
“But you’re famous,” I said. “Don’t you care about that stuff, too?”
Leila shrugged. She’d removed the armor, and beneath it, she sported a deep red tank top and tight shorts. Every curve of her body was on display, and she had no reason to hide them. Like Gavin, her physique had been formed to fit the perfect Hollywood mold.
“I used to care,” she said. “I mean, I even dated Gavin for a while. You know, when we were both starting out.”
“I remember that. You were a cute couple.”
“We were better friends than lovers. We never fit together quite right. But we kept it up because the paparazzi couldn’t get enough and neither could our publicists. Our relationship helped launch our careers.”
“But you don’t care anymore?” I wiped my brow and my hand came back soaked in sweat. I grimaced and wiped it against my T-shirt.
“My career is fine, even if the guy I’m dating now isn’t famous. But he’s sweet and he treats me right. And I know, tomorrow, if my career falls apart, he’ll still be there. Gavin, I wasn’t so sure. Oh, I’m Leila, by the way.”
She extended her hand to me. Her fingers were soft and free of sweat, her fingernails perfectly shaped and unpolished.
“Elise,” I said.
“Oh, you’re Aubrey’s assistant, right? Gavin told me all about you. How’s your head? I heard you got quite the bump.”
I released her hand and placed my fingertips to my forehead. The bandage was no longer necessary, but there was still a small cut that was bound to scar. Just another one to add to my collection.
“It’s fine. A little sore, but that’s it.” I glanced behind me. Gavin and Veronica remained close together, her fingers deftly tracing up his bare shoulder. I whipped my focus back to Leila. “Gavin talked about me?”
“Yeah. He said to look out for you. Make sure you don’t get hurt again. Said you seemed a bit accident-prone.”