by Cat Johnson
Ben’s eyes opened wide as he shook his head. “Sometimes you scare the shit out of me. You know that?”
“Yup.” Ned grinned. “And that’s just the way I like it.”
Heather stared at her reflection in the mirror. “You really think I can get away with it?”
Maille stood beside her. “Totally. You don’t even look like you.”
She was right. It was jarring to see a stranger staring back. “I think the brown contacts make a big difference.”
“Definitely. Your green eyes are your trademark, so covering them up was a good idea if you don’t want to give away who you are. And since the character is supposed to have a Latina mother, it’s perfect.” Maille shrugged.
Heather had gotten an extra dark spray tan and let her naturally curly hair go wild for this audition. All that, coupled with the fake résumé and the new headshot she’d had Maille’s photographer friend take for her, and she was ready. She’d made up a few credits from some local theater companies and a local commercial as her acting credentials. Things no one would bother to check on, but enough to prove she was a professional who could get the job done if hired. She could only hope her talent would land her the part on its own, without the long list of her past body of work.
“You sure you don’t want to just tell them who you are?”
“Yes, the moment they see my real name, they’ll have certain expectations. They’ll see the twelve-year-old me. Not me now.”
For this role, Heather couldn’t be the whitewashed child star her mother had created. She had to be gritty. This was a role she could sink her teeth into. And she would bet her mother would rather see her dead than playing the part of a post-apocalyptic world sex slave who leads a revolt in a B movie produced by a tiny indie studio. The film was very Hunger Games, but with lots of sex. In fact, if she did land this part, it might just give her mother a nervous breakdown. Heather tried not to enjoy the image.
Heather turned to face Maille. “I’m excited.”
Her friend laughed. “So am I. It’s fun having you here.”
“If I get the part, I’ll be here a lot. At least during the shooting.”
“Did I tell you that I know the guy they hired to play the male lead? If you get the part, you’ll be sucking face with Hank Lockman. He doesn’t have all that much experience in film, mostly modeling, but OMG, what a hottie.” Maille’s big blue eyes grew wide. “I’d be his sex slave any day.”
Heather laughed, but inside, memories of the two hotties she’d left in Oklahoma twisted her gut. She had to concentrate on her career first. Then she’d work on getting her private life worked out. “They said the male lead is going to be there for the auditions. You should read for the part, too, Maille. Maybe they’ll have you read through the big sex scene with him.”
“Nah, that would just be a tease. A taste of what I’ll never have.” Maille sighed dramatically. “There’s no way I’d ever get the part.”
“Why not?”
“One, with my blond hair and blue eyes, pulling off Hispanic would be a stretch. And two, I look too old. They want a young-looking character. You know, to grab a younger demographic. The college audience. I know you hate it, but you have a real baby face.”
Heather scowled. She did hate it.
“It’s going to work in your favor this time, Heather. Trust me. I have good instincts about things like this. You’re totally landing this role.”
She glanced at Maille. “And if I do, and it comes time to sign the contracts and the legal name on there isn’t the one I gave them at the auditions?”
“Are you kidding? They’ll be thrilled to have a big name who’s willing to work for scale in a tiny film. You know the kind of media attention that will get them? Tell them the truth when you confess. That you lied because you wanted to be judged on your acting, not your reputation. It’s a good reason.”
The last confession she’d made hadn’t gone that well. Ben had been so angry he could hardly look at her. She pushed that memory aside. She needed to focus. “All right. Let’s go. I know it’s early, but I’m nervous. I need to move.”
“You got it. Hank, baby, here we come.” Maille grabbed her tote and spun toward the bedroom door.
12
“She’s got a quality I like. Young, innocent, but tough and determined. As if she’s willing to claw her way to get what she wants.”
Heather’s heart pounded, listening to the casting director talking about her to the producer. She tried to stop the script pages clutched in her hand from rattling and giving away how badly her hands trembled.
“All right. Let’s run through the same scene one more time, but I want to see the conflict in you. You want him, but you hate that you want him. He sets your body on fire with desire, but you’re struggling with the hatred you feel for him because he’s your captor.”
She nodded, understanding more than he knew. Heather flashed back to saying good-bye to Ben. The torture in his eyes. She could see his anger over her lies, but she saw something else in him, too.
Conflict. Pain. Regret. Desire. Self-loathing. Ben battled them all when he turned away from her after only two cold words: Good-bye, Heather.
Embracing all those emotions, she glanced at the floor, made sure she was on her mark, and then began the scene.
When the male lead grabbed her face and kissed her, she remembered the fire of Ned’s and Ben’s kisses. When he released her, she channeled Ben’s anger, torn between desire and hate. She delivered her lines and found her eyes filling with hot tears.
When she finished, she turned to look at the row of people, lined up on one side of a paper-strewn table. Every one of them was silent. Her throat tightened, willing someone to say something. Anything.
The person running the video camera turned it off, yet still the room was dead quiet. A few of the assistants exchanged glances and Heather’s heart began to pound with dread. Then the director put his hands together and clapped. Slow, but loud. The others joined him. Even Hank, standing next to her, shoved his script beneath his arm and joined in the applause. He smiled. “You totally nailed it.”
Blinking back the mist in her eyes, she turned back to the director, wobbling between tears and laughter.
When the room quieted, the casting director smiled. “I think we’ve got our female lead.” He glanced down at her résumé, frowning. “Who the hell are you and where have you been? Have you really been hidden away doing local theater all these years?”
“Do I really have the part?” she asked, before she dared answer his question.
“If you want it, it’s yours. I’ve sat through two days of auditions, and you’re the first one who really got the character.”
She swallowed hard and braced herself for the confession. “I want it. But there’s something I need to tell you first.”
“All right.” His answer sounded wary.
“I haven’t been doing local theater all these years. I’ve been acting professionally, but I’m not Heather Sanchez. I’m . . . Heather London. And these are brown contact lenses. And a spray tan. But my hair really is this curly when I don’t put product in it.”
Might as well get it all out in the open at once. If he was going to fire her, better now than after production started.
Beside her, Hank’s mouth dropped open. “Heather London? Holy shit. I’ve had a crush on you for, like, years.”
She let out a short laugh. “Uh, thanks.”
Heather glanced at the table again. The casting director tossed her fake résumé to the side. “I guess I won’t be needing that. So, would you like to tell me why you lied about who you are?”
Maille’s words echoed in her head. “I wanted to earn the role on my talent, not my name.”
He laughed. “Well, you sure did that.”
Did that mean he forgave her? “I can still have the part?”
“It pays scale, and there’s no money in the budget for any of the things I’m sure you’re used to. And we�
��re working on a tight schedule, so we’d need you available by the first of the month.”
“That’s all fine. If you’re still offering it, I want it.” She took a step forward.
The director looked to the man at his left, the producer. He shrugged and then laughed. “I’m sure as hell not going to say no to her. She can pull off this role. We’ve seen that. And the press is going to eat this up. Heather London, taking a part in a little indie film? You can’t buy publicity like that.”
“All right. Looks like we agree. Congratulations, Miss London. You’ve got yourself a movie.” The director stood and came around the table to shake her hand. “Make sure you give your real contact information and that of your agent to my assistant before you leave.”
“I will. And thank you so much. You won’t regret it.”
He cocked a brow. “I certainly hope I won’t.”
The first of the month. Heather said a quick good-bye and thank you to Hank, and then scrambled to figure out what date today was. She had to get the car back to the poor girl she’d borrowed it from because she really doubted her mother had been letting Kim use the BMW while she’d been gone.
And on the way back to Chicago, she had a stop to make. One that couldn’t wait until after this movie was finished.
“Missy. Dammit! Get out from under my feet.” If he tripped over the dog one more time . . . Ben clenched his teeth, closed his eyes, and counted to ten.
“Leave her be. Herding dogs are bred to stay close to their masters.”
That Ned was being the voice of reason was quite the twist. Then again, the whole world seemed upside down. Pretty much since Heather Smith aka London waltzed, or rather sputtered in her broken-down car, into their lives.
“I know that. But she can hear my commands from a few feet away just as well as from under the heel of my boot, don’t you think?”
Ned leaned down and after one short whistle, Missy was by his leg, wagging her tail as he rubbed her ear. “Good girl.”
Ben shook his head, disappointed in himself for losing his patience with the dog. Just as pissed that his ears perked up every damn time he heard a car rattle by on the road past the ranch. He heard one now and refused to let himself look. It had been a couple of weeks since she’d left, but damn that car sounded like hers.
She wasn’t coming back and that was for the best, for all concerned. Since Heather hadn’t shown up, that meant in two short weeks Ben would win the bet and Ned would have to be a good boy. Ben glanced up, about to remind him of their deal, when he saw Ned staring at the driveway behind him.
“Holy crap.” Ned let out a breath that turned into a laugh. “I knew it.”
“Knew what?” Ben turned. What he saw in the driveway had him feeling as surprised as Ned looked.
“Heather’s back,” Ned announced.
Ben didn’t need Ned to tell him that. The car he knew all too well—intimately, in fact—pulled up to the barn as his pulse sped.
She might be back, but she sure as hell wasn’t here to stay. How could she? She was a big star with a career and a life far from them. The way Ben’s heart pounded and his damn cock started to stir, that apparently didn’t matter. His body was ready to take her any way he could get her, for however long.
Heather cut the engine and all three of them watched—him, Ned, and the dog—as the door swung wide. She was in different clothes. Either she’d gone on a shopping spree with her platinum card or she’d borrowed something from that friend Ned said she’d been staying with. Either way, he couldn’t help but stare. Heather in his T-shirt was hard enough to resist. But in this slinky, low-cut dress that clung to her body, she was enough to make a man lose his mind.
She came toward them but stopped a couple of yards away. Ned closed the distance and swooped her up in his arms. His mouth covered hers, and stayed there even after he lowered her feet to the ground. Finally, she pulled back and broke the kiss, before shooting a glance at Ben.
“It sure is nice to see you.” Ned grinned down at Heather like a kid on Christmas morning.
Ben, who didn’t believe in Santa or much of anything else, remained a little more wary and kept his distance. Until Ned dragged Heather to him by one hand.
“Hey.” He’d had to say something. The silence as they stared at each other was starting to get awkward.
She raised her gaze to his. “Hi.”
“All right. First of all, I won the bet, so you two have to do what I say, and I say kiss her and make up already, Ben, so we can get to the good part.”
“Ned—”
“Ben.” Ned mimicked his tone. “Enough already. She lied, but she’s sorry and now she’s back. Forgive and forget.”
Ned eyed him while Heather looked everywhere except at him.
“Ned, could you leave Heather and me alone for a second?”
His eyebrows rose, but he nodded. “Sure.” Ned ran a hand up and down Heather’s arm. “I’ll just run inside. You want something to drink, darlin’?”
“No, thank you.”
As Ned left them, Heather finally looked at him. “I’m sorry. More than you can ever know.”
Ben sighed. How much of his anger came from his past, and not from Heather’s actions? His own baggage he was throwing onto her.
Memories of the shitty childhood he would have done anything to run from followed him still. Ned’s past affected him to this day as well. Ben knew Ned had suffered at the stinging end of his stepfather’s belt often. Too much for the mental scars to not follow him still. Now that Ben thought about it, it made sense Ned would transform all that pain into something different. Something sexual that he could control. The spanking thing made a lot more sense now.
He thought of all that they’d gone through and overcome, and compared it to all Heather had. Yet, she still wasn’t happy. But she felt what she felt. How could he blame her for that?
“Did you find what you were looking for in California?”
“Yes, I tried out for a role. One my mother would never have approved of. I lied—again—and used a fake name. I got it. Not because of who I am, but because they liked me. My talent.”
He saw in her expression, heard in her tone, how much that meant to her. “I’m glad for you. Really.”
“After they offered it to me, I confessed. Told them who I really am. They still wanted me.” She dragged her gaze to his. “Do you? Still want me, I mean? Can you forgive me?”
“I’ve never stopped wanting you. Even when I was so mad I couldn’t see straight, I still wanted to throw you down on the bed, or the hood, and fuck you silly.” Ben laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. “That just pissed me off more.”
“I know.” She smiled.
Ben believed she did know him, even after the very short time they’d been together. He stepped forward. She did, too, coming into his arms. When she looked up and captured him with her emerald gaze, there was no stopping himself from claiming her mouth. He plunged his tongue between her lips and groaned.
How long she’d be here with them didn’t matter half as much as the fact she was here now, pressed against him. Feeling so good beneath his hands.
“I’ll be waiting for y’all in the barn when you’re done. We’ve got some lost time to make up for.” Ned’s voice broke into Ben’s bliss. He pulled back from the temptation of Heather’s lips.
“Ned has a plan. But since you weren’t here to agree to it, I don’t think you should have to be bound by it.” Ben raised his voice so Ned would hear from a distance.
“Good try, but she knows all about it. I texted her about our bet and she agreed. So get your ass in here.” Ned’s answer came from inside the barn.
“You’re really okay with his plan?” Ben frowned down at her.
Heather nodded and smiled.
“When did he tell you?”
“Yesterday, but I was already packing the car to get ready to come here, so it wasn’t like it swayed my decision either way.”
“Wait, did
he know you were coming?” Ben frowned. If Ned had known for sure Heather was on her way and hadn’t told him . . .
“No, no one knew except my friend. I wanted to surprise you both.”
Ben shook his head and glanced at the barn, where Ned was waiting inside. “You know if you don’t want to do this, you can say no to him. He’ll pout for a bit, but he’ll get over it.”
“I don’t want to say no.”
He could see in her face, in the way her breathing became shallow and her eyes got a bit unfocused, she liked the idea. Then she treated him to a devilish smile. As she pulled him toward the barn by one hand, she glanced over her shoulder. “Besides, I think it will help me prepare for my new role.”
“Ned’s kinky barn sex will help you prepare for this role? What kind of part is it?” Ben tugged back, planting his boots firmly on the ground and not moving another inch until he got an answer.
“Don’t worry, silly. I’m not in a porno or anything. It’s a futuristic movie. The heroine is captured and tied up a lot . . . while having sex. Stop giving me that look. I’m not actually having the sex. It’s all acting. And I’m a very good actor . . . with the proper motivation.” She tugged again. “Come inside and give me some motivation.”
She was so damn cute, she erased the frown from Ben’s brow, but it returned quick enough when he saw the leather straps Ned was already tying to the bars of the horse stall.
“I don’t know about—”
“A bet is a bet. And don’t worry. The straps are for her, not you.” Ned paused and glanced at Ben, a length of leather still in his hand. “Unless you’d like them to be for you.” His gaze moved to Heather. “You need some practice being a dominatrix for your part, darlin’?”
She giggled. “No, not for this movie. I’m the captive slave. Maybe for the sequel, though.”
“All right. You’re off the hook then.” He winked at Heather; then his gaze shifted to Ben. “And so are you. I, on the other hand, appreciate a few good strong pieces of leather around my wrists if the woman with her mouth around my cock knows what she’s doing.”