And Playing the Role of Herself...

by K E Lane

  I nodded my thanks and pulled the jacket on, shuddering at the initial feel of the cold material against my already ice-cold skin. I zipped it up and rubbed my arms a few times, hoping my body heat would soon make wearing the coat warmer than not wearing it. "I guess Drew would know. Hell, if this script change gets things back to normal with everyone, then it'll be well worth laying in a puddle in the rain for three hours. But next time, you get the puddle." A violent shiver shook my body to emphasize the words. "At least you got a coat during takes."

  The script had called for the assault to take place in the alley behind a bar that the squad frequented; the assailant nabbed Rita on her way to the bathroom, hence no coat for me. Liz had lucked out that the writers and wardrobe had deemed Jen smart enough to put on a jacket before searching for her partner, and that had kept Liz fairly dry throughout the drizzly shoot.

  "Sorry," she said contritely and handed me a cup of coffee. "I promise, next time I'll lay in the puddle."

  I took the coffee it in both hands, holding it for several seconds to warm my fingers and smiling slightly at the ludicrousness of that statement. Her sentiment might be genuine, but the chances of a script ever being written that called for Liz Stokley to lie in a puddle were slim to none. "I'll remember that," I said, and sipped at my drink, feeling almost warm for the first time in hours.

  I nodded to David the day-player who came under our tarp for a coffee refill. "Nice job tonight, David."

  He seemed startled that I had spoken to him and his hands jerked, coming precariously close to tipping the coffee urn over. "Uh…thanks." He smiled sheepishly, righting the urn and finished filling his coffee without further incident.

  "You look familiar…you had a part last season, didn't you? You worked with Micah and Henry…"

  We chatted idly for a few minutes, Liz interjecting comments occasionally, until Nate finally decided he had what he needed, thanked us, and told us we were through for the night. The entire crew heaved an audible sigh of relief and several started breaking down the set and light rigging, while Liz, David and I, along with the rest of the crew, headed en-mass towards the studio building's front entrance, the parking lot, or the trailers, all of which were in the same direction.

  The drizzle let up as we walked along the side of the building, and we rounded the corner, chattering and joking about crappy timing. As the large crowd broke up into smaller groups bound for different destinations, Liz and I waved and headed for the row of actor's trailers which were set up as a subtle reminder of the 9P cast pecking order with Liz's being the first in the row and mine being the last. I stopped at her trailer to finish the conversation we'd been having, ribbing her gently about being willing to pay five thousand dollars for a wedding cake.

  "Christ, Liz, I've heard you whine about paying a buck-fifty for a muffin…"

  I could tell she was gearing up for a good comeback and looking forward to it when a wolf-whistle and several calls of greeting from the crew drew our attention to a tall, raincoat clad form emerging from a green SUV that I hadn't noticed parked in the lot's front row.

  I hadn't recognized the car in the dark, but I certainly recognized its passenger. Even bundled in red gortex from the waist up, her form was unmistakable and a pleasant warmth stole through me at the sight of her.

  "Isn't that Robyn?" Liz asked curiously. "I thought you cancelled your plans tonight."

  I nodded absently at both questions. I had called Robyn and left a message about Nate's rearranging of the shooting schedule, telling her that I would call her in the morning. I hadn't expected to see her until then, and I was touched and pleased that she'd wanted to see me badly enough to brave the rain and the late hour. A grin spread across my face as she splashed through numerous puddles towards us, waving casually and returning the crew's greetings and comments but not pausing to talk to any of them.

  Soon she was standing in front of me, smiling widely, her near-black eyes alight with pleasure. She pushed the hood of her coat back, absently freeing her hair from the confines of the hood with one hand and letting it cascade down her back. "Hey," she grinned, and moved towards me, hesitating when I instinctively flicked a glance at the several crew members who were suddenly not in such a hurry to get out of the wet. They watched us avidly, not even trying to conceal their interest.

  I glanced back at Robyn nervously, not sure how public she wanted to be, and honestly not certain how public I wanted to be, either. She watched me carefully, as though waiting for some clue, and finally said softly, "I'm dying to touch you, Caid, and right now, I don't really give a damn who's watching, but I'll understand if you're uncomfortable…"

  Her words melted my indecision instantly, and I stepped forward to wrap my arms around her before she even finished speaking.

  "Whoa," she chuckled as her arms closed around me. "Guess that question is answered."

  "Hi," I murmured into her shoulder. Her arms tightened briefly and then, deciding without having to say so that other, more involved greetings could wait until later, we both stepped back. "I didn't expect to see you until morning," I said, unable to stop myself from stroking her arm lightly. "I very glad to be wrong."

  She smiled and shrugged slightly. "I got your message, but decided I didn't want to wait until tomorrow when I knew exactly where you were tonight." She hesitated, and then leaned forward and pressed her lips to my cheek, letting the kiss linger far past what could reasonably be construed as a friendly peck. "Hi," she whispered as she pulled back.

  I blinked in surprise, both at her boldness and the sweetness of the gesture. She squeezed my hand and glanced behind me with a friendly smile. "Hi Liz."

  "Hi Robyn," Liz's amused voice replied. "Good to see you. Finally finished, hmm?"

  I turned, embarrassed to have forgotten Liz was standing there, and met her amused look with an apologetic one.

  "Yeah, finally." Robyn put her hands in the pockets of her jacket and rocked back and forth on her heels. "It was a cluster-fuck there at the end, but supposedly things are all done. And perfect timing too - they're in the middle of a heat wave in New York. When I flew out today, it was 98 degrees and something like ninety percent humidity."

  Unthinking, I snaked an arm around Robyn's waist as she talked, and when I realized what I was doing, slowly started to withdraw it. She casually pulled a hand out of her pocket to snag the retreating limb and put it back on her waist, keeping it there with a gentle pat. "I was ready to get back to something at least a little drier…" She laughed and waved at the rain around us. "This is somewhat unexpected."

  "No shit," I mumbled, suddenly reminded that despite the warmth Robyn's presence caused, under my coat I still wore a soaked cotton shirt and wet jeans. I shivered, and Robyn looked over at me with a frown, seeming for the first time to notice my bedraggled state.

  Liz made a shooing motion and pushed us both down the line of trailers. "Go. You've been bitching about being cold for two hours - you don't need to stand out here and get even colder. Robyn, I'm glad you're back, and Caid, I'll see you in the morning."

  I groaned, remembering that despite tonight's late shoot, we still had a 7:30 call time in the morning, which meant that I had to be here at 5:30. "Shit," I muttered and sighed heavily as we said goodbye to Liz and trudged down the row of trailers to the last one. I mounted the steps and unlocked the door, pushing it open and letting Robyn enter first. My brain was still grumbling about the early call time when I was yanked into the trailer, the door slammed behind me, and Robyn's deliciously warm, demanding mouth descended on mine.

  After overcoming my initial surprise I gave as good as I got, even pushed up against the door as I was. Her kisses were, impossible as it seemed, even better than I remembered, scrambling my brain and sending heat surging through me. We fought for dominance of the kiss until eventually I directed us across the room and onto the couch where we fell, laughing, in an ungraceful heap with Robyn on the bottom.

  I straddled her body and propped myself up on my
hands, smiling happily down at her. "Hi."

  "Hey." She grinned and ran her hands along my thighs, her smile turning to a frown as she rubbed my legs. "Caid, you're soaking wet."

  I contemplated an innuendo-laden response, but settled for the facts instead, giving her a quick kiss before sitting up. "I've been lying around in the rain for three hours, of course I'm soaking wet." I unzipped my coat and shrugged it off, tossing it onto a neighboring armchair. "And I'm freezing. I was planning on taking a shower to warm up, but someone distracted me." I smiled to show her I wasn't at all upset by the distraction.

  She reached up to finger the collar of my shirt. "Please tell me that's fake."

  I looked down at my shirt, realizing that the collar and chest were stained with red, and there were red splatters dotting the rest of it. "Yes, it's fake." I plucked at the collar and sighed. "Shit. Now Zoe's going to be pissed at me, too."

  She rested her hands on my thighs, rubbing absently. "What scene were you guys shooting tonight, anyway? I thought I had the most recent script, but I don't remember anything that called for you to lie around in the rain, or get bloody."

  "They must not have sent you the 'new and improved' script, then. Not too surprising, since I think they only made the changes yesterday, and we got the new sides today. Your scenes with me in the first half won't change, I don't think, but you've got some new ones in the second half…" I rubbed the raised skin along my cheek and jaw. "Covering these ended up being a butt-load of trouble, so they changed the script and had someone beat the crap out of Rita, to give her character the same scars. That's what we were shooting tonight - the scene where Rita gets attacked."

  Her hands tightened on my thighs. "They wrote an attack on you into the script?" she said angrily. "Could they be any more insensitive? Jesus…"

  I stopped her outburst with another quick kiss. "It's okay, baby. I told them it was fine. And if it gets things back to normal, I'm more than fine with it." She looked unconvinced. "It wasn't so bad…the damn rain and cold were the worst of it. Which reminds me…" I kissed her again and wiggled off of the couch, unbuttoning my shirt as I stood. "I need to get out of these wet things and take a quick shower." I pulled the tail of the shirt out of my pants to finish unbuttoning it, letting it hang open as I bent down and unlaced my boots, then kicked them off into a corner and worked at the buttons of my jeans. I glanced up from my unbuttoning and stopped, held immobile by the naked heat in Robyn's gaze.

  "You're so beautiful, Caid," she said quietly, pushing up off the couch and crossing to where I stood. Warm hands pushed aside the edges of my shirt and rested on my hips, stroking gently. I closed my eyes, enjoying the gentle caresses and her lips claimed mine in a kiss that managed to be incredibly tender and soft, yet intensely passionate at the same time. She broke the kiss and leaned her forehead against mine, and we both sighed softly.

  "Missed you."

  "I missed you too, baby." I put my hand on her chest, realizing she still wore her damp jacket. I tugged lightly on the material and stepped back. "Why don't you take this off and get comfortable? I'll just be a few minutes, and then maybe we can grab something to eat…I haven't eaten since lunch."

  Robyn took off her jacket and tossed it onto the chair with mine, cocking her head at me with a slight smile. "You do realize it's midnight, don't you?"

  I shrugged. "It's LA. There's always something open…ah shit!" I smacked my forehead with my hand. "I have a 5:30 call time in the morning…damnit, I keep forgetting."

  She crossed her arms and looked genuinely annoyed. "You have to be in at five in the goddamn morning after shooting this late?"

  I looked at her apologetically, "I'm sorry, baby…"

  "No, no…" She waved her hand. "I'm not mad at you, Caid, I just…" she slumped onto the couch and gave me a wry grin. "Damn. I had plans for you."

  I quirked an eyebrow. "Did you now?"

  "Mm-hmm." Her eyes perused my half-clothed state. "Definitely. But," she added, leaning back to spread her arms across the back of the couch and crossing one leg over the other, "I'll take a rain check. How about instead, I take you home, feed you, and put you to bed?" She suddenly looked uncertain. "You were planning on spending the night with me, weren't you?"

  Her apprehension was misplaced, but kind of cute, and I crossed the room and I leaned down to capture her lips in a fast, rough kiss, pulling back a few inches and stroking her cheek. "Yes, I was planning on spending the night with you, and I still am. We just might be doing a little more sleeping than I originally planned."

  She grinned lazily and hooked a finger in the waistband of my pants, pulling my mouth back to hers for a quick kiss before pushing me away. "Go, or this couch is going to get some action."

  I laughed and stepped back, gesturing towards the back room. "There's a perfectly good bed…"

  "Caid…" she said warningly.

  "Alright, alright, I'm going," I said, laughing.

  After shutting myself into the small bathroom, I stripped out of my wet clothes and stepped into the shower. I set the water hot enough to make me wince and stood under the blissful heat for a few minutes before starting to scrub at the red streaks on my neck and chest.

  "What are you doing tomorrow night?" Robyn's question came from the other side of the shower curtain, startling me so much that I fumbled with the soap and nearly dropped it.

  "Uh…"

  "You don't mind me coming in here, do you?"

  "Uh…no, that's fine." I slowly resumed my washing, very conscious that Robyn was only three feet away.

  "So…did you have plans tomorrow night?"

  "I didn't have any set plans, no." I dunked my head under the spray and wiped the water out of my eyes. "Although," I added, trying to keep the uncertainty out of my voice, "I had hoped to be doing something with you." Tomorrow night and every night for the foreseeable future…

  I tried to keep in mind what Josh had said - that I wasn't going to lose her by pushing - and told myself that wanting to spend the evening with someone you're in love with, who says they're in love with you too, after two weeks of not seeing each other, wasn't too presumptuous…

  Christ, Caid - stop analyzing everything and just go with it…

  I was so intent on my little internal dialogue that I didn't notice I had company in the shower until soft, warm skin pressed up against my back and long arms wrapped possessively around my waist.

  "I hope you don't mind me joining you, but the thought of you in here, naked, was just to inviting to pass up. I'm only human, after all."

  Her throaty voice so close to my ear sent waves of sensation through my body and I jumped a little, then relaxed back against her, humming at the feel of her skin against mine. I laid my arms across hers and squeezed, letting my head fall back against her shoulder with a smile. "No…I don't mind."

  "Mmm…you feel good," she murmured, sucking lightly at the back of my neck, making me shiver. She held her lips there for a moment, and rested her chin on my shoulder. "I have to go to a sort of party tomorrow night…I was hoping you would come with me."

  I turned my head slightly. "A sort of a party?"

  Her hands began to stroke my torso lightly where the spray was hitting, from the top of my hips to just below my breasts and down my sides. "Trish and Mom opened the Santa Monica restaurant five years ago this week…Trish is closing for the night and having a little celebration in honor of the occasion. Diane is coming down, and Lori, and my Mom and Dad…" She hesitated, and kissed the side of my head and squeezed me tightly. "I'd like you to come with me."

  Stuck in a strange but pleasant limbo between arousal and utter contentment, it took a moment for the words to sink in. When it did, I turned slowly in her arms and stared at her. It sounded suspiciously like she had just told me she wanted me to meet her family. The invitation certainly wasn't unwelcome, just surprising.

  "Are you sure?" I asked cautiously.

  She smiled slightly and ducked her head to press light kisses along
my collarbone. "Yes," she mumbled into my skin, moving me forward so the spray wasn't hitting her face. "I'm sure." After one final kiss on my chest, she raised her head and looked at me hopefully. "Will you come?"

  I stared for a second longer, and shook myself. "Of course," I told her, and she smiled widely.

  "Good." She ducked her head again, this time focusing on my neck, and I shut my eyes and stroked my hands up and down her back, thinking about her invitation. I guess she wasn't actually bringing me home to meet the family, but it was a step in the right direction, both in becoming more involved in her life, and her willingness for me to be involved.

  A thought struck me. "You know I'm not Trish's favorite person, right? I don't want to cause problems…"

  She stopped me with a long kiss, and I'd almost forgotten what we were talking about by the time she answered. "Josh told me something like that," she dropped more light kisses along my chin and down my neck. "It'll be fine. Trish is more bark than bite."