by Tara Lain
Merle crossed his arms and shrugged. He was pretty sure all that conveyed was casually pissed off. “He’s young and fairly naïve, as you can probably tell. He’s been on his own since he was fifteen, and apparently he’s an ace electrician as well as a construction worker. That’s according to Billy Ballew, my friend who’s doing the renovations on the house. Tom works for him.”
“Charming. Simply charming.”
“Come on. I’ll show you the bathroom.”
René said all the appropriate compliments in the bath and large walk-in closet, but inevitably they had to end up back in the great room.
Maybe Tom’s finished in the kitchen.
Good guess, but now Tom was on the top of the ladder in the middle of the great room—shirtless.
René actually stumbled as he stared at Tom while simultaneously trying to walk.
Merle tamped down the desire to stick out his foot and trip René straight down the stairs. “Do you want to see downstairs?”
“Uh, yes, of course.”
Merle stepped back so René could precede him down the steps, and René only looked back once. Major self-restraint. As he walked René through the family room, Merle asked, “So did you just stop by to see the house?”
“Uh, no. I believe you told me you have the rest of this week off before you start shooting on the series again, is that so?”
“Yes.”
“I’d like to get you together with the other cast members for a meet and greet and a read-through of the script. Would that be possible either tomorrow or Thursday?”
For the first time since René had started ogling Tom, Merle smiled. “I’d love that.”
“Great. If possible, I’ll keep you both days. Tomorrow we’ll read, and Thursday I want to get some footage on camera, just to explore angles and lighting variations.”
“It sounds exciting.”
“I know we can’t start shooting until you’ve wrapped the series for the season, but this will give me inspiration to set up my shot list.”
“Yes, I can—”
The banging of a ladder outside the door made them both look up. In marched Tom carrying a smaller ladder than the one he’d had upstairs. He looked up. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll wait until you’re done talking.”
Merle shook his head. “It’s okay, Tom. We’re pretty much finished. Come on in. René and I will go back upstairs.”
“Okay.” In he came, biceps bulging, and set up his ladder at the far end of the big room. René’s eyes followed him.
“I hope I’ll see you again, Tom.”
Tom glanced back. “Do you work with Merle?”
“Uh, yes.”
“Merle’s going to take me to see him make his TV show sometime. Maybe I’ll see you.” He climbed his ladder. Merle wanted so damned bad to laugh. Tom was so exquisitely clueless.
René said, “Actually, Merle’s making a movie for me.”
Tom’s head whipped around. “Oh man, that’s great. That’s the cool new movie about the vampire?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I can’t wait to see that movie.”
Merle sucked in a breath because he knew exactly what words were coming next.
René smiled. “Well, how about you come with Merle to see him make the movie?”
Tom almost fell off the ladder in pure delight, and Merle slowly released his breath.
MERLE PULLED up to the gate at the studio and opened the window, trying to look cool. Yep, I hang at big movie studios all the time. The guard peered in, and Merle showed an ID. “Merle Justice.”
“Got you right here, Mr. Justice. Need directions?”
“Yes, please.”
The guard gave him a map and marked the short drive in to René’s offices. “Have a good day.” He waved him through.
René was an independent filmmaker, but a very successful one. He rented offices from one of the big studios he often partnered with. Merle found the bank of buildings and parked. Inside, a receptionist greeted him with a smile. “Straight down this hall on the left. You’ll find them all.”
All. Whew. Showtime. His stomach gave a little flip as he walked the narrow hall. People in the small offices looked up as he passed. At the end of the expanse, a door stood open and voices echoed. Merle inhaled and walked in.
René sat at a long table with three other people—an older man, a breathtaking young guy with an architectural face, and—wow, as Tom would say. Laila Perrin, one of the hottest young female stars in Hollywood, sat across from René.
René sprang up when he saw Merle. “There you are.” He came over quickly, took both of Merle’s hands in his, and kissed him on both cheeks.
“I hope I’m not late.”
“Not at all. Right on time. We’re still expecting a couple more. Come and meet everyone.” He held Merle’s hand as they walked to the table. It felt oddly comforting. “Merle, may I present Laila Perrin. She’ll be playing Milady.”
Jesus, instant box office. “I’m a fan, Laila. Delighted to meet you.”
She cracked her increasingly famous irreverent grin. “You too, sexy. Too bad I hear you like boys.” She kissed his cheek. “But I promise to give the guys a run for their money.”
He grinned back. “You’re the one to do it.”
She snuggled against him. “Oooh, I like him, René.”
René laughed. “I know it will be a total anticlimax, but may I also introduce Xavier Axelrod, who plays Banders, the vampire hunter.” René pointed to the older man, and Merle shook his hand. “And this is Aaron Curtis, the one you and Laila suck over to the shadowy side.”
Aaron smiled, and it warmed the otherwise cool perfection of his face. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Merle turned to Laila. “I think sucking him to the dark side will be lovely, don’t you?”
She laughed, and Aaron said, “The pleasure will be all mine.”
Merle’s head snapped back in time to catch an evil wink from Aaron. Oh, so that’s how it is. Just beyond Aaron, René flashed a quick frown.
René pointed toward the open chair next to Laila, and Merle settled in. Two more actors arrived—Rex Trent, who played Merle’s father, and Holly Craft, who brought a touch of Valley Girl to the role of Laila’s best friend and confidant.
The read? Amazing. The script transformed a simple vampire story into a mystical commentary on society and social justice. How appropriate. Laila managed to offset her natural snarkiness with a deep mystery. And Aaron? Jesus, his cool distance morphed into raging fire, and the perceived attraction first between him and Laila’s character and then his thrall to Merle leaped out of the scene, despite it only being a reading. When they finished, Merle’s hands shook from the pure intensity.
René slowly slid a glass of water to Merle, and he drank. René sat back. “I’m a genius.”
That brought some humor back to the scene, and they all laughed a little nervously.
“I’m a genius because I picked all of you. Masterful. Let’s read through again and mark for pacing and characterization. Then you’ll have that in hand as you learn your lines.”
They plunged in again, this time more critically, and René made notes while accepting suggestions from the actors. Finally, late in the afternoon, he called a halt. “Merle, are you staying in town tonight or going back to Laguna?”
Merle gathered his script and notes. “I’m staying. No use fighting the traffic both ways just to sleep at Gray and Ru’s.”
“Excellent. I hope you can join all of us for dinner.”
“I’d love to.”
They walked to the door, René beside Merle. René said, “By the way, since you’ll be here tomorrow, I’ll send a car for Tom.”
“What?”
“Yes, I promised him, remember?”
“I guess I thought you meant after shooting had begun.”
“He can come back then.”
“Does he know?”
“Yes. I called him and told him. He’s gotten
the day off and everything.”
“Oh good.” Well, crap. René and Tom seemed to have struck up a great friendship. “Where shall I meet you for dinner?”
René gave him a name, and Merle walked toward his car, trying not to grind away his very expensive dental work.
OH BOY. Tom hurried into the animal shelter. Two good things. Going to see Merle tomorrow and petting all the dogs tonight.
He waved at Mrs. Hernandez as he collected his broom, mop, and buckets full of food. She waved back, but she looked kind of upset. “Hey, Mrs. H. You okay?”
She walked over. “I’m good, Tom. Just kind of worried.”
“About money?”
She nodded. “Like usual, I guess. Hard to keep the shelter going sometimes.”
“I wish I could help more. It’s just Lily—”
“Tom, you do so much already. No, I need to do a fundraiser, but even fundraisers cost money.”
“I’ll help with it if I can.”
“I know you will. Thank you.” She put a hand on his arm, and it felt small and warm.
“I better go feed them.”
She nodded and gave him a smile, but it looked pretty sad. Oh man, he had to do something. The shelter saved so many dogs.
He headed for the cages where they kept the big dogs. He loved big dogs. Little too, but he wished he could have a big one.
As he got closer, they all started to bark, and he laughed. “Hi. Hi. Yes, I’m glad to be here.”
He opened the large cage and stepped inside. Rowdy was always first. The big golden retriever ran to him and started licking. Tom squatted down and let Rowdy lick his fill, then opened his arms so the German shepherd and the two Weimaraners could get closer to him. They were shyer than Rowdy, but he loved them too. Actually, the female Weimaraner he especially loved. Mist was such a good girl.
After the petting, he stood and asked them to step aside while he cleaned. They all knew what to do. “Thank you. I’ll only be a minute.” He swept up excess dog food and collected it. No poop since they were let out into the yard for their business. Mrs. Hernandez was a smart lady and knew dogs don’t like to poop where they eat. He’d clean up the yard later.
After he got the excess food cleaned up, he fluffed their beds, then looked back at them and grinned. All four had wiggly butts. They knew food was coming. Carefully he emptied any excess from their bowls, poured fresh water in four dishes, then went back and started scooping the food. The dogs made little whiny sounds but didn’t bark. “Good dogs.”
Tom stood. “Okay, go.” Three dogs raced for the dishes, but Mist, the Weimaraner, made her usual beeline right to him. He sat on the floor and let her climb on his lap. Not easy since she wasn’t a little girl, but he petted her like crazy and scratched her at the base of her tail, which made her get that funny look like she was in heaven. “Good girl. Smart girl.” She’d figured out that if she ran to Tom while the others were eating, she got all his loving.
He wrapped his arms around her, feeling her silky coat against his cheek, and hugged her. “Wish I could adopt you, girl.”
“Don’t spoil her, Tom. I don’t like spoiled animals.”
Cold shivers ran up Tom’s back. He looked up at the small, rich lady with hair even lighter than Merle’s and skinny lips and too much lipstick. Come on, be nice. He tried to smile as he looked over his shoulder. “Hi, Mrs. Rancuso. I’m not spoiling her. All these dogs need more love than they get.”
She curved her lips up, but it didn’t look much like a smile. “Maybe, but she’s a big dog and if you don’t teach her to mind, she’ll be a menace. I pride myself on well-behaved animals.”
He swallowed hard to get the words out. “Are you going to adopt Mist, Mrs. Rancuso?”
“I haven’t decided yet. I may buy a puppy that I can train from an early age.” She waved a hand. “These dogs are all set in their ways.”
He wanted to say Mist was a good girl, but he didn’t want to make Mrs. Rancuso think about her any more.
She peered through the wire of the cage at Rowdy. “He’s nice enough looking, but those dogs get so fat.”
Tom picked up his broom and went back to work. Finally, Mrs. Rancuso sniffed and went away. He leaned against the wire and slid down to the floor. Mist crawled on his lap. He held her tight and whispered, “She scares me too.” He rocked a little. Oh man, I hope she doesn’t take Mist.
His phone buzzed. He’d remembered it today since René had started calling him. Couldn’t miss one of those calls.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Tom. Whatcha doing?”
He smiled. Lily. “Feeding the dogs at the shelter. Well, petting Mist, actually.”
“Man, you’re cracked on the subject of dogs, Tom.”
“I am?”
“Yeah. I think you take better care of them than you do anybody.”
He frowned. “I try to take care of you, Lily.”
“Yeah, I—”
“Guess what, Lily? I made friends with a guy who’s on TV and in the movies, and he invited me to come and see him shoot his new movie. I’m so excited. I can’t wait. And his friend who directs the movie called me to say I should come, and he’s sending somebody to bring me so I don’t have to drive the truck.”
“You’re shitting me.”
He chuckled. That was their joke. “No shits, Lily.”
“So when are you going to do this thing?” She didn’t sound like she really believed him.
“Tomorrow. Really, Lily. I’ll even take pictures and send them to you, okay?”
“Is this so-called friend a porn star?”
“No, no. He’s on TV. He’s Merle. Merle Justice.”
“Merle Justice? Like the vampire?”
“Yes, I told you. He’s a TV star.”
“You know this guy?”
“Yes, he’s my friend. I saved his life.”
“What?”
“Some guys were going to beat him up bad and I stopped them from doing it.”
“Jesus, Tom, you sure you’re not just making this up? I mean, where would you meet Merle Justice?”
“On the beach.” He tried not to sound hurt. Lily just didn’t understand. “You know I don’t tell lies.”
“I guess there’s a first time for everything. Okay, so send me some pictures like you said.”
“Okay. Did you wear your new dress?”
“No. The party’s not until Friday. That’s why I called. I got this great red dress, but I can’t wear any of the shoes I have with it, so will you send me some more money?”
“Oh. Okay. I don’t have much left. How much do they cost?”
“A hundred dollars should do it.”
“I’m not sure I can get it, but I’ll try.”
“Send whatever you can, but a hundred would be good.”
“Okay.”
“Thanks, Tom. Send it overnight mail, okay?” She hung up.
Mist licked his cheek, and he wrapped an arm around her. “I guess girls need nice things, don’t they?”
She licked him again.
Chapter Ten
MERLE WALKED into the studio and stopped. Well, shit. Tom sat at a table beside René, with Aaron on the other side of him, and they were all laughing.
Merle strode to the table. René looked up. “Hi, Merle. We were just showing Tom some outtakes from a film I made last year.”
Tom grinned. “It’s really funny, Merle. You should see.”
“Maybe I will later.” He smiled at Tom because he couldn’t not smile at him. Then he glared at René. “Where do you want me?”
René raised an eyebrow but also seemed to be controlling a smile. “Go over to makeup and let them experiment with some looks for the vampire.”
He gave one nod. Laila seemed to be doing a whole series of poses in front of two cameras that were capturing different angles of her face and body. He raised a hand, and she gave him a small smile.
The makeup woman waved a cape at him. “Sit.” She wrapp
ed the plastic around his shoulders. “I’m Samantha.”
“Merle.”
“Anthony?” She named his character.
“Right, Anthony.”
She gazed at him appraisingly. “You’re pretty great-looking, you know?”
“Uh, thanks, but in a room with Aaron, I’m chopped liver.”
“No. Not true. I get why René picked you for this role—over and above any acting talent you might have. You’re this cool, blond beauty but with a spark of real humanity that lights you up. Most super-handsome guys are too much for a regular person to relate to, but you’re like everyman—elevated.”
“Jesus, will you write my PR copy?”
“Wiseass. It’s the truth.” She started spreading a silvery fluid on his face. “We’re going to start with the sparkly vampire approach and go from there.”
“Can I watch?” Tom’s sweet voice came from behind him. Merle nodded. “Sure, Tom. Come give Samantha advice.”
Samantha gave Tom a long once-over. “You can advise me on anything you want, Tom. Grab a seat.”
Tom watched closely as Samantha kept going with the shimmer. “That’s pretty, but it’s too much like moon and not like sun.”
She looked at him, startled. Obviously she hadn’t expected actual advice. “What do you mean?”
“Merle’s shiny like the sun, not the moon.” He leaned forward and pointed at a bottle of some kind of gold base.
She stared for a minute. “That’s an interesting idea. We usually think of blonds as cool, but you’re right. Merle’s warm. Let’s try it.”
Tom scooted his chair closer and watched Samantha wipe Merle’s face clean of the silver, then spread on the gold shimmer with a flesh tone over top, then a very slight touch of gold liner next to a deep smudged shadow around his eyes.
Tom’s lips parted. “Wow. That’s really pretty, Samantha. He looks real mysterious and sexy but kind of nice too. Like you wouldn’t mind if he bit you.”
Samantha laughed and Merle chuckled, but he fought an image of Tom stretching out his neck to be bitten.
Samantha called, “Hey, boss. We got something here. Want to check it?”
“Yeah, I want to see.” René hurried over and gazed in the mirror, staring at Merle’s face. “That’s really interesting. He doesn’t look like a creature of the night exactly, but it plays with your mind. Is he good or evil? That’s just what I want people to ask.”