Playing the Part

by Kimberly Van Meter

  Lindy had been deliberately trying to bait Lilah to see if she could get some kind of response, but when her attempt fell flat, she simply felt bad for trying to goad her. “Hey, in all seriousness, I wish you weren’t out walking the beaches so late. It’s not like it used to be when we were kids. There are bad people roaming the beaches when everyone’s asleep.”

  “You worry too much,” Lilah scoffed gently with a smile as she returned to her watering. “I haven’t run across anyone more disturbing than Cracky Dan and he’s been around for years. I’m fine.”

  “Who’s Cracky Dan?” Carys asked, curious.

  Lindy glanced at Carys. “He’s the local crack addict. He’s harmless but really gone in the head. Sometimes he sweeps the floors at the local restaurants for scraps of food and a cup of coffee. He’s older than dirt. I can’t even believe he’s still alive.”

  “He’s not that old—he just looks like it,” Lilah said.

  “How do you know?”

  “I asked him,” she said simply.

  “Lilah,” Lindy gasped. “Why are you talking with crack addicts?”

  “Why not? They’re people, too,” Lilah reminded Lindy. “Besides, the way I look at it, he’s just a guy who took a lot of wrong turns in his life. Could happen to any of us.”

  Lindy supposed that was true, but it still made her uncomfortable to know that Lilah was associating with people who were unstable. It definitely didn’t reassure her about Lilah’s mental health, that was certain. But seeing as Lilah was pretty firm about not going to lunch with them, Lindy sighed and said, “Okay, I hope you get some rest. Gabe’s waiting for us in the car.”

  “Have fun,” Lilah said, smiling.

  As they left the atrium, Carys said, “Lilah is a fairy. It’s like she drifts on the wind.”

  “Yeah...she’s usually in her own world.” More so lately, Lindy wanted to add but kept that private worry to herself. Switching gears, she said, “We’d better hustle. Your dad is probably wondering if we got lost. And I’m starved!”

  “Me, too!” Carys said, grinning as they started to run toward the door. They found Gabe waiting patiently in the car, his face lighting up when he saw them emerge from the front doors.

  She was struck by how devastatingly handsome he was, and that wasn’t a term she used lightly. Previously, she’d only reserved that term for George Clooney, Sean Connery and that new actor who’d played Thor. Now she could add Gabe Weston to that list.

  “No Lilah?” Gabe surmised as they piled into the car.

  “She has other plans,” Lindy answered, forcing a bright smile.

  “She has to water plants and take a nap,” Carys supplied as she buckled her seat belt.

  Gabe cast Lindy a questioning look, which she ignored. She wasn’t going to get into that conversation right now. Her worries were too personal and sharing them would clearly go against their previous arrangement to keep things surface deep between them.

  “So, we’re celebrating,” Carys announced as they drove.

  “Oh?” both Gabe and Lindy answered, intrigued.

  “We’re celebrating because Dad came to his senses and realized it was dumb to check out of Larimar and move to the Worchester. Did you know they have parasites in their water? Their beach is dirty!”

  “You’ve been talking to Celly, I see,” Lindy said drily. “Well, I’m sure their beach is nice but Larimar is just that much more special.”

  “You got that right,” Carys agreed, leaning back in her seat, smiling.

  Lindy stole a look at Gabe’s profile and her breath hitched in her throat. She didn’t know how he’d remained single after his wife had died. Surely women must’ve been chasing after him in droves. Successful, handsome, smart... Unless he had some really disgusting personal habit that he was hiding, he was a real catch. Any woman would be lucky to call him her man.

  Even her. Lindy swallowed and looked away, hating where her mind had gone. She wasn’t the kind of woman he was looking for, and he wasn’t the kind of man who’d mesh well with her current circles. Good God, she could only imagine how annoyed he’d be by most of her friends.

  “What was it like growing up here?” Carys asked.

  “Most of the time it was amazing,” she answered candidly. “But there were other times when it wasn’t so great.”

  “Like when?”

  “Like when a hurricane came through and one of my good friends in high school was killed by a piece of roof that had come free and hit him as he was trying to get his grandmother to safety.”

  “Oh,” Carys said, stunned. “That’s awful. Was his grandmother okay?”

  “Yeah,” she answered with a sad smile. “He gave his life for her, actually. She finally died many years later a really old lady in her bed.”

  “Wow. Do hurricanes happen a lot here?”

  “At least once a year, but it depends on the severity. Sometimes it’s just a bunch of wind and rain—other times, it’s pretty gnarly. Reminds you that you’re not in charge, that’s for sure.”

  Realizing she’d just cast a pall on their lunch trip, she tried to brighten things up. “You have to take the good with the bad and this place is no different, except there’s way more good than bad so that’s a pretty sweet trade. For example, our prom was on the beach and we all wore flip-flops. How cool is that?”

  “Pretty cool,” Carys agreed, grinning. “What else?”

  “Well, my first boyfriend got a boat instead of a car for his sixteenth birthday, and we all used to go out and sail the Caribbean on the weekends. That’s pretty sweet.”

  “My friend Sara’s older sister got an older Porsche for her sixteenth birthday but I think a sailboat is way cooler,” Carys said. “If we lived here would I get a boat for my sixteenth birthday?” she asked her dad and Lindy thought Gabe was going to drive off the road.

  “Let’s not skip ahead—you’re going to give me a heart attack,” he said, causing both Lindy and Carys to break into a fit of giggles.

  Gabe did a good job of finding a parking spot—no small feat on the island—and they walked into the tiny restaurant.

  Lindy waved at the waitress and smiled, gesturing for two beers and a root beer and then they took a seat by the window. The place didn’t have any air-

  conditioning so it was possibly warmer inside than it was outside, but Lindy was already acclimating to the heat. Gabe, not so much.

  “I didn’t expect this humidity,” he admitted, wiping at his brow. “It surely didn’t have this listed on the brochure,” he joked.

  Lindy wrapped her hair into a messy bun on top of her head and simply grinned. “You’ll get used to it and by the time you’re ready to leave, you’ll hardly notice.”

  “I doubt it. I always feel wet here.”

  “I like it,” Carys said. “It’s so warm. I bet it never gets cold here. It’s always freezing in San Francisco.”

  “Is that where you live?” Lindy asked, glancing at Gabe, surprised. “I didn’t know you lived in California.”

  “You never asked,” he countered evenly. “Yes, we live just outside of the city in Marin County.”

  Lindy digested that information, not sure why she didn’t realize he was also in California. “I live in Los Angeles,” she offered, to which he nodded.

  “I knew that,” he said. “The actress thing gave it away.”

  “Ah.” She grabbed a menu and stared at it, though she didn’t really need the menu. The menu at Sailor’s hadn’t changed in decades and she always ordered the same thing. Knowing Gabe lived in California, too, put a different spin on her previous comfort level with the short-term-fling idea. With him living in the same state, the opportunity to see each other would arise. Would they want to? California was a big state and they basically lived ten hours away from one another if they
traveled by car. Only an hour and fifteen minutes by plane. But it wasn’t as if she had access to a plane all the time and that could get expensive.

  Why was she even considering this? They weren’t going to continue their relationship beyond his stay at Larimar so it was a moot point. She returned her menu to the table with a bright, strained smile. “I know what I’m getting. How about you guys?”

  “Hamburger,” they both said and laughed. Lindy smiled at how cute they both were.

  “Lindy, tell me about what it’s like to be a famous actress living in L.A.”

  “Hold up there, not famous yet,” Lindy corrected Carys with a laugh. “But not for lack of trying. It’s a hard field to break into and there are plenty who never make it. I just hope I’m not one of those poor saps.”

  “What was your biggest part so far?” Carys asked, her eyes sparkling.

  Lindy thought hard about this answer. She had parts she wasn’t entirely proud of. Naked Girl No. 3 came to mind, where she basically had to lie there with another naked woman and act like a rock star groupie who’d just engaged in the orgy of all orgies. Surprisingly, it wasn’t soft-core porn—it was actually a big-name director who had directed the flick—but it’d had a limited box office release due to the NC-17 rating it’d received and Lindy hadn’t gotten the bump in exposure, aside from that of her behind, that she’d been hoping for. She cleared her throat and answered, saying, “Well, I’m trying to think of something you might’ve seen.... Oh, I know. I had a bit part on a CSI episode. I was Sexy Blonde No. 2. Unfortunately, my character died and I had to spend two days lying on a slab looking dead. It wasn’t fun. And the slab was cold. But I’d do anything for my art,” she added theatrically, causing Carys to giggle and Gabe to smile.

  “Do you go to Hollywood parties?” Carys asked.

  Lindy met Gabe’s curious stare and she was deliberately evasive. “Some. But they’re not all that fun. A lot of self-important goobers chatting it up with other self-important goobers.”

  “Oh,” Carys said, disappointed. “I thought it’d be more glamorous than that.”

  “Glamour is an illusion, kiddo. Don’t buy into it and you’ll save yourself a lot of heartache.”

  “I still think it sounds supercool,” Carys said with a gleam in her eyes.

  “Okay, let’s order, shall we?” Gabe suggested and Lindy agreed. Time to change the subject. Making movies wasn’t as sensational as it seemed, and for some it was downright devastating to their self-esteem, integrity and everything they held dear about themselves. She wasn’t sure she’d encourage any child to go into the field, which seemed a little contradictory since she was still trying to break in.

  “I have to go to the bathroom,” Carys announced and popped from her chair to go to the small restroom at the back of the restaurant.

  “I know, I know, don’t fill her head with movie-star dreams,” she said as soon as Carys was clear. Gabe surprised her by leaning over and kissing her. She leaned into his kiss, eager to feel him again. Her eyelids fluttered open when he’d pulled away. “What was that for?” she asked.

  “Because I couldn’t hold back another second.”

  She felt herself blush. Nice to know she wasn’t alone in this struggle. “We’re traveling the same wavelength,” she admitted in a husky whisper. “But this could become a problem. You know...the being discreet thing?”

  “Yeah,” he admitted with a grimace but his eyes danced with open desire. “I’m getting the same feeling.”

  She tried not to let her mind wander into dirty places, but she couldn’t help it. He must’ve read her mind because he chuckled and actually shifted in his seat as if he were having a problem down there. “Okay, think PG-13 stuff. No, I take that back. Let’s talk about basketball and rocks. Anything that couldn’t possibly remind us of what we’d rather be doing right this second.”

  “Ohh, that didn’t help at all,” she murmured, glancing up as Carys emerged from the restroom. “Here she comes. Back to your corner, mister.”

  “You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever met,” he said in a low voice, sending shivers down her back.

  “Shh,” she said, just in time for Carys to plop back in her seat.

  “Did you order?” Carys asked hopefully.

  Lindy shook her head. “Not yet, but we all know exactly what we want so as soon as the waitress gets her butt over here, we’ll order.”

  “Good, cuz I’m starved.”

  Lindy met Gabe’s hungry stare and they both thought the same thing.

  They were starved, all right.

  But not for food, and Lindy almost melted at the smoldering look Gabe was covertly sending her way.

  Holy hell, being discreet was going to kill them both, but what a way to go!

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “TELL ME WHAT it’s like to be on a movie set,” Carys said, before taking a big bite from her hamburger. Her eyes were lit up with anticipatory glee, and Lindy couldn’t help but get caught up in her enthusiasm even though she knew whatever she said would probably only further glamorize the business.

  “Well, when you’re on a movie, it’s like everyone is a family because you’re all working long hours and you’re on the set longer than you’re at home. And a movie set is like a small city—everything you could possibly need is provided for you. And if you’re one of the stars you get your own trailer, which is supercool.”

  “Have you ever had your own trailer?” Carys asked.

  “No,” she admitted. “But I’ve had some pretty neat experiences on the set nonetheless.”

  “Such as?” Carys asked.

  Gabe cleared his throat and lifted his brow, as if to say, keep it kid-friendly, and Lindy grinned. “Okay, once I was on this B-movie set—it was the worst, let me tell you—but we were shooting at this supposedly haunted castle, and you know, I grew up with stories of jumbies

  and whatnot so I went in with a healthy respect. But my cast mates didn’t and some freaky stuff happened to them while we were there.”

  Carys’s eyes were round saucers. “Like?”

  “Well, the lead actress, a total wench and a half by the name of—well, I probably shouldn’t name names—anyway, she was a nightmare to work with. The crew hated her, the director hated her—and I think he was sleeping with her but he still couldn’t stand her so that goes to show just how wretched she was—and her fellow cast mates wanted to strangle her by the time the production had wrapped. We were all sitting around chatting, waiting for our call times, when she overheard us talking about the stories and ghosts that were documented in this castle. She happened to walk by and mocked all of us for telling stories, calling us nothing better than a bunch of sixth graders at band camp trying to scare one another. I tried to warn her that the jumbies were listening but she just scoffed at my ‘backward island craziness’ and went to her trailer.” Lindy lowered her voice as if imparting a great secret as she continued, “Later that night, she ran shrieking from her trailer saying she woke up to find a man staring at her but when security searched the trailer and the surrounding area they didn’t find anyone.”

  Gabe seemed intrigued as he asked, “So what happened next? Was someone playing a practical joke on her or something?”

  “Well, when the woman gave a description of the man in her trailer, it was exactly the same as one of the apparitions that supposedly haunted the castle. Coincidence? I think not.”

  “Whoa,” Carys breathed, audibly swallowing. “That’s creepy.”

  Lindy laughed. “She deserved it. Trust me when I say we were all hoping she’d get a scare of some sort. She was annoying in her snobbery.”

  “On that note, are we finished with lunch?” Gabe asked, gathering their trash and depositing it in the waste bin. “Because I’m ready for the beach!”

  Carys whooped and
bounced from her chair. “Let’s go to Maho, it was less crowded than Trunk,” she said and skipped from Sailor’s straight to the car.

  Gabe grabbed Lindy’s hand and drew her to him. “Was that story true? Or just told with dramatic license?” he asked.

  Lindy stared at him solemnly as she answered, “I wouldn’t joke about a jumbie. It was one hundred percent true. It’s one of my favorite stories.” A smile found her mouth as she said, “Why? Are you scared? Will you need someone to hold your hand tonight when you go to bed?”

  Gabe pulled her in for a quick, stolen kiss as he answered with a growl, “It’s not my hand that needs holding.”

  Her breath caught and her cheeks flushed but she couldn’t help the grin that followed. “Careful,” she admonished in a silky tone. “Remember? Discretion?”

  He reluctantly let go but the look in his eyes made her quiver. He exhaled a sharp breath and said, “This is going to kill me. I never knew keeping my distance would be so difficult.”

  She managed a shaky smile and murmured, “You and me both. Let’s go cool off before we do something reckless.”

  “That’s a problem. Being reckless is all I want to do when I’m around you.”

  The muttered comment sent a thrill skittering down her spine. Lindy knew exactly how he felt. And she agreed—it was deliciously dangerous.

  * * *

  GABE WAS REALIZING, with the certainty of a man facing death row, that keeping his hands off Lindy when she was right there in front of him was going to be a challenge.

  For one, her body was like something out of his deepest, darkest fantasies and he couldn’t help but stare. Second, thanks to their illicit tryst, he had crystal clear memories of what it was like to bury himself deep inside that gorgeous body.

  And if that wasn’t bad enough...he really enjoyed her company. She made Carys laugh and smile—something he hadn’t accomplished in months—and she managed to get him to relax and forget about work for the time being, which was nothing short of a miracle given the turbulent times his company had been going through with this crap economy.