Playing the Part

by Kimberly Van Meter

  “Well, the good news is I think the kissing scenes are over. The next couple of hours should be a lot of running past the camera, looking scared because someone is after us,” she said, trying to get him to smile. “No problems with that, right?”

  “No,” he answered, grudgingly allowing a smile. “Are you at least covered up a little?” he asked hopefully.

  She shook her head. “No. It’s a Paul Hossiter film, which means there’s going to be a lot of things getting blown up, lots of action and hot, barely clothed girls. It’s part of his winning formula.”

  “It’s not going to win any Oscars any time soon,” Gabe quipped.

  “No, probably not, but he’s winning plenty at the box office so he’s laughing all the way to the bank, trust me. He doesn’t care about winning a gold statue.”

  “I thought everyone in Hollywood cared about winning the gold statue,” Gabe said. “Do you?”

  Lindy gave him an enigmatic smile and simply lifted her shoulders as if to say, maybe...maybe not, and then said, “I have to get back. Try to stay out of trouble while I’m at work, darling.”

  She winked and sauntered away, her lovely behind swaying in an almost-obscenely sexy manner and he was nearly certain she’d given him the view on purpose. The woman was a moving violation in a hot-pink bikini—and he couldn’t wait to tear it from her body with his teeth.

  A flush stole through his body and he had to shift to avoid drawing attention to the quickly growing bulge in his shorts. “Fabulous,” he muttered to himself as he walked away to will his libido to calm down. This was all he needed...a tent in his shorts like a randy teenage boy who couldn’t control himself.

  Geesh...what was happening to him?

  It was as if he didn’t even know himself any longer.

  * * *

  WHILE LINDY WAITED for the next scene to set up, she couldn’t help but search out Gabe. He wasn’t sitting beside Paul any longer, which made Lindy wonder if he’d run off to avoid watching her with Brandon, the principal actor.

  “Want to get something to eat later? Check out the wild life?” Brandon asked casually while stretching his pecs for the upcoming scene. “I’ve heard St. Thomas gets crazy after dark.”

  She spared him a quick smile but wasn’t interested in fielding date requests. “Sorry, I came with someone,” Lindy said, wishing she knew where Gabe had gone. Carys bounded over to her and wrapped her arms around her, shocking Lindy with the sudden gesture.

  “I’m having sooo much fun,” Carys gushed. “This is the best day ever!”

  Lindy grinned and hugged her back. “I’ve heard you’re a natural,” she teased, then added in a conspiratorial whisper, “How are we going to break the news to your dad?”

  “This your kid?” Brandon asked, inserting himself back into Lindy’s line of sight. In the blinding light of Carys’s smile, she’d completely forgotten about Brandon and frankly, was irritated he was still trying to talk to her. “She’s cute,” he said, reaching out to touch Carys’s hair. “I can see the resemblance.”

  “I’m not her mom,” Lindy said. “Her dad and I are friends.”

  “Just friends or more?” Brandon asked as if Carys wasn’t still standing there soaking up every word with keen interest.

  Lindy forced a smile and said to Carys, “Can you do me a huge favor and get me a bottled water from the catering cart? I’m dehydrated.”

  “Sure, Lindy,” Carys said, rushing off to do just that.

  Dropping the smile, she turned to Brandon. “Listen, I get it. You’re excited about being in a Paul Hossiter film and figure because you’re the hot shit on campus that you can say or do whatever you want to whomever you want when you want. I’m not interested in going anywhere with you to check out the wild St. Thomas nightlife, which I’m sure is a thinly veiled attempt to get into my pants, and in the future, I’d appreciate if you could watch what you say around a child.”

  Brandon scowled. “No need to be a bitch about it,” he said. “I get it. You’re a lesbian. No harm, no foul.”

  “Yeah, I’m a lesbian because I’m not interested in banging you,” she quipped wryly, freshly irritated at this idiot she was forced to work with—and worse—allow to kiss her. “Just keep it professional, will you?”

  “Who the hell are you to talk to me like this? I’m the lead in this film. You’re just a bit player. You probably don’t have enough lines to support your SAG card. You ought to be thankful I thought enough of your body to even notice you. You can’t tell me that you didn’t get this part on your back anyway.” He started to say something else but Lindy didn’t give him the chance and popped him right in his snarky piehole of a mouth.

  He went down like a girl.

  And cried like one, too.

  “One thing you should remember about island girls... We don’ take any shit from clungs like yah,” Lindy said in her best Crucian accent. “Piss off, yah donkey.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  GABE HEARD THE commotion and headed over to investigate. He found the actor that’d been in the scene with Lindy clutching a bloody tissue to his nose as he cursed and cried while a production assistant fluttered around him like a frantic butterfly trying to evade a collector’s net.

  “What the hell happened?” the director yelled, coming over to glare at Lindy and the actor.

  Paul, who also came over, looked directly at Lindy and then, seeing the smugly dismissive expression on her face, he blew out an exasperated breath.

  “Lindy...did you do this?” Paul asked.

  Gabe jumped in, ready to defend Lindy. “Hey now, let’s not jump to conclusions,” he warned, looking to Lindy for answers, too.

  She chuckled and sent him a sweet smile that warmed him from the inside, then looked to Paul and said, “He was being a dick. I simply showed him how things were done here in St. Thomas. It’s not my fault he’s a puss.”

  “She punched me,” the actor whined, groaning when the action caused his split lip to bleed fresh.

  “You punched him? Our lead actor?” the director asked incredulously, then looked to Paul as if it were his fault he’d hired a crazy woman for his film. “That’s just great. I can’t shoot the next scene with my lead actor sporting a fat lip. Just great. Just great!” he shouted, then stomped off to rearrange the shooting schedule.

  “Lindy, what the hell are you doing?” Paul asked, exasperated. “This is not going to look good. I mean, this is going to cost us money and heads will roll. Mainly yours, I suspect.”

  Lindy bit her lip and tried contrite on for size, but Gabe sensed her contrition was only skin-deep and frankly, he didn’t care. The way he saw it, if Lindy saw fit to punch the guy, he probably deserved it. “Paul, I’m sorry. He got under my skin. I should’ve just ignored him.”

  “Yes, you should’ve,” Paul agreed with an irritated expression. “Okay. Time for damage control. You can go for the day but if you get a callback, you’d better be on your best behavior.... No more punching people. You got it? Now, get over here and give me some sugar,” he said, gesturing to his cheek.

  “Thanks, Paul,” she said and leaned in to kiss his cheek but he grabbed her at the last minute and placed a smacking kiss on her lips.

  Gabe started forward, ready to rip Paul’s head off, but he released her with a satisfied grin, winking at Gabe. “Worth the risk, buddy. Worth the risk.”

  Paul walked off, and Lindy stopped Gabe from going after him. “It’s no big deal,” she said, laughing. “I mean, Paul’s going to take whatever advantage he thinks he’s got. It’s just who he is.”

  “I don’t like him,” Gabe said flatly, his blood still simmering. “He did that on purpose just to get under my collar.”

  “Maybe. But it’s not going to do any good to call him out on it. Besides, if he can salvage the day after what I
did to Brandon...I figure he earned the kiss.”

  “Oh sure, you get to punch someone but I have to rein it in?” he asked sardonically. “Doesn’t seem fair.”

  “Yeah, I know. But life’s not fair. And Paul doesn’t want to sleep with you so you have no leverage.”

  He groaned, hating how cavalier she sounded about the fact that every single red-blooded male on this set likely wanted to have sex with her. He rubbed at his forehead to ease the pounding headache that had begun to pulse. “I’m not cut out for this shit,” he admitted wearily. “I mean, it’s like being plunked down in a country with a foreign language without a clue as to how to even find a bathroom and all the natives are hostile.”

  “It’s not that bad,” Lindy said, smiling, but he didn’t agree. He was fairly certain his blood pressure had spiked to dangerous levels at least twice so far. She smoothed the scowl from his brow and her gaze softened. “You get used to it,” she promised.

  He shook his head. “Not me, Lindy. I’m not hardwired this way. I don’t think most people are hardwired this way,” he added ruefully.

  Her chuckle sounded forced as she said, “You might be right but this is how I’m hardwired so I guess that tells you something.”

  Gabe gave her a short look and said, “Yeah, I think you need therapy.”

  Her expression screwed into a quizzical frown. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

  In spite of himself he laughed. “You’re a train wreck but one helluva sexy one, that’s for sure. Let’s get out of here before they change your mind and I have to sit through another five hours of you getting manhandled right before my eyes.”

  * * *

  NIGHT HAD FALLEN by the time they rode the car ferry back to St. John and the warm, humid breeze felt like a caress against Lindy’s cheek. She longed to lean over and rest her head on Gabe’s shoulder, but with Carys right there she didn’t think it was a good idea. She cracked a yawn and Carys followed.

  “It’s hard work pretending, huh?” Lindy teased, and Gabe chuckled as Carys rubbed her eyes.

  “Yeah, I feel like I haven’t slept at all.”

  “It’s the adrenaline,” Lindy explained, settling against the seat and looking out across the inky black of the ocean. “I remember my first time on set. I don’t think I slept for days. It was wild. I was so excited and I didn’t even have a speaking role.”

  “What was your first part?” Carys asked.

  “I was Patron No. 2 in a diner for a film you’ve probably never even heard of. It was an indie flick that was the worst production ever, but I didn’t know enough to realize how terrible it was so I had a great time. I’m not even sure I got paid now that I think about it. It’s hard to remember that far back.”

  “How old were you?” Gabe asked.

  “Eighteen,” Lindy answered, thinking back to that time. Talk about a train wreck. She’d sure made her share of mistakes. There was nothing like landing in Hollywood with nothing but a suitcase full of dreams and a head full of naive ignorance.

  “You didn’t go to college?” Gabe asked.

  She shifted in the face of one of her private regrets. “No. I thought it would be better to go straight to L.A. and try my luck while I was still young enough to do it. I figured college would always be there if I changed my mind.”

  “Did you change your mind?” Gabe asked, peering at her through the moonlight.

  “Of course not, Dad,” Carys answered for Lindy. “She’s almost a famous actress. Why would she need to go to college when she’s already doing so good in movies?”

  Lindy smiled faintly at the confidence in Carys’s young voice and she felt a pang of discomfort. She should’ve gone to college like Lora instead of running off to L.A. like an idiot. The reason no one took her seriously was because she was just like a million other beautiful, empty-headed bimbos whose value was found in her face and body. And Lindy hated that. She was smart—maybe not as smart as Lora, but she wasn’t stupid. It was a constant uphill battle, one she’d begun to tire of fighting.

  “I think I’m going to be an actress when I grow up, too,” Carys said wistfully and Lindy winced. She didn’t need to see Gabe’s expression to know it was likely thunderous.

  “Well, give it some time before you make a big decision like that,” Lindy suggested. “A lot can happen between now and the time you’re eighteen. Trust me.”

  “Okay, but I’m pretty sure I’m not going to change my mind,” Carys said, turning her back on them both to watch the waves as they chugged through the water. The lights of St. John twinkled in the distance and Lindy sighed.

  “Thanks for coming today,” she murmured. “It was nice having you there.”

  Gabe smiled but didn’t comment. She knew he hadn’t had much fun but he’d stayed. That meant a lot to her. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had done something for her that wasn’t remotely advantageous for the other person. Damn, she hung out with crappy people.

  * * *

  LATER THAT NIGHT, after Carys had been put to bed and the door to her room closed, Gabe invited Lindy to share a glass of wine with him.

  She hesitated but ultimately agreed. “You know, it’s funny, for the first time in a long time, I saw my profession through your eyes and realized how strange it all must look.”

  He poured the wine, shaking his head at the recollection of the day. “I’ve never considered how hard it must be for actors to maintain some kind of relationship with another person without having some seriously nontraditional relationship rules. I mean, Lindy, I’m not exaggerating in the least when I say that when that actor kissed you, I wanted to put my fist through his face.”

  She accepted the wine and grinned. “Really?”

  “It’s not funny,” he admonished, still moderately bothered by his reaction to the whole situation. “I’m not the jealous type—or at least I didn’t think I was—until I saw that and then it was like I was infected with the rage virus. It was terrible. I didn’t like it.”

  “So I shouldn’t be flattered that you wanted to go all caveman on poor Brandon’s ass?” she teased, brooking a small smile on his part.

  “No, you should be alarmed,” he said, finally laughing. “I’m a civilized guy...most of the time.”

  “I know you are,” she murmured with a smile that lit up her eyes with a mischievous light. “Except when you shouldn’t be.”

  Taking a sip of his wine he paused and shook his head in warning. “Stop looking at me like that or you’ll find yourself thrown over my shoulder in true caveman style.”

  She slowly raised her glass to her lips and her tongue darted out to taste the rim. Seductively sliding it along the edge, she said, “And that’s...bad?”

  “Damn, you’ll be the death of me,” he growled, downing the glass in one swallow and then roughly removing her glass from her fingertips so he could finally taste her lips. He latched onto her mouth like a man starving and in essence, that was an apt analogy because he felt as though if he didn’t get his hands on her body, he’d expire from all the pent-up need bubbling inside him. All that frustration from being unable to stake his claim, rising to the surface, choking out rational thought, was more than he could control, and he didn’t want to even try.

  He slipped his hands under her rear and hoisted her into his lap. She settled nicely on his groin, all that liquid heat centered right over his burgeoning erection as their tongues tangled with one another, dueling for dominance.

  “I want you so badly,” he said, his voice a low, throaty whisper as his hands roamed her backside, eager to touch any exposed skin he could manage without ripping her clothes from her body. “I want to erase the images in my head where he touched you and I shouldn’t care but I do, Lindy. I care that he touched you here—” he cupped her rear and squeezed a handful of perfect ass “—and here.”
He took her mouth again in a savage kiss. “I hate it but I can’t stop thinking about it.”

  “Stop thinking and start doing,” she murmured, pulling her top free and tossing it to the floor. Her breasts, two achingly perfect globes with dainty pink-tipped erect nipples, begged for his touch, his mouth, a pinch between thumb and forefinger. She threaded her fingers through his hair and brought his mouth to her breast, saying, “I’m all yours right now. What are you going to do about it?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  LINDY DIDN’T WANT to think about what Gabe was saying. She just wanted to become lost in sensation. There’d be plenty of time to dissect the “why” and “what for” later and it was a conversation she wasn’t looking forward to.

  Gabe sucked her nipple and she gasped as he laved the sensitive tip before drawing it hard back into his mouth. His mouth and tongue made sensual assaults on her breasts until he was forced to swallow her soft moans for fear of waking Carys.

  He carried her to the bedroom, his arms hooked under her rear as they kissed. He shut the door with the push of his foot and then they collapsed to the bed in a fit of heated giggles that quickly changed to heavy breathing as Gabe stripped himself and she wiggled from her own clothes.

  She pushed him down and playfully pinned his arms as she bent to tease his nipple with her tongue. He sucked in a tight breath when she nipped at the smooth skin, encouraging his nipple to harden with a soft blow, followed by another tease with the rasp of her teeth.

  “Oh, you’re killing me,” he gasped, jerking his hips so that his erection strained and bobbed. “I can’t take this much longer!”

  “So impatient,” she murmured with a throaty laugh as she traveled his stomach to the hard length that begged for her attention. She grasped his erection firmly and raked his balls with the edge of her fingernail with just enough pressure to cause him to suck in a tight breath but not enough to hurt. He groaned against the assault. She closed her mouth over him and he moaned as his length hit the back of her throat. She teased him, made him writhe, made him babble nonsensical words as he came close to orgasm, but suddenly, he panted, “Baby, I want to be inside you. I have to feel you now! Condom. First drawer. Hurry!” he urged, gesturing to the dresser.