“There’s one more thing,” she said out loud, keeping her voice calm and soothing. Conejo’s ears pricked forward suspiciously. “I saw the way you acted with him, big boy.”
The horse seemed a bit quieter when she was speaking, so she kept on musing aloud.
“Animals are good judges of character,” she said softly. “And you calmed right down and seemed less nervous when Matthew came over to us. You really seem to trust him. So how bad could he be?”
Carole didn’t know the answer to that. Maybe animals had different ways of judging people than people did of judging each other. Maybe it was possible for someone to be a total lying, scheming jerk around two-legged creatures but still love the four-legged variety.
“Well, you know what they say,” she murmured. “Better safe than sorry, right?” It wasn’t as if it mattered that much one way or the other. Matthew Reeves was awfully cute, but he was hardly the only heartthrob around the place. Carole smiled as she thought of Jeremiah. Now that was someone she could drool over with no worries.
With a quick glance at her watch, Carole saw that she was running out of time. She had to hurry or Conejo wouldn’t be ready in time for his scene.
“Okay, time to get serious, bud,” she told the horse. “Let’s get you into those cross-ties and get started.” She took a slow, careful step toward the horse, still murmuring soothing words to him. He tossed his head and held his ground as she came one step closer.
That was when the ground lurched beneath her feet.
“Ah!” she cried involuntarily. This time there was no mistaking it. The earth shuddered and the water bucket hanging in the stall rattled against the wooden wall.
Conejo felt it, too. His eyes started to roll again, and he jumped to one side.
Time suddenly seemed to be passing very slowly. Carole gritted her teeth and reminded herself of where she was. No matter how scared she was, she couldn’t let the horse sense it. She had to keep him calm so that he wouldn’t panic and hurt himself—or her.
“Whoa, boy,” she began, but she had to stop and swallow to keep herself from screaming again as the ground gave another violent shudder.
That was all Conejo could take. With a wild scream of fright, he reared up on his hind legs, his forelegs thrashing the air in front of him.
Startled and distracted by her own fear, Carole threw a hand up to protect her face and took a step backward. Her legs buckled as the ground heaved once more, and she let out a loud, panicky shriek as she lost her balance and started to fall sideways. As her head struck the wall of the stall, she thought she heard a male voice shouting to her. But she wasn’t sure.
The next few seconds passed in a blur. Later, Carole wasn’t sure whether she had actually passed out or if she was just so terrified that she couldn’t think straight. Either way, she had a pleasant awakening. She was suddenly aware that she was being held in a strong, gentle grip. When she opened her eyes, which she had squeezed tight in terror, she found herself looking into the concerned brown eyes of …
“Jeremiah?” she croaked in disbelief.
“Are you all right?” The young actor continued to peer down into her face. “You hit your head.”
Carole struggled to sit upright. “Conejo…,” she croaked.
“He’s fine,” Jeremiah assured her. “He calmed down as soon as the tremors stopped.”
For the first time, Carole noticed that the ground had stopped shaking. “Then it’s over?”
“All finished.”
Carole gulped. She felt like a fool for panicking over another minor tremor. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I mean, I’m so embarrassed. I’m not used to this kind of thing, and—”
“Forget about it,” Jeremiah said gently, still cradling her back and shoulders in his strong arms. “I was the same way when I first moved to L.A. We didn’t have quakes back home in Ohio.”
“We don’t have them in Virginia, either.” Carole managed a smile. For the first time, she found herself wondering how she looked—and smelled. If only she had washed up after mucking out that stall. … She comforted herself with the fact that Jeremiah didn’t seem to notice. In fact, his concerned face was moving closer to hers than ever.
“How does your head feel?” he asked. He lifted one hand and gently pushed back a few dark curls that had escaped from her braid. His fingers probed her forehead gently. “Does this hurt?”
“No.” Carole could barely push the single word out of her throat. She could hardly breathe. Was this really happening? Or had Conejo kicked the sense out of her, and was this all some kind of feverish dream?
Then Jeremiah’s finger found a sore spot, making her wince. “Oops, sorry,” he said quickly. “Do you mind if I push your hair away and take a look?”
“Go ahead.” Carole took a deep breath. It was true, then. The pain, though minor, had been real enough. “It doesn’t feel very bad, though.”
Jeremiah examined the spot, being careful not to touch it again. “I think you’ll be okay,” he reported. “No blood or anything. You’ll probably just end up with a bruise.” He let her hair fall back in place and smiled at her. “You won’t even need to mess up that lovely face of yours with some big, ugly bandage.”
Carole’s head was spinning, and she was pretty sure her bump had nothing to do with it. She had no idea what to say.
Luckily, Jeremiah didn’t seem to expect a response. His grip tightened slightly around her shoulders. Was he actually pulling her closer?
“You must have been pretty quick in there to keep out of Conejo’s way,” he murmured, gazing into her eyes. “But I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve noticed the way you’ve been handling the horses today, and you really know what you’re doing. I’ve never seen someone with such a natural way with them. That’s very special, you know, Carole.”
He called me Carole, she thought gleefully. He remembered my name. Jeremiah Jamison remembered my name! It was such a small thing, but it made her feel good. It even made her feel more than ever that she had dropped into the middle of one of her own Hollywood fantasies.
But in a fantasy, I wouldn’t be wearing these grubby jeans, Carole reminded herself. And I’d smell like roses or something instead of manure and horse sweat.
Then her thoughts ceased as Jeremiah fell silent and simply gazed at her for a long, strange, breathless, magical, unreal moment. Carole couldn’t do anything but stare back, drinking in his intense brown eyes, now so close to hers. Her body was frozen in place, and her mind seemed to be frozen, too.
This time there was no question about it. Both of Jeremiah’s arms were around her now, pulling her closer. His head moved slowly toward hers, as if the power of their shared gaze were drawing it toward her. His lips parted slightly, and Carole felt her own lips trembling as they waited to meet his—
“Carole!”
The sharp voice broke the spell of the moment. Jeremiah jerked his head back and frowned. Carole, gasping for breath, looked around to see who had interrupted.
“Skye!” she exclaimed, feeling herself blush. She scrambled to free herself, and Jeremiah let her go immediately. “What are you doing here?”
“Looks like I should be the one asking that.” Skye folded his arms across his chest and looked from Carole to Jeremiah and back again.
Jeremiah had jumped to his feet. “Really?” he snapped. “Looks to me like you should be the one minding your own business.” He glanced at Carole, then reached down to help her stand. “I’ll see you later, okay? And that’s a promise.” He gave her a quick squeeze on her upper arm, then turned and strode away.
Skye was still staring at Carole. “What was that all about?” he asked. “I mean, I’m sorry I interrupted. But I don’t think you know—”
“Carole!” This time it was Stevie calling her name. “There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Carole forced herself to smile. She didn’t want Stevie or Skye to notice that her entire body was still trembling from the close encou
nter with Jeremiah, or that her heart was beating so fast it felt as though it might leap right out of her chest. “Did you want to make sure I survived the Big One?” she joked weakly.
“What? Oh, the tremor.” Stevie shrugged. “Right. But actually, Summer and I could use your help. Fancy keeps coming up short on her rollbacks, and I remembered you had that same problem with Starlight last summer. Can you give us a hand?”
“Sure.” Carole gave Skye one last glance as he shrugged and turned away, a puzzled frown on his handsome face. Then she turned to follow Stevie.
The fantasy was over—for now, at least. I’ll see you later, Jeremiah’s husky voice whispered again in her mind. That’s a promise!
NINE
Half an hour later Carole was still in a daze from her encounter with Jeremiah. She had given Stevie a whispered overview of the highlights while they worked with Summer, but she was still dying to have a nice, long discussion with someone about the exact shade of Jeremiah’s eyes and the precise way his arms had felt holding her. So this is why other girls spend so much time talking about guys and romance and dating, Carole told herself as she wandered down the stable aisle, looking for a way to be useful. This is fun!
She heard the approaching sound of clipclopping hooves and turned to see who it was. She saw Lisa heading toward her, leading a fully tacked Conejo.
“Hi!” Carole called, walking forward to meet them. Suddenly she stopped short and gasped, remembering that she had left Conejo without a second thought after her moment with Jeremiah. “Oh, no! I forgot all about his big scene. Did you—”
“It’s okay,” Lisa said quickly. “Skye told me what happened. He said you got distracted by the earthquake.”
“But that’s no excuse. I—”
Lisa interrupted again, this time with an understanding smile. “Don’t worry about it. If your fear of earthquakes is anything like my weirdness about heights, I’m not surprised you forgot about Conejo.” She winked. “Anyway, I’m the one getting paid here. I should be glad you and Stevie are willing to help out at all when you’re supposed to be on vacation. You two could be sunning yourselves on the beach right now instead of hanging around here doing the same stable chores you’ve been doing all summer. So really, don’t worry about it. It’s no big deal.”
“Oh.” Carole cleared her throat. “Um, did Skye happen to mention anything else?” Like that he caught me on the verge of making out with America’s hottest teen TV star? she added to herself, feeling her cheeks grow warm at the very thought.
Lisa shrugged. “What do you mean?”
So he hadn’t told her. Carole should have known Skye wouldn’t blab about catching her in a clinch with Jeremiah, even to Lisa. He was a gentleman. Carole smiled and fell into step beside Lisa. “Well, let’s just say the tremor wasn’t the only thing that distracted me. You see, I was having a little trouble with Conejo, and then the tremor came…” She went on to tell Lisa the entire story, trying not to leave out a single juicy detail.
She was so caught up in her tale that she didn’t notice until she finished that Lisa was frowning. “You mean you were going to let him kiss you?”
“What do you think?” Carole was surprised. Was she imagining things or did Lisa look disapproving? Okay, so maybe Lisa could be a tad bit conservative about certain things, but she was no prude. At least Carole hadn’t thought so.
Lisa paused to let Conejo nibble at a patch of grass and gave Carole a serious look. “Listen, I meant to say something about this later when we had more privacy.” She glanced around the nearly deserted stable area. “But it looks like I’d better say it now. Jeremiah is bad news. You’re better off staying as far away from him as possible.”
“What do you mean?” Lisa’s words weren’t registering. This was hardly the reaction Carole had been expecting to her exciting, romantic story.
Lisa frowned. “I mean, don’t get suckered in by his big brown eyes and all the rest of it. It’s just an act. It’s as fake as that goody-goody character he plays on the show.”
Carole shook her head slowly. She had known Lisa for a long time, and she knew that she was sensible and cautious. Still, this was ridiculous. Didn’t she ever just let herself go with the flow, do what felt good? Had she learned nothing from hanging out with Stevie all these years?
“Look, whatever.” Carole tried to keep her tone light. She didn’t want Lisa to know how irritating that know-it-all voice of hers was sounding just then. “It’s no big deal, okay?”
“It is a big deal if you’re thinking about spending any more time with him.” Lisa glanced at her watch, then clucked to Conejo to get him moving again. After snatching one last mouthful of grass, the horse obeyed. “You have no idea what he’s really like. Believe me, he has nothing in common with that nice, honest character he plays. He’s older than you, too, you know.”
Now Carole was starting to get really annoyed. How gullible did Lisa think she was? Just because she had never really had a serious boyfriend and spent more time at the stable than out on dates, that didn’t mean she was a total idiot when it came to guys. Sometimes, she had to admit, her friends made her feel that way, even if they didn’t mean to. After all, Stevie and Phil were practically an old married couple, and even before Alex came along Lisa had had guys falling all over her.…
“You don’t have to worry,” Carole said, doing her best to keep her voice even and neutral. “It’s not like I’m madly in love with the guy or anything. I just said he was cute.” That was true enough. Carole wasn’t looking for true love here—she might not be as sensible as Lisa, but even she knew there was no real future in a relationship between herself and a gorgeous TV star. She knew that just because Jeremiah thought she was cute enough to kiss didn’t mean he’d be showing up for her junior prom next year.
But so what? Carole thought. I can still have some fun with him this week while I’m here. What harm could there be in a little smooching with a handsome TV star? Especially one who obviously finds me so irresistible! She smiled a little at that thought. Carole knew that her friends thought she was attractive; they had told her so. But when she looked in the mirror, she still wasn’t sure what to think of her own looks. Still, if Jeremiah Jamison wants to tell me I’m lovely, who am I to argue?
Lisa was peering anxiously at her over her shoulder as she continued to walk Conejo down the path leading to the main part of the set. “Look, Carole. I don’t want to tell you what to do. But as your friend, I’m telling you exactly what I think. Jeremiah is bad news, and the next time you see him, you’d be better off running in the opposite direction. Otherwise you might get hurt.”
Right, Carole thought sourly. And I just might manage to have some fun, too. What a tragedy that would be. “Message received,” she told Lisa shortly. “Look, I’d better go see if Stevie needs any more help.” She whirled and hurried off, heading back toward the stable row.
“Carole, wait!” Lisa called after her. “Come back.”
Carole pretended not to hear her. She ducked down one of the shed rows, knowing that Lisa couldn’t follow or try to find her until after she delivered Conejo to the set. Then she smiled grimly. She wasn’t going to let cautious Lisa ruin her fun. This could be her only chance to have a fling with a TV star, and she wasn’t going to miss it if she could help it.
No matter what her oh-so-worldly friend thought.
“She looks good out there, doesn’t she?” a familiar voice said from behind Stevie.
“Hey, Skye.” Stevie turned from her perch on the fence of the largest practice ring. “How’s it going? Shouldn’t you be off saving the ranch or something?”
Skye grinned. “I don’t get to do that until later. They’re shooting some stuff with the guest stars right now.” He hoisted himself onto the fence beside her and turned his attention to Summer, who was at the far end of the ring putting Fancy through a complicated routine.
Stevie followed his gaze. “She really is good,” she said, admiring Summer’s flawle
ss seat and the precise, practiced way she handled the reins. “I have to admit, I’m a little surprised. The way she was talking this morning, it sounded like she’d barely spent five minutes in the saddle.”
“That’s Summer for you.” Skye shook his head ruefully. “She’s got more going for her than plenty of other actors in this town, but she just can’t see that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean she’s talented—not just as a rider, but as an actor, too. She’s smart. And you can see for yourself that she’s beautiful.” He shrugged. “But she’s got one big problem. She’s way too insecure.”
Stevie wasn’t totally surprised by Skye’s comment. She had already spent enough time with Summer to recognize that the young actress lacked self-confidence. But just because she recognized it didn’t mean she understood it. “I don’t get it,” she told Skye. “What does someone like her have to be insecure about?”
Skye sighed. “Who knows?” he said. “This is a tough business. You have to be able to take rejection and criticism, and most of us manage as best we can. But Summer takes it all to heart. She believes what other people say about her, especially if it’s bad.”
“Weird.” Stevie was silent for a moment.
Skye wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “It’s getting pretty hot out here, isn’t it?” he commented.
Stevie smirked. “Is that a complaint?” she needled him. “I can’t believe it. Everyone keeps telling me the climate out here is supposed to be perfect.”
“Ha ha.” Skye rolled his eyes. “Anyway, as I was about to say, it’s kind of ironic that Summer landed the part of Caitlin Drake. Caitlin is supposed to be self-assured, manipulative, a daredevil—all the things Summer isn’t.”
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