by Maddie James
“Becca. I’m Becca North,” she told him. “I bought pansies.”
He snickered. “I remember.”
She bought pansies? Sheesh!
His big hand encased hers. Warm. Slightly calloused. Nice.
And he was still holding it. Like the other day.
“Nice to meet you, Becca.” Finally, he broke their grasp.
“Officially.” Tossing his gaze toward the picnic scene he added, “Are you part of all his?”
He did remember her. “No. I mean. Yes. Well, sort of.”
He laughed out loud. Nice, nice laugh. Almost made her smile. Hell, it did make her smile.
“My friend Nora,” she pointed toward her, “is part of the show. She’s the blonde over there by the table and the one being matchmaked.”
Matchmaked? Was that a word?
Sam followed her gaze. “Hm.” He watched for a while as Nora listened to Patricia. While he did that, it gave her the perfect opportunity to study his profile. Chiseled features, high cheekbones, a slightly scruff dark beard. She bet he got a five o’clock shadow each day.
At some point in her musing, Sam had turned to look into her face again. Their gazes hooked together and held. “It’s nice to see you, again.”
She glanced at the ground. “I...yes. Good to see you, too.”
Sam tucked a finger under her chin and lifted. Again, their gazes connected. “I spotted you as soon as you got out of the car a little while ago. I couldn’t believe it was you. I’m glad to have another chance to speak to you.”
“I’m sorry I was so abrupt the other day,” she offered. “I’m just not used to men asking me out like that.”
“Hey. It’s not a regular thing for me, either, sweetheart. Kind of took me by surprise.”
In the worst way, Becca wanted to smile. Okay, so she did a little. “Really?”
“Yes.”
A pause lingered.
“When I saw you a few minutes ago, I couldn’t believe my luck. I was sort of hoping it was going to be you.”
“What?”
Sam tipped his head toward the crowd around the picnic table. “I’m the date. The other one being matchmaked.”
“Ah.” Shit.
“Yep.” He rubbed that scruffy beard. Had he said he wished it had been her?
“I’m sure you will like Nora.”
“I think you are more my type.”
Panic zinged through her. “Oh, but Nora is smart and beautiful and...”
He interrupted with, “Don’t sell yourself short, Becca North. You too are beautiful, and I bet quite smart.”
What?
A silly, saucy grin crossed his lips, and her mouth itched to echo it.
“Mr. Ackerman? Is that you?”
Sam glanced away to see who was approaching.
Patricia. Saved by the bell, or rather, the Plum.
“Becca!” she started, “thank goodness you found Mr. Ackerman.” Patricia hooked her arm in Sam’s and tugged to lead him away. “I have a few things to go over before the lunch and taping...and oh! You must meet Nora before we begin. Minor detail.” She giggled and Sam looked over his shoulder back to Becca. “Of course you want to meet her ahead of time. It’s a date, right? I mean, we’ll pretend it’s a blind date and all but what kind of a show would it be...”
Patricia’s voice faded as they strode away. The only good thing about watching them walk away was that Becca got another perfect view of Sam Ackerman’s firm and taut backside.
She did enjoy watching that man walk away.
****
“Keep your eyes on your date. On your date! Sam!”
Dammit. Why couldn’t he keep his eyes—and his attention—on Nora? She was beautiful with all that long blonde hair and equally long, thin denim-clad legs, and eyes blue as bursting blueberries.
“Cut!”
The crew exhaled and so did he. “Sorry. This isn’t working.” Sam tossed his napkin on the table and got up. Swiping the back of his hand across his upper lip, he brushed away a line of sweat. Nerves. And it was hot this afternoon.
They’d gone a lot longer than anticipated. Couldn’t get the right shots.
Nora stepped up beside him. “Sam, are you okay?”
He didn’t meet her questioning gaze. “Fine.”
“It’s me, right?”
Damn. He didn’t want her to think that, so he did look at her then. “Oh, no, Nora. It’s not you.” Those damn blue eyes held all kinds of expectation. Some guy, somewhere, would be thrilled to be in his shoes right now. “It’s me. I’m a gardener, not an actor. You’re wonderful.”
She smiled at the wonderful part.
But you’re not as wonderful as your friend over there. He glanced at Becca over Nora’s shoulder. Thing was, he was supposed to be focusing his attention on the blonde in front of him, not her sexy, vampish, dark-haired friend hanging out on the fringes.
“We’ll just take another break. Here, let me get some water,” she offered.
He watched her walk away. Jack would call him every kind of crazy, but he just wasn’t into this right now. Water wasn’t going to make any difference. This acting gig, or the matchmaking thing, wasn’t for him.
“So what’s up, Sam?”
Suzie joined him. His shoulders slumped, and again, he exhaled. Long. Staring her straight in the eyes he said, “I’m cutting out on you, Suzie. It was a great idea, but I’m not your man.”
“You can’t do that to me, Sam.”
“I’m not doing it to you, Suzie. I’m just not comfortable with this. I’m sure you can find another guy who would be happy to date Nora.”
“It’s just not the television thing, Sam. It’s the matchmaking thing, too. My reputation is on the line! Please, help me out.”
He guessed she was under as much stress about this as he. Squaring himself in front of her he said, “Suzie, it wouldn’t be authentic. You don’t want to come off as a fake. You want this to work. I swear I’m not the guy to pull this off.”
Suzie stared right back and bit her lip. “It’s the acting part, isn’t it?”
“It’s all of it. I’m not good at this sort of thing.”
“But it will get easier.”
“No.”
“Oh, Sam.” Her forehead curled into worry lines. “You can’t. I...”
At that moment Patricia stepped between them. “Sam, you’re almost there. We just need a couple of more shots. The crew thinks they can piece together an episode with what we have and a few carefully chosen shots.”
“I’m not sure...”
Patricia put up a hand. Her New York attitude came out in a flash. “No excuses. You signed a contract.”
Shit. That, he did. He studied Patricia’s face, then Suzie’s.
“Please?” she begged.
“Just a couple of more scenes?” Why in hell he was caving he didn’t know. Well, yes, he did. He was doing it for Suzie.
“Yes.”
“Then I am free to go?”
“Of course.”
“All right. Then I’m done.” He headed back toward the picnic table where a waiting Nora stood with a bottle of water.
On his way, he tossed a glance toward Becca, who immediately averted her gaze. Yep. She was watching him, too. A good sign and one that made him smile. But before he got three strides away, Suzie grasped his shirtsleeve and tugged. “Just get these scenes out of the way, Sam, and then later we can talk about the matchmaking part.”
He didn’t want to dwell on what she meant by that for too long. Him saying he was done was one thing. Suzie’s interpretation of that, he feared, was quite another.
****
An hour later, things still weren’t working. Becca truly felt sorry for Sam because he was trying, but he couldn’t act his way out of a plastic baggie. Nora, on the other hand, was acting her sweet little pea pickin’ heart out. Of course, Nora could command attention in a soup can. But Becca wasn’t sure how much of what Nora was doing was acting,
or just her natural demeanor around men. It was her nature to lay it on a bit thick.
Patricia coached from the sidelines, and Suzie just looked distressed.
Becca sidled up next to the author. “Not going so well, huh?”
“You can say that again.”
Patricia leaned in. “We made a mistake doing this out in the wilderness. We need something to give it some pop. Nothing out here but mountains and trees and wildflowers.”
“Sam is struggling,” Suzie added.
“He’s just not that into Nora.”
“I could have told you that.” Becca shrugged when both women stared her way. “Hey, I notice things.”
“Too bad she’s into him, though,” Patricia said.
“You think so?”
“Look.”
Becca did. Nora was giggling and trying to feed Sam a piece of cheesecake. He sat stiff as a board, his mouth open, while she tried to pop a nugget in his mouth. She missed and laughed. Sam frowned and then catching himself, half-heartedly laughed, too.
For just a second he caught Becca’s eye.
Nora then dipped a forefinger full of strawberry glaze and brought it her mouth. Her tongue snaked out and she slowly licked and then sucked. Becca’s gaze went to Sam’s face. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, then he turned his helpless stare toward the trio standing off to the side and said, “Suzie? Isn’t this about enough?”
“Give him a break, Patricia. Certainly we have what we need now.”
Thank God, Becca thought. She was almost embarrassed for Nora.
And Sam.
Patricia studied the scene before her, then glanced to her right at Suzie and Becca, and then back to Sam. “Sure. Okay. After just one more shot.”
Everyone on the set groaned.
Everything around them went silent for a brief moment.
Abruptly, Patricia grabbed Becca by the arm and tugged.
“Makeup!” she shouted. “Suzie! Get that picnic basket and fill it up with food. Anything! Just put something in it. Nora! I need you over here, sweetie. Sam. Don’t you move from that spot, do you hear me? I know we have one more shot in you.”
Suzie scurried away.
Patricia dragged Becca toward the picnic table.
Nora stood with a deer-in-the-headlight look on her face.
Becca wasn’t sure what the hell was going on.
And Sam looked like he could simply wither.
Then, before she realized it, Becca was overtaken by the make-up girl and being fluffed and buffed, while Nora was lead off by Patricia, whose lips were moving a mile a minute while Nora stood hands-on-hips, her head nodding, her eyebrows bobbing, and her nose wrinkling.
Becca looked to Sam. “I don’t have a clue what’s happening here.”
“Just go with it,” he said. “It’s out of our control.”
“Maybe we should just play and be nice, and then we can take our toys and go home soon.”
“Promise?”
“One can hope.”
“I’d like to go home with you and play with your toys.”
Immediately, Becca flushed. And reddened. She was pretty darned sure. The makeup girl smirked and buffed at her cheeks some more.
“Okay, so here is the deal.” Patricia was back. “Sam, you stay where you are. Nora, take your seat again across from him. Suzie, give Becca that picnic basket. Becca, I want you to come sashaying in from the right and interrupt their lunch. I want you to flirt like hell with Sam, and Sam?” His head whipped her way. “I want you to flirt like hell back. We need some conflict in this matchmaking seduction scene, and this is the only way I know how to do it.”
Conflict. Shit. Patricia Plum had no earthly idea how much conflict this was going to cause between her and best friend.
Nora looked at her with eyes round as buttered biscuits.
“Not my idea, Nora.”
“All right!” Patricia clapped her hands, and the crew fell into their places. Suzie shoved the picnic basket into her hands and the next thing Becca knew was that some guy was snapping a clapper thing in front of her and shouting,
“Action!”
In that instant, she knew there was only one thing left to do.
So, she did it.
She plastered a huge grin on her face, sashayed her ass over to the table, winked at Sam, and thought about one thing and one thing only—taking her toys home to play with Sam.
Chapter Four
“Well, you didn’t have to act so damned enamored with him.”
Rolling her eyes, Becca closed the cash register drawer.
They’d been through this time and time again. When would she stop?
“I told you, Nora, I was acting. We’d been out there in the Indian summer heat for hours and everyone was tired. I just did what they told me to do so we could get out of there.”
“Sitting on Sam’s lap was totally uncalled for.”
But, oh, it was so, so nice. Especially when he grazed his hand protectively over her back and massaged her neck a little. “Acting. Nora. Acting.”
“I didn’t know you had any interest in acting.”
“I don’t. It was Patricia. Wasn’t my idea.”
Nora huffed out a breath. “All right.” Bending to look under the counter she asked, “Are those cookies still here? I need to crunch something.”
Crap. She’d tossed those a couple of days ago. “Um, I don’t know...”
Nora rose and cracked her head on the counter. “Dammit!”
Oh, hell.
Becca went to her. “Nora, slow down. The cookies are gone. I’ll go get you some. And please, don’t hold it against me that Patricia tossed me into your television show.”
Rubbing her head, Nora frowned and pouted a little. “He’s really cute. I think I might like him.”
Panic zinged straight through Becca. “Sam?”
Sighing, Nora replied, “Yeah.”
Damn. “But I’m not sure...” I’m not sure he’s the one for you, Nora. No. She couldn’t say that because if she did, it would be for the wrong reason.
“What do you think, Bec? That’s the reason I had you come with me. What do you think about him? About Sam and me? Do you think I stand a chance?”
Oh, holy macaroni. What to say now?
Her gaze played over Nora’s eager face, and all Becca could say was, “Sure, honey. I think there is always a chance.”
****
Without a whole lot of thought, Becca pulled the gardening book off the shelf and ran her fingertips over the smooth cover. The author was one of those guys who had a television show on the Home & Garden network. She didn’t have a clue what his name was, although she knew that her mother most likely did. She paused to consider for a moment if this guy was really an average Joe, like Suzie from Legend, who happened to be at the right place at the right time and landed himself a TV show and a book deal.
She wondered.
As she stared at the handsome guy on the cover—who smiled back at her while knee-deep in pots and plants, crouched at the edge of a flowerbed, spade in one hand—her mind wandered to another gardening guy. Sam. Her heart pitter-pattered when she thought of him, even though she nearly always pushed the feeling away. She knew that Nora was hoping for another encounter with the landscaper and well, she didn’t want a thing to do with bursting Nora’s bubble.
Even though she was having a difficult time getting those hazel eyes out of her head.
“If you are going to buy a book on gardening, I wouldn’t recommend that one.”
Startled, she yanked her head up to look at the person who had spoken.
“Sam?”
Oh yeah, Mr. Garden Man was standing square in front of her, all spit-shined and polished and outdoorsy-looking. She glanced over her shoulder, to where last time she checked, Nora was working in her office.
“What are you doing here?”
He took the book from her and began leafing through it.
“This guy has
a great show,” he began, ignoring her question, “but when it comes to putting things down on paper, he has a really odd way of doing it. Hard book for a newbie to follow, I think.”
“Oh. Well then, not the book for me.”
The book snapped shut and he handed it back. She shoved it back on the shelf.
“I was just browsing. I don’t have a garden.” Why she felt the need to explain, she didn’t know.
“Then why were you looking at it?”
Yes, Becca, why were you looking at a book that reminded you of Mr. Garden Man? “My, um, mother...”
“Ah. The one with the pansies. That’s right. How did she like those?”
“Oh, fine.” Liar.
“Good. Remember, I told you I’d teach you about plants. You just have to teach me about books. How about a recommendation?”
For some reason this was going in places she hadn’t anticipated. “Book?”
“Yes. You know, to read?”
“Ummmm. Fiction or non-fiction?”
“Fiction, I think. I need to escape.”
Escape what? Okay, she would play along. “The fiction section is over there. How about a thriller?”
“Will it make my spine tingle?”
You mean, like mine is right now? She stopped in mid-stride. “Sam?”
He smiled when she said his name. Dammit.
“Why are you here?”
He paused and perused her face for only a second or two.
“Well, it’s a bookstore, Becca, and I just asked for a recommendation, so I guess I’m here for a book.”
“I don’t think so.”
He arched a brow. “Then how about this? How about I take you to lunch?”
Her tummy nose-dived. “What?”
“I was in the neighborhood and thought why not? You have lunch plans?”
“Me?”
“Yes, you, silly.”
“I...I don’t think so.”
“Oh, come on. I promise I won’t bite.” The sexy grin that went with that statement was almost her undoing.
But maybe I want you to bite. Shit! Stop thinking things like that, Becca!
Nora. Think about Nora. That’s right. “Nora is around here somewhere, and I’m sure she’s available.”
He frowned. “I’m asking you, Becca.”