by Noelle Adams
“And cut!”
The sharp command pierced her bubble of sensation. Sadie looked up in a daze to see Russ pace from behind the camera.
“Great job, everyone. Loved the extra vocals, RC. One last take and we’ll call a wrap.”
Amazed she’d lost all sense of time and place, she fought to slow her breathing and reached up to smooth her disheveled curls from her face. Zach’s burning gaze watched every movement, arousing a wave of anticipation for the last take.
Red hair and broad shoulders registered in her peripheral vision as Russ approached them between the rows of desks. He clapped a hand on each of their shoulders, though Sadie noticed Zach’s was substantially harder.
“You two translate beautifully onto film. Love it. Now, for this last take, Zach, on the final shot after Dave’s done with his speech and the others are filing out, I want you to pick her up—sweep her into your arms, and carry her to the front toward the door. But don’t break the kiss. I want that little touch of romance right at the end.”
Sadie’s bemused senses thought it sounded like a perfect idea. Very romantic.
“You want me to navigate these desks and kiss at the same time?” Zach’s tone suggested the director was a lunatic.
The guy just chuckled. “I got faith in you, buddy.”
As he walked away, Zach muttered, “Faith won’t keep us from breaking our necks.”
Back in position, Russ called action, and the shot rolled like clockwork—until the actor at the front finished his dialogue.
“Now get out there and entertain their socks off!” Brief pause. “You too, Romantic Comedy.”
Zach’s thighs flexed beneath hers as he tightened his hold and began to stand. Her knee pinched between his leg and the desk, and she couldn’t contain a pained gasp that ruined the take. Blinking away involuntary tears, Sadie brushed aside his apology, assured him she was fine, and got ready for another try.
To avoid the desk this time, she maneuvered during the kiss to straddle Zach’s lap. Her knee slipped to the inside and landed smack dab between his legs. His jerk and pained groan ruined the take.
“Payback really is a bitch.”
Sadie sat back, hand clapped over her mouth in dismay. “I’m so sorry.”
“We’re even now.”
“I didn’t—”
“I’m joking, I’m fine.” A slight smile touched his lips. “Mostly. But we’re getting the evil eye, so…”
“Okay.” She settled back into her original position and decided to let Zach handle the logistics of getting them from the desk to the door in one piece.
This time, he succeeded with impressive capability.
She realized she’d never been carried by a man before. Not like this, anyway. It was quite nice; the strength of his arms, the warmth of his body, the seduction of his lips that continued caressing hers even after “Cut!” sounded from a far-off distance.
Moments later, Zach’s mouth jolted against hers. They separated and Sadie realized Zach had received another thump on the back.
“That, my friend, is what I call a wrap,” the director quipped.
Heat flooded Sadie’s face. She was still effectively wrapped in Zach’s arms. Russ grinned at the both of them, shoved his hands in his pockets and sauntered into the hall.
Over his shoulder, he added, “You can thank me later, Zach.”
Sadie’s ears burned. Too embarrassed to look Zach in the eye, she squirmed and he slowly lowered her to the floor. Above her head, he cleared his throat. She kept her mortified gaze focused on the top button of his green shirt. She’d kissed the guy like they’d been dating for months and he was carrying her willing self to a bed. Without even knowing him!
She might as well be the girl Theodore Willoughby assumed she was after finding out her mother had had her at seventeen and then married a rich, fifty-five year old at age twenty-five. Once Ted showed his true colors, prom night had been no picnic. Ted may have learned the truth about her that night the hard way, but he got his revenge. His word against hers had ruined her reputation for good and in everyone else’s eyes, she was her mother’s daughter.
Right now, if it was possible to run in the red stilettos wardrobe insisted she wear, she’d sprint as fast as possible in the other direction. As it was, maybe dissolving into a puddle on the floor would be easier.
Four
“Sadie, I, um—”
Zach grappled with a feeling he hadn’t experienced in years. Nervousness with a woman. He ran a multimillion dollar company every day. Dated on a semi-regular basis. Asking Sadie to dinner should be a snap, especially since, technically, they’d already rounded first base. But locating the correct words in his short-circuited brain suddenly proved difficult.
“Zach!”
The urgency in his assistant’s voice jerked his attention from Sadie. Cell phone held above her bouncy brunette ponytail, Kris threaded through the busy crew who’d already begun to pack up the set. From the corner of his eye, he saw Sadie turn as well.
“My assistant, Kris,” he explained to assure she didn’t jump to a wrong conclusion.
His assistant glanced at Sadie’s frown with a smile, then turned a grimace toward Zach. “I’m sorry to bother you, but Russ said you were done, and Matt’s been calling every five minutes for the past half hour.”
Zach accepted the phone while digging into his pocket for his own cell. Three missed calls and a desperate “Call me!” text from his younger brother while it’d been silenced during filming.
Shit.
Matt was in San Francisco overseeing the startup of their new West Coast shipping center. And when he wasn’t dealing with work, his fiancé Melissa had him spending money like it was water while she planned their elaborate September wedding. Zach hadn’t told his brother about losing the bet, so as far as Matt knew, he was busy working on the Truner negotiation. He wouldn’t have resorted to bothering Kris unless it was really important.
Zach gave Sadie an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry, can you give me just a minute?”
She nodded and practically jumped out of arms reach. “No problem, I need to go change anyway.”
He lifted the phone to his ear as he watched her rush away, her expression of relief imprinted in his mind. His gut grew heavy with the sinking feeling he should’ve made his brother wait, not Sadie.
“What’s up, Matt?”
Ten minutes later he paced in front of Russ and ranted about his ex-future-sister-in-law. “Lying, gold-digging bitch. God, I should’ve seen it.”
“Don’t beat yourself up, Zach.” The older man made a helpless gesture, shrugging one shoulder before his arm dropped to his side. “How could you have known?”
“Something about her didn’t fit. I had suspicions when I first saw her and I should’ve said something right away.”
“None of us saw it.”
“But I did. At the very least, I should’ve checked her out.”
“That’s hardly your responsibility.”
“But it is—especially after the last time. I knew they’d set a date way too soon, but Matt insisted he loved her and couldn’t wait to start their life together.”
Though his gaze conveyed sympathy, the burly director shoved his hands in his pockets and maintained his relaxed position against the bank of gray lockers outside the costume room. “Sounds like a replay of two years ago. At least this time he found out before they were standing at the altar.”
“I know,” Zach muttered, thinking of his brother’s other ex-fiancé. He’d swear Matt threw off some sort of vibe that helped con-women recognize him as an easy target. He slammed one fist into his open palm, his back teeth ground together in fury. “Matt shouldn’t have to be going through this right now. Damn it. I should’ve asked Gabe to run a background check on her.”
Zach and Matt had grown up across the street from Gabe Carson, and Zach knew their buddy wouldn’t mind using his NYPD badge to help out.
“Hell, even I wouldn’t have guessed it of
Melissa,” Russ said. “And you know how skeptical I am.”
Zach inclined his head in grudging acceptance of that statement.
“How much did she make off with?”
“She cleaned him out. Over two hundred grand between his checking, savings and the wedding account.”
Ironically, it wasn’t the money that pissed him off. Sure, it sucked, but it wasn’t as big a deal as his brother’s broken heart. Melissa was the first woman Matt had dated seriously since his first disastrous engagement. Anger gave way for sympathy and concern. His brother’s self-confidence was going to be shot to hell.
“He call the cops?”
“Yeah.” Zach sighed with resignation. “But I’m willing to bet she’s long gone by now.”
Russ cocked an eyebrow and cracked a smile. “Still a betting man after today?”
He let loose a wry grin and felt his blood pressure simmer down even more. “If it’s a sure thing.”
“Where does the cute little blond fit?”
Zach paused and raked a hand through his hair as he glanced toward the room Sadie had yet to emerge from. Technically, he’d hired Russ for this project, but his friend was older by a good fifteen years and Zach almost felt like a kid confiding to his father.
“I wasn’t exactly acting back there,” he admitted.
“Didn’t look like she was either.”
His pulse skipped a couple beats at that confirmation. “Then why’d she bolt the first chance she got?”
Russ straightened from the lockers with a grin. “Maybe the ol’ Robinson charm ain’t quite what it used to be?”
Zach shrugged. “Guess we’ll see when she comes out.” A little zing skated across his nerves and settled in his stomach.
“Wanna bet on it?”
“No.”
Russ chuckled and strode toward the doors. “Good luck.”
Another ten minutes later, Zach was glad he hadn’t risen to Russ’s bait. After sending Kris into the room, she returned to inform him Sadie had been spotted earlier picking up her things, but she hadn’t yet returned the production company’s clothes.
The halls and classrooms the crew had used were starting to clear out, but he managed to locate the girl with the cast list before she left. He didn’t know Sadie’s last name, but it was highly unlikely there’d be two of ‘em in a group of only twenty-six actors.
Romantic Comedy/female listed Regina Pollers as the actress. He frowned, until he remembered Sadie had originally been Battlefield Nurse. Skimming up to the B’s, the name opposite that role was Gemma Barton.
What the hell?
Running his finger down the list and back up, he scanned impatiently for the name he wanted. By the third time through, he gave up. There was no Sadie on the list. He handed the clipboard back to Russ’s assistant and turned to find Kris waiting in the hall. Dressed much more casually than when they were at the office, she hitched her canvas bag up onto her slim shoulder and smoothed the bottom hem of her 80’s rock T-shirt over her jeans.
“Ready to head back to the office?” she asked, keys jangling.
“I think I’ll hang out here for a little bit. I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.”
He held up his phone as an excuse, though her expression told him she knew his true motives. Well, there was the possibility Sadie would still return her costume to the wardrobe room. To get rid of Kris’s smirk, he suggested, “If you don’t have anything pressing to do, why don’t you just head home?”
She grinned like a kid offered a triple scoop ice cream cone. “You don’t have to tell me twice. Thanks.” She backed toward the main doors, arm lifted, finger pointed at him. “Don’t forget, your first appointment is at nine tomorrow.”
He made a face at the reminder of his scheduled torture—three hours of answering questions from the press. “Remind me why I’m doing these interviews again?”
“Good PR for your negotiations with Truner. Boost business. Reveal the face behind the company.” Her grin widened as she reached the doors. “Though the commercial now pretty much covers that last one.”
“Shut up or I’ll find something for you to do this afternoon.”
The empty threat triggered a laugh that echoed down the hall as the door clanked shut behind her.
Zach hung around until only a few guys were left loading the last of the trucks. To keep the afternoon from being a total waste of time, he cleared up his voice messages and e-mails after a day of being unavailable. With four messages to go, all of them important issues that required his attention, he lowered his hand and thumbed the phone off with a disgusted sigh.
Why in the world was he waiting for a woman who so obviously didn’t want to see him again?
Clearly, she was long gone by now. Just like his brother’s ex-fiancé.
And a liar, too. No matter how he looked at it, she was in fact either Gemma Barton and had given him a fake name, or she was Sadie Something, playing a part she wasn’t supposed to play.
Zach shoved out the door to go home. He shouldn’t even care. Seriously, he should be thanking his lucky stars he found out about her dishonesty before things became more than just a kiss.
Halfway down the front steps of the high school, regret became a tight vice inside his chest, and his foot hesitated above the next step.
Aw, hell.
Five
Sadie stared at the red light two vehicles ahead and absently tapped her fingers on the steering wheel in time to the country song blaring from her car’s tinny radio. Not that she actually heard the words. Ever since overhearing Zach and his director friend in the hall yesterday, Zach’s accusations had taken over her thoughts, repeating over and over on an endless loop.
“Lying, gold-digging bitch.”
“Something about her didn’t fit.”
“Should’ve checked her out.”
He’d said to her face at the beginning of the day that she didn’t fit. Uneasy about the whole situation from the start, and mortified over her uninhibited response to his kisses, she hadn’t waited to hear more before exiting the nearest door.
Only to spend the whole night and all morning thinking about those spine-tingling, mind-numbing kisses.
The assignment editor from the paper had called a few minutes earlier as Sadie took the exit off the highway for the zoo. She’d groaned silently as she took the call, but for the first time since starting her job at the paper, she was grateful her assignments were little more than fluff pieces. The Good Samaritan who’d rescued six tiny ducklings after their mother had been hit on the highway was feathery enough to handle in her current frame of mind.
Though she still hoped to one day write the important news features she’d always envisioned in college, focusing on anything more substantial would be impossible today—which was why she’d been headed to the zoo instead of starting the search for another job to supplement, or replace, her current meager income.
The light turned green just as her cell phone rang for the second time that morning. While reaching to turn down the radio again, a quick glance at her caller ID revealed the fire-breathing editor-in-chief of Life’s a Beach, Natasha Lenko. In her car, miles away from the office, Sadie swore she felt the tall woman’s sharp blue gaze intensified by the magnification of her glasses and a shiver skittered down her spine.
Her stomach did a few frantic flips before she managed a deep breath and answered, “Sadie Barton.”
“Where are you?”
“In my car, on the way—”
“Location, Sadie. Give me a location.”
The impatient demand sent Sadie’s gaze darting toward the street sign on her way through the intersection. “Corner of San Fernando and West Burbank.”
“Perfect. I need you down on West Magnolia to cover the Robinson interview at ten sharp.”
Sadie looked at her dashboard clock and gulped. “It’s nine forty-seven right now.”
“Yes. And Paige is stuck in traffic down at the 134 interchange thanks to Bec
kham’s charity soccer camp at Ferraro Field. If I had any other options, we wouldn’t be talking, but as it is, you’re the only one close enough to make it.”
Barely.
“What about the ducks?” The inane question popped out before she remembered exactly who she was talking to.
“What ducks?”
“Um, Carl called for me to interview the guy who saved the ducks on the highway.”
“Screw the ducks, Sadie. Get over to the MovieMail offices pronto,” the editor-in-chief ordered.
MovieMail? Her stomach bottomed out.
“I’ll have Paige email her interview questions to you,” Natasha said. “We’re looking for any new angle you can find. This guy’s stayed out of the limelight for years, there’s got to be a reason. Find out why he’s opening up to the media now.”
God, she wasn’t prepared. And she certainly wasn’t dressed to conduct a high profile interview. Her day off at the zoo had called for a light blue tank, cut-off jean shorts and comfy sandals.
Unexpected duckling assignment? Shrug.
Major executive interview? Crap.
She was going to look like an idiot teeny-bopper to this guy, and Natasha would wig-out if she knew what her reporter was wearing.
“You sure you want me to do this?” Sadie asked tentatively.
“When you ask like that, no,” the woman barked. “But Robinson only granted a few interviews and luckily Paige fit the ‘six degrees of Kevin Bacon’ theory through a friend. Man, that personal connection could’ve come in handy during the interview.”
Though Sadie realized Natasha had muttered that last part under her breath, she seized on the excuse to avoid the interview. “Then maybe it would be better if she rescheduled.”
A growl vibrated the phone against her ear. “Sadie, I would advise you to take advantage of my desperation and show me you’re more than the cotton-candy little girl you appear to be.”
Indignation flared with the editor’s insult. Just as quickly, though, she realized Natasha was right. This was her chance to prove herself. Her big break, so to speak. This could get her better assignments, and then she wouldn’t have to look for a new job.
Sadie stiffened her spine and tried to swallow her misgivings. She needed to make the most of this opportunity, no matter how she was dressed. I can still be professional in shorts and flip-flops—right? The silent pep talk only succeeded in prompting a cringe.