Beneath His Darkness (Healing Hearts #3)

by Renee Dyer

  I’m lost to her eyes that are drifting shut and her mouth that is so close, I only need to tilt my head forward to connect with her. Sounds may be lost to me in this moment, but I can feel her hot breath fanning across my chin as she tips her head back. Her lips part slightly and it’s now that I know there’s no going back.

  I close my eyes, lean my face forward, and gasp at the electricity shooting through my body as her lips touch mine. I didn’t realize it would be this way.

  Her lips are soft, like the petals of a rose. I shouldn’t know how soft rose petals are, but I’ve helped my mom with her garden so often that the feel of them has stuck with me. It’s the only comparison that comes to my mind.

  Her fingers dig into my shirt. I want to grab onto her, too, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with my hands. I clumsily run my fingers up her arms and bring them to the back of her head, praying this is what I’m supposed to do.

  She snuggles closer into me and I feel empowered by her actions. I slip my tongue into her mouth and take a second to explore the wet warmth. She jumps in surprise, but doesn’t back away. After a few seconds, her tongue joins in with mine and I wonder whether I’ll ever experience anything this mind blowing again.

  We kiss for a while longer, long enough to feel comfortable. Neither of us admits it to the other, but we both know the truth.

  We were each other’s first kiss.

  “Grant Andrews,” I snap back from the memory to my name being called. I hope it was only called once.

  A blonde with a headset on and a clipboard in hand is looking around. Ugh, why is it always a blonde? I raise my hand and walk toward her.

  “Are you ready?” she asks, eyeing me up and down.

  I give her a smile that says I own this shit and nod. She has no idea how ready I am. I have been preparing for this day for the last four years.

  I walk behind the blonde assistant, checking out her ass as we go. She peeks back at me over her shoulder and smiles. If she were a brunette, I would absolutely be taking her home with me after this audition, but her golden locks have already turned me off. I smile back and watch a blush creep over her cheeks.

  Too easy of a target.

  She stops in front of a door and turns to face me. With a shy smile, she says, “Good luck. I hope you get the part.”

  “Thanks,” I reply.

  I wanted to say, “I bet you say that to everyone,” but I can tell she’s affected by me. I give her a wink before I walk in and watch her cheeks become pink again before she rushes off.

  I walk through the door feeling confident I can win this part. Knowing Tucker is in this room has no bearing on what will happen. If anything, it fuels me to be even better. Failure is not an option.

  I scan the room and I know I have this. Eddie Carmichael is the first person I notice. His height alone would make him stand out, but the fedora and shades he’s famous for wearing are present today, as expected. I introduce myself to him and answer his questions in a professional manner. There’s no gushing over how amazing or talented I think he is. I’ve done enough research on him to know he can’t stand the praise.

  Eddie introduces me to everyone else in the room, starting with Tucker. The hardest part of the audition is holding back my hatred as I smile and shake his hand. It’s no surprise to me that he is beside Eddie. In my studies on Eddie and Tucker, I found out that they are close; some even say best friends. I don’t know if you can truly have friends in this business, but they seem to have a bond.

  Going down the line, he introduces me to Davyd Viktry. I already know this is Eddie’s right hand man on the writing team. The way he’s eyeing me, I can tell he’s interested in me for more than a role on the show. His eyes bore right through me, trying to see into my mind. He wants to know whether I like men or women. When he smirks, I can’t help but wonder what he thinks he sees.

  People’s eyes are the gateway to their thoughts, desires, secrets...to their very souls. You just have to get them to look at you. It's like a buffet, waiting for you to take what you want.

  I filter through the mental files I have on every person in the room until I get to Davyd. I remember he has a wife named Emma.

  I wonder if Emma knows her husband plays for the other team.

  Davyd reluctantly lets go of my hand and I can feel his eyes on me as I walk to meet Angela Bickford next. She’s a seasoned producer who has worked on several TV shows. She went from producing movies to TV because she said she wanted to make weekly movies. After everything I’ve read, I determined she followed Eddie here. It’s not a romantic thing…well, not in the “girl meets boy, girl crushes on boy” sense of the word romantic. I think she has romanticized him as the second coming of Christ in the TV, movie, writing, you name it, category. Most people in this business do.

  I understand the hype. He started college at eighteen like most teens do, but he was never ordinary. He went to school for business management, but while he was there, he took classes for producing, directing, lights and sound, casting. Hell, he even took acting classes and helped with the sets and costumes. He made it his personal mission to learn every aspect of the film business. There is nothing he can’t do when it comes to making a TV show or movie.

  Actors flock to him, producers and directors beg to work with him. It’s kind of awe inspiring because of how difficult he is to work with. He watches all auditions, has the final say on the actors for any show or movie he’s written, and even scouts talent himself. He picks locations. Basically, he’s the shit and has the last word on everything. Still, people line up for miles to work with him.

  The last person waiting to meet me is Jagger Abel, the director. I shake his hand and say my hello, making sure it’s a firm handshake. I don’t want to give off any sign of being weak. All my research on him led to finding out that he comes off as a nice guy, but under that cowboy hat and those boots is a guy ready to exploit any failing one may have. He’s quick-witted and even quicker tongued. I’ll be sure to watch myself around him.

  Eddie walks me back to the center of the room and shows me two strips of tape. “That’s where you stand to start,” he says.

  I nod my understanding and hand him the script. He gives me a look of confusion.

  “Don’t you want this?”

  “I’m good,” I say.

  I watch him smirk. He thinks I’m about to fuck up this audition. Little does everyone in this room know, I have a near photographic memory. I spent the first ten minutes reading through the script, the next ten minutes reading it a second and third time. By thirty minutes in, I was working on putting emotions to the lines.

  It’s not a lot to memorize and every prospective actor was given at least an hour to prepare. That’s not normal for auditions, but I’m coming to find that Eddie Carmichael does things very differently. He wants to make sure he sees the best auditions.

  “Tuck, you ready to go again?” he asks over his shoulder.

  Tucker jumps from his chair and walks toward me. I smile. This audition became easier the moment I saw what the scene was.

  I take a second to get myself into character. I tell myself I’m looking at Micah, Tucker’s character, and I’m Quinn. I easily flow through my lines, feeding off Tucker, putting everything I have into my performance.

  I let hatred burn through my words. Fire blazes in my eyes. My stance makes me feel several inches taller, more intimidating. Tucker acts back against me and I thrive on it. I want him to see that I’m just as good as he is, better even.

  “Holy shit! That was awesome. I would have thought you really had it out for me if we knew each other,” Tucker says, smacking me on the shoulder.

  It takes all my energy not to smack him back. I mentally have to yell at my hands to stay by my sides and scream at my fingers to stay straight. They want to clench into a ball and fly toward his smiling face. Instead of letting my knuckles connect with his mouth, I simply say, “Thanks, man.”

  “Thank you for your time, Mr. Andre
ws. We’ll call you by the end of the week if we’re interested in a second audition.”

  I want to laugh at how calm and professional Eddie is. They’ll call if they’re interested in me. What a joke. I can see how impressed they all are. I know a call back is in my very near future.

  I thank Eddie, making sure, for a second time, I don’t gush over him, and wave to the others in the room. Davyd winks at me and I know I’ve just found my inside to get whatever information I want on Eddie. It’s perfect. He works hand in hand with the man.

  If Eddie is Tucker’s best friend, who better to help me take him down?

  Davyd is going to be very useful. I smile at him before I turn and walk out the door.

  Confident that I have the part and help to damage Tucker, I rethink bedding the blonde. I could use a bit more practice in manipulation. I close the door behind me and go in search of her. What I find is even better.

  Standing next to the blonde is a woman I would truly enjoy spending time trying to get to know. Her black locks flow down her back in waves and her caramel skin is flawless. Her sexy voice reaches back to me, the raspy tone crawling over my skin, begging me to come closer. I take a few steps toward them, needing to see more than just her profile.

  “Oh,” Blondie pipes up nervously, upon seeing me approach, “how did it go?”

  I give her my friendliest smile, even though I wish she would melt into the floor.

  “I think it went really well.”

  “Did you audition for the role of Quinn?”

  I’m left stunned for a moment at how gorgeous this woman is. Her lips are full and colored in red lipstick. It makes her large, brown eyes stand out even more. All I can see are her eyes staring at me as her lips leave red rings around my cock.

  “Yes, I did,” I say in a smooth voice, easily hiding that I’m mentally fucking her in every way. “I’m Grant, Grant Andrews.” I extend my hand to her, needing to touch her. I make sure to keep eye contact, even though I want to take in all the curves she has on display.

  “Victoria Masterson,” she says, shaking my hand.

  We stare at each other a minute. I can’t deny the immediate attraction we have and I don’t think she can either. She smiles and drops my hand.

  “Tucker is ready for you to go in now,” Blondie says to her.

  I feel my blood go cold at those words. She’s here to see Tucker. There’s been talk of Tucker having a new girlfriend, but pictures haven’t hit the tabloids yet. I’ve been trying to find out who she is for weeks. Guess I just met her.

  Son of a bitch.

  “It was nice to meet you, Grant. I hope you get the part,” she says as she starts to walk off.

  “Nice to meet you, too,” I reply.

  I walk away, not bothering to say goodbye to the blonde. Today has been a good day. It was a successful audition, I found a possible partner in crime, and I may have found another chink in Tucker’s armor.

  I can’t wait to run into Victoria again.

  And, run into her, I will. Someday, her lips will be screaming my name. Of that, I have no doubt. Tucker will lose her as well as everything else he has grown fond of around here.

  Chapter Five

  Grant—Twenty One Years Old

  The end of the week never came. Two days later, I got a call from blondie. Turns out, her name is Crystal. She informed me that Mr. Carmichael would like me to come in for a second audition. The breathy way she spoke told me she was looking forward to seeing me, too. I almost felt bad that I didn’t have even an inkling of attraction for her.

  Sure, I’d sleep with her, but it would only serve in seeing how far I could further my game. She’s a pawn and pawns are meant to be played.

  That call came five days ago. Five days is a long time when you have a goal to accomplish.

  I stare at the pictures I took of Tucker, Victoria, and Eddie out to dinner the other night. Eddie seems to be the only one who had a vibe that someone might be watching them. He never saw me, though. It’s not the first time I’ve looked at them and it won’t be the last. Each time, I learn something new.

  There’s something off about Tucker and Victoria. This past week in the tabloids there have been pictures of them everywhere. The taglines have been about Tucker finally finding his perfect match after all the flings. He looks happy in the articles. I don’t typically take stock in tabloids, but I have learned there is some truth in every article. You just have to dissect them to the barest bones to find out where the truth lies.

  The pictures I took of them shows a different story. They aren’t dolled up to go out for a night on the town. Instead, they are dressed down, the guys hiding under ball caps, trying not to be seen as they head to a small diner a couple blocks from where Eddie lives.

  Tucker practically ignores Victoria as he talks to Eddie. The pictures show how uncomfortable she is. Even when he has his hand on the small of her back to escort her into the restaurant, her smile is tight. He seems oblivious to her discomfort. He smiles and pushes the hair back from her face, but his smile is off, too.

  What is it about them that has my head screaming there is something wrong here?

  I hope to run into Victoria at my audition this afternoon. Maybe I can get a better feel for what is going on. It could be they had a fight before they met up with Eddie and didn’t want to air their grievances in front of him. Maybe she didn’t want to go to dinner with Eddie and didn’t know how to tell Tucker. Or maybe their relationship is a farce.

  Several scenarios roll through my head, but they all lead back to one conclusion—she’s not happy and that makes her an easy target.

  I place the pictures in the box with other pictures of Tucker and anyone else important enough to learn more about. They rest on top of articles that have proven useful to me. I close the box and slide it into the hole I’ve created under the floor in my closet.

  Confident my secret is hidden and no one can find it, I head to my audition.

  Crystal’s head pops up the second I walk in the door and her cheeks instantly grow pink. I walk straight to her with long, confident strides. I see her trying to breathe normally, but it isn’t happening. I like the effect I have on her. It doesn’t matter that I’m not attracted to her. I enjoy the power I get from her emotions. I can’t deny the high I feel.

  I prop my elbows on her desk and lift one corner of my lips into a smirk. “How are you today, Crystal?”

  Her eyes go wide and she struggles to speak. I stretch my lips into a full smile and she audibly gasps. Instead of answering my question, she hands me the script for the audition.

  “Thanks, doll,” I say, winking at her before walking off to study the pages that will earn me this role.

  When I walk into the room, I greet everyone as I did before, but I get a surprise I wasn’t ready for. Victoria is sitting next to Tucker. I was hoping to run into her today, but I didn’t expect to see her sitting in the audition room. This goes against everything I’ve learned about Eddie Carmichael. He doesn’t let anyone bring significant others into his work time.

  What the hell is going on?

  I keep the surprise off my face and walk to the strips on the floor. Eddie walks over to me and I hand him the script, just like I did last time. He smirks at me and I just smile.

  Tucker walks over to me and offers his hand. As much as I want to slap it away from me, I can’t. I shake it, ignoring my skin feeling like it wants to melt from my bones at his touch.

  “Good to see you again, man. Vic, my girl over there,” he says, nodding over his shoulder, “she’s who you’ll be doing this scene with and she’s really worried about me seeing her kissing other guys. I tried explaining that it’s part of the business, but she’s a bundle of nerves. You were great in the last audition, think you can do me a solid and take it easy on her?”

  I peek around him to Victoria, who is trying to pretend she isn’t watching our talk. It amuses me. He doesn’t realize we’ve already met and I know it’s because she felt an a
ttraction toward me. She may not have felt much, but it was enough for her to keep the innocent meeting from him.

  Taking her from him is going to be easier than I imagined.

  “No problem,” I say to him.

  “Thanks. I think after she gets through this first audition, she’ll see it isn’t as bad as she’s making it out to be in her head.”

  Oh no, it won’t be bad at all. I’ll be sure she enjoys every second she spends touching me.

  Tucker slaps me on the shoulder before walking away and anger rips through me. I worry that my carefully placed mask may have slipped for a second. Why the fuck does he keep doing that?

  And how many times will he be able to do it before I fall out of character?

  Eddie says something to Victoria before she walks down to join me. Nervous energy flows out of her pores and her eyes keep shifting side to side.

  “No red lips today?” I ask her, quiet enough for just the two of us to hear.

  “Kissing scene, remember?” she replies.

  “I wouldn’t have minded. Red looks good on you.”

  Her shy smile is exactly what I was going for. If her skin weren’t that beautiful shade of caramel, I’m sure I would see her blushing.

  “Shall we?”

  She nods. I grab her hand and start the scene.

  Everyone in the room disappears around me. All I see and feel is Victoria. Her flesh is soft under my palms. This is supposed to be a simple first kiss scene, but seriously, there is nothing simple about first kisses. They’re intense and emotions get messy.

  Our lines fade into the distance as our eyes meet. My hands roam slowly up her back and make their way to her neck, bringing her more flush with my body. She tilts her face up to me and her lips part slightly as her eyes start to close. My fingers tangle into her hair and finally my lips crash down onto hers.