by Kira Barcelo
Grudgingly, that is.
At least he could have his dinner out on the terrace before he caught a movie on the hotel’s cable. He wasn’t at liberty to watch the whole thing, though. He had to be at the filming location by five the next day so that the whole thing could start all over again.
That first bite told him just how famished he was. If nothing else, he loved the sandwich, especially the smoky taste of the turkey and the freshness of the tomato slices. It was peaceful and he liked listening to the sounds of the ocean, of the tide and the waves, right beyond the strip of beach right beyond the hotel’s pools and lounge area, complete with a small bar that was now closed. That was about the only thing he missed about living back in Wyoming: the ocean, especially the awesome Pacific.
Still, it wasn’t a meal shared with Jenna and her brother.
This really wasn’t as much fun anymore. Little things bothered him, things that may have bothered him before yet he’d put up with them for the sake of his work. For one thing, Lacey Bradley’s real name should have been Spacey Bradley. Nice enough lady, pretty redhead, not anywhere near the diva Ashley was infamous for being, but when she wasn’t in character, a total airhead. Still, Stone gave her credit: Her character, the police chief’s ex-wife, was a smart cookie, if also conniving. The actress shaped the character with her performance brilliantly, though Stone suspected the character was smarter than the woman who portrayed her.
Not a very gentlemanly thing to say about a lady, he thought while closing the door to the terrace and cleaning up after himself.
Hands down, the worst part was having to go to bed alone. Before leaving for Florida, he’d invited Jenna to share the master bedroom with him. She’d convinced him that, for the time being, it wasn’t a good idea. Her brother wasn’t a little kid anymore, but as an older sister she’d tried to instill good values in him. Having him see her share a bed with Stone, a male figure whom Jake respected, without the benefit of marriage, went against those values. Stone understood and accepted her reasoning.
That didn’t stop him from recalling, both with his mind and other parts of him, making love to her a few times before he left. Jenna did that to him, turned him on till he couldn’t even see straight, when all he could think about was having sex with the woman. All she had to do was walk past him in her favorite—and now his favorite, too—pair of jeans, the ones that outlined every tantalizing curve. He would feel himself hardening just from watching her bend over to pick up a sponge in a bucket, unwittingly letting her cleavage play a naughty game of peek-a-boo with him.
Spanking her was pretty hot, too, even if up until then he’d spanked her for the purpose of disciplining her. A lighthearted spanking, just for foreplay? Now that was something he’d have to try. Right after they wrapped up the pilot, there’d be time before the show was picked up, unless no one did. One romantic night back home, he’d have to suggest it to Jenna. A fun spanking. Definitely a great idea!
But what if some other role came along in between finishing the pilot and an announcement from the network? A movie role?
Again he’d be away from the ranch. Away from Jenna.
Stone switched off the light and rested his wrist across his forehead. Pensively, he stared up at the ceiling.
She would never take him seriously, either in his new role as a rancher or in their relationship, if he continued to leave. Jenna wasn’t Ashley. Ashley had understood, being an actress herself. Jenna would start to think he didn’t really care, or worse, that he was off somewhere, gallivanting without her. And if the shoe was on the other foot? If Jenna was the actress and he was back at the ranch while she cavorted with some handsome male actor cast as her husband/boyfriend/lover?
I’d hate that, he admitted to himself.
Why was that the case? Ashley had played opposite a few good-looking, built guys. Stone hadn’t been crazy about watching her in those films, but he was even more grateful that he wouldn’t have to sit through watching scenes of Jenna with some other man, even if none of it was real.
His cell phone rang loud and clear. When he’d come through the door he’d been so tired and hungry, he’d absently set his phone on the nightstand to his left. Switching on the lamp first, he grabbed the phone. The number coming across the screen belonged to his agent.
As was his typical showman style, Darryl Smart launched right in with his news after very brief formalities: “Listen up, buddy. Sorry to call so late, but I’m giving you a heads-up. You got a reporter from Stardust coming on the set tomorrow to do a story on the show. The author’s going to be there, too—ah, what’s-her-name, the babe who wrote the book the show’s based on—”
“Howardine Baxter,” Stone provided the name with ease.
“Yeah. Weird name.”
“I kinda like it. Anyway, I started reading the book on the plane. Didn’t get a chance to get very far in it, though.”
“Oh, did you? Good, good. You’re always so good at that research stuff!” Darryl had the craziest blend of accents, garnered from California and New York and every other place he’d been in between as a former military brat. Stone found it interesting to listen to him speak. “Anyways, be on the lookout for her. I know how you love those sneaks in the press.”
“Well, they’re not all sneaks. Just some of ’em. Ah, that one stupid guy—”
“No big deal, buddy. I’m teasin’ ya. Just so she doesn’t take you by surprise. Call me if you need anything.”
“Okay, sounds good. ’Night.”
It wasn’t so much that he didn’t like the press; for one thing, he’d found out from the start that they were a necessary evil. Yet Stone had also learned to be guarded with reporters. In all honesty, he had to grant them the fact that there were too many celebrities, particularly males, who were ninety-five percent fists, five percent brains. Those guys resorted to smashing cameras and faces when the press went from bad to worse in a split-second.
However, in all fairness, there were some idiot reporters and photographers who plainly didn’t know when to back off. He never really knew what would come out of their mouths, either, or how aptly they could twist his words to have them mean something completely different.
That said, Stone had only had one run-in, which wasn’t bad considering the number of times he’d been interviewed. For all his years in the business, he’d only had one smart-assed reporter, this one guy who’d thought of himself as the most brilliant journalist on the planet (because interviewing celebrities was right up there with being a nuclear physicist, in his self-important little mind).
For the life of him, Stone couldn’t even remember what the argument was about. Not an argument—more like banter, a back-and-forth that was anything but friendly. Thanks to the Internet, the exchange had lived on, receiving hundreds of thousands of plays. The video had included some snippy commentary at the end by the cowardly reporter, who’d editorialized that Stone Farrell had been “testy”, “argumentative” and a “turbo-macho man,” whatever that meant.
He’d also claimed, with a wide, toothy grin, that “Mr. Farrell really needs to just chill, not take himself so seriously.”
So, yes, he trusted the press about as far as he could throw them. And maybe he had gotten argumentative with the guy. He was only human. He made mistakes and had his bad days, just like everybody else. The good thing was, he was known for his characters, turbo-macho men that they were. There were worse things he could’ve been called, after all.
All in all, the episode might have left a bad taste in his mouth, but it hadn’t done his image too much harm.
As a rancher, he never had to worry about his “image”. Cowboys, as a whole, had a refreshing tendency to be themselves and not to give a damn about such trivial nonsense.
He started to turn off the lamp, then decided to pick up his phone. It was late to make that call, but he hit the button on his contacts anyway and waited.
A smile came to him when Jenna picked up on the second ring with a happy lilt in
her voice.
“Hey, stranger! You haven’t called me today,” she chided.
“Hey, yourself! You haven’t called me, either.”
“I didn’t want to disturb you. I thought you’d be busy. And nothing came up for me to call.”
“Nothing has to come up. Just call me because I want to hear your voice. But I thought you’d be busy, too. Tonight I couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted to hear your voice before I went to bed.”
There was a pause, then a burst of delight in her one-word reply. “Really?”
“Yes, really. Please don’t ask me to be good at pretending otherwise. I pretend all day long. I’ll never pretend a thing with you.”
“Good. Better not. How’s the show going?”
To get comfortable, he propped his pillow behind his head. “The pilot. It’s just a pilot right now. That means it might never see the light of day. But as for how it’s going…it’s okay.”
“Okay? That’s it, just okay?”
Stone laughed. “It’s taken me far away from you. That takes away a lot of the joy. How’s Jake?”
“Fine. He misses you.”
“Tell him I miss him, too. And you? You miss me, Jenna?”
“’Course. I’m…trying not to count the days till you come back.”
“Oh, well, I’m counting them, baby. I’m counting every minute till I’m back with you. And I will be back.”
He hoped she was assured. Jenna said, “I wish it was the Secrets of the Country and not Secrets of the City.”
“So do I.”
“Anyway…I have to be up early tomorrow.”
“Same here. Sweet dreams, okay?”
“You, too. Behave yourself.”
“Hey—the same goes for you. ‘Night, Jenna.”
“’Night, Stone.”
Setting down the phone and turning off the light, he stretched his long legs out on the bed. Now he’d be getting to bed much easier, having heard her voice, though his body was missing her as much as his heart.
CHAPTER NINE
“Who the hell is that?”
Even though she was caught totally off her guard, Jenna had her wits about her enough to turn a stern eye on her brother.
“Hey—watch your language,” she ordered. “And she’s—she’s just some actress.”
“Yeah, well, I thought he was supposed to be Ashley’s cop boyfriend in the show,” Jake protested. “That’s what I thought Stone said, not this other girl, whoever she is.”
He was supposed to be Ashley’s cop boyfriend. Even that sent a fluttering in Jenna’s stomach, and not in a good way, either. For her brother’s sake, she stuck by her guns.
“She’s just an actress,” she said again.
Less than a second later, the other actress—Lacey Something-or-Other—was hanging all over Stone during the interview, flashing her perfect set of pearly white teeth and cooing into the camera, “I’m so glad he’s not engaged anymore, because it’s reeeeally hard not to get a crush on this gorgeous hunk o’ man, ladies!”
Jake frowned and turned to his sister with an I-told-you-so look on his face. “Just an actress, huh?”
“Yes. Just an actress. It’s just an interview. And I have to get back to work. Plus, you have homework to do. Get to it!”
Once upstairs in the office, she slammed the door a bit harder than she’d meant to.
To think she’d been so thrilled when Jake called her downstairs, hollering something about Jake being interviewed on TV about the show’s pilot. Production, as he’d told her earlier that week, was being wrapped up. Stone was on his way home and his plane would be coming into the airport sometime after eight that night. She had planned to have dinner ready for him. Something light, because she’d be serving him his dessert in the bedroom, complete with a sexy little red teddy she’d picked up especially for the occasion.
This business with the pretty redhead wrapped around him like a lap dancer in heat, however, had her more than miffed. She was pissed and jealous and spitting fire.
I’m so glad he’s not engaged anymore…
What the hell happened to keeping that a secret? Jenna liked that better, even if he was supposed to still be attached to Ashley. She knew for a fact that Ashley had been exchanging texts and calls with Tom, behaving more like a love-struck teenager than a sophisticated actress. As for Tom, he was awaiting Ashley’s return as eagerly as Jenna was awaiting Stone’s. From what Tom had told her, though, he was in for a longer wait; Ashley supposedly had another role lined up, one in a film, which would keep her tied up for at least another month.
It’s really hard not to get a crush on this gorgeous hunk of male!
There were other things to be done around the ranch. Physical work, tasks she’d done before right along with the men. After his arrival, Stone had made it clear that she wanted her to leave that work to him, her brother and the hands. She was to take care of the books, all the administrative work, and leave the physical work to the men.
Cool. I’m doing whatever I feel like doing, since he’s not here!
It made more sense. She was angry—no, beyond angry, she was damn well furious. Even if that flirty woman was only hamming it up for the cameras. There’d been a few splices of scenes in between interviews, mostly centering on scenes with Ashley.
Lacey Bradley wasn’t even a major player. She played, if Jenna remembered correctly, his ex-wife…who, ironically enough, was scheming to get back together with him.
Maybe Stone was more cut out to be a rancher than Jenna was to handle these onscreen romances. It wasn’t like actors and actresses never fell in love with each other after working together. Could she handle that? She could only worry that he would now be enthralled with this latest Hollywood goddess in his life. Someone else who would make him forget about the simple life, shared there at the ranch with her.
Angrily, Jenna stepped out of the office and stormed back downstairs. Physical work would do her good.
Stone wouldn’t find out about it anyway. He was still en route from California. It would be hours before he came home.
And what if he did find out about it? He’d have to deal with it. Either that, or he’d take that hairbrush to her behind for stubbornly doing just the opposite of what she’d been told. Jenna’s bottom twitched uncomfortably at the thought, but she continued in the direction of the ranch hands.
She needed to do physical work. Something that would get her hands dirty—that would work off some of her frustration and get her mind off some flirtatious actress coming on to her cowboy.
She’d really missed Stone. The last thing she wanted was to get into a fight with him.
Unless things had changed. Jenna shuddered at that possibility. Unless there was more to it than met the eye, and there was something already between him and that Lacey woman. Maybe he was returning with the purpose of telling her that things had changed while he was out in California, and that he was packing up and going back, this time to the new woman in her life. He didn’t care whether the show got picked up or not; he was leaving and that was that.
But that hadn’t been said. Those few silly moments of a television interview had her thinking that way.
For no other reason than to clear her head, Jenna got to work in the stables, getting as physical as she could.
“I know you’re not gonna believe this, but Lacey Bradley wanted to come home with me—all because she wanted to meet you.”
It was late now, close to midnight. Way past her bedtime and, for that matter, Stone’s. According to him, he was either going through jet lag or maybe he was just so wired from the trip and happy to be home that he’d claimed he couldn’t fall asleep. Up until then, they’d been doing fine, taking a quiet walk through the woods right behind the ranch. They weren’t going very far, only to the edge of the lake, and under the light of the moon and stars it took on a mysterious appearance.
“Why would she want to meet me?” Jenna couldn’t keep the suspicious edge from her v
oice.
“Because I told her about you, and…she’s never met a real cowgirl. She was fascinated by that.” Stone chuckled. “She’s kinda dizzy, that girl, but she’s all right.”
“She seemed very fascinated by you, too. Least it sounded like that from what she said in that interview.”
“Yeah, and I told her she shouldn’t have said that. And that’s why I brought her up…”
“She was all over you, too. Sure all you were doing over there was working?”
He sat himself on a fallen tree log, then reached around to give her his hand, helping her around it. Stone knew she’d been working around the ranch, that she’d changed the oil and filter in the truck and doing other chores that he’d directly instructed her to leave to the men. Jenna knew that for a fact because she’d overheard one of the hands telling him. He hadn’t yet mentioned it, though, and she didn’t know what to expect if he did.
“Let’s get something straight, honey,” he began, firmly but gently. “You know that’s what I was doing because that’s what I told you. I can’t prove that, which means that you either can take my word for it…or not trust me. But I can’t really be held responsible for somebody else’s actions, Jenna. And we have to trust each other. A relationship can’t survive without mutual trust.”
She dropped her gaze. “I do trust you, Stone. I don’t think I trust all those women you come in contact with, though.”
“That’s all right. I don’t trust all the men you come in contact with when I’m all the way on the west coast, either. But I trust you, Jenna. Speaking of which…did you go against my orders while I was gone?”
Here it comes. Jenna tilted up her chin in quiet defiance. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean, Jenna Price. I think you understand that our relationship is two-fold. It’s you and me, the way we are, and…then there’s the ranch. Where you’re not supposed to defy me in front of the hands. But we’ll talk about that in a minute…”