by Iris Morland
“What? Of course it’s Hayden. That’s why I agreed to this to begin with, and it’s working. I told you that Hayden was jealous last night when he saw us together.”
“But you said you’d never had a kiss like that before.” Gwen sighed. “Just…be careful, okay? You’re going to get hurt if you’re not careful.”
Lucy traced a circle in the sand. “You’re saying I should tell him the deal is off.”
“If I were in your shoes? Yeah, I would tell him it’s off, but I’m not you. I wouldn’t have agreed to something like that to begin with.” Her smile was wry. “But I’m more cautious than you. Just ask Alex. She’s always bugging me to be more spontaneous, to get out there and do something wild.”
For some reason, Lucy hated the thought of telling Carter she was out. He’d lord it over her, anyway. He’d tell her it was because she couldn’t resist him, and he’d win. The thought of him crowing and mocking her added steel to her spine. If she was excited by the thought of him kissing her again, she ignored it. That wasn’t the real reason why.
Besides, they’d made progress with Hayden. Once he realized that she was truly the woman for him…
Right then, Hayden himself arrived. Instantly, the beachgoers started buzzing, taking out their phones for candid shots. Wearing only trunks, he looked like a Greek god with his golden hair and chiseled body.
But to Lucy’s dismay, her heart didn’t beat faster as he approached her and Gwen. Seeing him without his shirt on should make her want to throw herself at him, shouldn’t it?
His gaze was heated as he took in Lucy’s bikini-clad body; he barely noticed Gwen sitting next to her. “You want to play volleyball when their game is done?” he said to Lucy.
Why did she want to say no? He was the guy she wanted. Irritated with herself, she said, “Sure. But I’m not a great volleyball player, just warning you.”
He shrugged. “As long as you’ll say you’ll play.” His smile was heated as he turned away and went to the game that was still going on.
By the time Felicity and Alex returned from swimming, the second game began. On one team was Hayden and Lucy; the other was Carter and Gwen, who’d volunteered when Carter’s first teammate had turned down a second game.
“We’re going to cream these two,” whispered Hayden. He rested his hand on her lower back; if he skimmed even an inch lower, he’d touch her bikini bottom.
Carter scowled. “Don’t rough up my girlfriend,” he said to Hayden.
Hayden chuckled. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Hayden served first. Lucy stood at the net, with only it between her and Carter.
“You’re going down,” he mouthed.
She rolled her eyes. “You wish.”
Hayden’s serve went high, and Carter passed the ball back over the net with ease. Despite not having played volleyball in years, Lucy’s body remembered from junior high PE that she needed to hit the ball on her forearms, not her wrists. She passed the ball to Hayden, who hit it out of bounds on the other side.
Crowing, Carter picked up the ball and said, “One to zero.”
“You don’t get a point. It’s only if you’re the one serving,” argued Hayden.
Lucy looked between the two men, and she half-expected them to start grappling. Gwen wrinkled her nose and mouthed to Lucy, “Men.”
“We aren’t playing regular volleyball. This is beach volleyball.” Carter threw the ball and caught it, not looking at Hayden, as if he weren’t worth his full attention.
“We’ll go with your rules,” said Lucy to Carter, catching his attention finally. “If it makes you feel better.”
“You’re so gracious, girlfriend of mine.”
Lucy flushed at his mocking words, and suddenly a spiteful little demon on her shoulder wanted to make Carter suffer. If he was going to be an asshole, she could play that game, too.
Carter served, making Hayden dive for the ball. He hit it in time for Lucy to hit it over the net. Back and forth, back and forth, until Gwen set the ball and Carter spiked it so hard that there was no way Lucy or Hayden could’ve caught it.
“Two to zero,” said Carter.
Hayden swore under his breath before he made a show of whispering in Lucy’s ear. “I’ll block Carter. You stay in back.”
Lucy’s gaze was solely on Carter during this exchange. He seemed almost nonchalant now, but she could see the tension in his jaw. Was it all an act, to push Hayden to make his move? Or was he really jealous? That thought alone made Lucy’s stomach clench.
The game continued. Soon they were neck and neck, eight to nine, with Lucy serving. Lucy served it underhand, which made it easy for Gwen to set Carter up again for a spike. This time, however, Hayden jumped and blocked Carter’s spike, the ball landing out of bounds on Carter and Gwen’s side.
“Awesome job!” Lucy high-fived Hayden, adrenaline pumping through her.
Hayden was sweaty and breathing hard, but he still managed to look perfectly put together. His golden hair fell across his forehead, and his smile was radiant as he looked down at Lucy.
“One more point and we tie the game. We got this,” he said.
He touched her shoulder in a caress that made her shiver. But to her surprise, she found herself stepping back and saying, “I need to serve.”
Her mind was whirling as they played the next round. Didn’t she want Hayden to touch her? She wished she could understand herself, but it was like she was her own enigma.
“Set me!” said Hayden as he hit the ball to Lucy.
Lucy set the ball to allow Hayden to spike it over the net. Carter dove for the spiked ball, landing on his right side. Even though he hit the ball, it careened into the net and fell to the sand before Gwen could reach it.
Hayden yelled in triumph and picked up Lucy, whirling her around. She laughed in surprise, but when Hayden set her down and she looked over at Carter, the laughter died in her throat.
Carter’s face was pale as he rose from the sand. “Are you okay?” Gwen asked him in a low voice.
He shook his head, but he didn’t let Gwen help him up. Of course he wouldn’t: he was too proud to ask for help, thought Lucy sadly.
“Good game,” said Carter, extending his hand to Hayden.
Hayden smirked and finally shook Carter’s hand. “Until next time.”
Carter stalked off; Lucy almost went after him, when Hayden said to her, “You were pretty impressive, you know.”
“I wasn’t that great. You were the one who spiked that last ball.”
“But you set me up for it. We make a good team, don’t we?” His smile was like a caress across her skin, and she was reminded again of how long she’d been crushing on this man. How she’d dreamed of a moment like this.
But when she saw Carter out of the corner of her eye, she said quickly, “I need to go get something out of my car. I’ll be right back.”
She didn’t know why she was following Carter when Hayden was right there, hers for the plucking. She knew that, but as she came around the side of Carter’s SUV and saw him sitting in the open hatchback, she didn’t care about anything that had to do with Hayden Masterson right then.
“I knew it. You landed on your shoulder, didn’t you?” said Lucy.
“I’m fine. Go back to your golden boy.” He winced as he reached for his t-shirt, his face going even paler.
“You’re not fine. You look like you’re going to puke.” Lucy, not caring if she got bit in the process, touched his forehead.
“I don’t have a fever, Mom,” said Carter wryly, but he didn’t push her away.
Lucy couldn’t stop herself from touching his cheek, feeling the bristle of his beard against her palm. “You should probably go to the ER. What if you reinjured it?”
“I’m not going to some tiny ER to wait three hours. I need to get back and ice it.”
“Then I’ll drive you back.”
“No.” Carter softened his tone at her expression. “No, it’s fine. Go back to the b
each.”
Lucy hadn’t yet moved away from him, and she had no interest in doing so. She didn’t know what it was about this man, why he was the one who’d captivated her from the first moment. He was all hard angles and sharp edges, and he had walls that wrapped around him like a fortress. Yet Lucy couldn’t stay away from him.
“Lucy,” said Hayden behind her.
Lucy froze; Carter’s warm gaze turned icy.
“Are you coming back? We’re having drinks to celebrate,” said Hayden.
Lucy stared into Carter’s eyes, as if she were waiting for him to give her permission. She should be elated that Hayden had come to find her. I should feel this, I should feel that. So many shoulds that I seem incapable of doing.
“Your lover boy is waiting for you,” said Carter acidly. “You don’t need to keep doing this show for him.”
Lucy jerked away, hurt spreading through her. “Do you think I came up here just for show? Carter—”
Carter waved a hand and stood up. “You got what you wanted, little spitfire,” he murmured in her ear. “Go get him.”
“Lucy?” said Hayden a second time. “Are you coming?”
“I’ll be right there. I need to talk to Carter.”
Finally, Hayden left, and Lucy followed Carter to the driver’s side of the car.
“What the hell was that all about?” she hissed. “Do you really think I didn’t care if you’d hurt yourself?”
“I never said that. You have basic human decency, but don’t tell me you did it solely out of concern for me. If it meant furthering your goal to get Hayden, then why not?” Carter shrugged, then grimaced.
“It wasn’t…I didn’t.” Lucy shook her head, mostly because she didn’t know why she’d come up here. Was Carter right, that she’d done it for selfish reasons? She felt sick to her stomach.
“Look, I don’t care what your reasons were. Our deal was to make your lover boy jealous, and that’s what we’re doing.”
“Yeah, I guess,” said Lucy hollowly. She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly cold. “Then we don’t need to keep doing this, do we?”
Carter’s expression grew shuttered. “I guess we don’t. You won, little spitfire. Hayden is yours for the taking.”
After Carter had driven off, Lucy knew she should be elated. She’d captured the attention of Hayden Masterson, the man that every woman in the world wanted.
So why did she feel like she’d lost something irreplaceable instead?
Chapter Ten
Another week passed in the blink of an eye. Lucy’s days and sometimes nights were kept busy with filming.
On her fourth evening working overtime, Lucy was in rehearsals with Hayden once again. They’d gotten into a routine together: warming up in the morning and going over lines, rehearsal if necessary, then onto filming.
Hayden, though, proved to be a total perfectionist. He would often demand multiple takes, sometimes for his own performances, but other times for other actors’. One afternoon they did twenty takes for a ten-second scene. Jim, despite his best efforts, didn’t have enough sway to ignore what their star actor wanted.
Lucy was glad that Hayden’s wrath didn’t land on her very often, and if it did, it was tempered with a flirtatious smile. Lucy knew that Hayden was into her: he touched her whenever he got a chance, and he flirted with her so blatantly that Erin had commented on it.
Now, Lucy was in Hayden’s trailer working on the upcoming scene that was going to be filmed that day. After multiple rounds, Hayden said, “I think we got it, as long as you say that line with tons of emotion. The fifth time was the best one.”
Lucy made a note on her script. Sometimes she wished that Hayden wasn’t such a micromanager of everyone around him, but she didn’t have the guts to tell him to back off. Besides, he was the Oscar-nominated actor, not her. She was lucky to receive so much direction from him.
“Can you make some coffee? Linda always brings me some, but she’s sick today.” Hayden rolled his eyes. “She’s always getting sick. I’m tempted to find a new assistant altogether.”
Lucy didn’t comment on the fact that she’d seen Linda this morning looking very green. She doubted Linda wanted to be sick. She also didn’t feel like telling Hayden to make coffee himself, although she couldn’t help but feel irritation build inside her at his demand.
“So, what’s happening between you and Carter?” said Hayden. He sat down on his couch, putting his legs up on the coffee table. His trailer was the biggest one on the lot, with a mini-kitchen, living room, and bedroom, even though he was staying in his own cottage on the island. Empty bottles of imported water and kombucha were scattered throughout the trailer. Lucy was pretty sure that Hayden ate nothing but salmon, açai berries, and air. When Lucy had eaten a donut in front of him once, he’d grimaced like she’d infect him with donut germs.
Hearing Carter’s name, Lucy froze, her heart in her throat. She hadn’t seen Carter all week, even though they were staying at the same bed-and-breakfast. Did Hayden know that they were no longer together? But they hadn’t been really together in the first place, either.
“I think the pot is filled,” said Hayden.
Lucy looked down to see water overflowing the coffeepot. Blushing, she shut the water off, dumped the excess water, and finally managed to start the coffee brewing. She sat down across from Hayden, her palms sweaty.
“So?” Hayden cocked an eyebrow. “Are you guys official now?”
“What would make us official?”
“You tell me.”
“Well, it’s not like we’ve changed our statuses on Facebook to ‘in a relationship,’ if that’s what you’re asking.”
Hayden considered her, then sighed. “I didn’t want to do this, but I thought I should warn you about Carter Roberts. We’re in similar circles. I mean, he’s not an actor, of course, but he’s as famous as I am. He gets his fair share of tabloid stories and gossip columns.”
“That’s not exactly a secret, you know.”
“I’m getting to it. Carter, well, he’s not the kind of guy who sticks around.” Hayden shrugged. “We actually dated the same woman.” Seeing Lucy’s expression, he said with a laugh, “Not at the same time. I’m not that kinky.” He winked.
Lucy laughed, but it sounded hollow to her ears.
“Rosie—she’s my ex, you know. She dated Carter for a few months. She thought he was the real deal, that he was going to commit. Talked about marriage, all that shit. Then she comes home one day to find him fucking another woman. She was really torn up about it.”
Lucy felt her blood chill in her veins. She’d known Carter was a playboy, but she hadn’t pegged him as a cheater.
“The worst thing wasn’t even the cheating,” continued Hayden, “but the fact that he’d played all these mind games with her. Telling her one thing, doing another. It was messed up. And he kept blowing up her phone. Texting her all hours of the night. She almost got a restraining order. He was like some crazy stalker.”
Lucy heard the coffeepot beep, but the smell of coffee suddenly made her nauseous. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Be careful. Carter comes off like one thing when he’s actually another. And you haven’t been in this industry long enough to know when somebody is playing you,” he said, his tone gentle.
“Don’t worry,” she said, her mind in turmoil. “I won’t do anything stupid.”
“I’m sure you won’t.” Hayden glanced over at the coffeepot. “Can you get me a mug? I’m feeling too lazy to get up.”
After she’d poured them both a cup of coffee, Lucy sat in silence as she looked at her phone. But she wasn’t actually reading anything: her mind was whirling with what Hayden had told her. Had she been naive to get involved with him? But he’d already told her that their deal was over. She’d gotten Hayden’s attention. She could tell Hayden right now that she and Carter were done for, that she liked him, that she’d made a mistake in dating Carter.
She could, but
she didn’t. It was like the words she knew she needed to say were impossible to speak. Besides, she didn’t want to admit to Hayden that she’d made a mistake and that he’d been right about Carter.
She felt sick to her stomach all morning, even when Lucy made some vague excuse and went to her own trailer for some privacy. The memories of how naive she’d been pushed to the forefront of her brain.
A year ago, before she’d ever met Hayden, Lucy had won the lead part in a play at a well-respected small theater in Los Angeles. She’d been thrilled, because a number of now-famous actors had done gigs at this very theater early in their careers. She’d expected to form connections that could boost her career.
The theater owner was a middle-aged man who knew everyone you needed to know in Hollywood. Glen took Lucy under his wing at the very beginning. Lucy considered it a compliment, grateful that she’d caught the eye of someone who was a bastion in the acting community.
But one night after everyone else left, Lucy stayed behind to talk to Glen about one scene. He told her to come to his office.
Lucy pulled out her script, pointing to one of the lines. “This one keeps tripping me up. I know you said it should be filled with pathos, but it doesn’t seem like something Tracy would say.”
Glen came around the other side of the desk, leaning over Lucy. To her surprise, he put his hand on her shoulder.
“But isn’t Tracy wanting to get Felix’s attention? Isn’t it more about her desires than anything else?” said Glen.
Lucy waited for him to move his hand from her shoulder, but he only squeezed it. He’s just overly friendly, she told herself. He doesn’t mean anything by it.
“I mean, she does,” said Lucy hesitantly, “but I guess this line makes her sound more bitter than I think she is.”
“Hmm, I never thought about it like that.” Glen leaned down until his cheek was almost pressing against Lucy’s. “Which line precisely are you talking about?”
Lucy pointed, and Glen reached around her, brushing against the side of her breast as he did so. When he cupped her breast for a long moment, she couldn’t breathe. This isn’t happening, she kept telling herself. It was an accident. He’s older. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.