I could see it in her eyes: pure fucking desire.

She was sweating, working her hips, swinging her body against mine. I could see the glazed look of pure want and need, and the way she tilted her lips up toward me, fucking hell, she was begging for me to kiss her. She wanted a taste, wanted it fucking badly, and I needed it just as much.

But then Holly showed up and fucking ruined everything.

I tried chasing after Tara, but she disappeared. I don’t know why she ran off like that, but I know it had something to do with Holly. Or maybe she just realized how badly she wanted it to happen between us, and that freaked her out.

Today, Tara’s barely even looking at me. It’s like every step forward we make, we take two fucking steps back.

I don’t get why Holly even had to seek me out. She saw that I was dancing with Tara. She knew that we had something going between us. I’m not a big fan of Holly, to be totally honest. She’s nice enough, but I wouldn’t have invited her if the crew hadn’t requested her specifically. I think they all like to stare at her tits, which I guess I can understand. Holly’s an attractive girl.

She’s just not my type. She’s too high maintenance, too high strung, and a fucking actress. The first thing I learned when I came to this town was that I should never date or get involved with or even fuck a goddamn actress.

Plus, she’s not Tara. I think that’s the most important thing here. Tara is my focus, the only woman I want, and Holly just pales in comparison. They can dress Holly up and put as much makeup on her as they want, but they can’t cover up her boring ass personality. Tara is just as beautiful as she is, but she’s light where Holly is just boredom. Tara makes me smile, makes me fucking feel something. Being around Tara is like coming home.

I’m annoyed and trying to get the whole thing out of my head. I have a scene with Holly coming up, so I need to be prepped for that. Just as I go to grab my script and review, there’s a knock at my trailer door.

“Yeah?” I call out.

The door opens. “Hey, Jackson. You busy?”

It’s Holly. I almost groan out loud. I don’t want this girl in my goddamn trailer. I don’t want to give Tara the wrong idea. But we’re working together, and I can’t just send her away. I can’t risk fucking up that working relationship, since it could ruin the movie. We still have some more intimate scenes to shoot as well, and I don’t need this to be more awkward than it is.

“Yeah, come in,” I say to her, hoping Tara isn’t around.

Holly heads inside, shutting the door behind her. She’s wearing her costume for the upcoming scene, which is of course very low-cut to show off her tits. She smiles at me and holds up her script.

“Want to run lines?” she asks.

I sigh and shrug. “Sure. I’m going over them already anyway.”

She walks over with a little bounce in her step and sits down on the couch. I take a seat on a chair across from her and kick my feet out. She opens her script up and clears her throat.

“Start at the second page, first line?” she asks.

“Sure,” I grunt, turning to the spot.

She nods and reads the script. “Do you remember the sky before they came?”

“I remember,” I grunt. “Wasn’t so great.”

“Not so great?” She laughs a little. “It was beautiful. Stars as far as the eye can see. But now it’s all black, nothing but black.”

“It’s the dust. They’re kicking it up into the atmosphere.”

“Dust and ash,” she says. “I know what it is.” Holly stands up and walks toward me. She looks up from the script. “You mind if we do this part standing? Make it feel real?”

“Sure,” I grunt, getting up.

She positions herself closer to me. In this scene, our characters are camping out, though there’s an ambush coming up soon. The aliens have mostly taken over the planet, and now it’s up to them to somehow turn the tide and rid the earth of the evil invaders. It’s supposed to be a slightly romantic scene, though it turns into an action sequence pretty fast.

“Come on. Lie back and think about it,” Holly says.

“Guess it can’t hurt.”

“What do you see?”

“Lots of dead fucking clickers.”

She does a decent fake laugh. “Okay, hotshot. This isn’t working.”

“Sorry,” I say. “I just keep seeing them coming at us, over and over again. I keep seeing the faces of those we’ve left behind.”

She quiet for a second, since the script calls for it. “Are you sure about any of this?” she asks me.

“Hell no,” I say. “But because I keep seeing their faces, I know I can’t let them down. So I won’t stop.”

Holly steps closer to me, and I’m not sure what she’s doing. The ambush is coming in a second, and there’s only one line left.

“I wish I had your commitment,” she says, and then she tries to kiss me.

It takes me completely by surprise. Her lips press against mine, and for half a second, we’re kissing.

But I pull away as soon as I realize what’s happening. This isn’t acting at all. She’s not trying to adlib something new. She’s just coming on to me.

“Holly,” I say.

“Sorry,” she says, turning away. “Wow, I’m really sorry. I just thought… there was a moment.”

“No,” I say. “I mean, there wasn’t a moment. I can’t get involved.”

She turns back to me, smiling sheepishly. “We don’t have to get involved.”

I sigh. “That’s getting involved. I can’t.”

“You don’t think I’m pretty?” she asks, cocking her head.

I laugh and shrug. “Any guy on this set would fuck you, but not me. There’s someone else.”

Her face falls. “It’s that fucking girl, isn’t it? The script girl?”

I hesitate. “It’s none of your fucking business.”

“I saw you two dancing. The way she was looking at you. I think she would have let you fuck her right there on the dance floor, but too bad she ran away like a scared baby.”

Anger rises through me and I step closer to her. She must see that anger in me, because she steps back.

“Get the fuck out of my trailer,” I say to her. I would never hit a woman, but I can see she thinks I might. Because I’m big and I was a SEAL, people always think I’m a violent man. But I’m not. I only hurt people that really deserve it, and although Holly isn’t a nice person, she doesn’t deserve it.

“Asshole,” she says, and turns away from me.

I watch as she leaves the trailer quickly. I turn away once the door shuts and curse my bad fucking luck.

So much for not letting things get uncomfortable between us.