“I can’t go tonight,” Tanya said over the phone, her voice hard to hear, while her dog Brutus whined in the background and Miss Priss meowed. “There’s no way I’ll make the movie premiere. I hate to let you down, but it’s crazy here.”

“Oh, no,” Christie said, her stomach dropping to her toes. “What’s going on?”

Tanya is bailing? Dismayed, Christie glanced at her watch. They were supposed to meet in front of the theater in twenty minutes.

The movie premiere passes Christie had won last week from the radio station were only good for tonight’s premiere.

It’s too late to call someone else. Christie looked down at her dress. And I’m dressed forties style. The whole idea was she and Tanya were going to have a “girls’ night out” dressed in 1940s attire. A movie and then drinks afterward. They both enjoyed dressing in vintage fashions, and they’d bought new dresses to show off.

Tanya interrupted Christie’s thoughts. “Cole Kennick has to be the hottest man in Hollywood, and you know how much I wanted to go to the premiere with you. But Miss Priss just yakked all over my bedspread right after I finished cleaning up after Brutus. They’re both pretty sick. I’m thinking I need to call the vet.”

“I’m sorry. Are they gonna be all right?” Christie’s concern for the animals pushed aside her disappointment at her best friend bailing on her. “Do you want me to come over?”

“No, I can handle this. You go on to the movie. I don’t want to be the reason you miss the premiere.”

“What do you think it is? Did they both get into something? Maybe eat something bad?”

“They’ve eaten something I didn’t give them, that I do know. What it is, I can’t tell.”

“Oh my god.” Christie didn’t say her next thought. Poison. The nasty neighbor might’ve poisoned them. She was always complaining about Brutus and his barking. Brutus was a German Shepard and very protective of Tanya. Tanya’s crazy neighbor jumped at any excuse to call the police. On the other hand, Miss Priss was a beautiful white Persian cat who never bothered anyone, although she did shed white hair everywhere. “You’d better take a sample of the puke to the vet in case he needs to test what they got into.”

“Already thought of that. Go and enjoy the movie,” Tanya said, her tone reassuring. “Don’t worry. I don’t want to ruin your evening.”

“You’re not going to ruin it, but I will miss you.”

“Well, you’d better hurry or you’ll be late, and I don’t think they let you in late to premieres.”

Christie sighed. “All right, but I’m calling you just as soon as the movie is over.”

“Thanks, Christie. And again, I’m so sorry about this.”

“It’s okay, you just take care of those sweet fur babies.”

“Thanks for understanding.”

“Hey, that’s what best friends do.”

“Thanks bestie. Chat soon. Don’t let me make you late!”

“I won’t. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Worrying about Tanya’s fur babies, Christie grabbed the movie passes and hurried out the door to her car.

Fortunately, she made every streetlight by driving two miles under the speed limit and arrived just in time.

The line inside Riverton Cinema One was so long it filled the lobby. Christie stood at the end of line waiting to get in.

At least I only need one seat.

Two ticket takers stood at the entrance. One, a woman who held a basket and was collecting cell phones. She was explaining they’d get their phones back when they came out of the movie and that she’d be with the phones at all times. Taking the phones was to prevent anyone from sneaking to take a video of the movie. The woman reminded everyone that pirating was against federal law.

As Christie handed the man her pass and placed her phone into the basket the woman held. As she moved away, her gaze lingered on her phone reluctantly. I hope Tanya won’t need to reach me soon and that the vet tells Tanya her fur babies will be okay. She’s got to do something about that neighbor. That woman has gone too far. Poor Miss Priss and Brutus.

Inside, the theater was semi-dark and nearly full. Christie stood at the bottom of the theater’s stadium seating, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness and looking for one good seat.

Oh, there’s one next to that fit, dark-haired handsome man wearing the black t-shirt.

Her gaze stopped and held. His build was solid. Strong. Something about him drew her attention—and then she noticed he was looking right back at her with his dark, intense gaze. But then, his gaze swept past her to the other side of the theater as he sat quietly scanning the room.

Is he waiting for someone? Saving that seat? I hope not. It’s a good location, and I’m running out of options.

She headed for the seat, hoping it would be free.

Reaching his isle, she leaned forward, drawing his full attention, and asked, “Is that seat taken?”

“No.” He shook his head, his brown eyes watching her.

She smiled, and the teenager seated on the end of the aisle moved his feet, so she could slip between the rows. “Excuse me,” she said, and began the “theater row shuffle”, being careful, as she was wearing her highest heels. The new red ones with the little bows on the front and tall, narrow heels.

She’d had so much fun planning to glam it up on their girls’ night out, and both she and Tanya had pretty dresses any pin-up girl would be proud of. Now, Tanya wouldn’t see her in her new white dress with the red polka dots. Off the shoulder, the cool summer dress required her to wear a half-slip, so no one could see through the lightweight, thin material. The dress was form-fitting, narrow, and hugged her hips, making her feel attractive and quite glamorous in a Marilyn Monroe kind of way.

All dolled up for a night on the town, and no one to spend it with. No one to see the dress and appreciate it along with the time and effort she’d spent on her blonde hairdo and makeup to complete the look. Plenty of men had ogled her since she’d stepped out of her car in the theater parking lot, but that wasn’t really the kind of attention she wanted.

Tanya would’ve appreciated the dress and the time it took to find that perfect dress and do her hair and makeup just so. Still, the entire row of men she passed, and men in the rows behind them, watched her every move.

Stepping daintily to the left of the handsome man and in front of the empty seat, she turned and sat while trying to play it cool like she just needed a seat and not like she’d hoped to sit with him. Wondering where to put her purse and keeping in mind how a movie theater floor could be sticky, she bent and placed her new, shiny red purse on top of her feet.

The air-conditioning sent a cool draft across her bare back, bringing goose bumps and making her want to shiver. She’d forgotten how cool the air could be in a theater when she’d ordered this dress. Wishing she’d worn a shawl, Christie hoped all the people in the theater would create enough body heat to warm the room up. At least when she leaned back against the seat, the vent blew in front of her, not on her bare back. Though now her neck and collarbone were receiving the draft, chilling her front side.

Now that she was seated, she realized how much taller than her the handsome man was. Sitting next to him made her feel downright delicate. His chest, shoulders, and arms were muscular, and he exuded strength.

Oh my, but he’s handsome, and he smells good.

She glanced down at his hand. No wedding ring. I wonder why he’s here without a date or a friend? Women probably fall all over him. I wonder what his name is?

On her other side, a large man in an orange T-shirt and jeans sat holding a huge tub of popcorn. “Here by yourself?” he asked. “That’s terrible.”

Taken aback by his sly tone, she leaned away from nosy man and closer to the handsome man, aware of him now watching her and the nosy man.

“Why would you ask?” she said, frowning and then catching herself, as she decided she shouldn’t be speaking to this stranger about whether she was out alone. “That’s none of your business,” she said, feeling herself bristle.

Maybe this seat wasn’t such a good one after all.

Though the view of the screen was excellent, and she was near enough to the aisle to get out without having to climb over half a row of people, now she hoped the nosy man wouldn’t continue to bother her.

Mr. Nosy leaned forward as if to say something else, and his hand reached toward her, but then he stopped, looking past her to handsome man. She turned to glance at handsome man, wondering what he’d done to stop Mr. Nosy.

Handsome Man’s dark hair was damp, likely from having taken a recent shower. Hot as it was outside, his hair would’ve dried otherwise. She became aware once again of his aftershave or cologne, a manly enticing scent.

“Most people are here because they received a pass to the premiere,” the handsome man said dryly.

Mr. Nosy shut up and went back to eating his popcorn, taking a huge handful.

Christie exhaled stress she didn’t know she’d been holding.

Better his attention is on his popcorn and not on me.

“Thank you,” Christie whispered under her breath, just low enough the handsome man could hear.

“No problem,” came his low answer.

He smells good. Damn good. And that low voice was doing things to her insides as his scent assaulted her senses on another level. Pheromones flooded her body making her aware of her breath, her heartbeat, the way her palms were starting to warm. The slight flush in her pale cheeks and chest, which always happened, would begin now. Her pheromones could get her into trouble sometimes when they kicked in before she figured out if this was a good man to be with or not.

As the lights began to dim, she thought, Good thing we’ll be in a dark theater. Handsome Man will never know how I’m reacting to him.

Waiting for the premiere of Turn and Deliver, a futuristic show, bound to be full of the good action scenes Cole Kennick was known for, Reed Tindal sat scanning the crowd.

Attentiveness was by now an ingrained habit, though he was casual about it, unless he needed not to be. Once a SEAL, always a SEAL, whether awake, asleep…or waiting for a movie to start.

The hot blonde with the creamy skin and pretty green eyes had caught his attention before she’d noticed him. Then their gazes had connected, and he’d felt that flicker, the one that always happened when attraction kicked in. This attraction was strong. Strong enough to take him by surprise, as she usually wouldn’t have been his type.

She was wearing a delicate off-the-shoulder white dress with red polka dots, thin enough he could see her strapless white bra through it and a white half-slip. The kind of dress that would be easy to slip down to bare her round, full breasts. The kind that tempted him to do just that.

With soft blonde curls resting on her bare shoulders and a bit below, smoke lined eyes, and cherry red lipstick, she was girly from her head to her red painted toenails, which peeked out of her shoes. Those red high heeled shoes with red bows on the front were the kind that always made him wonder how a woman would run if she had to, without turning an ankle. He hoped this beauty never found out. She turned heads dressed like that, and some heads were best avoided.

He wondered what her story was and why she was all dressed up to watch a movie by herself. There was a story there. He couldn’t imagine any hot-blooded male standing up a woman who looked as good as she did.

Reed was used to dating women who were more practical. Sensible about things like shoes, wore jeans instead of dresses, and carried guns. There was nowhere on that pretty little dress where this woman could carry a gun or anything else. In fact, he’d bet she didn’t even know how to shoot a gun.

She looked like the “take care of me” type, not the “I’ll take care of things myself” type.

Everyone was seated. A man in a black suit stepped onto the stage and welcomed them to the premiere, then the lights were dimmed, and everyone settled in to watch the show.

The blonde, caught up in the story, would catch her breath, only to release it when Cole escaped the bad guy’s malevolence, and avoided getting so much as a mark on him. Her breathy sighs and little gasps caught Reed’s attention each time, though he was also focusing on the movie. He was good at doing two things at once. The movie held her complete attention, and she seemed unaware of anything else, though Reed had noted her initial reaction to him.

Reed could have been caught up totally in the movie as well, if he’d let himself. Cole was one of the few actors who did their own stunts and he kept his movies more real than most. Which meant Reed didn’t disengage and start critiquing action shots five minutes into the movie. Had he been at home, he might have been as caught up as the woman was. But out in public, nothing would ever take up his total attention. However, that was not to say he wasn’t enjoying the movie. In fact, he was enjoying the movie as well as her reactions to it.

Total opposites, he thought as he noted her reactions to the movie. She was so caught up in it she didn’t notice anything but the movie. Unaware of her surroundings. That was a state of being he no longer remembered how it felt. Reed had grown up in a neighborhood where boys had to fight or be picked on, so he’d learned early on to fight and to pay attention to who was where at all times, when outside his house. For a moment, he viewed her as one might a child or any other innocent civilian who hadn’t learned to be wary. He was glad to see her relaxing and enjoying the movie.

This was why men like him fought. To protect the innocent and preserve a peaceful way of life. These were some of the reasons he fought. The actor Cole Kennick played roles in which he did the same, which was one reason Reed enjoyed his movies.

Some feeling he couldn’t have named other than to call it a sixth sense, made him turn his focus to a man dressed all in black. Definitely not one of the staff. Another patron, perhaps. He stood at the far right corner of the theater. Something about him was very off.

The man turned to face the crowd and began to move his arm upward—

Fuck.

Reed went calm and cool even as he thought the word, his SEAL training kicking in, knowing the man was going to shoot. Everything around Reed slowed.

“Everyone down!” he yelled as his hand landed on the pretty blonde’s shoulder, forcing her to the ground.

The shooter raised his gun to fire.