Chapter Eleven
The next day, Heather didn’t lose sight of Seth. Over the week and a half that she’d avoided him, he’d been everywhere, but she hadn’t given herself permission to notice. Now she did. Damn, was it an improvement.
Her acting also improved. She would have imagined that being focused on him would be a distraction, but it wasn’t in the least. Instead, she felt more relaxed—more comfortable with herself than she had in ages. Her lines flowed, her scenes were perfection. She was “on”.
And her mood was decidedly brighter. She didn’t dread off-camera time like she often had before, spending it bantering with the crew and her costars instead of hiding in her phone. Even Bobblehead—um, Natalia—seemed less annoying. Her excessive cheerfulness was somehow easier to stomach when Heather was happy herself. Knowing that Seth wasn’t into the younger actress might have helped a bit. Helped a lot.
She didn’t actually get to speak to Seth until lunch. She’d planned on seeking him out—strategically, of course, so as not to draw attention—to let him know she’d go out with him. But first, she stopped at the catering table knowing, the selection would be slim if she didn’t get in early. As she searched for a lunch that fit into her daily calorie limit, she felt his presence behind her. She knew it was him without turning around, her body tensing with pleasure, her arm hairs standing on end as if to announce his presence.
“Is there something I can help you with?” he asked as he reached over her, his voice making her thighs clench.
“What do you mean?” She selected a Chef Salad and pretended to decide between yogurt flavors. Normally, there was no deciding. Strawberry was her choice, hands-down. Right now she didn’t give a flying fig about yogurt. Unless she was licking it off Seth.
He moved beside her, grabbing two bottled waters. “I thought that maybe what you wanted to eat wasn’t on this table.” Damn, could he read her mind? “Since you’ve been staring at me hungrily all morning.”
Her cheeks heated. Hopefully he’d been the only one to notice. “You’re not cocky at all, are you? Wait, don’t answer that.” He’d have some sexy comment about his cock. And she really didn’t need to be thinking about his cock right then. They were alone at the table, but not so alone that she could jump him.
Alone enough to talk though. Or flirt. Whatever it was they did. “All right, I might have been staring. I was just thinking that I haven’t had the opportunity to see you with your shirt off.” And that a date might be a way to fix that.
He grinned at her, his blue eyes gleaming. “Is that something you’d like to see?”
“Very much so.” Her inner voice screamed something about taking it slow, but Heather wasn’t listening. Once she’d made up her mind that Seth was who she wanted to be with, she wanted him as soon as possible. To hell with taking it slow.
“I can think of ways to remedy that.” He leaned in closer and quieted his voice to a raspy whisper. “For example, if we were the only ones here, I’d strip you down and have you grab onto that pipe right there.” He pointed to a lighting track that had been lowered to allow the crew to adjust the lights. “While I fucked you senseless.”
So much for not thinking about Seth’s cock.
“Sounds…awesome.” She was breathless just thinking about it. “But how does that remedy me seeing you without your shirt on?”
“I could agree to be naked too.” God, he was adorable. “I, uh, I talked to Natalia, by the way.”
His quick change of subject almost threw her for a loop. “To Bobblehead?” Since she’d been watching him all morning she already knew. She’d also seen how Nat’s energy had been a bit down in her scene after that. How much of a bitch was she that Nat’s broken heart made her happy?
“Yes, to Bobblehead. She didn’t seem much of a bobblehead after I talked to her though. Had to tell her that I was sorry if I’d given her the wrong impression, but that I sorta have a thing with someone else.”
Heather swallowed her glee. “Sort of have a thing?”
“It’s undefined.”
“Hmm. Interesting.” More than interesting. He’d followed through on what he’d said he’d do. He didn’t have to do that. It wasn’t like he’d promised. He really didn’t owe her anything. But he’d done it anyway, and wow, did it feel good.
“Thank you, Seth.” She met his eyes. “I’ll have to think of some way to repay you.”
Seth reached across her again, picking a box marked as a roast beef sandwich. “I have condoms.”
For half a second she got excited. Until she remembered. “I have tampons.” Her period had started that morning. What timing.
“I told you, blood doesn’t bother me.” Abso-fuckin-lutely adorable.
“You did say that.” She’d dated other guys who didn’t care. She was usually the one who called period time Off Limits. She could do the same now, make him wait. Renew her decision to take it slow.
She could do that.
Or she could bring up the date he’d asked her on.
Instead, she found herself saying, “My scene after lunch requires a total make-up and hair redo. I’ll need a shower first.” She paused only long enough to know for sure that she really wanted to say what she said next. “Join me?”
He gave her the sexiest smile she’d ever seen. “You know all you have to do is ask.”
“That’s right. How could I forget?” If she stayed this happy, she’d for sure have to get Botox to rid her of smile lines.
Out of the corner of her eye, Heather caught movement—someone walking near them. She turned back to the catering table, hoping it looked like her conversation with Seth had been casual. Yeah, she wanted to be with him, but privately. In her life, privacy was not something she took for granted.
The person walking by stopped. “Seth Rafferty?” Heather inconspicuously looked toward the man who owned the voice. “Wow, good to see you. It’s been ages.”
Seth seemed surprised, maybe even worried, to see the man who was a stranger to Heather. She gave the new guy a quick once over. He was dressed business casual, expensive watch and wedding ring. The sunglasses propped on his stiff head of hair were designer. Not part of the crew, but maybe someone on the producer level. She placed him in his late thirties, which could easily mean late forties with a good plastic surgeon.
“Brandon.” Seth’s voice, though friendly, seemed unnatural. He shifted his bag and bottles of water to the crook of his arm so he could offer his hand to Brandon. “God, it has been forever.”
“Since Time of Night. Yeah.”
Heather recognized the movie title, a suspense film that had come out several years before. Seth must have been on the crew. She could look it up on IMDb later. Maybe if she found out what this Brandon guy did on that film, she could figure out the strange tension that had begun when he showed up. Or she could just ask Seth later.
“So what brings you here?” Seth asked, redistributing his food to both arms.
“Our company is producing Girl Fight. It was my turn to stop by and check things out.” Brandon’s eyes raked up and down Heather’s body. “And things look good from where I’m standing.”
Did he think she didn’t know he was looking at her? She was two steps away and not stupid. One of the cons of her job—people thought she was an object instead of a real person. It really sucked sometimes.
If Seth hadn’t been tense before, he certainly was now. Despite the unease in the air, Seth’s reaction to Brandon’s wandering eyes gave her tummy flutters.
With gritted teeth, he said, “Brandon, isn’t your wife a fan of Heather’s? You know each other, I’m sure.”
Heather turned toward Brandon, having been invited into the conversation.
“We haven’t met officially.” Brandon took Heather’s hand. “Brandon Drake. My wife can’t wait for the premiere. She’s dying to meet you.” He continued to flirt with her while talking about his wife. How smarmy. Maybe that was why Seth was acting all weird—because Brandon Drake was a perv.
Whatever Seth’s beef with him, Brandon was also a producer of her movie. Her boss, in other words. So she had to play nice. “Aw, thanks.” She sweetened her tone to a ridiculous level that bordered on sappy. “Always nice to hear I have a fan.”
“I’m a fan too.” He winked at her, still holding her hand.
Until Seth cleared his voice, at which point Brandon dropped it promptly. “So what are you doing here? Did you take over as P.D.?”
Heather’s brow furrowed. “P.D.?” It wasn’t unusual for producers to not know their crews, but why would Brandon assume Seth was the Production Designer?
Seth ignored her question. “No, Joe Piedman is. Of course.” Despite the air-conditioned studio, Seth had a fresh layer of sweat on his brow. “You know he lost his crew on short notice.” And he was talking weird. “And we’ve been friends for a quite a while.” In short bursts. “So he called me.” As if making his speech up as he went. “I had a hole in my schedule. So I offered to come on board.”
“As lead carpenter?” Now it was Brandon who looked confused.
“Yep.” Seth’s jaw twitched.
Brandon’s brows rose. “Man, you must be really good friends.”
“Something like that,” Seth said under his breath.
“What was that?” Brandon asked.
Seth covered quickly. “So your team got nominated for the Globes last year. That must have felt good.”
Heather cringed at Seth’s attempt at acknowledgement. Everyone in the biz knew the Golden Globes were a crock of shit. The Foreign Press who gave the awards ran nothing but a giant popularity contest. Maybe the tech level wasn’t aware. Or was Seth trying to change the subject?
“Yeah, it was awesome.” Brandon’s teeth were gritted but he kept his smile. “And I heard that you might be up for—”
Seth cut him off. “I’d totally be up for getting some drinks sometime.” Though Heather didn’t think that’s where Brandon had been going with his statement. Yes. Totally weird interaction.
But before Brandon could react, his attention was caught by the movie’s director passing by. “Oh, hey, I gotta talk to Don. Catch up later?”
“Sure thing.” The tension visibly rolled off Seth the minute Brandon walked away.
“What the eff was that?”
“What do you mean?” Seth asked, turning back to the buffet table as though there might be something he still wanted.
“Do you not get along with him or something? Because the energy between you two was way wacko.”
“Between me and Brandon?” Seth shuffled through bags of sandwiches. “We get along. I just was surprised to see him, that’s all.”
“Uh huh.” Except that wasn’t all it was. Heather was sure. The conversation had just been…off. “Why would he think you’d be the Production Designer?”
He shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe he remembered I’d been interested in that area. Or something. He must have assumed I’d moved up. Since we haven’t seen each other in a while.”
Now Seth was using that weird talk with her. She narrowed her eyes. “But how did he even know you if you were on crew?”
“I was good at networking.”
She wasn’t convinced, and she was pretty sure her face told him that.
“Look,” he said. “The Art Director on the movie we worked on was a drinking buddy of mine. He introduced me to Brandon at a cast party. The party got kind of wild, if you know what I mean. We haven’t seen each other since.”
Well, didn’t that open a whole slew of questions? Like what had happened between Brandon and Seth? And was it something she would’ve wanted to be part of?
But she’d done some crazy things at cast parties that she’d die about if brought out in the light of day, so she simply said, “Gotcha.” Still, even if the two guys had gotten mad drunk and made out, there was something else weird about their conversation. “It seemed like he was really surprised that you were working as a carpenter. Wasn’t that odd?”
Seth took a step closer to Heather and leaned in. So close she could smell his carpentry man smell that she loved so much. “What’s odd,” he said in a rumbly voice that clothed her in goose bumps, “is that we’re still here talking when we could be somewhere else completely not talking.”
Damn. She bit her lip as her lady parts were coated in a fresh pool of moisture. “Give me twenty. Don’t worry about knocking. Just come in.” She paused, wondering if it would be impolite to ask her next question, but decided—rude or not—it had to be asked. “You’ll be discreet?”
He grinned. “You mean not announce to the whole set that I’m about to meet you for wild monkey sex?”
She rolled her eyes. “I meant when you come to my trailer could you, like, make sure no one sees you when you walk in?”
“Yes, princess.” He performed a mock bow. “Wouldn’t want the royalty seen with the hired help.”
“That’s not—”
He cut her off. “I know. I’m giving you a hard time.” Had he emphasized the word hard or was her mind in the gutter? “I’ll be discreet.”
“Thank you.” She had to take a deep breath before taking off for her trailer. Wild monkey sex. She was already wet with excitement.
Seth pinched the bridge of his nose.
That was close. Too close.
He’d told Joe when he took the job on Girl Fight that he didn’t want anyone to know he was anything but a carpenter so Seth hadn’t expected to encounter anyone who knew differently. But Brandon Drake…the movie they’d worked on together had been one of the first that Seth had designed. Brandon would never have expected Seth to be building a set. He’d have to try and catch Brandon and tell him to keep it on the D.L.
Actually, what he should do is come clean with Heather.
He almost groaned at the thought of Heather. At the wonderful thought of showering with her. At the horrible thought of telling her the truth.
He couldn’t do it.
Not just because he was still intent on finding out if she could truly like him no matter what he did for a living, but because now he’d let it go too long. Now there was no way she could think of it as anything but a betrayal. And wasn’t that exactly what it was? A betrayal of her trust? A betrayal of her emotions?
Shit, he was screwed.
But even though it was tearing him up inside, he had to protect his lie. Either that, or lose Heather, and he wasn’t ready for that. He looked at his watch. He had almost twenty minutes before he was supposed to meet her. Hopefully he could catch Brandon before then.
Tamping down thoughts of the lusty afternoon that lay just ahead, he headed for the director’s trailer, figuring that was where he’d find Brandon. The door was shut when he got there, but even without pressing his ear against the door, he could hear Brandon’s voice inside.
He’d have to wait.
Seth leaned against the side of the trailer and checked his watch again. Fifteen minutes. Might as well get lunch in while he waited.
He’d finished his sandwich, a bag of chips and one whole bottle of water before the door opened. Thankfully, Brandon walked out by himself, putting on his sunglasses as he did. Seth glanced at his watch once more. T minus three minutes. He’d have to make this conversation quick.
“Brandon,” he called out, brushing his chip-greased hands on his jeans. “I hoped I’d find you again.”
Brandon pushed his sunglasses back on his head and crinkled his brow. “You were looking for me?”
“Yeah.” He hesitated. Why hadn’t he thought up a good lead in while he was waiting for the guy? Now he was winging it. “Well, like I said, I’d love to catch up sometime. But I don’t think I have your number anymore.”
Brandon cracked a grin. “Good thinking. I’m sure I don’t have yours either.” He pulled out his wallet and leafed through it until he found what he was looking for. “Here’s my card.”
“Awesome. Thanks.” Seth didn’t even look at Brandon’s business card before stuffing it in the back pocket of his jeans. “Oh, one more thing.” He lowered his voice. “You know, I’m doing this gig as a favor to Joe, and just so there wouldn’t be any awkwardness with the crew, I’m keeping my resume hush-hush.”
Brandon snapped his fingers. “That explains it! Man, I couldn’t understand why you weren’t the P.D. I was about to ask around.”
“Please, don’t do that.” Definitely a good thing he talked to Brandon.
“Oh no. Not now that you said something. But you are still in the P.D. biz? Because you’re too good at it not to be. Your talents are wasted in this shit position.”
Seemed Heather wasn’t the only one on the set with a narrow-minded view of the hard-working crew. But he knew that. It wasn’t his first time around the block. The moneybags were almost always pompous. Why was that?
“Yes, I’m still a P.D.,” he said with gritted teeth. “But it’s been really nice to get my hands back on the set. Keeps me in touch with the job and the people who work for me.”
Brandon’s face soured. “Whatever’s your thing, man. In my opinion, that’s a real nice favor you’re doing for Joe.” It was Brandon’s turn to lower his voice. “Hey, um, maybe you could do me a favor as well.”
A favor for Brandon? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. “Shoot.”
“Heather Wainwright…”
Fucking slimy asswipe. He fought the urge to punch the guy in the face. “Come on, Brandon, you’re married.”
Brandon shrugged. “We have an understanding.”
He should just let it go. Seth knew Heather wasn’t about to hook up with a type like Brandon. Yet he still felt compelled to let Brandon know as well. “Heather isn’t your girl. She’s not into anything that might bring bad press. And she’d never go for a married man, whatever your understanding is. She’s kind of a princess.”
“That’s too bad. That chick has one heck of a smoking body.” He sighed and again Seth wanted to punch him for the dirty thoughts Brandon was surely having about Heather.
Then, Brandon’s face lit up in understanding. “Wait, are you into her?”
“Uh…” Seth hadn’t been prepared for Brandon to be insightful.
“You are!” Brandon clapped him on the back. “That’s all you had to say, man. I’ll keep my hands off. Tell ya what, maybe you could give me a holler when you’re through with her.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’ll do.” The statement dripped of so much sarcasm he wouldn’t be surprised if Brandon noticed. Frankly, Seth didn’t give a fuck. He’d done what he came for and now—he looked at his watch—now he was late for Heather. “Sorry to cut this short, Brandon, but I have an appointment.”
Seth didn’t wait for a proper goodbye, taking off as soon as he’d finished speaking. But he didn’t miss Brandon’s shout after him. “Great seeing you again, Seth. Good luck with that fine slice of pussy.”
Seth cringed. Such a crass mother fucker.
Not that Heather didn’t have a fine slice of pussy. She did. She also had so much more.
Of course, as he walked into Heather’s trailer, the sounds of a shower already going in the other room, it wasn’t the so much more that was at the forefront of his mind.