Chapter Three
“Cut!”
I’d been halfway through my line when Mike called it. Taken aback, I hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to make of the situation. I felt like I was suddenly detached from the shoot as the crew got to work resetting the stage. I approached Mike. “What’s going on?” I asked. “We were doing great!”
“You’re off,” Mike said.
I frowned, bristling. “I’m off? I feel fine. We were doing fantastic.”
Mike shook his head. “No, something’s off,” he said. “Listen, maybe you’re just upset about all this excitement over the last few days. Why don’t you take the day off? We have some B-reel to shoot, anyway. We’ll get caught up.”
“You did B-reel the day before yesterday,” I pressed. “How are you behind?”
“Just take the day off, Cari,” Mike said sharply before turning away.
Planting my hands on my hips, I looked around. Something wasn’t right, I was sure of it. Wiping my brow, I headed to the refreshment tent for a bottle of water. As I leaned against the table and considered what I would do for the rest of the day, someone caught my eye. I stopped drinking mid-gulp and examined him.
I’d seen him before. Part of the reason I’d noticed him was that he seemed out of place, standing at the edge of the set with his hands in his pockets. All around him, people were buzzing like frantic bumblebees, but the guy seemed Stiff. Watchful. That wasn’t something you usually saw, at least not on this set.
His clothes seemed out of place, too. We’d been shooting in the sand for a while now, so most of the crew had gotten the hint and started showing up to work in older clothes, the kind that you wouldn’t mind getting dirty. This guy was wearing a pair of jeans that seemed to have been bought recently—that looked as though they’d been ironed, actually—and a plain white T-shirt. Again, the shirt looked brand new. Who would wear a white T-shirt to an archaeological dig? That would be like wearing a three-piece suit while trying to eat spare ribs—an accident waiting to happen.
It wasn’t just his outfit that bugged me, either. I’d never seen him before, but I felt like I had—
At Daly’s office!
The man’s face clicked. I’d seen him at Daly’s office, in the lobby, only then he’d been in uniform.
Why? What was he doing here at the set?
Did it have to do with me?
I sipped my water. That was probably it. That was why I’d gotten the afternoon off. Mike was cooperating with the police to get this whole situation resolved. Obviously, they wanted to do it without me getting caught in the crossfire, so Mike was “clearing the area” so the police could move in. Sure, they might be shooting B-reel today, but that wasn’t the reason I was going home. They were sweeping me under the carpet in case all hell broke loose.
I finished off the water and chucked it in the trash. Part of me thought about going back to Mike and giving him hell. I wasn’t some cute little damsel-in-distress that needed to be stuffed away so the great big strong men could take care of the problem. I didn’t need to be cocooned in bubble wrap and tucked under a bed somewhere. No, if something was going to happen, I could take care of myself!
What was the use? Even if I managed to convince Mike otherwise, the cops would want me gone. They were probably the ones that had arranged for me to be out of the way. And even if I somehow managed to convince the cops to let me stick around, there was no way in hell Jasper would, not if he saw an opportunity for the police to put an end to this once and for all.
So much for the show staying on schedule. Never once in five years had an episode been delayed, and I hated that the tight rein I held on things was now out of my hands.
Sighing, I threw up my hands. I guess it was time for me to head back to the motel room—my new one, since the old one currently had a piece of plastic taped over what used to be its window. What the hell else was there to do?
…
The old saying “the world passing you by” never made as much sense to me as when I found myself in my new room, staring out through the slatted blinds at the traffic passing on the highway in the distance. It was the middle of the afternoon, and here I was, stuck in my room like a caged animal.
I’d tried to leave earlier, just to go grab a cola from the machine in the lobby. I’d run into Margot, who had insisted on getting it for me before nudging me back into my room to “rest.”
Plan “Keep Cari Safe” was in full swing.
I appreciated it, even as I chafed under it.
My phone stared at me from its perch on the edge of the desk. I tore myself from the window to check it for the hundredth time. No missed calls. No voicemails from the cops, saying they’d had a major breakthrough and I could go back to living my life normally instead of cowering in a motel room for hours on end. No texts from Jasper saying he’d put down my stalker like a rabid dog and it was time for me to get back to the set and start rolling on the show.
I sat on the edge of the bed. Stood up. Looked out the window. Returned to the bed, turned on the TV, flipped through the channels, turned it off again. I drank my cola, then killed ten minutes trying to crush the can with my bare hands.
Ugh.
While I was checking my phone for the hundred-and-first time, a knock at the door snapped me out of my self-pity. The door rattled, but I’d locked it as per Jasper’s instructions. I wandered to the tiny corridor in front of the door. “Who is it?”
“Jasper,” came the gruff response. “Open up.”
I crossed my arms. “No.”
“What?”
“You wanted me here, all safe and padded. So I’m staying here, all safe and padded.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I know you had something to do with me being kicked off the set earlier!” I shot back. “I’m no idiot. I saw the plainclothes cop at the set, and Mike is better at directing than he is acting. I saw right through what he was trying to do. They were trying to get me out of the way. And I guarantee you had something to say about it.”
“Cari, open the door.”
“Nope. I’m staying in here, and I’m not letting anyone in. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? I’ll stay here and go fucking stir-crazy just like everyone wants. Hey, why go out and face the problem head-on when I can sit in here watching soap operas and game shows and hope it goes away on its own? Scram, Jasper. I have some daytime television to get caught up on. These Spanish telenovelas are addictive once you get into them.”
No response from Jasper. Shrugging, I turned on my heel and headed back to the bed. I’d been lying about the telenovela. There was no way in hell I was watching—
I heard the lock disengage seconds before the door opened. Jasper strode in as calmly as if he were entering his own room, and his nonchalance made my temper rise.
“We’re doing something special tonight,” Jasper said. “Dress classy. Forget the panties.”
“What?” Heat pooled instantly between my thighs at the promise in his voice. “What are we doing?”
“Did I stutter? Be ready in two hours.” He looked me up and down in a way that made my toes curl. “Oh, and pack a bag. You’ll be gone overnight.”
With that, he stalked off, leaving me to stare, awestruck, at where he’d just been.
Okay, okay, calm down. Jasper wanted me to dress classy. What did that mean? Did it mean dress sexy? Yeah, he had to mean sexy because he didn’t want me wearing panties. So I’d wear something sexy, something short. But not too short. Unless he wanted me to wear something short?
I shook my head to rattle my brain back into the present moment. Okay, never mind. I needed to do some grooming.
I tiptoed over the remnants of my door and speed-walked to the front desk.
“Hi,” I said to the girl behind the counter. “Do you have extra towels?”
“Sure,” the girl said.
Taking a cue from Jasper, I leaned with one elbow on the counter to survey the lobby so nobody could get the jump on me. Nobody else there, though, except for Jasper and the manager, who looked like he might pee his pants under the bigger man’s unyielding stare. I met my bodyguard’s gaze, and he motioned me back to my room with just the slightest nod.
The girl returned with the towels.
“Thanks,” I said, spinning around.
Rounding the corner, I walked headlong into Nolan. We collided, the towels nearly tumbling from my arms in the process.
“Oh! Sorry,” I said. “Hi, Nolan.”
“Hi, Cari,” Nolan said. He grinned at me. “You’re in a hurry.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m on a deadline.”
“I stopped by your room. I think there’s something wrong with your door.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I noticed.”
“Listen, now that I have you—you want to hang out tonight?” He punctuated the question with a smile, the sexy one that had drawn me to him in the first place. I couldn’t help but smile back.
“Can I take a rain check? I have plans tonight.”
He frowned, flicking a glance across the room to where Jasper stood, an immovable mountain.
“Next time.” He rubbed a hand over the stubble on his chin. I followed his gaze.
Jasper looked Nolan up and down with a cool stare and then surprised the hell out of me by casting me a wink.
I knew what that wink meant. He knew what he’d just told me to do, knew what he would do to me later. It was our dirty little secret.
“Yeah, next time.” I stepped around Nolan, nodding goodbye, and returned to my room, hurrying after a glance at my cell phone showed me the time.
Forget the panties.
I’d wanted a distraction, and I sure had one.
I couldn’t wait.