Capture

"But—"

"Places!" Jaymeson yelled into his megaphone, which just happened to be near Alec's ear.

To his credit, he only flinched and gave Jaymeson the finger.

I would have done a hell of a lot more than that.

"Whoa, there." Demetri grabbed Dani by her shirt and tugged her back. "That means they're going to start shooting. You can stay back with us."

Her face reddened.

Was she embarrassed she would be kissing me?

"She's with me." I gently grabbed her hand and started to lead her away.

"What?" Demetri's eyes narrowed. "But you're about to start the scene."

"She's in the scene."

"Dancing?" Demetri guessed while Alec and Jaymeson started arguing over something on the script.

Dani shook her head.

"Pretending to pour beer?"

Another shake.

"Tell me you're a wallflower who sits in the corner. The one with lots of clothes."

She gulped.

"Hell, no!" Alec shouted.

"I think he found out," I whispered to Dani.

She gripped my hand harder.

"It's probably best to run and get you into makeup so you don't have to witness a fight. If you witness, you have to testify."

She giggled.

We turned and took off for the makeup trailer. I only needed touch ups, but I knew they would probably put a crapload of makeup on her, because one, she was a chick, two, she was supposed to look like a slut — probably why Alec was trying to pull Jaymeson's head off — and three, she had to look smoking.

Her wide doe eyes stared back at me through the mirror; her lower lip trembled a bit as the makeup artist pulled back her hair and started the very tedious process of shading.

"You okay?" I asked.

One nod.

"Want me to stay?"

Her shoulders slumped as if she felt bad for asking me to.

"Actually…" I pulled out a chair next to her and put my hands behind my head. "… I'm a makeup pro. I even know the difference between lipstick and mascara."

"And yet he makes more than me. Imagine that." Jean, the head makeup artist said under her breath with a low chuckle.

I fake gasped then grinned. "Jean taught me everything I know."

"Poor boy cried the first time I put lipstick on him."

"Jean," I warned.

"Bawled like a damn baby because it made him look so pretty."

A burst of laughter came from Dani's direction before she clamped her lips shut.

"Seriously…" Jean swiped some dark concealer across Dani's cheek and nose. "… finally, I had to tell him it was magic man juice that helped aid in muscle building."

"I was twelve." I held up my hands. "And you lied!"

"We caught him trying to steal lipstick from set. When the director cornered him, he started crying and said, 'I just want to be strong!'"

By now, Dani was full on laughing.

"Great, any more embarrassing stories you wanna get off your chest, Jean?"

"Had to pee his pants for a role, and when they tried to attach the pouch to him so that it would look real,, he shouted, 'No, I do all my own stunts. I got this.'"

My phone buzzed.

Dani: Tell me you were still twelve.

I winced. "Yeah, I may have been fourteen."

Jean chuckled.

"I should have gotten an Academy Award for that performance, and you know it!" I shouted.

Jean moved on to the airbrushing; in swift movements, she ran the gun over the front of Dani's face.

Amazing what contouring did to a woman.

Hell, it was amazing what it did to a guy.

Her cheeks were more pronounced, almost sharp. Her nose looked a little more prominent, and her eyes full on sparkled.

And we were only on the base layer of whatever the hell they were going to do to her.

"Linc, have you heard from Wardrobe?"

"No." I licked my lips and pried my gaze away from Dani. "Why?"

"Well, they said to do her makeup heavy. I don't want it to conflict with her outfit."

"On it." I grabbed the walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "Wardrobe."

No one answered.

"Wardrobe, it's Jean and Linc at Makeup."

"Wardrobe?" a woman answered.

"Hey, we need the costume for Party Girl One."

"Can you send someone to grab it? We're all busy searching for AD2's pyro jeans."

Dani smirked as if to say, "Told ya."

I sighed. "On my way." I stood and dropped the walkie into my pocket. "I'll be back. Make her gorgeous, Jean."

"She already is," Jean scolded.

"Yeah…" My eyes met Dani's in the mirror. "… I know."

CHAPTER TWELVE

Dani

"HE'S ONE OF MY FAVORITES YOU know," Jean said, once the door to the trailer slammed shut. "Always such a gentleman, never complains. The only weird quirk that kid has is red Skittles."

I wasn't sure if Jean knew that I didn't talk, and I didn't want to be rude, so I quickly wrote a little text.

Dani: I don't know if Jay told you, but I can't talk.

Jean read it over my shoulder. "Oh, sugar, I talk enough for the both of us." She tossed her bright purple hair over her shoulder and stared at me through the mirror, her green eyes meeting mine before turning back around and spraying something else on my face.