The slimy, backstabbing, hipster asshole was hiding. I knew that the second I hopped out of my truck and hightailed it to the cabin. My crew was quiet, but they didn’t hold back with the stares I knew must have had something to do with that fucking video.

“Where is he?” I asked Dale, kicking aside a tub of drywall mud that sat at his feet. The guy was tall but still had to stretch his neck to look at me. I could make out the small threads of worry, maybe because he knew what I’d do to that little shit when I got my hands on him, but Dale had my back. Probably why he didn’t immediately let his lips loose.

“Man, what are you gonna do to that kid?”

I took a step, catching a whiff of Kit’s perfume when she finally caught up to me and came into the cabin. Dale’s attention went to her for half a second, then that wide gaze shot straight to my face. “You gonna tell me?” I tilted my head, not able to keep the grit from my voice. “You of all people should know about loyalty.”

“Fuck that kid, Kane,” Dale said, his eyes widening as though my questioning his loyalty was an insult. “I just don’t want you catching shit for beating on a little punk that can’t defend himself.” The guy straightened his shoulders, head shaking when Kit came to my side. “Doesn’t seem like a fair fight.”

“It’s not,” I agreed.

She gripped my arm, and for half a second, I forgot what had put me in such a bad mood. But that slight touch had voices going quiet around us, as if the crew hadn’t seen Kit touch me like she did just then a hundred times before. Shit, we were friends and she was female. In fact, she was a touchy-feely sort of female. Kit was affectionate to everyone.

So why the hell were they all gawking at us like we’d just come back from our honeymoon?

Without thinking about it, I glanced down at Kit’s fingers wrapped around my arm then right at her face, and she got the message, stepping back to shove her hands into her pockets.

“The kid,” I said to Dale, and this time, my voice went louder, not hiding the anger that had surfaced the longer I stood there waiting for an answer.

“What are you gonna…”

A quick head shake had Dale shutting up before I pointed to myself. “Fucking. Storm.”

He nodded, and with that explanation, Dale’s face relaxed, like he was only just remembering how I handled bullshit when it came onto my set. “Out by the trailers. Hiding. His girlfriend is an intern with the makeup crew.”

I was already to the door when Kit hustled behind me, keeping her hands off me, which kind of pissed me off. That kiss last night…fuck me, it was good. It was the best, but shit, was she drunk. I figured she hadn’t even remembered it or maybe she had and was embarrassed about it or just damn well wanted to never mention it again. Then those fucking waitresses had to show her the video, and by that time, I was so pissed, I clean forgot to think about what she’d meant by it. Or if she’d meant anything at all.

This was why I should have stayed clear of her. At least, with this list. Kit asked for my help, and I wanted to give it to her, but shit was it hard keeping her at a distance, especially since I now knew what she tasted like, how those perfect pink lips and soft tongue felt against my mouth.

“Fuck,” I muttered, scrubbing my hands into my eyes as I stomped out of the cabin.

“Kane, come on, be rational,” Kit was saying, moving at a close jog as she tried to keep time with me. “What happens if you go in there and rough up that little guy? You’ll get fired and…”

“I have a contract.”

The farther away we walked, the more attention we drew, but my focus was on the gray trailer near the back of the property and the noise of movement I heard going on behind those thin walls.

“Bill will find a way, you know he will. You’re on his list.”

“Fuck Bill’s list,” I told Kit, reaching the trailer just in time to hear a whisper that was no whisper at all of, “Hide in the cupboard, Asher,” before Kit stepped in front of the door, holding out her arms to block me.

“Think about consequences…”

“Oh, I am,” I told her, lowering her arms to move her out of the way. “Little fuckface in there needs to learn about consequences.” I reached a fist over Kit’s head then pounded on the door. “Hear that, asshole? The storm is here, and it’s a fucking tsunami wrapped up in a typhoon.”

The rustling in the trailer got faster, and I knew I caught definite shouts of “Oh, shit!” and “Run!” But then Kit touched my chest, lowering my arm with a smooth swipe of her fingers on my bicep, and I forgot for a second about the jackass inside who needed a lesson in bad fucking weather.

“Kane, please.” Her voice was even, and something deep in my gut warmed me from the inside when she spoke my name like that. It was how she’d sounded last night, when my name on her lips had come out like a moan. Fuck, I’d wanted her, and for a second, I could only watch her, thinking stupid, pointless thoughts about what it would be like to have her to myself, to remind her of how it had felt to be in my arms.

“The video was…”

“He’s a kid,” she said, and I swore her voice sounded like music just then. Kit had a way of working me, with a look, with a jerk of her chin, with a motherfucking sigh that got me to do things no one else could. She was doing it again, and for the life of me, I couldn’t find it inside my head to give a single shit.

“Hmph.” She smiled at the grunting sound but didn’t move away from me. There was something buzzing between us then. At least, that’s what I tried to convince myself I felt. A vibe, a buzz, a hum of energy that only sparked between two people who were connected. Like fucking magnets, we moved toward each other. Closer, breaths held, waiting and…

“Guys! There you are,” Bill called, running toward us with his voice a little harried.

Fucking hated that asshole.

When he stepped to us, Kit and I backed away, me with my hands through my hair, trying to distract myself from what was probably something I made up in my own head, and her, just standing there looking like a fucking angel, all smiling and perfect and shit.

I’m pathetic.

“Listen, this whole video thing,” Bill said, facing the trailer as though he didn’t want anyone but Kit and me to hear what he had to say. A quick glance behind him told me he was likely giving us a heads-up before the small cluster of reporters—national, by the looks of them—made their way to us.

“The studio is eating this shit up. Whatever’s going on, keep it up. They want to milk it.”

“There’s nothing…” I started, but Bill shook his head, interrupting me before I could explain anything.

“Doesn’t matter. Since that video went live, our ratings have jumped. They want to keep up the momentum. They’ve had millions of new subscribers, and if we play this right, we might land a better time slot.”

The reporters were noisy, their feet rustling against the leaves on the ground. I had just enough time to spare Kit a look before she plastered a wide, forced smile on her face and ran her fingers through the ends of her dark hair to straighten it before the questions started.

“Kit, can you tell us if you and Kane are an item?”

“Kane, do you think your female fans will be disappointed to discover you’re off the market?”

“How long have you two been a couple?”

Between the frantic question-asking and the shuffling movement of cameras and lights, I felt the tension rising in the back of my head.

“Please, everyone, let’s not jump to conclusions,” Kit said, holding out her hands to bring the focus to her. Damn, she was good at this celebrity bullshit. She glanced at me, a half smile and a wink calming me before she faced the reporters again. “There seem to be some assumptions being made that are a little…premature.”

Next to her, Bill cleared his throat, and I had to fight the temptation to glare at him.

“But the video, Kit…”

“Was a lost bet,” I chimed in, ignoring Bill’s dumbass throat clearing. “Look at her, she’s beautiful, but that shi…stuff last night was two friends making stupid bets while drinking a lot.”

“So you’re saying there’s nothing going on?” The reporter who asked the question looked disappointed; she lowered her shoulders, and I swore I spotted a slow pout forming.

“We’re saying,” Kit interjected, “that Kane and I are very…close.” There was a smile working over her lips that I spotted immediately as Kit’s bullshit grin. She used it all the time when we played poker with the crew. The interns always lost to her. I never did, and that grin was the reason why.

“So, you’re confirming…”

“She’s telling you folks that it’s not up for discussion,” I said, exaggerating the gruffness in my voice. It was something Kit fucked with me about sometimes when the cameras were rolling. We never flirted, on air or off, but Bill liked it when I was the butt of Kit’s teasing. It gave the fan sites shit to gossip about. This video sure didn’t do a thing to quash that gossip.

“Okay, guys, we’re filming the header install today, so we need you to head out,” Bill said, waving the reporters back as Kit smiled. She turned her back to them, arms crossed as she nudged the trailer step with the tip of her boot.

“Think they bought it?” she asked, looking down, subtly glancing back to see if they were still watching. When she spotted the cameras continuing to roll, Kit squeezed my wrist, dropping it immediately as though she only just noticed they were still filming.

“Nice,” I said, laughing as she feigned worry over getting caught.

“I did take acting classes at the community college.”

“That explains a lot.”

Kit smiled, but it didn’t seem genuine to me. There wasn’t the usual laughter coloring her skin, and I wondered if this was too much—the kiss she didn’t remember, the faked flirtation with me

“Hey,” I said, not caring who was watching when I grabbed her arm. “Anytime you wanna call bullshit on this, you say the word. I don’t much like pretending for an audience, but this is your gig.”

“It’s yours too,” she said, tilting her head to watch me.

“Nah, it’s not. You know I don’t like the attention.” I looked toward the cabin, head shaking over the amount of work we still had to do and how that excited me. “I like working with my hands, and the network is stupid enough to pay me a lot to do that.” Kit’s face softened when I looked back at her. “It’s a bonus that I get to hang out with my friends while I do it.”

Then Kit’s smile was gone, and I couldn’t be sure, but something in my head told me that she hadn’t liked that comment. Something I was pretty damn sure I imagined had me thinking she didn’t like me calling her a friend. But why the hell would that bother her?

“Well, I guess we should get back to…what are you doing?” she asked when I gripped the door handle and swung the trailer door open. There were no exits. No back ways out, and the windows were too small for even that hipster shrimp to escape. “Kane! Where are you going?” Kit asked when I stepped inside the trailer.

I turned, grabbing the door handle to block Kit from entering. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt him.”

“Wait!” She grabbed my elbow, eyes wide and worried before I could shut the door. “What are you going to do?”

Some of the worry left her expression when I winked at her, and I decided just then to wink at her as much as I could. The effect made my gut flutter like a virgin groom getting a lap dance at his bachelor party.

“Consequences, Kit. Consequences and some weather lessons.”