“That must be a lonely existence.”

  “You’d like to think so, but if they have a big enough entourage, with assistants and hangers-on who continually stroke their egos, then they don’t feel lonely. It’s all fake, of course, but they don’t realize it.”

  “I notice you don’t have an entourage.”

  He grinned. “Yeah, that’s not my thing. I do fine on my own.”

  “And yet you’re a big movie star.”

  He shrugged. “It’s all an illusion. I’m surrounded by plenty of people on set and at premieres, plus when I have to do promotion for a film. The last thing I need is more people following me around when they don’t have to be. I have an agent and a publicist and they take care of the business that needs taking care of. Otherwise, I’m good.”

  “Yeah, you are.” She laid her head on his shoulder and continued to sip her iced tea.

  That felt good. She felt good sitting next to him. All in all, this night was going well.

  When they finished their drinks, they headed back to the car. Kane had been careful tonight, had kept his head down in order to avoid being recognized. He didn’t see any cameras or gawkers, so hopefully he’d been successful. Not that he was worried for himself. He was used to being in the public eye. But the last thing he wanted to do was to expose Mae to this lifestyle he’d signed on for.

  They drove back to the main house. He got out and walked over to open her door, wishing he could find someplace private to be alone with Mae. He thought about asking her back to his trailer, but for some reason that wasn’t the place he wanted to bring her.

  “Do you want to come in?” she asked. “Johnny and Maureen are out of town visiting friends for a couple of days, so I’m in this big house all alone.”

  And, jackpot. “Yeah, I’d like that.” He followed her up the stairs, unable to keep from focusing his attention on her amazing legs.

  She used her key to open the front door of this incredible farmhouse, then walked inside, closing the door behind them.

  He started to ask for a tour, but then Mae pushed him against the wall just inside the door. Her hands crept along his chest, snaking along his stomach, sending his dick into rock-hard mode.

  “We’re alone,” she said. “And we’ve danced around this attraction long enough, don’t you think?”

  He smoothed his hand over her back, eager to feel more of her, all of her. “Bold approach.”

  She shrugged. “I go after what I want, and you know as well as I do that there’s this smoking hot chemistry between us.”

  He picked her up, scooping his hand under her butt, then shifted around, pressing her against the wall. “Chemistry, huh? Let’s set it on fire and see what happens.”

  He put his mouth on hers. The explosion of heat ignited a desire he’d never felt so intensely.

  Yeah, they were gonna burn it down tonight.

  Chapter

  thirteen

  Kane’s kiss incinerated her, made her feel as if she were melting from the inside out. Mae rocked against his erection, needing his touch, his mouth all over her, his cock inside her. She needed him right now.

  Someone was moaning. Loudly. Were those sounds coming from her?

  “Your room,” he groaned.

  “Upstairs. Second door on the right.”

  Without taking a breath he carried her up all those stairs, his mouth on her neck, licking and sucking until she thought she might come from the sheer pleasure of it. He shoved the door open and laid her on the bed, then pulled his shirt off while he toed out of his boots, then began to unbuckle his belt. She leaned forward and removed her boots and socks and was about to get up so she could get undressed.

  “Oh, no,” he said, kneeling in front of her. “Stay right there.”

  She leaned back on her elbows, anticipation flaring as he swept his hands along the length of her legs from her ankles to her thighs, taking his sweet-ass time doing so. He paused, smiling at her as he grasped her thighs and spread her legs, leaning down to press a kiss to each thigh.

  “You smell good here,” he said. “Everywhere, really.”

  She shuddered as she inhaled, as she watched him lift her dress over her hips, grateful that she’d worn her pink lacy underwear. He teased the top of her panties, then pressed a kiss there, making breathing difficult.

  He grasped her underwear and pulled it down. His warm breath caressed her sex, followed by a slow, delicious lick. She shuddered, enveloped in delicious sensation as he licked and sucked her in all the right places until she thought she might die from the sheer pleasure of it.

  She writhed, totally out of control, having given it up to Kane, who had cupped her butt in his hands and delivered exactly what she so desperately needed. When she orgasmed, it was the sweetest release, a giant quake that rolled on and on until all she felt were the tiny pulses of postrelease.

  She blew out a breath as Kane hovered above her. She smiled at him and cupped the back of his neck, bringing his lips to hers for an incendiary kiss that had her climbing right up that mountain of desire once again.

  He pulled back.

  “What you do to me,” she whispered.

  “We’re just getting started.” He stood, unzipped his jeans and let them drop to the floor along with his boxer briefs. Naked, he was spectacular, all lean muscle and angular planes. All she wanted to do was map every inch of his incredible body.

  He pulled her to stand and she turned so he could unzip her dress. She slid out of it and he unhooked her bra, tossing it to the side.

  He shook his head. “You are so beautiful,” he said, cupping her breasts to tease and stroke her nipples, sending waves of pleasure throughout her body.

  “You know,” he said, “I want to take the time to worship your entire body the way you deserve.”

  She placed her palm on his chest. “That sounds nice and all, and I’d like to do the same to you.” She wrapped her hand around his throbbing shaft. “But what I’d really like is this hard cock inside me.”

  He shuddered in a breath. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

  They climbed onto the bed and he bent over to reach into his jeans at the same time she opened the drawer of her nightstand, both of them pulling out condoms.

  He grinned. “Ever prepared?”

  “Always.”

  “Same,” he said. “But I’ll let you be in charge.”

  “I like the sound of that.” She pushed him onto his back, removed the condom from the wrapper and enjoyed the hell out of the feel of him as she rolled it on. And since he gave her freedom of exploration, she intended to use it, straddling his hips and sliding his cock inside her. She paused, quivering with pleasure as her body wrapped around all that delicious steely flesh.

  Unable to control the pulses, she began to move, sliding forward, then back, all the while using her hands to explore Kane’s magnificent body. She swept her fingertips across his chest, teasing his nipples until he gasped and gripped her hips, dragging her clit across his flesh.

  Now it was her turn to gasp, to scrape her nails along his chest as with every one of his movements she climbed ever closer to climax.

  Kane must have felt it, too, because his breathing sharpened to go along with the quickening of his thrusts. Mae tilted back, her hips arching so he could go deeper, so he could get her there, so he could get them both there.

  He dug his fingers into her hips, that slight pain taking her right over the edge. She let out a loud moan with her climax, the pulses grabbing on to his cock and plummeting him over as well. The two of them shook with the force of it, like an erotic earthquake that made her reach out for him to help her balance. He grasped her hands and she held on while she rode it out, soaking in every delicious tremor until there was nothing left but heavy breathing and lingering peaks of pleasure.

  Mae fell forward, stretching her legs on top of Kane’s and resting her head on his chest. He rubbed her back and shoulders and she swore she was going to stay just like this for the remainder of her days. Naked, languorous, her body aligned with this studly man.

  It would be the perfect way to go.

  But she figured that Kane might go numb with her body weight on top of him, so she rolled off. He got up from the bed and stepped into the bathroom for a minute. She turned onto her side, still feeling lazy and satisfied. When he came out, she couldn’t help herself—she ogled him. Fortunately, he took his time sauntering back to bed, crawling over to her, letting her enjoy the way his muscles flexed as he made his way to her.

  He bent and brushed his lips over hers, then trailed his lips across her jaw and neck, making her shiver with delight.

  “Remember when I said I wanted to take the time to appreciate your glorious body?”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  He blazed a trail of heated kisses from her neck to her breasts to her belly, heading south. “Let’s do that now,” he murmured against her skin.

  As he spread her legs, she said, “Yes, let’s.”

  Chapter

  fourteen

  There was nothing worse than being on a location shoot and having nothing to do, but apparently the crew had some technical glitches to work out before they could resume filming, so Alexis had told Kane that they’d resume within a couple of days.

  Which would have been great if he could have spent that off time with Mae, especially since it was Friday, which would have meant an extended weekend. But she had left early this morning and was now off in Vegas doing the bachelorette party thing with Brenna and her family and friends. So now he had no idea what he was going to do. Go exploring in the area, he imagined. He was fine going off on his own, but hanging out with Mae would have been a lot more fun.

  Someone knocked on his trailer door. Figuring it was Alexis or one of the crew, he hollered for them to come in.

  He was surprised to see Finn, Brenna’s fiancé.

  “Hope I’m not bothering you,” Finn said, hovering on the stairs.

  He got up from the sofa and made his way over to him. “Not at all, Finn. Come on in.”

  “I’ve just got a minute, actually, but tonight’s my bachelor party and I thought you might want to join in, if you’re not busy doing something else.”

  “I literally have nothing else to do, so thanks for the invite. I’d love to come.”

  Finn gave him a wide smile. “Great. You need to be back on set early tomorrow?”

  “As of right now? No.”

  “Good. Because we’re heading out of town.”

  Kane shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

  “Okay. Meet us over at the main house around six. We’re not doing fancy shit, so dress casual. And pack an overnight bag.”

  There was nothing Kane enjoyed more than an adventure. “Sounds perfect. And, Finn?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks again.”

  Finn smiled. “You bet. Later.”

  After Finn left, Kane had a surge of renewed energy. He did a satisfying workout at a local gym, keeping his hat on and his head down, then came back and studied his lines, talked to his agent, then called his dad. The phone call went the way most of the calls with his dad had gone lately. Short. Curt. Dad said he was busy and didn’t have time to talk, but everything was fine. And that was it. After he clicked off, Kane stared at his phone for a long minute. That just wasn’t like him. Something was up, he just couldn’t put his finger on it. He tried his mom but got her voice mail.

  Whatever.

  Fortunately, he had a long phone conversation with his grandpa to see how he was doing. Grandpa was doing great and asked when he’d come visit. He told him soon. Then he checked in with Alexis to get a more firm timeline on the resumption of filming, to which she grumpily replied, “Eventually,” which wasn’t helpful at all. Not that he was some stickler for schedule, but he liked to be able to make a plan.

  Not wanting to bother Alexis when she was irritated, he let the assistant director know he was going to be away from the site overnight. They had his cell if they needed to get in touch, but the AD didn’t think it would be a problem since it might be a couple of days’ delay before filming would resume.

  By the time he’d made a few scene notes and read several chapters in a book, it was time to shower and get ready for tonight. He put on a nice pair of jeans and a black button-down, slipped into his boots and packed a change of clothes. He walked over to the main house, enjoying the cool night air.

  Just as he got to the house he saw a shuttle pull up. No, not a shuttle, it was a party bus. The door opened and the sounds of raucous music blasted from inside.

  Kane walked over and peered in.

  “Kane!” they all yelled in unison.

  When he stepped onto the bus, Kane saw Finn, Jason, Owen, Clay and a few people he hadn’t met yet, so he introduced himself while the bus took off.

  “Drink?” Clay asked.

  “Definitely. What do you have?”

  “Beer. Whiskey. Wine.”

  “Let’s start with a beer.”

  Clay pulled a beer out of the cooler and handed it to him. He twisted the top off and took a deep swallow, letting the liquid cool him off. “Thanks.”

  “Got some time off from filming?” Clay asked, leaning back against the seat and sipping his beer.

  Kane took a seat next to him. “Yeah. A couple of days, apparently. Some technical stuff with the equipment.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t hightail it down to your family’s ranch to spend time with the horses.”

  Kane grinned. “A couple of days isn’t long enough. I’d just get settled and then have to leave.”

  Clay nodded. “Understood. You gotta be able to soak it up. I’m sure you miss it.”

  “You know it.”

  “So, why acting?”

  Kane shrugged. “Just got a feel for it and ran with it.”

  “Havin’ fun?”

  “So far.”

  “Good.” He reached for a bag and tossed it at Kane. “Chips?”

  Kane laughed. “Yeah.”

  One thing about cowboys. They were men of few words, but it was always a great conversation.

  Eventually, the two of them joined in with the rest of the guys, talking about their jobs, their women and where they were headed.

  “Where are we headed, anyway?” Kane asked.

  “Tulsa,” Finn said. “Dinner, drinks and the casino.”

  This was going to be fun.

  It took about two hours to get to Tulsa. The party bus pulled up in front of the casino hotel, which was a lot bigger than Kane expected. Inside reminded him of a Vegas casino, which meant he felt right at home.

  They headed to the registration desk, where Jason arranged their rooms.

  “Kane, you’ll be sharing a bed with Owen.”

  Yeah, that wasn’t gonna happen. He hadn’t shared a room with anyone since college. “Uh…”

  Owen laughed and slapped him on the back. “You should see your face, bro.”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” Clay said, sliding his phone into his jeans. “I got a pic.”

  He cracked a smile. “You guys are all assholes.”

  Jason handed him a key card. “That much is true.” He handed another card to Finn. “You get the fancy room.”

  “Hey, thanks. What’s that gonna cost me?”

  “First round of drinks at the craps tables tonight.”

  “You got it.”

  Jason gathered the group. “We’ll meet in Finn’s room in ten.”

  Kane went up to his room, surprised to find out it was a damn nice suite. Great shower, too, and a big bed. He had a queen bed in his trailer, which wasn’t bad, but he was a tall guy. So he was looking forward to sprawling out in this oversized king bed tonight.

  He used the bathroom, washed up, brushed his teeth, then put on the ball cap he’d brought along. Not the best of disguises, but it was surprising how well it worked to hide his face. Plus, he tended to find that, outside of Hollywood or New York, he could easily disappear in a crowd. It wasn’t like people were on the lookout for celebrities in places like this. He went to the elevator to head up to Finn’s room. Two young women got into the elevator one floor up from his, giving him a lot of stares.

  “Hey,” one of them said, eyeing him close. “Did anyone ever tell you that you look a lot like that movie star Kane August?”

  He frowned. “I get that a lot, though my girlfriend thinks I’m prettier than that guy.”

  The other woman laughed, and the one who asked the question looked him up and down again, then said, “Tell your girlfriend she’s right.”

  They got off on the next floor, and Kane breathed a sigh of relief. That line didn’t always work, but he was relieved it had just now.

  He got to the top floor and searched out Finn’s room, then knocked. Jason answered, a glass of something in his hand. “Finally. Come on in, the party’s getting started.”

  Finn’s suite was…well, sweet. It had a huge living room with a fireplace, along with a dining room table that right now was loaded with food.

  “Figured everyone would want to eat so we could get to drinking,” Owen said. “There’s steak, salmon and all the sides.”

  Kane was hungry, so he joined the guys and they dove into the food, talking while they ate.

  “It must be fun working with animals all day,” Kane said to Jason.

  “It’s like living the dream, man,” Jason said, sliding a piece of steak into his mouth. “Kind of like what you do.”

  “Except you’re saving lives. I’m…popcorn entertainment. Not exactly the same thing.”

  “Hey, don’t underestimate popcorn entertainment,” Owen said. “It’s vital to our survival.”