Somehow, they got naked, and his mouth touched her everywhere. Heated, wet kisses and sucks that drove her to the edge of madness. And everywhere she reached for him there was muscle. Hard, flexing muscle against all her soft parts, pressing against her. His push to her pull. A sensual dynamic. She rode that wave of pleasure, lifting against him as he thrust in perfect rhythm, taking her right to the edge, then over.

  That he went with her only heightened the moment. She clutched him, drawing him closer, needing his lips on hers, that intimate contact as her climax burst like an exploding star.

  Breathless, she stayed like that, with Kane’s warm breath against her neck, feeling his body against hers, the two of them entwined, connected.

  She could fall asleep like this. Except Kane was a big guy, and just a little heavy.

  Fortunately, he recognized that and rolled over, stepping into the bathroom for a minute. When he came out he climbed into bed and pulled her against him.

  “Now this is just right,” she said, laying her head on his shoulder.

  “I guess you need to stay here tonight,” he said. “Since your clothes are all wet.”

  “It’s a hardship, but I’ll manage.”

  She could get used to lying here next to him, to hearing his rhythmic breaths as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, listening to the storm outside.

  Chapter

  nineteen

  Kane was surprised that Mae was up before him, which was before dawn since he had an early call. He figured she wanted to sneak back into the house before anyone else got up. Since her clothes were still wet and he didn’t have a dryer, he drove her back to the house wearing his T-shirt and a pair of his shorts, her damp clothes wrapped up in a plastic bag. He kissed her in the car, then lingered, watching her walk up the stairs and into the still-dark house. He knew he’d see her later since she was filming scenes with him today.

  He drove back to the trailer, got dressed, and headed outside, taking in the cold morning air as he made his way straight to hair and makeup. Someone brought him coffee and a breakfast sandwich and he ate while they prepped him for his first scene. This was when he could read news and emails on his phone and relax before the day got started.

  Mae showed up not too much later, dressed a lot differently than she had been when he’d dropped her off. He caught a whiff of her freshly showered scent as she walked by and smiled benignly at him.

  “Morning,” she said.

  “Hey, good morning. Sleep well?”

  She blinked. “Yes, I slept great. How about you?”

  “I was worn out. I slept like the dead.”

  He caught the smirk on the makeup artist’s face in the mirror, so he knew whatever they were doing wasn’t some big secret. Not that he cared, but Mae might.

  After hair, makeup and costume, they headed into the barn. It was only half set up because it was just him and Mae today. It was the scene of the night before the wedding, and the decorators got the ambiance down perfectly. Mae looked beautiful in a silver dress that clung to her curves.

  She looked down at the dress. “This thing is stunning. I wish I was actually going somewhere in it.”

  “I’d like to take you somewhere in it.”

  She smoothed her hand down his suit, making his heart rate kick up like it did every time she touched him. “You look fancy. I could definitely take you out in public.”

  He laughed. “Good to know.”

  “Okay, you two.” Alexis had walked onto the set. “You ready to nail this scene?”

  Mae nodded and Kane smiled at his director. “You got it.”

  He turned to Mae. “How about a fancy dinner tonight? You open?”

  “I’m definitely open.”

  The way she looked at him made him forget where they were, that there were other actors getting into position for the scene. Time to clear his head and get through this. Then, tonight, he could have Mae to himself.

  That thought sustained him as they worked through multiple takes of the barn scene. For some reason Alexis wasn’t satisfied, and he knew damn well it wasn’t him. And it couldn’t be Mae, because her movement and timing had been impeccable, so it must have been the background players. Then again, sometimes Alexis just got into a mood and it was hard to satisfy her. He’d worked with her enough to know you just had to go with it until she was happy with a take.

  It took almost until two before they finished that scene. Kane was never happier to take a break.

  He walked with Mae back to the costuming trailer.

  “What do you have up next?” she asked.

  “Just a quick scene where I’m talking on the phone. It shouldn’t take long.”

  “That’s good.”

  “How about you?” he asked. “What does the rest of your day look like?”

  “Busy. I have work to catch up on.” They walked up the steps of the trailer together, and the costumers immediately separated them so they could remove the clothing. When she came out, he was waiting for her and they exited the trailer together.

  “You didn’t have to wait,” she said.

  “How was I going to see you again if I didn’t wait for you?”

  She laughed, then looked around before rising up to brush a kiss to his lips. “Text me about dinner.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  She disappeared along the path, and he pivoted to head toward the next scene, which fortunately didn’t take long. Apparently whatever mood Alexis had been in earlier had dissipated. When she called cut, the crew dispersed. He went over to Alexis.

  “How’s everything going?” he asked.

  She looked up from the script. “What? Oh, fine.”

  “You seemed bugged about this morning’s scene.”

  She frowned. “Did I? I thought it went fine.”

  “Really. You asked for multiple takes, so there was obviously something wrong with it.”

  “Oh, that. The lighting just wasn’t right. And this would be a whole lot easier to film if Everly was here. Then we could get multiple camera angles in on one shot. Not having her here is going to cause delays, and delays cost money, and I’ve already got producers breathing down my neck.”

  He watched the way she paced while she talked. There was probably a lot more going on that he wasn’t privy to. “I’m sorry. That’s a lot of pressure on you.”

  “Which isn’t something you need to be concerned about. It’s all going beautifully and we got lucky that Mae and Everly are practically twins—at least from behind. That fact has already saved time and money.”

  “Everly said she shouldn’t be too much longer.”

  “That’s what her agent told me. Let’s hope that’s true. Once she gets here, we can really get rolling.”

  “Okay, I’ll let you get back to work.”

  He started to walk away.

  “Kane?”

  “Yeah?”

  Her smile was angelic. “Thanks for checking on me.”

  He grinned. “Always.”

  He went back to his trailer, changed into sweats and a T-shirt, got in his car and went to the gym so he could do a hard workout. It felt great to build up a sweat. Taking a morning run, working with the hand weights and doing pushups in his trailer just wasn’t cutting it for him. He needed to go through the entire cycle his trainer had set out for him just to keep him in the barest minimum of decent shape, especially when he was filming. Thankfully he wasn’t going to be shirtless in this film, which would give him a break, but he still felt a lot better if he could get a full-body workout in.

  He was in the middle of a bench press set when a pretty set of green eyes peeked over the bar.

  “Um, excuse me, but aren’t you Kane August?”

  He racked the bar and sat up, taking in some deep breaths as he looked at the young woman, huddled close to her friend. “I am. What’s your name?”

  “Oh. I’m Karie. And this is my friend Alina. I was wondering, if it’s not too much bother, if we could get a selfie with you?”

  He was sweaty and disgusting, but if they could handle it, so could he. “Sure.”

  They clicked a couple of pics, thanked him and were on their way. Fortunately, no one else came up to him, so he could finish his workout. As he did his wind-down on the stationary bike, he scanned the exterior through the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching people come from and go into the various businesses and restaurants. He snapped back when he thought he saw someone with a camera lurking behind one of the pillars of a nearby building. But when he looked again, no one was there.

  It was probably just his imagination, sparked by the two women who’d asked for a selfie.

  Paranoid much, dude?

  So far he’d been lucky here. He knew some people had recognized him, and it was a well-known fact that he was in the area filming, but the production had done an excellent job keeping the paparazzi away from the shoot. No one got on the production site without passing through security.

  He got in his car and drove back to his trailer, took a shower, then searched online for a fun place to have dinner tonight. He found a few and texted Mae to ask which one she’d like best. She replied right away and told him to choose, that all of them were good. He picked one that sounded the best to him and made a reservation, let Mae know what time he’d pick her up, then settled in to answer a few emails. There was one from his agent, who had a few prospective projects lined up for him and wanted him to look over some scripts.

  Normally the idea of a new project would excite him, but for some reason he didn’t feel that spark and wondered why.

  Maybe it was because he’d done the last three films back to back to back, and he needed some downtime. That had to be it. After this film wrapped he’d take a nice, long vacation, decompress, and then he’d be ready to take on a new project. He replied to his agent that they’d talk after the holiday season. That would give him time to decide if that was what he really wanted to do.

  By the time he put away his work for the day, it was time to get ready for dinner. His pulse quickened at the thought of seeing Mae again. He changed into dark jeans and a white button-down shirt, slid into his boots, then grabbed a jacket and got into his car to drive over to the main house.

  He walked up to the porch and rang the doorbell, surprised when the door was answered by Johnny Bellini. He’d met the Bellinis his first day on set, when Johnny and Maureen had greeted the cast and crew with some homemade pasta and bottles of wine. They’d made everyone feel welcome.

  “Kane. It’s good to see you again.”

  “You, too, Johnny.”

  They shook hands and Johnny invited him inside.

  “Mae, she’s not ready yet. Come inside, I have basketball on the TV.”

  “Sounds good, thanks.”

  He followed Johnny back to the main living room. It felt like home here, warm and comfortable.

  “Where’s Maureen?” he asked.

  “She went to dinner and out shopping with some friends. I get a nice quiet evening by myself to watch my sports and no arguing over the TV shows.”

  He laughed. “Sounds ideal.”

  “You want a beer? Some wine?”

  Kane shook his head. “I’m good, thanks.”

  “So,” Johnny said, keeping his attention on the game. “You’re dating our Mae, huh?”

  Uh-oh. “Yeah. She’s an amazing woman and I enjoy spending time with her.”

  “Hmm.” Johnny ate a chip.

  “You have concerns?”

  Johnny leveled a look at him. “She had her heart broken before. Real bad. I don’t want that to happen to her again.”

  Whoa. Okay, that was definitely fatherly protectiveness. And even though Johnny wasn’t Mae’s dad, he’d obviously taken it upon himself to be her protector. Kane liked that. “I have no intention of hurting her.”

  Johnny nodded. “Good.”

  “Hey, did I lose my dinner date to the basketball game?”

  He got up and turned around. Mae stood in the doorway dressed in a wow, knock-him-on-his-ass black dress that showed off a lot of her gorgeous legs.

  “Wow. You look beautiful.”

  She graced him with a stunning smile. “Thanks. So do you.”

  “Kane’s right,” Johnny said. “You look pretty. Now, go. Have fun.”

  “Thanks,” Kane said. “You have a good night, too.”

  He walked over to Mae and they headed outside. When he held the car door for her, he inhaled her sweet, lemony scent. “You smell good, too.”

  She reached for him, swiping her hand across his jaw. “Keep up that sweet talk and we’ll never make it to dinner.”

  “I do know how to order in, ya know.”

  She laughed. “Get in the car and drive.”

  He’d already programmed the GPS for the location of the restaurant, so he started driving.

  “How did the rest of filming go today?” Mae asked.

  “Much easier than the earlier scene. Then I went to the gym and did a hard workout.”

  “I’ll bet that felt good.”

  “It did. Oh, and I got an email from my agent about upcoming projects.”

  “Is that right? Anything good?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t look at any of his suggestions. I told him we’d regroup after the holiday season. I’m…busy right now.”

  She was silent for a few minutes, then said, “Why do I get the feeling there’s more to it than just you being…busy right now?”

  She was right, but since he couldn’t put his finger on why he’d hesitated on jumping on potential new projects, he couldn’t explain it. Not to Mae. Not to himself, either. Which was why it was the right call to back-burner it for now.

  “Honestly? I don’t know. I’ve worked a lot over the past couple of years. I want some time to think about what’s next, and I’m not in the mood right now, if that makes sense.”

  “Fair enough.”

  He liked that she didn’t push him to talk about something when he wasn’t ready. He’d dated women before who were only interested in his career, in his celebrity. What was next for him. What exciting projects he had down the line. What famous people he knew. Mae didn’t seem the least bit interested in that, but treated his work like his job. She asked him about his day, and if he wanted to talk about it, great. If he didn’t, that was fine, too.

  It was so…normal.

  He drove them to Redrock Canyon Grill, a restaurant that sat right on the edge of a nice lake. Even though it was dark, it was a clear night and the moon lit up the water.

  “I’ll bet sunsets here are amazing in the summer,” he said as they made their way inside.

  “They’re pretty spectacular. Maybe you’ll come by sometime if you have free time in the summer and we can eat here, watch the sun go down.”

  Something about her being so nonchalant about him not being around past the movie shoot made his stomach tighten. “Yeah, maybe I’ll do that.”

  The hostess seated them in a spot next to the windows. Their server showed up right away to take their drink orders.

  “Bottle of wine?” he asked.

  “You know, I think I’ll have an Aperol spritz instead.”

  He ordered beer and then perused the menu, which looked outstanding, mostly because it had several types of steak.

  “What looks good to you?” he asked.

  “I’m pondering the chicken or the pork chop. How about you?”

  “Either the ribs or the ribeye. Or maybe the filet. They all look good.”

  She gave him a half smile. “You’re such a red meat guy.”

  Their server brought their drinks, so he had to wait to respond. When he did, he said, “Hey, I like seafood, too. And salad. That has meat in it.”

  She took a sip of her drink. “Nothing wrong with red meat. I’m a fan. Just not every day.”

  “It’s hard to grow up in Texas, around all the cattle ranches, and not be a red meat guy.”

  “I suppose that’s true. Though I don’t know if I could be around those sweet cows every day, knowing they’re going to be slaughtered for someone’s dinner.”

  “And yet you eat meat.”

  “I know. It’s an ethical dilemma that I struggle with.”

  “Agree. There are arguments to both sides.” He took a drink of beer, then said, “For example, the potential negative effect on the planet from animal emissions. Ethical treatment of animals. On the other side, potential animal overpopulation and its effect on the ecosystem. Producing an overabundance of vegetables can potentially cause the same environmental problems as meat production.”

  She blinked. “Wow. You’ve thought about this.”

  “I wrote a paper on it in college.”

  “No kidding. I’d like to read that.”

  He laughed. “No, really, you wouldn’t. It’s long and dry and boring.”

  She lifted her glass, took a sip, her gaze never leaving his. “Do I look bored?”

  “You look beautiful.” He reached over and slid his knuckles lightly across her cheek. “I want to kiss you.”

  “Hmm. I’ll have to think about all the reasons you should. Or shouldn’t. Maybe you could write me a paper about it.”

  “Funny.”

  Their server returned to take their food order, and promptly disappeared. He liked servers that didn’t linger or make small talk. And he really liked this table in the corner where they had the nice view.

  The food was outstanding. It didn’t escape his notice that he and Mae never ran out of things to talk about, whether it was something philosophical like the ethics of eating meat or something simple like favorite books or movies. They had even discussed the games they’d played as kids. And with every conversation, he found out new things about her. The more he found out, the more he liked.