As she spoke, Veronica locked eyes with Chris. His expression didn’t tell her anything, but he seemed as caught up in Sam’s words as she was.

  “Got it?” Sam asked, her loud voice startling both of them.

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Got it,” Chris said.

  “Great. Let’s run through it.”

  Veronica moved to her mark and looked up at Chris.

  “Action,” Sam said, her voice softer than usual.

  Even though it was just a rehearsal, the cameras were still running. The lighting guys were working on final adjustments overhead, and somehow, all the ordered chaos around them helped her calm down.

  “We’ll spend the night here,” Chris said, in character as Xander.

  Veronica looked around at her surroundings. “Where are we?”

  “This is my place,” Chris said, looking around with her. “Well, one of my places.”

  “Need to hide out a lot?”

  “Not as much as I have since meeting you.”

  Veronica rolled her eyes at him and turned to look at the bed. “Where do you want me to sleep?”

  Chris came up behind her, so close she could feel his body heat all along her back, but he didn’t touch her. It wasn’t time for that yet.

  “You take the bed,” he murmured. “I’ll be fine on the floor.”

  Veronica shivered at the intimate tone of his voice. She knew the cameras would pick up even the slightest sound, and she wondered if it was possible for them to pick up her heartbeat.

  She turned and sat on the bed while Chris sat on a chair and pulled off his boots. Veronica watched him a moment and then took off her dirty sneakers and stood up to pull back the covers on the bed. As she got in and pulled the blankets up, she looked over at Chris as if she didn’t want to but couldn’t help it. Which was pretty much the case with her in real life.

  “Cut.” Sam said. “That was great. I don’t see any problems. Veronica, I like your instincts there, the way you looked at him from the bed. Okay, when we shoot the wide shot, I want to keep going as far as we can through the scene. Let’s get you two into bed together. Got it? Okay, folks. Let’s get the wide shot.”

  While the crew got cameras and lights and boom mics ready to go, Veronica and Chris put their shoes back on and moved back over to the window. Makeup and hair came over to tweak a few things.

  Alan stepped in front of the cameras. “A camera ready? B camera?” Satisfied that the crew was ready, he called out the take number and did his thing with the clapper.

  Sam sat on the platform rig that held the main camera. “Action.”

  Veronica and Chris moved through the scene, this time completely in character, but not fully emoting yet. As they worked, Veronica had to focus on hitting her marks, remembering her lines, being aware of exactly where she was and how she moved so she could do it all again in the close shots. All of that on top of acting. The mental effort it took was exactly what she needed to get her nerves in check. That was, until it was time for Chris to actually get into bed with her.

  “Will you come sleep next to me?”

  Chris’s brows drew together. Scowling was something that he’d made a physical characteristic for Xander. Luckily, Chris’s eyebrows were already dark and straight, so the effect worked really well. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  “Please. I want to feel safe so I can sleep.”

  Chris looked at her for a moment, as if he were trying to make up his mind. Then, with a nod, he got up and came around to lie on the other side of the bed. He laid his head on his pillow, and they both stared up to where the imaginary ceiling was. Veronica could feel his nearness all along her left side as if she was lying next to a fire. More than that, she could feel tension emanating off Chris in waves. She looked over at him, surprised, and then realized that she wasn’t supposed to do that.

  Crap. Now what? Sam hadn’t called cut, so she must be okay with how it was going. The next thing that was supposed to happen was her turning over to face him and ask him a question. What was it? She turned over and bit her lip, trying to remember. After a long moment that felt like eternity to her but was probably only a few seconds, she said, “Xander?”

  “Yes?” Chris asked, turning toward her.

  “Will you hold me?”

  Indecision mixed with alarm flashed across Chris’s face. “If you want.”

  Chris turned over, propping his head up with his left hand, and wrapped his right arm around her, pulling her close. He stared down at her in the dim light. Both of their chests moved as their breath quickened and became more labored. This was it, the place where they were supposed to kiss. Why in the freaking heck wasn’t Sam calling cut?

  With his eyes sweeping over her face, Chris bent slowly, lowering his head to hers. Feeling like a trapped butterfly, Veronica waited. Then with a flash, she realized that she was supposed to kiss him first. So with a quick movement, she raised her head and met his lips with hers. His arms tightened around her, pulling her tighter against him. Then he turned them over so that he was on top of her, pressing her deeper into the pillows.

  Veronica’s senses swam as his lips moved over hers. This felt different than any onscreen kiss she’d ever had. No one had ever made her feel like she was drowning in marshmallows and rainbows before, especially not with thirty different people looking at them.

  No. No. No. This couldn’t happen. She could not let her real feelings get tangled up with Eden’s fictional ones.

  She turned her head ever so slightly and moved her hands from the back of his neck where they’d been running through the short hair at the nape of his neck, clearly with a mind of their own, to push up against his chest.

  He raised up slightly, pulling back from the kiss. “Oh yeah, I was supposed to stop more quickly than that, huh?”

  “I don’t know,” she whispered back. “Were you?”

  “Yeah. But I couldn’t.”

  His voice, even whispering, was rough, raspy. She searched his eyes, but his face was too shadowed to read his expression.

  “Cut,” Sam called. Finally. “Chris, don’t turn her over like that. It’s going to make it hard to film the closeups. Remember where the cameras are. And Veronica, be sure you go in for the kiss first next time.”

  Next time. Veronica closed her eyes, trying not to panic. Of course there would be a next time. Probably twenty next times since they would have to do take after take after take. How in the world was she going to survive this? Her brain had almost melted after just one.

  “But whoa!” Sam pulled at the neckline of her shirt, as if trying to cool down. “Somebody bring me a fan. You guys are lighting it up down there. Okay, you guys are all set up. Let’s just get all the takes we need of this kiss and then we can go back and do the beginning of the scene later. Let’s get those cameras ready, people. We’re going in closer.”

  Chris shifted off of her and turned to flop back on the pillows. “What happened to not giving everything you’ve got in the wide shot?” he asked.

  Veronica sat up and pointed at herself. “Me?” she asked in an agitated whisper. “What about you? You’re the one who went overboard there.”

  He grinned. “No way. I was just following your cues. You’re the good actor here, remember?” Then he sat up too, his abs flexing in a distracting way. He leaned close, so very, very close. Then he whispered, “Unless you weren’t acting.”

  Veronica felt her cheeks grow hot. In fact, her whole body felt flushed. Before she could answer, she realized they were still on mic. She turned, shooting a look to the sound director, who would still be able to hear everything they were saying. Sure enough, the guy’s eyes were the size of saucers. With a hard, angry push against Chris’s chest, she turned away to let the hair and makeup people do their thing.

  She had been acting. Hadn’t she?

  Chapter Ten

  Chris would have been lying to himself to think that filming this scene had not been the best day on a movie set for him ever. Easily. No competition. The best. If he was being really honest, he’d even thrown a few takes, just so he could kiss her again. Twenty-seven kisses. That’s how many times it had taken before Sam had been happy with the shots they’d gotten.

  When she’d finally announced that it was time for a dinner break, he turned to Veronica. They needed to talk.

  As much as he’d decided that he would never get involved with a co-worker again, he would have to have been an idiot not to understand what the intensity of those kisses meant—what they could lead to. No matter how many times they’d kissed, the chemistry had not gone away. In fact, it had only gone up every time. If it hadn’t been for the film crew all around them and Sam calling “Cut!” every time things were starting to get good, he would have lost himself in the moment with her and not looked back.

  They needed to talk.

  “Veronica,” he said, ripping off the tape that held his mic on.

  “I’ll be in my trailer,” she announced. Not to him. She was talking to Alan. He was clearly not invited to follow her.

  A mass of frustration and questions, Chris went to the canteen to get some dinner. The smell of garlic and cumin and grilled meat hit him even before he went through the doors. Kissing Veronica all afternoon had apparently made him as hungry as a whole day of filming fight scenes, because his stomach growled painfully as soon as he saw the spread of catering dishes full of fajita meats, onions, peppers, and warm tortillas. Along with refried beans and rice, this was exactly the kind of meal he liked. Unfortunately, he was still on his diet.

  Clenching his teeth, he put grilled fajita chicken and beef on a plate with a few of the veggies and walked away from the tortillas and rice. He also grabbed a bottle of water, even though everyone else around him was surviving the long hours on sugary, caffeinated soda and energy drinks. As he walked to a seat, he noticed that people were watching him warily, quickly stepping out of his way. When he sat down at a table in the back and the two people sitting there scarfed down the rest of their food and hurried away, he realized that his extreme frustration must show on his face.

  He was almost done eating when he became aware that someone was staring at him. Looking up, he saw Sam sitting across the table from him. Creepy. He had no idea how long she’d been there, since he’d been lost in his own dangerous thoughts. “Need something?”

  “Word is flying all over this studio that you’re in a really bad mood. Looks like you are.”

  Chris pushed his plate away and reached for his bottle of water. “You try eating nothing but protein and vegetables for three months.”

  Sam glanced at his empty plate and rolled her eyes. “So why were you fine earlier but not now?”

  “Because I’m hungry now, and I want carbs.”

  Nodding, Sam smiled. But it was the kind of smile that was meant to pacify him. “I can understand how that would make you cranky. How are you feeling about everything else?”

  “Sam, look—I know what you’re doing. But I’m fine. Whatever I’m feeling, it’s not going to interfere with your schedule. Relax.”

  Sighing, Sam crossed her arms and leaned forward over the table. When she spoke again, her voice was soft. “Listen, whatever is going on between you and Veronica is your business. But if you guys get involved and things go south during production, it will be a disaster. None of us want that, right?”

  “Nothing is happening.” Chris clenched his jaw at how true that was, then reminded himself he wanted it that way. Or had wanted it that way. “Stop worrying.”

  Sam stared back at him for a long moment. Disbelief was written all over her face. “Fine,” she said at last. She stood up, but before she walked away, she added “Go eat a cookie or something. We’re shooting the rest of that bedroom scene in twenty minutes.”

  As she walked away, Chris chugged the rest of his water and put his dishes in the bus tray. He needed to get back to his trailer and brush his teeth so he didn’t breathe fajita all over Veronica the rest of the day.

  He still wanted to talk to her privately, just to clear the air. Their emotions had been too heightened for things not to be awkward and tense now. Maybe after they were done shooting for the day, he would be able to convince her to go to dinner. Not as a date. No, just as a way to work things out away from the crew. There were a few places in LA he could take her without being bothered by paparazzi and fans. Or maybe she’d rather stay out of the public eye completely and eat at his place. They could order something in.

  When he saw her across the set a short time later, however, she was staring across at him like she was lost. The crew surged around them—gaffers, sound techs, makeup artists, stunt men, set designers, producers—but they were all background noise, muffled by the beating of his heart. Without a clue what he was doing, he walked toward her, keeping his gaze locked on hers.

  “Here we go, folks.” Sam called from somewhere to his right. “Let’s get this done so we can go home.”

  Alan came toward him, intercepting him and directing him to his mark in front of the window. “Ready for your closeups?” he asked.

  Chris raised an eyebrow at him. “Always.” Actually though, he hated this part of making a movie. It required more depth, more expression, and more artistry than any other shots they made, but instead of interacting with a person, he had to communicate with a camera.

  The cameraman got into position, below him and angled up so the audience could see him through Eden’s eyes. There was an x marked out in red on the right side of the lens, which was where he needed to focus his eyes while Veronica fed him lines.

  Sam called action, and Veronica gave him his line. “Where are we?”

  Her voice hit him like a jolt of static. The hair on his arms stood straight up. “This is my place.” He made a show of looking around. “Well, one of my places.”

  “Need to hide out a lot?”

  He fought a compelling urge to turn and look at Veronica, but focused in on the red x. He was Xander. Conflicted, raw, tired, and in love. “Not as much as I have since meeting you.”

  “Cut!” Sam called. She looked at the footage they’d just done. While they waited, Chris looked back at Veronica, but she was looking down at her script. Then Sam told them to run it again with a few modifications.

  This went on for a while, Veronica and Chris finally switching places when Sam was satisfied with the closeups. Then she moved them over to the bed where he was standing over Veronica’s shoulder. “Okay, Chris. You want her, but she can’t know it. You have this brief second where she can’t see your face, so let the audience see what you feel.”

  What Xander feels, he told himself. Not what he felt.

  “Same for you, Veronica. Okay, camera’s ready?”

  The shot involved him walking up behind her and then saying his line. This time, he was interacting with Veronica, so it was easy to connect with the chemistry and tension of the moment. As he moved in behind her, so close he would brush against her if she swayed the slightest bit toward him, the scent of coconut filled his senses.

  He forced his voice to stay soft and controlled. “You take the bed. I’ll be fine on the floor.” The slightest bit of roughness gave a sensual roughness to his voice he hadn’t planned on.

  Veronica continued to look down at the bed, but he heard the quickening of her breath. The moment dragged on, the two of them alone in the intimate lights, but surrounded by people fixed on their every move and sound. At last, Sam said, “Cut.”

  Veronica let out a deep breath and squeezed away, holding herself stiffly as if she was afraid to touch him.

  “That was…perfect,” Sam said.

  Whirling around, Veronica asked, “You have what you need?” There was a note of panic in her voice.

  Sam watched her carefully. “Yes, I have enough.”

  “I’m tired. I…I need to rest.”

  “Go home,” Sam told her in a gentle tone. “We need you first thing tomorrow.”

  Veronica nodded and left, not looking at him again, not even for a second. He started to follow her.

  “Wait, Chris,” Sam called. “We need some close shots of you taking your shoes off.”

  He spun around and went to the rickety wooden chair near the bed, clenching his teeth the whole while. In fact, he clenched them all the way through the scene, just trying to hold his frustration inside. If he didn’t get done soon, she’d leave before he could talk to her.

  “The ladies are going to love that jaw action,” Sam said after a few takes.

  “Good. Are we done?”

  “Yes,” Sam said, turning back to the screen and the shot they’d just taken. “See you in the morning.”

  Chris didn’t wait around for her to change her mind. He strode away, maneuvering his way through the circus the set was this time of night with the crew shutting things down and prepping things for the next day. By the time he got outside, he broke into a jog, aiming for her trailer. When he got there though, Deb was just coming out, locking the trailer for the night.

  “Is she gone?” he asked.

  “You just missed her.”

  Chris sighed. “Thanks. I’ll call her.” He turned to go to his trailer and get his phone.

  “She won’t answer, I’m sorry. She told me she was shutting it off for the rest of the night. She’s really tired, I guess.”

  “Yeah,” Chris answered. Tomorrow. He’d talk to her tomorrow.

  Chapter Eleven

  By the time Veronica got home, she was a complete mess—a shell drained of energy and overtaxed by strong emotions that she had to both show and hide. She should have known—known!—she couldn’t keep herself together around Chris. At least, not while doing love scenes.

  Good heavens, the man could kiss. Wasn’t it bad enough that he looked the way he did and smelled the way he did and had eyes like his that pierced you to the soul and ripped your guts out? Did he also have to turn her into molten, goopy, languorous honey with his kiss? How did he do that when the kiss didn’t even mean anything?