When Stars Fall [EBOOK and PAPERBACK PUBLISHED]

6. Wyatt - 2004

Thirteen Years Ago

She giggles underneath me, and I grin down at her. God, she's gorgeous. There are a lot of pretty women in show business, but there's something about her I can't pinpoint. I'll stare at her all day, happier than a pig in shit. Just one problem nags me, tugging on my arm, begging me to pay attention. At twenty-one, she's too young and unjaded to be with me. My lifestyle isn't one I'd want to drag anyone into. I'll ruin her.

"Ellie," Martin, the director calls. "Move your hand about three inches farther down Wyatt's right thigh." He peers through the camera. "On action, have your hand travel up his leg, across his spine to his right shoulder, okay?"

"Sure, Martin." The smile never leaves her face.

"Wyatt—" Martin starts.

"I know how to make love to a woman." I glance at him before giving Ellie a cocky grin. She blushes. Too easy.

Martin huffs out a breath and sighs. "Don't be a jackass, Wyatt. This is Ellie's first love scene. I don't want her complaining to the union that you sexually harassed her."

He's joking. Isn't he?

Still, she is pretty green.

"You okay?" I waggle my eyebrows. "You don't feel harassed, do you?"

Her brown eyes sparkle with amusement. Martin needs to call action so I can finally kiss her. We've been dancing around each other for weeks. I've seen some of the footage—our chemistry crackles on screen. Off, too. A tease. A torment. Nothing I can follow through on once Martin calls cut.

She arches her back, pressing herself closer. Our bodies mold like two halves cut from the same whole. "I don't feel too much harassment—yet." Her sly grin kills me.

I've been holding myself a little above her so I don't crush her while Martin fiddles with cameras and lighting, but I let myself down so she doesn't question how much I could be into this, into her. "I hope you're not questioning my ability to harass you." My tone is playful, but my intentions definitely aren't.

She sucks in a breath and desire enters her eyes.

Normally sex scenes are awkward, sometimes disgustingly sweaty, and occasionally entertaining. None of those apply here. I'm going to enjoy this one.

"Is there anything I should know?" She bites her lip.

"About?" I give her a quizzical look.

"When he calls action?" She looks uncertain for the first time.

Earlier when she dropped her robe with no inhibitions, she won the coolest woman award. No pomp and circumstance. No calls for better lighting or last minute shuffling of props to cover her assets. Just naked glory. False bravado or not, she oozes confidence. Women who know they are hot, but not in a cocky way, are my favorite. The Hollywood machine is building her confidence, but eventually something will start to tear it down. Inevitable. Can only climb so high.

"Just be in the moment." My advice is terrible, but Martin is going to stop and start us five hundred times anyway. We might as well enjoy the first take. 

"Okay, Wyatt, reset, Ellie reset." Martin circles around the set one last time before going to his perch to watch and direct.

Her hand skims along my thigh and up to my shoulder blades, tracing the path she'll take when he calls action. A shiver runs through me. Yeah, I'm going to enjoy this.

Under her lashes, our gazes meet. My dick, which is already hard to the point of pain, tightens a fraction. The fifty or so people out of the room need to leave immediately so we can engage in a little bit of practice.