Caught on Camera (Black Towers Book 1) (7 page)

Chapter Six

“Why do I fall for my leading ladies so much? Well, sometimes it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. You kiss someone every day for a month, you’re going to get some feelings.”

-Cole Anderson, Population Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive

Cole-as-Spike slid his arms around Georgia-as-Haven’s waist. “I missed you, baby.”

“Did you really?” She slid her arms up around his shoulders and threaded her fingers through his hair. The rational side of her knew that she was playing a part. Her character was supposed to be falling for Cole, hard. Unfortunately, there were so many similarities between this situation and the night Cole first kissed her so long ago, that it was hard to keep the two separated. Cheesy as the dialogue in the script was.

“I don't want you to go home tonight.” He tugged her closer, her hips coming flush against his. She felt a surge of heat, and the spark in Cole’s eyes told her he felt it too.

She shook her head. “I don't do one night stands.”

“Who says I’m asking for one night?”

She raised her head and met his gaze. “Then what are you asking for?”

He slid his hand around to the side of her hip, and she gasped at the contact. “I'm asking for you to not think so much. I'm asking for you to take a chance and see where all of this leads.”

“I have a reputation—“

“I don’t give a shit about your reputation.” He tightened his hold on her, thumbs strumming over her hips, and Georgia arched into the touch. His voice lowered and became thick with emotion. “I don't, and you shouldn't either.”

He dropped his gaze to her lips. “The world outside doesn’t matter baby. The future doesn’t matter. All that matters is right, here. Right now. You and me.”

Georgia tilted her head, bracing herself as Cole leaned forward, closing the last of the small distance between them.

Cole was a good actor, but Georgia knew without a doubt that he hadn’t kissed any other actress like this. Raw need welled up inside of her as she pressed her body closer. Cole immediately responded, sliding his hands down over her backside and holding her closer, something not called for in the script but that caused heat to surge between her legs. Georgia felt his erection pressing up against her through his jeans. She resisted the urge to groan and instead tightened her grip around his shoulders, clinging to him as if she was drowning, and he was her only lifeline.

When he finally moved past the seam of her lips and entered her mouth, she was ready. She met his tongue and stroked it, letting him fill her body and soul.

Cole curled his fingers into her flesh and made a low, needy sound as he worked over her mouth. Georgia responded by lifting her leg and hooking it around his hip, also unscripted. Cole's hand immediately went to her thigh, and Georgia whimpered as his long fingers moved over her skin.

“Cut!”

Kevin's voice was like a bucket of ice water, sizzling as it yanked Georgia back to reality. Georgia jerked away from Cole's grasp and stumbled back, blinking hard, trying to return herself to reality.

“That was fucking hot.” Kevin marched over, grinning. “If I didn't know any better, I would have said that you two still had the hots for one another.”

“Imagine that, hey Georgia?” Cole caught her eye. She looked away quickly, but found her gaze drawn to the unmistakable length of his erection, pressing against the seam of his jeans.

Georgia didn’t respond as she tried to clear her head. Cole was just acting. She knew this. He’d shot steamy scenes with a ton of Hollywood starlets over the years. Unfortunately for her, the lines between fantasy and reality had blurred, leaving her feeling unsettled. Cole's kiss had awakened a myriad of emotions, emotions she had buried long ago. Now that they were out, she had to deal with them, but she could possibly deal with them here.

“Yeah. That’s funny.” She lifted her chin and cleared her throat. “Can we take five?”

The director glanced at his watch. “It's close to lunch time. Why don't we take an early lunch? The next scene is much longer and we need to do a set change.”

Kevin retreated, and Georgia started toward the safety of her dressing room.

“Wait.” Cole grabbed her elbow, forcing her to stop.

“Yes?” She carefully blanked her features, wiping the last shred of emotion from her face before turning to meet his gaze.

Cole took a deep breath and pushed his fingers through his dyed hair. “I think we need to talk about that, don't you?”

“Talk about what?”

“What we just did. It was . . . intense.”

Yeah, it was, although to Cole, it was just part of the job. She forced herself to remain calm as she gave him a nonchalant shrug. “There's nothing to discuss. We were just acting, that's all.”

“Yeah, acting.”

“You're a good actor, Cole.”
Too
good. For a moment there, Georgia had been transported back to that night of their first kiss. It had been at a rock concert too, much like the one they had kissed at all of those years ago. The situation had been similar, although Cole wasn't a rock star. He was just a famous actor who had gotten her back stage passes to her favorite band as a birthday present. While waiting for the band, they’d started to drink. They’d started to kiss. They were swept up with the other groupies, and eventually ended up partying with the band in the back of their tour bus.

Georgia’s first job had been on a talent variety show featuring kids, and she’d had a very carefully controlled environment at all time. That night with Cole had been the most fun that Georgia had ever had. The next day, she’d been the one to make the next move, the one that ended with Cole taking her virginity.

“Actor, right.” Cole cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets. “That's what they pay me the big bucks for.”

Tears stung her eyes and she blinked them back. Really, she needed to stop living in the past. That rock concert had been ages ago. Their
relationship
had been ages ago. None of it had to do with the here and now. At one time they might have been close, but then they had gone their separate ways. After this project, they'd go their separate ways once more.

“Yeah, that’s what they pay me for, too.” Her voice was quiet as the implication of his words sunk in. This was just a job to Cole. He wouldn’t mind getting her back in his bed, but nothing more.

Cole owed her nothing, and she certainly didn't owe anything to him.

She wouldn’t analyze why that made her feel hollow and sad. Nor would she think about everything that could have been. There had been plenty of times when Cole could have visited her in rehab, but instead he had chosen to move on with his life. He had dated other women, went on to other projects. Meanwhile, Georgia’s life had gone on hold as she dealt with her addiction and her baby’s death.

“I’ll see you after lunch,” she said as she turned on her heel and retreated to the private sanctuary of her dressing room.

“Georgia, wait.”

She hurried her steps, eager to put more distance between them. Cole was getting under her skin, just like he did all of those years ago. Georgia was going to have to be careful, or else she was going to get her heart broken all over again.

***

Two Days Later

“Cut!”

Cole tried hard not to roll his eyes as Kevin strode over toward them on the set.

“What is it this time?” he asked.

“It's not right. Something's not right.” Kevin waved his hands in the air as he talked.

“I don't understand,” Georgia said. “I thought we were doing fine.”

“The chemistry's all off.” Kevin glanced at Georgia and then refocused on Cole. “Look, I don't know what happened between the two of you, but make it stop, okay? I want to see some of that passion I saw the first day.”

“Fine by me.” Cole held up his hands in mock surrender.

Georgia snorted. “We
are
being passionate.”

“No, you're being argumentative.” Kevin put his hands on her hips. “Something's going on. Georgia, you're recoiling every time Cole touches you. It’s coming through on camera.”

No kidding. Cole crossed his arms. She was doing far more than that, but he wisely refrained from comment. For the past several days, they had been shooting the same set of scenes over and over, trying to get whatever it was that the director wanted. Nothing was working. Cole agreed, the entire project felt 'off,' and it all had to do with Georgia. After that first day of shooting, she had effectively closed the door on any type of relationship, romantic or otherwise. When they weren't shooting, she was hiding in her dressing room, claiming that she needed to study her lines. Not once had she gone out with Cole to try to convince people that they were friendly, let alone getting back together. Her chilly attitude was beginning to affect the other staff. Even when she wasn't in a scene people were stumbling over their lines and messing up cues.

Cole was sure that the tabloids weren't helping. When word broke that both he and Georgia would be working on a project together, the paparazzi had come out of the woodwork, looking for a story. It seemed as if Cole couldn't go anywhere anymore without someone flashing a camera in his face.

“Look,” Kevin said, turning to Georgia. “I know that you are feeling pressure with this project, but trust me, you can do this. If I didn’t think you could, I never would have hired you.”

Georgia looked as if she wanted to say something, but instead pinched her lips shut. Her cheeks stained pink, and Cole resisted the urge to wrap his arm around her waist and give her comfort. His touch wouldn’t be welcome. She had made that abundantly clear over the past couple of days.

Kevin let out a big sigh. “Why don't we break for the weekend? Relax and let loose a little. Use this time to really think about why you're here, and what you hope to gain from this project. On Monday, I don't want to see any more of what went on today. Understand?”

Cole nodded and Kevin turned to Georgia, repeating the question. “Understand?”

“Aren't we shooting the big sex scene on Monday?” Georgia bit her lip and Cole watched as a tremor passed through her.

“We are.”

Georgia hesitated. “I'm sorry. I’m not trying to be difficult.”

Kevin put his hands on her shoulders. “Dig deep, my dear. Find whatever it was that you brought that first day. That's the girl I want to see.”

Georgia nodded, worry furrowing her features. “I'll try.”

Kevin nodded, then turned to the rest of the room. “That's a wrap.” As he began shouting orders, the cast and crew scurried about, putting things away so that they could go home for the weekend. When Georgia started to walk away, panic seized Cole's chest, just like it did every time she dismissed him.

Well, she wasn't going to be able to retreat to her dressing room this time, not before he had a chance to talk to her.

“Georgia, wait up.”

“No.”

“This will only take five minutes.” When she stopped, Cole resisted the urge to fist pump in the air. This was the most attention he had gotten from her all week. “Do you have plans for tonight?”

“Why?”

“Do you want to go out for dinner?”

“I don't think that would be a good idea.” She turned to go.

“Just stop.” He put his hand on her arm. He was getting damn sick of her running away all of the time. “You have to eat, and we're supposed to be seen around town together.”

“Yeah, closer to the release date. Doing a publicity tour now won't do much. The project will be in post-production for months.”

“I'm not talking about a damn publicity tour. I'm talking about dinner.”

“Isn’t it the same thing?" When he didn't immediately respond, she continued. “The only reason why we'd be eating together would be so that people could see us together.”

“Damn it, Georgia.” Cole cursed, grinding his teeth together. “That wouldn't be the only reason, and you damn well know it.”

“What other reason could there possibly be?” She stared up at him, her face outwardly calm, but Cole could see the storm in her eyes.

Instead of answering, he reached out and brushed a stray hair from her cheek. “It’s just dinner.”

She shivered under his touch. She might put up a wall of ice, but underneath that wall she was starting to melt. If he could just remind her of how good they were together…

“Just one dinner. That's all I ask.” He reached out to touch her once more. For a moment, it looked as if she was going to let him, but when only a whisper of air separated them, she jerked back and shook her head.

“No. I can't do this.”

“Why?” There was something here that he wasn’t seeing. Georgia’s attitude went far beyond self-protectiveness after a breakup. But if she wouldn’t let him in, how was he supposed to find out what it was and fix it?

“I just can't. I'll see you on Monday.”

Cole watched her retreat. The woman moved as if the building was on fire and she was desperate to get to safety.