Heart of Steele (28 page)
Authors: Randi Alexander
Reno unconsciously tucked her shoulder-length
brown hair behind her ear. The same way Chase had two days ago when
he caught her alone out behind the sound stage. She’d thought he
was going to kiss her then, and excitement had warred with panic.
But self-preservation kicked in and she’d used her preferred
diversion, pulling her phone out of her pocket and pretending to
take a call.
On the stage, Chase started singing a twangy
ballad while picking out the notes on his guitar. “She’s the one
I’ve been looking for, she’s the light behind that hidden door.
Can’t figure out where she’s been all my life, but I don’t wanna be
without her any more…”
The words were too romantic and the
implication too obvious. People turned to look at her, seeing if
she’d react. She finished her beer and smiled back at them,
carefully displaying only calm, casual, and unaffected. Inside, her
whole body tensed as she felt Chase’s eyes on her. Anticipation
made her blood pump crazily through her veins.
“New song. Huh?” Tracy purred the words.
“Wonder who he wrote it for?” She winked, and her bright green eyes
twinkled.
Reno would love to deny it, but her friend
was right. It was meant for her. The words were a running narration
of their first meeting and every interaction they’d shared since.
She’d pushed him away, had kept him at arm’s length, let him know
they were just friends. Why wouldn’t he leave her alone?
Because she was fascinated with him, and he
knew it. She should have said “no” the first time he asked to sit
with her at the commissary. She could have refused all those times
he offered to drive her back to their hotel after a long day of
shooting. So, why hadn’t she?
She just plain enjoyed spending time with
him. He was an incredibly talented, intelligent, and kind man.
She’d never met anyone like him.
The song ended and the crowd applauded and
cheered.
Risking a glance at the stage, she blushed
when Chase tipped his hat to her. She turned away. Damn. She wasn’t
looking for a quickie, and he wasn’t looking for a relationship.
She’d seen the tabloids. He went through women faster than he went
through guitar picks. She didn’t care how fantastic a lover he was.
There were things she just didn’t do, and a sexual hookup was one
of them.
Absolutely. Positively. No. She snuck another
look at him.
Beatrix took her cup. “Another beer?”
She blinked a few times to clear her
thoughts. “Yeah, sure.”
Her friend smiled. “Then I want to hear what
your reason is
today
for not pouncing on that big hunk of a
man and sexing him into a coma.”
Reno grabbed her cup back. “Then I don’t want
another beer, thank you.”
Beatrix laughed, took the cup, and strolled
off.
Chase’s band started playing his number-one
hit, a song about a woman with an impressive backside. Reno smiled.
This one could also have been written about her.
Chase set his guitar on a stand behind him.
“Yee-haw!” People shouted back and lined up to do the dance made
famous by his music video.
The song rocked and she found herself
wiggling to the beat.
Tracy flipped her gorgeous blonde hair over
her shoulder. “Have you decided how long you’re staying in
California?”
“Two more days. I have a few things to finish
up.”
“Then you’re going back to frigid South
Dakota?” She sipped her beer, her long, lean body looking like she
rarely imbibed in anything so decadent.
Reno nodded. “I haven’t been home in six
weeks. My brother plows out the driveway once a week to water my
plants and make sure no one has broken in—”
Tracy’s mouth dropped opened. “Are you that
remote?”
She had to smile. “Yes. It’s a long way from
civilization.” She touched her friend’s arm. “I’d love for you to
come and visit. Anytime you want to get away from LA. The house is
on the edge of the woods and overlooks miles of wheat fields that
my family farms.” But now, in mid-winter, there would be three feet
of snow on the ground and no one around to bother her. Over the
last few days, she’d been trying to finalize the curriculum for her
adult education class this spring, but her schedule took up nearly
every waking hour.
She listened to the band for a minute,
watching the crowd acting wild. “I’ve really enjoyed LA, but I
can’t wait to have a little peace and quiet.”
“You know I’m going to miss you when…”
Tracy’s eyes opened wide as she looked over Reno’s shoulder.
Reno sensed his presence before he got
close.
“She’s got the curves, and I got the nerve,
to take her for my own.” Chase sang, coming up behind her.
She started to turn, but he grabbed her
around the waist and pressed himself against her ample backside,
swaying them both to the music. His chest felt rock-hard against
her back, and his big arm pressed up against the bottom of her
breast. His hips ground into her butt.
Too many people were staring, nudging each
other, and grinning. Breathless from the embarrassment, her head
started to spin. Weak woman that she was, she shook with a burst of
lust that burned low in her belly. God, how she wanted this man. He
was pure temptation and her hands itched to grab his thighs and
give him a wicked grinding in return.
She snapped back to reality and stiffened her
body against her own response.
He was coming on strong. Strong enough to
make her wish she could get her friggin’ moral compass to point
another direction, just for one naughty night.
The band’s lead guitarist started a blaring,
wailing solo on stage, which drew people’s attention away from her.
Chase bent his head and his breath warmed her ear. “My trailer. Ten
minutes.” He released her and his booted steps faded as he headed
back to the stage.
She nearly fell backward. His trailer. Alone
with him. A chill of desire shuddered through her, puckering her
nipples into tight points and forcing blood down low to swell her
tingling, needy lips. She wanted to lie on his bed and watch him
kiss a path down her body, settling between her legs, his cowboy
hat brushing her thighs as his tongue flicked…
“Oh no you don’t.” She spoke the words to
herself. What was she thinking? If she had a car here, she’d leave
the party right now. How else could she avoid temptation?
Beatrix came back with their beer. “Your face
is as red as this cup. What did I miss?”
Tracy beamed. “Chase stopped by for a
visit.”
“Oooh.” Beatrix moved closer. “What did he
say?”
Reno shook her head and took her beer.
“Nothing. He was just working the crowd.”
Tracy leaned closer. “Reno, I saw his lips
moving. What did he say?”
She shot her a warning look. “He asked why I
hang out with such annoying women.”
Beatrix and Tracy laughed. “Did he give you
his room number?” Tracy wiggled her eyebrows.
Reno rolled her eyes, anxious to end this
conversation. She sipped her beer, looking at the stage where Chase
finished the set with some wild gyrations and jumps.
“Thank you.” He tipped his hat to the
cheering crowd, and the band took a bow while their sound guy put
in a CD.
Chase left the stage and disappeared through
the door leading to the next sound stage where the actors’ trailers
were housed. Where he’d be waiting for her to join him.
She looked at her friends, desperately
needing a distraction to keep her from thinking about him. But they
were both grinning.
“You liiiiike him,” Beatrix sang.
Reno stared down into her foamy beer. Yeah,
she did like him. Too much. She could easily fall for him and start
dreaming of a happy ever after. But she was a farm-raised,
small-town girl. A man like Chase would use her up and stomp on her
self-esteem like two thousand pounds of Brahma bull.
Right then she resolved to ignore him,
pretend she wasn’t horny for him. She’d convince herself she didn’t
want to run after him, pin him to the bed in his trailer, and ride
reverse cowgirl on him all night… Damn it, these two matchmakers
weren’t going to help her get her mind off him.
She smiled. “I should say hello to James.
I’ll see you later.” She stepped away to join another group of
partiers who waved her over.
Standing in the circle of directors,
producers, and studio executives, she gritted her teeth and set her
backbone. She could do this. She could easily disregard her body’s
cry to answer Chase’s summons. At five minutes she’d already
checked her watch eight times. At ten minutes her hands began to
sweat and people asked if she was okay. At twenty minutes she
started shaking and someone brought her a bottle of water. When
thirty minutes hit, her stomach felt hollow and her
heart…broken?
Reno imagined Chase sitting in his trailer
waiting for her. He would have taken those first ten minutes and
cleaned himself up a little, straightened his place, maybe lit a
candle or opened a bottle of wine. He’d check the door every few
minutes hoping to see her.
She sensed something good in him. All those
long talks, sharing their life stories, discussing their plans for
the future. She’d grown to appreciate him as a friend. Her lip
quivered when she thought of him in his trailer alone, waiting for
a woman who would never show up.
She didn’t want to hurt him. “Crap!” Her cuss
interrupted the director’s story. Everyone looked at her. “Sorry,
um, my phone startled me. Excuse me.” She pulled her phone from her
pocket and used it as an excuse to get away.
Reno did that often, maybe too often, but
underneath it all, she was still just a quiet, country girl. When
things overwhelmed her—like a country western superstar getting too
serious—she’d pull out her phone and excuse herself.
Maybe she should call Mitzi and get some
moral support for her weakening resolve. What time was it in South
Dakota? Late, but she dialed anyway. Mitzi didn’t mind late-night
calls if it involved Reno telling her stories about LA so Mitzi
could ooh and aah over them.
The phone rang once and her friend picked up.
“Hi! What glamorous thing are you doing right now?”
Reno sighed and put a finger in her other
ear. “Trying to keep myself from doing something really
stupid.”
“Hon, you’re only there for another couple
days. Do something stupid. Do it twice!”
She laughed but had a hard time hearing her
friend over the noise. She wound her way to the door and pushed it
open. A storm had moved it and rain poured down as lightning
zip-lined across the sky. She closed it and slid through a door
into the next studio. Where his trailer sat among a dozen others at
the far end, only about a football field away but a whole lot
further than she was willing to go.
“You know me and my moral compass.” The truth
was, she already felt too attached to the cowboy. One night with
him might tip her over the edge into an emotional whirlpool that
would spin her heart out of control. Better to push away now than
risk being hurt. Again.
“Forget that damn compass. You’ll only get
one—”
“I know, Mitz, but this is something I have
to work out for myself.” She hated to sound rude, but she and her
friend had very different viewpoints on casual sex.
“Is it because of Drake?”
Reno stopped as surprise chilled her. She
hadn’t really thought of her ex-boyfriend since filming started.
Was
she avoiding Chase because of Drake? “No. This guy’s
nothing like that ass.” Chase wasn’t controlling, manipulative, or
self-serving. Drake had been all three, and she was lucky to have
gotten out of her relationship with the self-proclaimed “literary
Phoenix” before he’d steered her career the wrong way down a
one-way tunnel.
“Good. You need to find a man who’ll love you
for the wonderful, sweet woman you are.”
Reno smiled sadly. “You are too good for my
ego.” She took a breath and searched for a new topic. “How’s
everything back there?”
Reno heard a catch in her friend’s breath. “I
didn’t want to tell you this until you got home, but I guess you
should know—Jane lost the baby.”
“Oh no. What happened?” Reno strolled along
the wall.
Mitzi went into detail about the
miscarriage.
“I’m glad you told me, Mitz. I was going to
call her tomorrow.” Reno stopped. She was too damn close to the
trailers. She should turn around…
Was that smoke?
Chase’s trailer, fronted by lawn furniture
set on a piece of artificial grass, glowed with a long string of
tiki lights running along the top. The trailer door stood open and
small puffs of smoke curled up out of the trailer.
“Oh God!”
####
Thanks for reading Steele and Tracy’s story.
I had a great time writing a relationship that started with a punch
and ended with a new love and a new home for them both. I'd love to
hear from you. I've listed all the places I hang out, and I hope
you'll connect with me at one or more of them.
All my best,
Randi
"Rode Hard and Put Up Satisfied"
USA Today Bestselling Author Randi Alexander
knows a modern woman dreams of an alpha cowboy who takes the reins,
and guarantees they’re rode hard and put up satisfied.
Published with Cleis Press, Wild Rose Press,
and self-published, Randi writes smokin' hot romance with heroes
who'll have you begging to ride off into the sunset with them. When
she's not dreaming of, or writing about, rugged cowboys, Randi is
biking trails along remote rivers, snorkeling the Gulf of Mexico,
or practicing her drumming in hopes of someday forming a tropical
rock-band.