On the Outside (Caught Inside #3) (12 page)

Chapter 22

I stared in the mirror and pulled at my fishtail braid. I was about to meet Xavier for our little “heart-to-heart,” as he called it, and I was even more nervous than I was before our first “date” at the bowling alley. To make matters worse, once again I couldn’t decide what to wear.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? You can roll in there in leggings and a shirt and he wouldn’t care.”

I couldn’t help but feel, however, as if this meeting would make or break whatever slippery path we were sliding down and decided to look as best as I could to help my agenda out. Opting for a bohemian look, I wore a simple peasant dress coupled with espadrilles. My red hair was scattered with a collection of tiny braids, which were carefully assembled against the rest of the wavy strands.

Was it too much? Was I overdressed? Was I underdressed?

“Shut up, Harper. Don’t ruin this like you’ve ruined everything else in your life. He asked you out because he wanted to fix things. At least I think that’s what he’s doing.” I shut my eyes and sighed. Even I was feeling brainwashed by all those fake stories about me. Power of the press, right? They make you believe
anything
they want you to believe, even if the lies were about you. Of course I knew those stories were fake—I’d know my own self, right? Yet here I was, wondering if I turned into the very person I loathed.

I stared at my reflection, gripping onto the edge of my turquois stained dresser. “Are you really that bitch everyone loves to hate?”

A knock at the door snapped me back to reality.

Gulping, I called out, “Coming!”

I picked up my feet and practically ran to the door. All the nervous energy inside of me was bubbling, threatening to explode. Taking a moment to wipe my sweaty palms against the gauzy material of my dress, I yanked the door open and nearly gasped when I saw Xavier standing outside looking as if he just stepped off a runway. He gripped three long-stemmed roses and nervously shoved them in my face.

“Hi, Harper,” he greeted quietly.

“Oh! What are these for?” I grabbed the flowers, brushing my fingers against his. My face heated up and I quickly ducked behind the cellophane wrapper.

What is wrong with you? You’re acting like a thirteen-year-old going to her first dance.

Coughing a bit, he smiled. “I gave it a lot of thought and I was a jerk, plain and simple. I really should have listened to your side of the story first and—”

“And what?” I asked, shooting him a bemused smile. I had the right mind to gloat, but I was just so relieved that I almost couldn’t see straight.

He scratched his head and grimaced. “I guess I was just a bit hurt to think you’d go for someone like Aaron. All this time I was wondering if you were attracted to me given that we never really discussed our intentions after that night at the bowling alley. Then I find out that you—”

“Slept with Aaron right away. Got it.”

If Xavier wasn’t flustered before, he was now. “Yeah, so seeing how I allowed myself to get carried away by a lot of things, not to mention insecurities, I was hoping we could have a first date do over. Given that the bowling alley and restaurant plans were basically DOA, I was hoping tonight could more than make up for it.”

I blinked in sync to the quickness of my heart. “Are you serious? So all this talk about discussing the elephant in the room was just a pretense for a date?”

He smiled sheepishly. “Why don’t we discuss it now then?”

“I guess…”

“Honestly, I was so confused with everything. I mean, I care about Riley, but I don’t know…I don’t
feel
as if you’d hurt her purposely, you know?”

“I wouldn’t,” I agreed. “I care about her too, and I would never purposely hurt her.”

He nodded. “I think deep down I knew this, but of course my sister kept putting wild thoughts in my head.”

I pursed my lips. “I bet she did.”

“Anyway, I figured I’d go by my gut and not what everybody else says. It’s how I became successful in this business, and hopefully it’s what will help me figure some stuff out about us.”

“Like what?” I gulped.

“I think you know.” He motioned toward his car. “Come on. Let’s stop with all this awkwardness and get the night started.”

I took a deep breath. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

***

As a show of good faith or merely a way to poke fun of ourselves, Xavier took me to the very restaurant his sister nearly beat me up in. Our time together was going great when for some unknown reason I decided to revisit the topic of my momentary beat down. Dabbing my lips with a napkin, careful not to smear my wine red lipstick, I cautiously ground out, “So…how does Kacy feel about this? Does she want to beat me up again?”

Chalk it up to having butter fingers or just being caught off guard, but Xavier lost his grip on his fork, which clattered noisily onto his plate. Reddening a bit from the stares he received from neighboring tables—he wasn’t kidding about hating the spotlight—he answered quietly. “Um, she doesn’t know that I took you out tonight. Of course I wouldn’t tell her. Figured it might mess with my mind again.”

A whirlwind of emotions bubbled inside me. For one, I was a bit relieved that she didn’t know. Better she be left in the dark than ruin my date. No really! I wouldn’t put it past her to stalk us and make a scene. At the same time I couldn’t help but feel a bit hurt Xavier wasn’t so forthcoming. As much as I tried to ignore it, Piper’s words echoed in my mind.

“If all goes well tonight, this ‘Kacy bitch’ may end up in your life for a really long time. It’s good to know you’re not scared of her.”

If Xavier didn’t tell her, maybe he didn’t see this turning into something more.

“Harper. Harper. Are you okay?” Xavier snapped a finger in front of my nose.

“Um, yeah…great quiche, right?” I shoved an oversized chunk in my mouth, making it difficult to speak on purpose. It bulged in my cheek unattractively.

Xavier lifted an eyebrow but didn’t say a word. He picked up his fork and stabbed into his own piece of steak.

Not counting that minor mishap, the rest of dinner was pretty awesome. I’ve never gone out on a date where I felt so comfortable and so like
myself.
By the time we were ready to head home I was already running the pros and cons of inviting him in for “coffee.”

Don’t do it. Don’t give in to those media perceptions of you.

“I had a pretty good time tonight. Even with that Kacy question you threw at me.” Xavier shot me a wink that left me crying a bit inside. We climbed into the car gripping our doggie bags and quietly buckled our seatbelts.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I just had to know…” My voice trailed off. Once again Piper’s ominous words rang in my head. I knew I’d be seeing him the next morning for filming, but how would that be? Would it be just a normal day reeking with the unknowns of a great date?
Or
would it be that certain something more that I always heard about but never actually experienced?

Xavier surprised me by grabbing onto my hand. “Is it safe to assume you had fun tonight?”

My gaze dipped low, and for some reason I couldn’t take my eyes off the way his beach weathered hands gripped my milky skin. One would think after all the time I spent on the beach I’d be a bronze babe, but unfortunately my genes didn’t work that way.

“Harper? Did you have a good time?” he repeated.

He’s probably annoyed he has to keep repeating himself with me.

“Yeah, of course.” I lifted my eyes. “I’m actually surprised you even wanted to see me again.”

“Because of Kacy?”

I flinched. “That and because…well, besides our daily surfing lessons what else do you really know about me? Add to that some exaggerated rumors and an angry mutual friend and you get a deadly combination.”

He ran his hands over his shaved head in thought. “The ocean does weird things to people. Good and bad.”

“I’m not following.”

Squeezing my hands tightly, he explained. “The reason why surfing is important to me is because of how much my life depends on it. It relaxes me and fuels my creativity. Sure I work in show business and what not, but my true love? The ocean. I know it sounds strange, but deep down I always knew the person I finally let my guard down for would have something to do with the sea.”

“You mean being forced in it?” I laughed weakly.

He shook his head. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m glad you were cast, and as horrible as it sounds, the whole Riley ing made me realize that I have been falling for you harder than I initially thought.”

“W-what do you mean?” I stammered. I both wanted to hear what he had to say and was beyond freaked out about it. This was entirely new territory for me.

“I feel…
different
around you. Like I can actually speak to you, because you know how talkative I am.”

My eyebrows lifted. “Really? Talkative? You?”

He snorted. “I’m kidding. I’m about as talkative as a door handle.”

“You can say that again.”

“You know what we can say? We can say you make me discover things about myself that I didn’t know before.”

I leaned toward him with interest. “Like what?”

“Like how patient I am as a teacher—”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“That I am a good judge of character after all.” He paused and smiled shyly. “And how life doesn’t always have to be about work all the time. How as a perpetual ‘perfect Type A,’ I can let my guard down and fall for the bad girl.”

I narrowed my eyes and huffed. “Bad girl? Really? Thought you didn’t read the tabloids.”

He nodded his head and clarified. “An outsider.”

An outsider. Yup, no argument there.

I bowed my head and sighed. “So what happens now? I mean I’m not expecting us to define this…err…” I shook my head and tried to pry the foot out of my mouth. “What about Kacy and Riley?”

“What about them?”

“It’s obvious you think highly of your sister. How can I expect you to pursue anything with me if she’s in the background
hating
on
me?”

An expression of conviction washed over his face. “We’ll fix it.”

“You sure?” I asked doubtfully.

“Of course.”

Hope once again fluttered through my veins. “I’d really like that.”

Tilting his head to the side, he eyed me expectantly. “Since we’re on the subject of haters, can you do me one favor?”

“Um, yeah, I guess.”

His eyes darkened. “Watch out for Charlie.”

“Okay, that was random,” I sputtered.

“I’m not trying to be weird or anything…just…watch out for him, okay? He’s not as sweet as the media makes him out to be, and I’m sure you know how that can be.” His mouth hardened, prompting my curiosity, but I decided not to press.

“Though I don’t know what you’re talking about, if you’re really as great a judge of character as you say, then yes. I will avoid him.” Even saying the words caused a weird tumble in my stomach that I couldn’t place.

He nodded in appreciation. “Good.”

“I think I should point out that the day after tomorrow is our love scene.”

Xavier fidgeted uncomfortably. “I know.”

“And I’m sure you know that I’ll be working with him every single day for the next few months.” I crossed my arms. “Not to mention that for tomorrow’s scene, he and I will be especially close and Charlie will be wearing a flesh colored sock.”

“Don’t be surprised if I’m not there.”

Truthfully, I’d be glad if he really didn’t come.

Chapter 23

“Action!”

Charlie brushed my cheek with the side of his thumb. His blazing blue eyes pierced mine, and though I knew we were acting there was something in his expression that made a small part of me think otherwise.

“Samantha, you know I’ve always loved you. I don’t care what you’ve done in the past. All that’s important to me is what
we
do together in
our
future.” He dropped his left hand to my butt, cupping a cheek.

Okay, that was definitely not in the script.

“But Jasper…I can’t do this. I can’t watch you throw away your life on somebody you just met—” I felt my face being grabbed a bit harder than I anticipated and stammered on my lines. I’d heard Charlie liked to adlib, but this was ridiculous.

“I love you, Samantha. I know you don’t get it…” Charlie turned away and choked back a sob.

Wow, he really is a good actor.

He turned back toward me and sniffled, never once letting go of my chin. “But I think you’re my soul mate.”

He even has snot dripping out of his nose! I wish I could snot up on command.

“Samantha?” he whispered.

I gulped and gripped onto his well-defined biceps. “Yes, Jasper?”

Without another word he pressed his lips on mine, resulting in an unplanned and unscripted sigh on my part.

Gee, get a hold of yourself. You’re acting like you haven’t been—loved? Appreciated? Kissed?

With my head still jumbled up by his kiss, I almost forgot the next part of the scene. A part of me didn’t want to, but the script called for a rather violent shove. Getting my mind straight, I pushed at his chest, causing him to stumble back.

“No! I can’t do this.” I let out a small whimper and quickly turned away.

A sullen looking Charlie walked back to me. “Why not?”

Tears began to fill the bottom of my eyes. It was the best I could do, and nowhere near as awesome as Charlie’s snot-worthy performance. Hopefully, Wyatt wouldn’t mind.

“B-because!” I stammered. I let out a slight sob, hoping it would match up to Charlie’s award winning performance.

He gripped my shoulders and leaned forward so closely that the tip of his nose almost brushed up against mine. “That’s not an answer. Tell me, do you love me?”

“I…”

“Do you love me?” he yelled.

One longing look later, his lips were once again on mine—and his hands were all
over
my body.

A groan escaped my lips but I wasn’t sure if it was a groan from ‘Samantha’ or from Harper. Either way it felt great to be held once again, especially by someone whose charisma permeated through his kisses.

“And cut!” Wyatt’s voice boomed.

Charlie either didn’t care or didn’t listen. His gentle touch continued as did the trajectory of his exploring tongue in my mouth.

“I said cut!” Wyatt practically growled.

To my dismay Charlie pulled away with a sly grin on his face. “Sorry about that. I didn’t hear.”

I fought the urge to wipe my mouth. As sensual as he was, he certainly was a sloppy kisser. I rolled my eyes teasingly. “Yeah, I’m sure you didn’t.”

He winked.

“Ahem, excuse me.” Xavier, who surprisingly did show up for filming, walked up to us carrying a clipboard in his hand. He gave me a slight nod before barking out, “Charlie! You know better than to hold up shooting. We only have a limited amount of time—”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it before.” The actor proceeded to place his arm around my shoulder. “I’m a method actor. Can’t help it if I drown myself in my role.” Pausing, he placed his index finger underneath my chin, lifting it a tiny bit. “Especially when I get to work with a muse this beautiful.”

I couldn’t help it. Being called beautiful by such an
Adonis
did things inside of me that I was ashamed to admit. A girlish giggle escaped my lips only to be cut off by Xavier’s disapproving look. “Don’t egg him on.”

I cleared my throat and smirked. “It was only a few seconds over, Xavier. Not that big of a deal, I’m sure.”

“Of course it’s not…for someone who enjoyed getting manhandled by him.”

“Hey!” My mouth dropped open. “I object!”

“It’s not court, honey.” Charlie snickered and squeezed me tighter against his body. “Either way, when are we doing the next shot? Can’t wait to get manhandled myself.”

Fuck those butterflies.

Xavier pulled down his lips. “Mmhmm. Makeup!”

Right on cue, Piper and Lilliana, Charlie’s makeup artist, rushed forward with brushes and palettes. Piper tugged at my arm, pulling me away from Charlie’s death grip.

“What was that all about?” Her tiny voice came out even tinier as she braved a glance at the actor. The next scene called for Mr. Perfect to be shirtless, and as soon as he pulled off his wife beater, Piper’s cheeks visibly reddened. Composing herself quickly, she leaned over and whispered, “Xavier’s looking at you.”

I tore my eyes off of Charlie and glanced over at Xavier’s blank face. Frowning, I leaned toward Piper and whispered back, “I have no idea what’s going on with those two. They seem to really hate each other. Do you know what’s up between them?”

She shook her head, causing her newly dyed magenta hair to swing across her face. “No, but if you ask me it looks like you have two very fine men fighting for your attention.”

I snorted. “Please…I mean, Xavier maybe—”

“Oh yeah, how did the dinner go?” Piper interrupted with excitement.

“It went good.” I felt my stomach flop a bit. Despite my hope for another date, Xavier had yet to bring it up again.

Piper’s pixie-like features folded. “Is it safe to assume it didn’t go as planned?”

“You have no idea.” I laughed at the perplexed look on her face. “It went even better than I thought.”

She eyed me suspiciously. For only knowing me a few days, she really could read me well. “But?”

I sighed and slumped forward. “But it certainly opened up more questions. Not to mention more confusion. Not that I needed it in my life or anything.”

“Damn girl, who needs the movies when your life is basically better than this stupid script?” Her mouth dropped open. “I mean…I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to call—”

“Forget about it. I didn’t want to take this role to begin with,” I admitted, sneaking another glance at Xavier, who was now busy chewing Charlie out.

Piper tugged a small comb through my hair, which Charlie had done a number on. Wincing as she pulled against my tangles, she asked, “But I bet you’re glad you did, aren’t you?”

My cheeks warmed and I did my best to avoid Piper’s prying eyes. “Well, I have to admit, I am really glad I met Xavier.”

“What about Charlie?”

“What about him?” I snuck a peek at my costar, and as if he heard us, he glanced back at me and flashed a bright smile.

“He’s hot.”

“Yeah, and?”

“And obviously interested in you,” she replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“He’s acting, Piper,” I replied in a flat tone.

Tugging at the comb one more time, she rose onto her toes so she could reach my ear. “I don’t think he is.”

“Places everyone,” Wyatt called out, pulling down a pair of glasses. His eyes were especially bloodshot today, and I couldn’t help but wonder if his especially bad mood had to do with being hungover.

Piper patted my arm as she began to clean up her tools. “Looks like you got your pick of the crop.”

“What if I don’t want to pick?”

“
Now,
everyone!” Wyatt screamed.

We all rolled our eyes and stepped up to our marks. Charlie happily bounded toward me. “Ready for my favorite scene of the script, leading lady?”

I gulped, sneaking a glance over at Xavier. “Sure.”

“Action!”

Without hesitation, Charlie lunged toward me and once again I found myself entrapped by his kisses.