Red Lines (11 page)

He called Jeff to touch base, checked his email, and sent Haven a few texts, letting her know his schedule for the rest of the day. He hoped things were going well with Carly. He picked up a sandwich from one of the stands at the studio entrance and inhaled it before heading back inside. He needed to call Jake, his trainer, and fly him out for some workouts. If the scenes he had read were any indication of what was ahead of him, he only had a few weeks to get in bedroom shape.

He knew there had never been any complaints and his football physique was still intact, but there was something different about getting ready to be seen almost completely naked by millions of people. He would have to watch his diet, cut back on the beer, and start running every morning. Jake could help with the rest.

He walked to the reading room, ready to start the second half of the readings for the afternoon. The door opened and Emmy was sitting at the table, two glasses of water in front of her. He shook his head. There was no arguing, she was giving the best performance of her life.

T
HE AIR
was cool against Evan’s chest. One of the crewmembers spritzed him with water along his back. He felt the droplets collect against his spine. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could stay propped up like this. Yesterday, he had lifted more than he had in six months, and his shoulders were killing him. Jake had been relentless keeping him in shape. Not to mention the grueling lecture on his summer beer consumption. It seemed as if the trainer enjoyed teaching him a lesson.

He had been on the set for two weeks, and it still didn’t feel natural. He was resistant to Dex’s character.

“Is this really necessary?” he asked. He was already tired of everyone pawing at him. Someone else was adjusting the sheet around his waist, draping it just below his hipbone. He felt more exposed.

“Oh, Evan, why are you making such a fuss? I’m the one they are going to see topless.” Emmy giggled underneath him, her blond hair splayed along red satin pillows.

“Glad you think it’s all funny.” He waited while his hair was ruffled.

“I can do that, honey.” Emmy spoke to the girl messing with his hair, dismissing her on the spot. She reached up and let her fingers tousle his sandy brown locks. “You look good with this sexed up look. Although, I would have oiled you some, not just watered you down.”

“Em, this is getting crazy.” They had been in this position for at least fifteen minutes, waiting to start the first sex scene of the movie. They had already been through all of the office scenes. It was time to hit the bedroom.

“Why? Because we’re in bed with fifty people watching?” She smiled slyly. “Just pretend it’s us in Cabo.” She squirmed underneath him, and he inhaled sharply as he felt her leg brush against his. “You do remember Cabo, don’t you?”

He hung his head. “Of course I remember that weekend.” He quickly brought his eyes back to hers; he was determined not to check out her perfectly perky breasts.

“Then why can’t you act like it’s that weekend? You and me—a few margaritas. I don’t think we ever left the room, did we? There was no reason to leave.” He was worried her leg had started to move more intentionally.

“You know why we can’t go there.” He tried to roll to the side, but if he did, he would take the sheet and everyone would see just how naked Emmy was. The gentleman in him couldn’t do that to her.

Her eyes raked over his chest. “You don’t think we’re already back there?”

“This is work.” He huffed. “It’s different.”

“I don’t think you and I can ever be different,” she whispered.

Before he could argue about why Cabo was in the past, the lights around them dimmed and a boom mic lowered over their heads.

“Action!” Archie Preston called. “Wait! Where are the handcuffs? I don’t see them or the vibrator on the nightstand. Come on, people. The first scene in the bedroom and you forget the props?”

As usual, Archie was fuming at his crew. If nothing else, the director was a perfectionist.

In an instant, an array of sex toys was deposited next to them. Evan tried to look at them as if they were his usual props like a gun or a high-tech spy watch, not something that was intended to make his co-star writhe in pleasure.

“Now, action!”

He tried to clear his head. This was not Emmy under him. It was Karina and he was Dexter. He stared into her eyes and started his lines, only this time Emmy was moaning, her chest was heaving, and she wrapped a leg around his waist.

By the time the scene wrapped, Evan was exhausted. He didn’t want to admit it was from fighting back physical sensations that kept surfacing. A crew girl brought white terry cloth robes so he and Emmy could make it back to their trailers completely covered. It was enough that everyone had just seen him handcuff her and lick every part of her body.

He slouched on the couch of his trailer. That was just the beginning, scene one. What had he done by agreeing to this movie? He opened a bottle of water and chugged it.

His phone rang on the table and he picked it up.

“Hey, darlin’.”

“Hey, you. How’s it going? I can’t believe I caught you.” Haven sounded happy. “I never get you on the phone in the middle of the day.”

“Yeah, we just wrapped up a scene, and I’m taking a break. Maybe a nap.” He looked at the couch, knowing his legs would dangle over the end but not caring.

“I have some news.”

“What’s going on?” Her calls were his favorite part of the day. They didn’t happen nearly enough. Some days he was lucky if they answered texts within an hour of each other.

“Carly’s going out on the road for a spontaneous mini-tour. We just finished five more songs, so she thought I should take some time off.”

“Really? That’s great.” He was off the couch, suddenly feeling energized.

“Yeah, so can I come out there? I don’t think I can go another day, Evan.”

Her words pierced his chest. “Of course you can. I’ll call Bud right now and have him get the jet ready, and you can be out here tonight. Does that work?”

“Yes. I’m already packed.”

He chuckled. She had already predicted his reaction. “I don’t know how long I’ll be on set tonight, but I’ll make sure you can get into my suite.” The schedule on this movie was never reliable. Some nights they were working until after midnight.

“Ok, don’t worry about me. I’m so excited that I doubt I’ll be able to sleep. I’ll stay up as long as it takes.”

“Sounds good, darlin’. I’ll text you when I get everything set up.”

“I can’t believe I get to wake up with you in the morning.” It came out as a sigh, and Evan couldn’t think of a more beautiful sound.

“Me too, baby. All right, let me go so I can get you out here. My breaks don’t last forever.”

“Right. See you tonight.”

“Bye.”

He hung up and started making the calls that would bring Haven to him. He had waited two weeks for this.

S
INCE SHE
had met Evan, this was the longest amount of time they had gone without seeing each other. Over the past two weeks, she had spent her time at the studio with Carly either writing music or listening to her lay tracks for the next album.

A few afternoons when Carly had to leave early for press commitments, Haven had even tried to find the secret fishing hole, but she always seemed to walk in the wrong direction. The ranch wasn’t the same without Evan. Everything felt quieter and empty without him filling in the space.

She watched the Texas fields scroll past as the jet climbed higher toward California.

As soon as she heard Carly was taking time off, she was ready to drive one of Evan’s cars west, but there was no way he would be ok with that. Maybe one day they could take a road trip together and get lost like he did over the summer, stopping at tourist stands, taking pictures in front of the Grand Canyon or the Space Needle.

The white clouds surrounded her view, and she settled into her seat. In two hours, she would land in L.A. That’s the only thing that mattered. Her eyes closed and she found sleep while the engines hummed and the plane rose higher.

When the jet landed, there was a private car waiting for her on the tarmac. L.A. was better equipped to handle secretive passengers than the Austin airport.

It didn’t take long to arrive at the hotel. Haven had always heard awful stories about L.A. traffic, but it didn’t seem to be a problem.

For her first time in the land of glitz and glitter, she didn’t care about any of the hot spots. All she wanted was to see Evan. Hear his voice. Look into his eyes. Feel him pressed against her.

“Can we get you anything else while you wait, ma’am?” The hotel valet stood in the doorway of the suite.

“No, I’m fine, but thank you.”

He made a slight bow from the waist then backed into the hall with the valet cart.

Haven surveyed the set of rooms that formed the suite. She walked to the closet and grabbed one of Evan’s T-shirts, pressing it against her face. There was that clean soapy scent she had missed. She inhaled again before returning the shirt to its hanger.

It was almost seven. She hoped he was on his way home. She sent him a quick text.

Waiting for you.

There was no response. She tossed her phone on the couch and picked up the remote. She flipped through the channels until she saw Evan and Emmy’s faces appear on the Gossip Channel. The anchors were talking about
Red Lines,
and the rumors that Evan and Emmy had rekindled their romance.

She cringed when she heard the woman call them “Evmy.” Was that a thing? There was a reason she never read gossip magazines or paid attention to tabloid headlines. None of this was true.

She was about to change the channel when a picture of Evan with his arm around Emmy flashed on the screen. For a second, Haven couldn’t breathe. It was as if all of the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. But then, she focused on the picture frozen on the screen and realized they were somewhere tropical. There were sailboats behind them. It wasn’t a recent picture. It must have been dug out of their relationship archives. The feeling returned to her chest, and she took a normal breath. She turned off the TV.

Rumors. They were only rumors. She knew Evan was over Emmy, but for the first time since he started working on the movie, she felt tinges of jealousy. The rest of the world didn’t know it was Hollywood spin. They thought there was a chance the couple had been brought back together by the movie. It made her stomach ache.

It made sense in theory when Evan had proposed the idea of letting the press be misguided, but now that she could see it for herself, she wasn’t sure she was equipped to handle it. She didn’t want to share the headlines with him, but maybe it was worse having Emmy in his spotlight.

She texted again.

I’m in your suite. Can’t wait to spend the night with you.

Fifteen minutes passed and she still hadn’t received a response. She pulled out one of her lyric pads and unclasped her guitar from its case. One of the perks of flying on the jet was that she could bring as much as she wanted. Her writing sessions with Carly might be on vacation, but there were still lyrics in her head. She settled back on the couch, tucking her feet behind her.

Suddenly, she missed her hammock and the little porch on the beach house. All summer she had wanted to escape it, branch out into the real world. Now she was in the center of it, and the only thing she could think of was salt breezes and the sounds of the boats in the harbor.

You haunt me like the wind

Taking me back to where I’ve already been

You think I can’t be happy without you

But I can stand out of the shadows too

That was all she had. She strummed a few more bars then glanced at the floor-to-ceiling windows. Where was he? She watched the lights dim over the Hollywood hills, wondering when she was going to see him.

H
AVEN FELT
lips brush against her cheek. Someone was in the suite.

“Haven, wake up.” A firm hand nudged her shoulder.

She stretched upright, locking eyes with Evan. “Hey, what time is it?” She must have fallen asleep waiting for him.

“I’m sorry it’s so late, but I couldn’t get out of there. It’s midnight. 2 a.m. Texas time. You’re probably exhausted.” He sat next to her on the couch. “But I’m so glad you’re here, darlin’.”