Читать книгу For Lust or Money - Kate Hoffmann - Страница 6

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KELLY CASTELLE was in hell. At least, this was exactly what she imagined hell to be, minus all the traffic and the sidewalks and the buildings. She brushed a wayward strand of hair out of her eyes and dabbed at her damp forehead with her wrist. She’d had her share of awful jobs in the past, but this time, she truly believed she’d find Beelzebub behind the camera.

“Is it always so hot here?”

The driver glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “It’s the middle of August, miss,” he said. “And it’s Atlanta. What did you expect?”

“Something a bit more like L.A.,” she muttered. Back home it was warm, but she’d never experienced humidity like this. Her clothes clung to her skin and her hair had gone limp the moment she’d stepped off the plane. Wilted would barely do justice to the way she felt. And if she looked even half as bad as she felt, they’d fire her on the spot and hire another actress—one who knew how to look crisp and composed in ninety-five-degree heat.

Maybe this was all just a sign, Kelly mused. Just a week ago, she’d decided that it might be time to get out of Hollywood and show business and find a new life for herself. She’d worked on her acting career, first in New York and then in L.A., for nearly fifteen years and had nothing to show for it. Sure, she’d made a few guest appearances on TV series that had long been cancelled. She’d done some commercials and had a bit part in a cheesy horror movie. She’d even worked on a soap opera for two years before her character got killed off when a meteor fell on her trailer home. But she’d never been able to land a decent agent and she was fast approaching the age when no one would even bother calling her to read.

Thirty-five. There were plenty of actresses who would kill to be her age again. But over the past couple of years, Kelly had heard her career clock ticking down. Women in Hollywood had a short shelf life and she was beginning to mold around the edges.

Just last month, her agent had called to ask if she’d ever considered doing soft-core porn. Kelly would have fired Louise DiMarco on the spot had she not offered a national hemorrhoid commercial in the same breath. She’d turned them both down before Louise made casual mention of a small job in Atlanta, performing in a skit for the talk show Just Between Us.

Though it didn’t pay much, Kelly didn’t care. It was a free trip to Atlanta and a night in a nice hotel and enough money to pay the grocery bill for a few more months. Desperate to get out of L.A., if only for a day or two, she’d jumped at the chance. Though this could hardly be called her big break, at least it wasn’t soft-core porn.

But was she fooling herself? A bit part in a six-minute skit on a talk show could hardly even be compared to a walk-on in a feature film with a third-rate director. She’d have to make some firm decisions about her future once she got back to L.A. For now, she’d just have to focus on doing the best job she could.

“Here we are,” the driver said as he pulled up to the curb. “CATL studios. Need help inside with your bag?”

Kelly shook her head and handed him a twenty from her purse. “No, I’m fine. Thanks.”

He waved his hand. “The fare is taken care of by the show. The tip, too.”

The driver popped the trunk and jumped out of the Town Car, then helped her out of the backseat. Kelly drew a deep breath and stepped out into the heat. She stared at the exterior of the studio, a modern mix of glass and redbrick. Silver letters, spelling out the call sign, gleamed in the noonday sun. She glanced down to see her bag sitting on the curb as the car roared away.

“The show must go on,” she muttered.

Dragging her suitcase behind her, Kelly crossed a small courtyard and stepped through the wide glass doors into a cool, quiet lobby. A pretty receptionist sat at a sleek modern desk in front of a glass wall. Sofas and chairs were scattered about in small conversation groups and a bank of television monitors hung from the ceiling behind the receptionist’s desk.

Kelly pasted a smile on her face and stepped up to the desk. “Hello, I’m—”

“Miss Castelle,” the receptionist completed. She quickly punched a button on her switchboard. “Hi, Jane. It’s Mindy. Miss Castelle is here.” The receptionist looked up. “She’ll be right out.”

“Is there somewhere I could freshen up?”

“Oh, they’ll be taking you right back to wardrobe and makeup.”

Kelly blinked in surprise. “Makeup?”

“You’re scheduled to start shooting at…” Mindy peered at her computer screen. “In a half hour.”

“I—I thought we’d have a meeting or a read-through. I didn’t think we’d—”

“They work on a really tight schedule back there,” Mindy said, a hint of an apology in her tone.

Kelly bent down and frantically searched through her carry-on for her script. She’d glanced at it on the plane, but if she was expected to start taping in thirty minutes, then there was still work to do. She hadn’t even thought about her character’s goals and motivations. She’d assumed they’d cover that at the read-through.

Oh, hell, what was she worried about? It was skit. A six-minute skit for a local talk show. It would air once and then fade into television obscurity.

“Miss Castelle?”

Kelly struggled to her feet, the script clutched to her chest. “Yes?” The woman standing in front of her was dressed in a funky vintage shirt and black jeans that hugged her slender legs. Her bleached hair was cut in an asymmetrical bob that only makeup artists and wardrobe stylists could pull off.

“I’m Jane Kurtz,” she said. “Welcome to Atlanta. I’m just going to take you back to wardrobe and then we’ll get you into makeup.” She glanced at her watch. “How was your flight? Hartsfield can be a nightmare but you seemed to have survived it all right.”

She held the door open as she let Kelly pass, then led her through a maze of hallways. They came to an open door and Jane stepped inside a large room filled with floor-to-ceiling racks of clothing. “This is Karen Carmichael, my new assistant,” Jane said.

Kelly smiled at a dark-haired woman in her late twenties, dressed in a wildly patterned smock. A purple streak colored her ragged bangs and a tiny diamond glittered from one of her nostrils.

“Size two,” Karen said. “And five-six?”

Kelly nodded. “Good guess.”

Jane grinned. “See, Karen, I knew there was a reason I hired you. Although your ability to guess my weight to the pound is not a talent that I want you to cultivate.”

“One hundred and sixteen,” Karen said, with another glance at Kelly.

Kelly gasped. “Wow. That’s incredible.”

Karen looked at Jane. “Couldn’t you just kill her? The last time I weighed one-sixteen I was in seventh grade.”

Jane chuckled. “I’ll kill her after we’re done taping.”

Kelly glanced between the two of them and saw the humor in their eyes. “You can take some solace in the fact that I’m probably at least five or ten years older than each of you.” She paused, then held up three fingers, followed quickly by all five.

“Nicole is going to flip out,” Karen said. “You don’t look thirty-five. And you’re supposed to be the older woman in this skit.”

“Don’t worry,” Jane said. “The guy she’s working with looks really young. It’ll work. And the lights always add five years.”

They continued down the hallway to the makeup room. Jane placed Kelly’s bag beneath the counter, then sat her down in a chair in front of a wall of mirrors. A television monitor hung from the ceiling, the sound barely audible.

Kelly stared at her reflection. “My hair looks horrible.”

“I’ve got some miracle hairspray. We’ll just tip you upside down and give it a shot and then touch up with a curling iron.” Jane ran her fingers through Kelly’s hair. “Lovely color,” she said. “Who does your color?”

“No one,” Kelly replied.

“You do it yourself?”

“No, I don’t color my hair. Why, do you think I should color it?”

“No. Don’t touch it. I’m just surprised you haven’t found any gray yet with your hair as dark as it is.”

In truth, Kelly had found more than a few gray hairs at her temples. And she’d been methodically plucking them out, rather than admit that it might be time to visit a good colorist. But now that she wasn’t going to be an actress anymore, she wouldn’t have to worry. Women had gray hair in the real world. “Not yet,” she lied.

As Jane worked, Kelly reviewed the script. Just Between Us was an interesting hybrid of all the best elements of talk shows. The host, Eve Best, presented sexy topics, laced with humor and spontaneity, ranging from celebrity gossip to the latest trends in fashion to personal relationships. Lately, the producers had been using skits that resembled reality television, with small scenes interspersed through the show to highlight an upcoming segment. The title on Kelly’s script was “In Praise of Younger Men.” The smaller segments pointed out the pitfalls and pleasures of an affair with a younger man.

“Hello. You must be the older woman.”

Kelly glanced over to find her “younger man” standing in the door. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but seeing the typical Hollywood “himbo” as her acting partner brought a twinge of disappointment. The guy was gorgeous in that obnoxiously pretty way that was sure to make him look ten times better on screen than she did.

“Hi,” she said, forcing a smile. “Kelly Castelle.”

“Bryan Lockwood,” he countered with a nod and dazzling white smile. “Say, can we move this along? I’ve got an 8:00 p.m. flight back to the coast and I can’t miss it. I’m meeting with Hanks’s people tomorrow morning about a part in his new film.”

“Tom Hanks?” Kelly asked.

“It’s a big part. My agent says I’m perfect for it. And later this week I’ve got a meeting with Cruise’s new production company. The last thing I want is to screw that all up because of this silly job.”

“We’re almost ready,” Jane muttered.

“Cool. I’ll see you on set,” he said, giving Kelly another dazzling smile.

“What an ass,” Jane muttered a few moments after he’d left the room. “That guy was a nightmare in the chair. I had to redo his foundation three times until I got that sun-kissed, west-coast, Laguna Beach shade that he wanted.” She placed her hands on Kelly’s shoulders and met her gaze in the mirror. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. He’s got a receding hairline. I give him two more years before he’s going to need plugs.”

“Thanks,” Kelly said. “This whole job is really taking a toll on my ego.”

“You’re gorgeous,” Jane assured her. “Look. That classic profile, that perfect nose. Those cheekbones couldn’t get any higher.” She grabbed a pot of lip liner. “And look at this mouth. All those women who get their lips plumped up have got to be green with envy when they see yours.”

“All right, my ego is soothed,” Kelly said with a laugh. “No need to overdo.”

Jane carefully filled in with lipstick then handed Kelly a tissue to blot. “You’re set. Come on, I’ll take you out and introduce you to Nicole. She’s the segment producer.”

Kelly looked at herself in the mirror. She still looked good. There were plenty of actresses her age that looked older. Drawing a deep breath, she cleared her mind of all the insecurities and self-doubts. This was just another acting job. And though it might be the last of her career, she’d be the consummate professional.

And later, when she got back to her hotel, she could give in to all the emotions that raged inside of her and have a really good cry.

ZACH HAAS STOOD in the shadows of the set, staring through the lens of the television camera at the woman sitting on the park bench. Since she’d walked onto the set, he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off of her.

He zoomed in on her face, which was turned in profile, and studied her features. He’d worked behind the camera at Just Between Us for six months now and he couldn’t recall ever seeing a more extraordinary woman. Every feature of her face was in delicate balance with the others. Perfection, he mused. And just slightly exotic. He couldn’t put his finger on her heritage, but it was a tantalizing mix that had given her deep mahogany hair and pale green eyes and smooth porcelain skin.

“All right,” Nicole Reavis said, “let’s get started. Why don’t we do a quick run-through while George adjusts the lighting and then we’ll roll tape? We have four short little scenes here. Cultural references, life experiences, sexual compatibility and future happiness. In this first one, you’ve just met and you’re talking about music. Kelly, this is where you realize that Bryan has never really listened to the music that defines your life. And it makes you uneasy.” Nicole stepped back and walked back toward the control room. “Whenever you’re ready,” she called.

They were taping with two cameras and Zach waited to hear Nicole’s voice through the headset he wore. She’d give him and John the cues for close-ups and wide shots, as well as calling out directions to the actors over the P.A. system in the studio.

“All right, let’s get this on tape,” Nicole called after they’d run their lines.

Kelly glanced over at the cameras with a nervous look. “I—I’m used to rehearsing a bit more. Can we just run it a couple more times?”

“Don’t worry,” Nicole said. “We’ll fix any problems in editing. From the top.”

Zach focused on Kelly and smiled to himself as she began to deliver her lines. He’d spent a lot of time looking through a camera at all sorts of people and places. Nearly six years in film school, first undergrad in Colorado and then graduate school at City University of New York, had taught him that not everyone looked good on film. But no one had ever looked quite as beautiful as this woman. She was like one of those movie stars from the thirties, glamorous and alluring.

He felt a frisson of desire shoot through him and he drew a ragged breath. Ever since he’d come to Atlanta, he’d been careful to avoid any serious entanglements with the opposite sex. There had been women he’d felt mildly attracted to and women he’d taken to bed. After all, he was twenty-four years old. A guy had needs. But he’d avoided anything that came close to a real relationship.

His needs. That’s what had gotten him into trouble in the first place. Or maybe it had been all about the risk, the danger, the kick of seducing an older woman… especially a woman with power. But he’d never expected her to use that power against him. It had cost him everything he’d worked for, everything that meant anything to him.

“Zach!”

“I’m here,” he murmured to Nicole.

“Pull back a bit.”

Zach did as he was told, the murmur of Kelly’s voice serving as a soft counterpoint to his thoughts. The day he’d left New York, he’d decided to give up his penchant for older women, but now he had cause to reconsider. Kelly Castelle was the first woman he’d seen in a long time that had caused an immediate and intense reaction. Though she couldn’t be that much older than he was. She looked thirty, tops, and what was six years?

“I’m sorry,” Kelly said, rubbing her forehead. She looked up. “Can we go back and do that again?”

“If you’d read the line right in the first place, we could all get out of here!”

Kelly gasped, then turned to look at Lockwood. “I just think the pacing is a little quick for this scene.”

“Cut!” Nicole shouted.

Zach frowned, then stepped out from behind the camera.

Bryan Lockwood stood up and shook his head, throwing his hands up dramatically. “This is ridiculous. I’m just not feeling it. She’s not giving me anything to work with here. What’s my motivation? Why would I even take a second look at a woman her age?”

“I’m sorry,” Kelly said, her voice trembling slightly. “I—I’m just used to a bit more rehearsal. Let’s do it again. I’m sure I’ll be able to get it right—”

“No,” Bryan replied, “I’m used to working with professionals. It’s obvious you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Zach felt his temper rise. Just who was this jerk? He had no right to talk to Kelly this way. But before he could speak up, Kelly stood up and whacked the guy over the head with her script.

“Listen, you…you little—shit. I was studying acting with some of New York’s finest teachers while you were still watching Barney. I was doing Shakespeare in the park while you were playing a munchkin in your grade-school production of The Wizard of Oz. Don’t you dare question my professionalism or my talent. I’ve been at this for fifteen years. When you’ve been a working actor for that long, buster, you come and see me and then we’ll talk.”

“The name’s Bryan,” he muttered. “Bryan Lockwood. Remember it. You’re going to be hearing a lot about me in the next few years.”

“The only person who’ll remember you in ten years will be your mother.”

“I don’t need this job,” he muttered. “Get yourself some community-theatre castoff to do this.” With that, Bryan Lockwood turned on his heel and strode off the set.

“And you better look into hair plugs right now,” Kelly shouted after him, “because you’re going bald!”

The door slammed behind Lockwood and the studio became eerily silent. Kelly, wide-eyed and flushed with temper, glanced between Nicole and the assistant producer. She swallowed hard, then attempted a smile. “I’m sorry. I—I don’t know what got in to me. I’ve never, ever spoken to a colleague that way.” Tears swam in her eyes. “I—I don’t know what to say. Please forgive me. I—I’ll just be going now.”

“Hold it,” Nicole said. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“I—I just assumed you’d be…firing me.”

“We’ll call in another actor. We’ll have to find someone local. And make a note. We are not paying for Mr. Lockwood’s plane ticket home. Geez, what an ass.”

“I’m so sorry,” Kelly said. “I just don’t know what got in to me. I’ve never done anything like that before, I swear.”

Nicole rubbed her temple as if to ease a tension headache coming on. “We’re not going to be able to stick to our taping schedule if we have to wait around for another actor.”

“I’ll do it,” Zach said. The words were out of his mouth before he realized he’d said them. He slowly stepped out from behind the camera. “Hey, it doesn’t look that hard. And I took some acting classes in college. I’m here and you’re paying me anyway, so why don’t you let me give it a shot.”

He met Kelly’s gaze and saw a look of gratitude in her pale green eyes. A tiny smile touched the corners of her sensuous mouth and at that very moment, Zach wondered what it might feel like to kiss her. He’d soon find out since there was a kiss written in to the script.

“I suppose we don’t have anything to lose,” Nicole said. “Are you sure you want to appear in front of the camera?”

“It’ll be an interesting experience,” Zach said. “And Larry’s been looking for a chance to get behind the camera. He can take my place.”

“All right,” Nicole said, glancing at her watch. “I’m going to give you two an hour to work this all out and then we’ll try taping it. If it doesn’t look good, we’ll call in another actor for tomorrow.” She handed him her script.

A few moments later, they were alone in the studio. Kelly sighed softly. “Thank you. I don’t know what to say.”

“No problem,” Zach said. He was afraid to look at her, afraid that once he did, he’d never be able to drag his gaze away. “So, I guess we should rehearse.”

She held out her hand. “I’m Kelly Castelle. Extremely embarrassed actress.”

Zach took her fingers into his grasp. The moment he touched her, he felt his blood warm and his pulse quicken. She had such beautiful hands, perfectly tinted nails and long fingers. His mind flashed on an image of her fingers skimming over his chest, then moving lower to his belly, and then lower still. Zach stifled a moan. “Zach,” he murmured. “Zach Haas. Accommodating cameraman.”

A long silence grew between them. “Maybe we should start?” she said. “We don’t have much time.”

As they read their lines for the first segment, Zach found himself distracted again and again by a surreptitious study of her face. Even with the cheesy dialogue, she managed to find the true emotion in the script. Her acting seemed so natural and effortless on the surface, but he could sense her analyzing and adjusting as they went along. Obviously the jerk they’d hired to play opposite her hadn’t been smart enough to see what she really was. Careful, nuanced…real.

“It’s your line.”

Zach shook himself out of his distraction. “What?”

“You. It’s your line.” She paused. “I’m really sorry for this. If you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to.”

“I do,” Zach answered. “I do.”

She closed her script and smoothed her fingers over the cover. “I don’t know what got in to me. I’m usually a very calm person. I can’t remember the last time I blew up at someone.”

Reaching out, Zach smoothed his palm over the back of her hand. He hadn’t thought twice about touching her. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world, to soothe her regrets. “If it’s any consolation, he deserved it.”

She stared down at his hand, a hesitant smile on her lips. “Still, that’s no excuse.” Drawing a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a moment. “Maybe I’m having a midlife crisis. Not that I want to run out on my husband and have an affair, but I’m just feeling so restless. Like I need to make a huge change in my life or I’ll just go crazy.”

“Do you have a husband?” Zach had never considered that prospect. She wasn’t wearing a wedding band. But then, she wouldn’t wear it if she were playing a single woman in the skit.

“No,” Kelly replied.

“Good.” He smiled as he traced a long, unbroken line up her forearm with his fingertip. “I mean, good that you haven’t broken any marriage vows. Not good that you’re not married. Unless, you don’t want to be married. Then it’s good.”

She giggled and fixed him with a sultry look. “How old are you?”

“Very old,” he teased. “Ancient by teenage standards.”

“I’m old.”

“How old?” he asked.

“In Hollywood, everyone is twenty-nine. Besides, it’s not polite to ask.”

Zach leaned back, stretching his legs out in front of him and linking his hands behind his head. “I don’t think age makes any difference.”

“The only people who say that are too young to know better,” Kelly said.

Zach clutched his chest. “Ouch. That was cruel.”

“Age makes all the difference,” she said with a serious expression. “At least where I come from.”

“You are, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met. And I’d still think that, no matter how many candles you put on your birthday cake.”

Kelly blushed. “You may not be old, but you are charming beyond your years.”

“How about we just pretend we’re the same age?”

“That would be a bit difficult considering the casting of this skit.” She glanced down at the script. “We should probably get back to work. We haven’t gone over the last segment.”

“The bedroom scene? I figured you were saving the best for last.”

This time she laughed, a light, musical giggle that echoed through the studio. “You are so cocky.”

He grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers. “I love it when you talk dirty to me.”

“Change of plans!”

Kelly yanked her hand from his and stood up, nervously clutching her script. Nicole swept into the studio and regarded them both with a curious expression. Her eyebrow rose as she gave Zach a disapproving look. “We’re going to have to put off taping until tomorrow afternoon. We’ve got to retape a remote interview for another show before the end of the day. Kelly, we’ll have your driver take you back to the hotel. We’ll change your plane ticket and get you another night at the hotel. I hope that’s all right with you?”

“Fine,” Kelly said. “I’ll be ready to go tomorrow, I promise.”

“Then you’ve rehearsed everything?” Nicole asked.

“Not everything,” Zach quickly said. “But we can get together tonight and run lines. Your hotel?”

His request took her by surprise, but Zach knew she couldn’t refuse extra rehearsal, especially in front of Nicole.

“I really think we should keep this on a professional level,” she whispered, just out of earshot of Nicole.

“I wasn’t suggesting a date,” he said, grinning.

“We can meet early tomorrow, before we’re scheduled to tape.”

Zach wasn’t about to give up so easily. He wanted to explore this attraction he had to Kelly and that would take some time outside the studio and away from the prying eyes of his coworkers.

“Zach, can I see you in the hall?” Nicole asked.

He sent Kelly a smile, then followed Nicole. When they reached the hallway, she turned to him.

“Are you sure you took acting classes?” she asked.

Zach nodded. “Three semesters.”

“Then you must have missed the lesson where they taught you not to hit on your costars.”

Zach chuckled. “I’m just trying to get the best performance I can out of Miss Castelle.”

KELLY STARED AT her reflection in the dressing-room mirror. Her face was flushed and her eyes bright and it wasn’t until a few minutes ago that she was able to breathe normally.

This was crazy! From the moment Zach Haas had stepped out from behind the camera, she’d been unable to think, unable to do anything more than just lose herself in every detail of his face and his body. The sound of his voice, the color of his eyes, the shape of his mouth. He was one of those incredibly gorgeous young men, the kind who didn’t realize the effect they had on women, the kind who made females of all ages weak in the knees.

In the course of a half hour together, she’d managed to convince herself that he was probably the best kisser on the planet, that he had a killer body beneath the baggy cargo pants and T-shirt he wore, and that he could seduce a woman by simply smiling at her.

Yes, he was young. But his playful, boyish nature combined with just a bit of bad-boy attitude and quick-witted intelligence was a lethal combination in a package like that.

She’d pegged his age at twenty-five, give or take two years. If he were only twenty-three, then she was dancing close to perversity. But if he were twenty-seven, then that was nearly thirty. And any man over thirty would be an appropriate choice for her.

Kelly groaned and buried her face in her hands. What was happening to her? Ever since leaving L.A., she felt as if her life were spinning too fast for her to think straight. Was it the heat? Or was she really standing on the precipice of a midlife crisis?

“Are you all right?”

She sat up and looked at Jane’s reflection in the mirror, then slowly turned around in the chair. “I’m fine. It’s just been a really long day. I got on a plane this morning at 5:00 a.m. and I haven’t had a chance to relax since then.”

“Your car is waiting out front. He’ll drive you back to the hotel and pick you up tomorrow afternoon. We’re scheduled to tape at three and Zach will probably be available before then to rehearse. If there’s a change, Nicole will call you at the hotel.”

“Thanks,” Kelly said. She slowly stood. “Again, I’m sorry about all the trouble I caused.”

“Don’t worry. We’re all looking forward to seeing Zach in front of the camera. He’s usually the one giving us grief about our jobs, now we can give him some grief about his performance.”

“He seems like a really nice guy,” Kelly commented, trying to sound objective and uninterested.

“He can be. He’s also an incorrigible flirt and too sexy for his own good. Be careful with that one,” Jane warned. “I suspect he’s talked his fair share of ladies right out of their clothes and into his bed.”

“I got that feeling, too,” Kelly said, forcing a smile.

“But then, he is legal, so what goes on between consenting adults is…”

“How old is he?” Kelly asked.

“Twenty-four, I think. Maybe twenty-five. He was in graduate film school until he started working for the show last winter.”

Twenty-four, Kelly mused. Somehow nine years seemed a whole lot more acceptable than eleven. There was a double-digit difference between them!

“Well,” Jane said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll be here,” Kelly replied. She stood up and began to gather her things to change back in to her street clothes. She slowly unbuttoned the silk shirt she wore and let it fall off her shoulders. A soft knock sounded on the door and a moment later it opened. She expected to see Jane again, but Zach stepped inside.

Kelly snatched up the shirt and held it over her chest. “Hi,” she said.

Zach’s gaze slowly drifted down her body. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

Kelly turned her back to him and slipped in to the shirt again, clutching it closed in the front. “What is it?”

“Nothing important,” he said.

She faced him, waiting for an explanation. A frown furrowed his brow and he studied her face for a long moment. Then in a few short strides, he closed the distance between them. Before she could even protest, he captured her face between his hands and kissed her, his mouth melting against hers, his tongue delving into the crease of her lips.

When he finally drew back, Kelly couldn’t think of anything to say. Should she be angry or insulted? In truth, her mind was whirling. Zach Haas knew exactly how to kiss a woman. He’d obviously had a lot of practice. After all, she’d been fantasizing about it since he’d stepped out from behind the camera and it had been so much better than she could have imagined.

“There. We got that out of the way,” he murmured, running a finger along her cheek.

“Out of the way?”

“I knew if we didn’t, I’d be thinking about it all night. And since we have to do it in front of the camera tomorrow, I thought we might want to get the…bugs out.”

“So that was just practice?” Kelly asked, trying to catch her breath.

“Maybe,” he said. “And little bit of curiosity. Should we try again? Practice makes perfect.”

She didn’t object and he took that as an invitation. He kissed her again, this time lingering over her mouth until she opened beneath him. The kiss was deep and stirring and Kelly felt a delicious warmth course through her body. What harm could it possibly do to kiss Zach Haas? It certainly was one of the more pleasant experiences of her life. And an actress had to prepare for these things. Besides, she needed something to take her mind off the disaster that had made up the day’s events. Now, at least she had a bright spot to look back on.

“Maybe we should rehearse tonight,” Kelly suggested.

A wide grin broke over Zach’s face. “I think that would be a very good idea. I want to make sure we get it right. It needs to be believable.” He slowly backed toward the door, keeping his eyes fixed on her face. “I’ll call you when I get done at the station.”

“Yes, call me,” she said. “I’m staying at the Sheraton.”

“I know,” he murmured. “Everyone from the show stays there. I’ll see you later, then.”

“See you,” Kelly said, giving him a little wave.

When the door closed behind him, she drew a deep breath and groaned. Oh, God, what was she doing? Every instinct told her to keep her relationship with Zach strictly professional. And every impulse told her to do the opposite. He was just so…hot! And it had been a long time since she’d indulged in the pleasures that a man’s body offered.

There had been boyfriends over the years, but Hollywood romances were always rather shallow and short-lived. And Kelly had a unique talent for picking men who were emotionally unavailable. Whenever things came close to getting serious, they usually headed for the door. She once visited a therapist to try to sort it all out and the woman had claimed it was Kelly who was deliberately choosing men who wouldn’t stay because she was the one afraid of commitment, afraid of anything coming between her and her career. But who cared about commitment? All she wanted was a chance to kiss Zach Haas again.

Kelly reached up and touched her lips, still damp from his tongue. Her heart was still pounding at a rapid rate and she could barely draw a breath without growing dizzy. She felt silly and nervous and overwhelmed. What difference did age really make anyway? Hell, any man who kissed as well as he did was no novice to seduction. They were two consenting adults who were attracted to each other, so there was nothing standing in the way.

She was just a little bit more adult than he was.