Kiss This (30 page)

“With Lynn. I told you that.”

“I know, but why so late? Mel, you need to
take better care of yourself.”

“Just because my hours are different than
yours doesn’t mean I’m not taking care of myself.”

Camryn shrugged. “Fine. But what have you
guys been doing?” Melanie didn’t answer right away and Camryn
sighed. “Please don’t tell me you’ve been partying. You smell like
cigarettes and booze.”

“I didn’t drink,” she scoffed. “I’m not that
stupid, Cam.”

“I didn’t say you were. It’s just that the
scene you’re hanging around…”

“I was with Lynn and Derek, so it was
fine.”

Hearing Derek’s name made Camryn cautious.
He was Lynn’s boyfriend/bassist in the band. “So if you saw Derek,
was Jordan there too?”

Melanie looked away as she stripped her
shirt off and tossed it towards the closet. “Yeah, but I didn’t
talk to him.” She stepped out of her short skirt and it followed
the shirt’s fate. Once she was in a sleep shirt, she unhooked her
bra and tossed it on the dresser. “I was going to talk to him, but
he had two chicks all over him. Or he was all over two chicks, I’m
not sure.”

Camryn made a face but didn’t comment on how
gross she thought he was. But out of all the men in the world, why
did Melanie have to get knocked up by
that
guy?

“Goodnight, Mel, I love you,” she said
softly, turning for the door. She heard Melanie return the
sentiment as she headed down the hall. Teague was sitting up on the
couch when she returned, rubbing his face. “Sorry, did we wake
you?” she asked.

“Kind of,” he answered when he stood. “I
somehow became aware that your beautiful body had left me.”

“Well come to bed with me while you’re up so
I don’t have to carry you.”

“Ha. I’d like to see that.”

He headed down the hall with her, stretching
his body while he walked. Camryn watched him drop on her bed face
first and then he barely moved. She was worried over why he was so
exhausted lately, but she snuggled next to him and pulled a blanket
over the two of them, thankful that he was at least here with
her.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Oh. My. God.”

Camryn’s mouth hung open after her very
first “action/cut” experience outside of a music video, and even
though Teague was already returning to the starting point to do it
all over again, she couldn’t believe what she just saw. He’d
literally just crashed a motorcycle into the front of a truck. On
purpose. And not only did the bike actually
hit
the truck,
Teague was launched onto the hood, jumped on the roof and into the
bed of it, and then down to the ground to take off at a run. He’d
been hooked to a safety cable, but still…

“Sure beats all the boring monologues and
shit, don’t it?” the lady next to her spoke. Her name was Janice
and Teague had left Camryn with her while he worked. They were
sitting a ways off from the actual filming, but Camryn could see
everything and wasn’t so sure it was a good thing.

“Um, sure,” she replied.

Janice chuckled. “Yeah, he said you were a
first timer,” she joked. “You’ll get used to it. But I s’pose it’s
tougher watching the guy you love do dangerous shit like that.”

Camryn barely smiled in response. No, she
wasn’t sure she was going to enjoy watching this, intriguing or
not. But yes, Janice was right on the money about one thing.

She was in love with Teague.

“So how long you two been together?” Janice
asked.

“Teague and I? Over a month, I guess.”

“That all? Jesus, with all the instructions
he gave me I thought I was here to guard royalty.”

Camryn chuckled with amusement. “Yeah, he’s
pretty protective like that.” And he was. Ever since she first met
him, Teague was always looking out for her. Sometimes in subtle
ways; other times not-so-subtle. But he seemed to always make her
happiness and wellbeing his top priority.

“So you wanna go meet some people, then?
Let’s go visit a couple of trailers.” She stood up and motioned for
Camryn to follow her.

“Meet people? I’m only here for Teague.”

“Sure,” she laughed with a raspy voice.
“C’mon, don’t act shy and innocent. You’ve timed it good. There’re
a couple of ‘em here today to start filming on this street, soon as
these fellas are done.”

“I’m really not interested in meeting any
actors, if that’s what you mean,” Camryn stated. She remained where
she was and faced the stunt scene again, crossing her arms over her
chest to prove a point.

Janice grunted. “Well, I need to grab my
nicotine gum. Don’t go anywhere, okay? You’ll get your ass dragged
out of here if you’re not with the right person.”

Camryn watched the woman leave and she felt
a little relieved. She preferred watching Teague by herself without
Janice’s commentary. He was currently talking to who she believed
was the stunt coordinator, and just seeing him standing there
casually with his feet shoulder width apart and his hands at his
hips made her smile. Damn he looked so good. Especially now because
he’d taken his jacket off so someone could adjust something on it,
and Teague in a black t-shirt made her feel giddy and girly.

“See something you like?” a deep voice
asked, breaking her trance.

It scared the shit out of her and she
jumped. Had Teague not been in her sights a half a block away, she
would have thought it was him talking to her! But when she looked
at the figure that sat down beside her, she could see why.

It was his brother. Max McCallan.

“You look pretty intense there, blondie,” he
winked with a smile. “What’s got you captivated? The high dollar
faces are in their trailers for siesta.”

Camryn let herself relax in the chair she
was sitting in. “I’d rather watch this any day,” she admitted.

“Oh? You like action, huh.” It was a
statement and she could tell by his smirk he was confident she
agreed with the innuendo.

“I’ve always preferred the behind-the-scenes
work,” she shrugged. “Well I guess this isn’t exactly
‘behind-the-scenes’ since it’s literally the most exciting aspect
of an action movie.”

He slowly nodded. “I’m Max,” he told her,
holding out a hand. “What’s your name?”

She carefully shook it and answered,
“Camryn.”

“Camryn, huh. I like it. So Camryn, how
would you like a tour of the set? You want to meet a few people?
Maybe afterwards we could have a drink and hang out for a bit.”

With a polite smile she replied, “No, thank
you. I’m content right here.”

He raised his eyebrows with surprise. “Well
I kind of have a lot of connections if you’d like to use them. Come
on. You might be impressed by who you meet,” he smiled
arrogantly.

She looked him level in the eye. “I’m not
impressed by much, Mr. McCallan.”

He tilted his head to study her closely.
“Ah, so you do know who I am. Okay, so you’ve cut me down a notch,”
he admitted with a nod. “I like it. I’m guessing you’re here with
someone else and I wasn’t aware of it. Usually important guests
aren’t sitting all alone like you. Just thought I’d come say
hi.”

“Well that was very thoughtful of you,” she
smiled, feigning sincerity. “I’m very happy right where I’m at,
though.”

“Wait, are you one of Deacon’s girls? Is
that why you’re ogling the props guy?”

She couldn’t help but chuckle. Ogling? Well,
she couldn’t deny that much of it. “No, I don’t know Deacon,” she
told him. “Is that him?” she added, pointing to the guy that was
resetting some of the scene.

“Yeah, that’s Deacon. I hear he makes the
girls squeal and all that.”

“Huh,” Camryn replied indifferently. “I
don’t see that about him, actually.”

“No?” Max smiled, leaning onto his knees.
“Clue me in, gorgeous. I’m dying to figure this out.”

Teague happened to walk across the street
fifty yards away as he slid into his special jacket again. She
couldn’t help but smile and follow his trek back to another
motorcycle that had been reset for him to use.

Max noticed where her eyes traveled and
said, “The stunt guy, huh?”

She gave him a side-glance and shrugged.
“He’s the most beautiful man here.”

That made Max chuckle. “You want me to
introduce you?” he offered.

“Ah, no thanks. I can manage on my own.”

“I’m sure you could, but why make it harder
when I can make it easier?”

She didn’t reply because she was watching
Teague mount the motorcycle again and her heart began to pick up
speed. She leaned forward and pressed her fist to her mouth,
nervous for another round of torture. The scene only lasted about
twelve seconds, but it was a very long twelve seconds. Teague
executed the stunt exactly the same from what Camryn could tell and
then she released the breath she didn’t realize she’d been
holding.

“You’re uptight, honey,” Max chuckled. “If
you like this stuff, why are you such a wreck?”

She smiled, knowing how she probably looked
while watching it. “It’s mesmerizing and terrifying at the same
time.”

“Nah, Teague’s amazing. He’s one of the
best.”

She glanced at him with surprise, not
expecting him to praise Teague like that.

“Teague’s my brother,” he admitted as he
pointed to him. “You don’t see the family resemblance? See, we both
have dark hair,” he grinned.

That actually made Camryn laugh. “Yes,
that’s about all,” she agreed. “In fact…”

The sentence wasn’t finished because she
noticed Teague was on his way over. She smiled, but the closer he
got, the angrier he looked. She stood up, confused as to why he
looked so pissed. But he was looking at Max, not her, and Max
popped up from the chair when he noticed the same thing.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Teague
growled at him.

Camryn felt invisible since he didn’t even
so much as
look
at her.

“I came to talk to you,” Max retorted. “You
won’t return my fucking calls.”

“Because I don’t
want
to talk to you.
And what the hell do you think you’re doing talking to her?” he
asked, finally glancing at Camryn and then back to Max. “Are you
really testing me, Max? Because I will fuck you up right here in
front of all these—”

“Whoa, Teague,” Camryn cut in. She stepped
in front of him and placed her hands on his chest. “What is the
matter with you?” she asked sternly. “Jesus, stop acting like an
ass.”

“Oh my God, she’s your girlfriend?” Max
laughed from behind her.

She turned around and glared at him but
Teague took a step towards his brother, almost knocking Camryn
over. “Stay the fuck away from her, Max. I’m not kidding.”

Camryn pushed Teague back, but by then,
security was already in their business and stepped between the two
brothers.

“Get your shit together, Teague,” Max told
him discreetly. “Mark won’t put up with this garbage.” He nodded to
the director that was scowling at the disruption on his set.

Max walked away to smooth things over with
Mark and security stepped back, but Teague was wound so tight he
looked ready to punch something.

Camryn gave him a frown and quietly said,
“I’m leaving, Teague.”

She turned around and walked away, and when
sense finally slapped Teague in the face, he hauled ass to catch up
to her. “Wait, Camryn. I’m sorry. Please don’t leave.”

She stopped because he’d stopped right in
front of her, softly holding her upper arms. “Please go back to
work,” she whispered. “You’re making this worse.”

“Making what worse?”

“I didn’t know being here would cause a
commotion. You are most definitely getting the evil eye right now.”
She subtly glanced behind her but discovered the opposite. The
director looked like he was having a good chuckle with Max as they
walked to a tent full of refreshments.

“If you knew anything about my brother,
you’d know he was trying to get in your pants,” Teague spoke in a
low voice. “He’d screw anything with two legs.”

Camryn gaped at him with disbelief. “It’s
nice that you think so highly of me, Teague. Yep, I have two legs
so I must’ve been about to screw your brother! Give me a
break.”

She brushed past him to head for her car in
the private guest lot. She was embarrassed and would most likely
never show her face to these people again. What could be worse? Oh
yeah, some asshole taking her picture as she unlocked her car. She
was so pissed, she was about to storm right up to him and break the
camera over his head. But Teague’s arms wrapped around her and
pulled her face to his chest, putting his back to the
cameraman.

“That’ll make it worse,” he whispered. “I
know you’re upset with me and I’m sorry, but just play along.”

Just being close to him clouded her
inclination to be angry and fight back. He had that effect on her
and she wasn’t used to it. But she slowed her breathing as she slid
her arms around him. Someone was telling the camera guy to move on
and a minute later, Teague pulled back to look at her. She noticed
the change in him right away. His eyes weren’t angry and loaded
with violence, but softer and penitent.

“I’m sorry I acted like that, Camryn.
Obviously my brother and I don’t get along. He’s turned into an
arrogant dickhead and I choose not to be on the same sets with him.
I have no idea why he showed up here today.”

“Apparently you won’t return his phone
calls,” she said.

He paused as he seemed to measure her words.
“What else did he tell you?”

“Nothing, that’s what he just said to
you
,” she pointed to the street where they’d been filming.
“But all he wondered was who I was here with. I kind of wouldn’t
talk to him, and that’s when you showed up.”

“You were laughing with him.”

“Teague, it was nothing and I promise you
that. I’ll tell you about later, okay? Right now it looks like
you’re needed.” She motioned toward the set, and when Teague looked
that way, some guy waved him over.