Merrick: Harlequins MC (6 page)

“I did! I loved it! The scene where you were racing out of the forest with Tillie while the fire was burning all around you…that was amazing!”

Blake’s smile grew wider. “It was pretty amazing…but you should have seen it when we were filming it. All the smoke came from smoke machines, all the scenes of us in the truck were shot while the truck was on a rig so it would shake, and the biggest flame anywhere around was someone’s lighter. That’s movie magic, baby.” He gave her a leering grin as he winked and made his hands into pistols that he pointed at her.

Sonya oozed in close. “The scene where you and Tillie were making love in the fireproof tent…that was so
hot
!”

Blake nodded. “Yes, well, a little fictional license there. In real life the tents are tiny and for one person only, and if there were a real forest fire around and you thought you were going to die, I don’t know how much love-making you would be up for.”

“I don’t care; it was still hot.”

Merrick grinned as Sonya melted and ran all over Blake, and he had a difficult time not staring at her breasts as she pressed into him. “How did you know where to find the clubhouse?”

Blake pulled his attention back to Merrick. “That was the easy part. Laredo PD knows where it is, and we have a couple of cops as consultants on the shoot. A quick phone call was all it took. I decided to borrow one of the production vehicles and come see what the place looked like.”

“Want a beer?”

“Sure, if you don’t mind.”

Blake spent the next hour talking with the Harlequins, swapping stories, and asking questions. The Harlequins answered those they could and made up sometime when they wanted to keep what the club really did under wraps. They’d been doing it for years and their patter was natural, easy and believable.

As they talked, Merrick noticed Blake’s hand subtly exploring Sonya, something she was encouraging. “Sonya, do you want to show Blake the rest of the clubhouse?” he asked with a grin.

“Do you mind?”

He shook his head. If Blake wanted a taste of the wild side, he would give it to him. “No, and take your time.”

Sonya rose, dragging her hand down Blake’s arm until she gripped his fingers. “You want to see the back of the clubhouse?” she purred, her voice dripping sex and promise.

He grinned as he rose. “Sure. Why not.”

She took his bottle and sat it on the floor before tugging at his fingers as she took two steps back, then turned, pulling him along behind her. They disappeared down the short hall and they heard the door to one of the guest rooms shut.

Merrick grinned at the rest of the Harlequins. “He’ll have some stories to tell when he gets back to his hotel.”

Jason snickered. “Why?”

Merrick’s grin widened as he shrugged. “Sonya obviously wanted to, and it’ll probably be her one chance to fuck a Hollywood star, so why not let her? Nobody can say we don’t treat our guests well.”

***

It took an hour before Sonya and Blake appeared again. They were flushed and bed tossed, but smiling. “Enjoy yourself?” Merrick asked.

Blake chuckled. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I have to get back before they send someone looking for me, but thank you for the hospitality. I learned a lot.”

“You’re welcome. If you get to a chance to do the motorcycle movie, let us know. We’ll offer our services as consultants to make sure you get it right.”

Blake grinned and nodded. “I’ll do that.” He looked around again, obviously taking it all in, then gave Sonya a gentle kiss. “I enjoyed it.”

“Me too,” she whispered.

“If you ever get to LA, look me up. I’ll show you a little of my world,” he said, addressing the rest of the men and women.

“We’ll do that,” Jason said as he rose to usher Blake out.

As the door shut behind him, Merrick turned to Sonya. “How was it?”

She grinned before pulling him into a torrid kiss. “He’s good looking as fuck, but I need you to finish what he started,” she breathed as she pulled back from his kiss and began to tug him down the hall. “He can’t eat pussy worth a shit and then came too fast.” She looked at the rest of the Harlequins. “You’ll have to excuse us, but this can’t wait,” she called as she turned and dragged him along.

Merrick could still hear his brothers and sisters laughing as Sonya led him into the room she’d just left and shut the door.

Merrick arrived on the set well after the barricades had been set up around the location. Sonya had been wild as shit last night and they’d spent hours fucking like rabbits in the clubhouse before falling into an exhausted sleep, only to have her wake him up for another round of hard fucking this morning. He’d come four times in twelve hours, and could have used some more sleep, but he had work to do. Slightly sore in all the best ways, he’d left her exhausted and asleep when he returned home to shower and change into fresh clothes.

He smiled as he greeted the brothers on the line. He would find out what problems they were encountering, if any, but first things first. He made his way to the caterer’s table for some coffee to get the synapses firing.

“Rough night last night?” Blake asked with a grin as he stepped up beside Merrick.

“Had trouble sleeping,” he said as he took a sip of the surprisingly good coffee. “You?”

Blake smiled. “Like a fucking baby. I want to thank you again for your hospitality yesterday.”

“You enjoyed yourself?” Merrick asked with a smile as he blew into his coffee.

Blake’s grin became mischievous. “Sonya was fucking amazing, man. Like nothing I’ve experienced before.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” Merrick said as he took another sip.

“As soon as I’m done with this turd of a movie, I’m going to do a pitch for that motorcycle movie. There are stories to be told there.”

“You don’t like this one?”

Blake shrugged. “It’s fine, just a little too touchy feely for me. My agent thought it would be a good project for me to take so I don’t get typecast, so I did. The main draw for me is getting to fuck Poppy.”

Merrick chuckled. “Really? She’s a little stuck-up for my taste.”

Blake nodded as he drew himself a cup of coffee from the large urn. “Well, I won’t really be fucking her, of course, but it never hurts to be seen in bed with a gorgeous woman. My publicist is working to gin up a bit of a shomance buzz.”

“Shomance?”

Blake chuckled. “It’s nothing, just something to get the tongues wagging in the trades. It’s all part of the game. Having our pictures taken together as we gaze into each other’s eyes, all smiles and giggles, holding hands, that sort of thing. It creates buzz, which helps sell the movie, which leads to more parts.”

Merrick nodded. “I see,” he said, though he didn’t truly understand it. It was all shallow frippery as far as he was concerned. Blake clearly didn’t understand what it was like being able to trust and depend on a brother to have your back if he was concerned with creating buzz by pretending he and Poppy were an item.
Of course, that’s his job…pretending,
he reminded himself.

“Mr. Capra? Would you like a Danish?” the woman behind the table asked as she approached, setting a huge pastry on a plate with a pair of tongs and offering it to him.

He looked at the woman and returned her smile. “It’s Merrick, please. I’m surprised you’re talking to me after yesterday.”

The woman glanced around to make sure no one was close and acted as if she wanted to say something but was holding her tongue. Blake chuckled and slapped Merrick on the shoulder as he stepped away. “I was just leaving.”

As soon as Blake was out of hearing, the woman smiled broadly. “If you say anything I will deny it because I need this job, but I thought what you did was awesome. You’re the first person I’ve seen stand up to her.”

Merrick tipped his cup to her with a smile and took the Danish. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”

The woman’s smile spread even wider. “Enjoy your pastry.”

***

They were shooting at an abandoned convenience store that the production crew had redressed. They’d done such a good job they had a driver pull in, thinking the place was open. To prevent things like that from happening while the cameras were rolling, the Harlequins were closing off Jacaman Road and routing traffic around the location during takes. Technically they weren’t allowed to do it, but until the police showed up to stop them, they were going to continue.

“Merrick, we can’t close the road,” Taylor said as he approached. “We don’t have the permits for that.”

Merrick looked at him in mock confusion as cars whizzed by. “The road is open. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Aren’t you closing off the road when we’re shooting?”

Merrick grinned. “Not as far as you know.”

Taylor stared at him a moment then nodded. “Don’t let me see you doing it.”

“Where are you going to be?”

Taylor smiled. “Over with the crew.”

“No problem, then.”

Taylor started to turn away then turned back. “You know, I should have hired you the first time.”

Merrick chuckled. “Yes you should have.”

***

“Prepare to lock it down,” Jeff, the Assistant Director, called.

Patricia repeated the phrase into the walkie on her shoulder, relaying the message to the four Harlequins so they could drag a couple of barricades across the road to begin sending traffic around the location.

“We’re ready,” she said.

“Lock it down!” Jeff cried.

“Speed!” the guy on the camera called.

Will paused a moment. “Action!”

Poppy drove up in the Los Rio cruiser and stepped out.

“Cut! Let’s set up for the reverse!”

Merrick shook his head. The more he watched the movie being made, the more he realized how labor intensive it was. He took a sip of water and decided tonight he was going to watch a movie and pay attention to all the cuts and changes in scenes and angles, trying to get some sense of what all this effort was about.

“Poppy! Poppy Landrieu! Poppy! Over here!” Merrick looked around, trying to determine who was yelling. It was coming from somewhere in the crowd. They were between takes, waiting while the crew setup to shoot the reverse shot, so it wasn’t disrupting anything, but the Harlequins had realized the first night it was easier to keep the crowd quiet than to get them to quiet down once they got loud.

The crowd had been cooperative all day and this was the first outburst. Merrick began to work his way along the barricade toward the sound.

“If you don’t shut your mouth I’m going to make you wish you had,” Nelson growled as he stared menacingly at the man shouting.

“You! I remember you. Charlie something, isn’t it?” Merrick said as he recognized the troublemaker.

“Yeah. Did you give Poppy my message?”

“What message?”

“That I was her biggest fan?”

“Oh, yeah. I let her know. You’re going to have to keep your voice down or we’ll escort you away.”

“This is a free country. I can stand here and there is nothing you can do about it. If these other people are allowed to be here, so am I.”

Merrick pursed his lips in annoyance then sucked on his teeth. “Let me explain something to you, Chuck. These other people are being quiet and respectful and you’re not. Now, you can either shut your pie hole and stay and watch, or you can leave. You won’t like the other option. Do I make myself clear?”

Charlie blinked at him behind his glasses for a moment. “What are you going to do, beat me up?”

“Try me and find out.”

“You don’t scare me,” Charlie said after a pause.

“I should.”

Charlie continued to gaze at him a moment. “If you touch me I’ll report you to the cops.”

“You do what you have to.”

“Poppy!” Charlie yelled as Poppy moved into her start position.

Merrick quickly stepped around the barricade and grabbed Charlie by the arm and started pushing him out through the crowd. Most people were at work, so the people were only two or three deep.

“Let go of me, you gorilla!” Charlie hissed as he tried to free his arm. Merrick changed his grip and twisted Charlie’s arm up behind him. “Ow! That hurts!” he yelled. “Assault! This goon is assaulting me! Someone call the—”

Merrick turned Charlie toward him and delivered a quick jab to his soft stomach. He pulled the punch, a lot, but Charlie woofed out air and went to his knees as he held his stomach. Merrick reached down and picked him up by the arm and started him walking again.

“You wanted it the hard way. You got it.”

“I’m fucking reporting you,” Charlie gasped as he stumbled along.

“The cops know where to find me.” Merrick continued to drag the gasping Charlie until he was two blocks from the barricades. “Don’t let me see you here again,” Merrick said as he shoved Charlie away from him.

“I’m going to have your ass thrown in jail for this.”

“Charlie, let me explain something to you. This is Texas. Your pantywaist complaint isn’t going to carry a lot of weight after they find out we warned you what would happen if you kept being disruptive. My advice to you is to get back into your car and drive back to wherever the fuck it is you came from.”

“This is a free country! You can’t order me around like this!”

Merrick rubbed his mouth, wondering if satisfaction of kicking the shit out of this weasel would be worth spending a couple of nights in jail. He decided it wouldn’t. “Don’t let me see you around again,” he warned, pointing his finger at him as if scolding a child, then turned and began to walk back to the location.

“Hey! Fuck you! I’m calling the cops!” Charlie yelled to his retreating back.

“If you see that guy again, you explain to him he’s not welcome,” Merrick said to Nelson as he passed.

“Like you did?”

“At least that much.”

Nelson chuckled. “Got it.”

***

Merrick was standing under a giant umbrella, sipping a water, when Blake approached. “I
love
filming in Texas. That was fucking awesome. You can’t do shit like that in LA.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The way you handled that guy. They way you’ve handled all this crap. I may move to Texas!”

“Some people don’t have any manners and have to learn them the hard way.”

Blake chuckled and gave him slap on the shoulder before moving off. As he did, Merrick noticed Poppy watching. He raised his bottle in salute and gave her a smile, just to annoy her, but to his surprise, she smiled back and nodded her head in acknowledgement.

***

“Cut! That’s a wrap, people!” Will called as he stepped back from the display. “Patricia, go find Merrick.”

A few moments later, Patricia arrived with Merrick in tow. “You wanted to see me?” Merrick asked.

“Yes. Were done here for the day. Another day we finished early. It’s like you’re our good luck charm.” Will grinned. “Tomorrow we’re doing another night shoot, this time at the Mall del Norte. We won’t be needing you since we’ll be shooting inside, so you get a day off.”

Merrick nodded. “Okay. You’ll need us back day after tomorrow?”

“Yeah. We were planning to go down to the river and it’s going to be a bitch of a shoot down there. Second unit is actually going to start the step tomorrow.” Will smiled. “We’ll see how good you are because we are going to be spread out all over hell’s half-acre down there. We’re going to try to grab scenes in three locations.”