Rising Star (3 page)

Selena took his hand as she swallowed her
bite of sandwich, almost without chewing it. “Hi. I’m Selena
Summers and this is Beth Winston.” She had swallowed the bite of
her sandwich and now she quickly wiped the back of her hand across
her mouth as Matt stared at her, his blue eyes twinkling.

Beth took his hand excitedly. “I’ve seen all
your movies, Mr. Mason. My favorite was ‘Shadow Dance.’ You’re a
great dancer,” she chattered nervously. Matt shook Beth’s hand and
smiled at her, but his blue eyes never really left Selena. “Thank
you,” he told Beth. “I appreciate the loyal fans. How about you,
Selena? Are you a fan?” That’s odd, she’s looking at me like she
doesn’t even know who I am. He found it a refreshing change to see
a teenage girl who wasn’t fawning over him and asking for
autographs. Honestly, her eyes were completely unreadable.
Mysterious, even.

Selena wasn’t sure how to answer his
question. It would be rude to say no, but if she said yes, he might
ask her which movie was her favorite. She honestly couldn’t name a
one of them.

“
Sure,” she finally
answered. “But I don’t watch a lot of TV or go to the movies very
often.”

She began walking past him, the uneaten
sandwich still in her hand, but Matt turned and followed along. He
was really intrigued now. “What do you do then, if you don’t watch
TV or go to the movies?”

“
Ride horses and rodeo,”
Selena answered guardedly. She was afraid he would think she was
just some small town, hick girl who didn’t even own a TV. “I guess
it’s pretty tame compared to Hollywood.”

“
No, it sounds nice. I
like to ride too. I just don’t get a chance often enough.” Matt
matched her pace as she walked. “This movie has been fun, though.
My whole body is sore from riding every day.”

She quickened her stride as Matt talked. He
made her feel nervous and she knew she couldn’t hold a decent
conversation if he talked about his movies. Just go away, Hottie
Mason, she thought as she walked faster.

But he kept pace with her, his long legs
matching her stride easily. “You get used to it…riding, I mean,”
she said. “If you do it every day.” At least he’s on a subject I
can handle, she thought.

Selena turned when she realized Beth was no
longer beside her. Beth was still by the table, eating her sandwich
with her back to them. Oh my God, we probably hurt her feelings,
Selena thought. She had never ditched her friend for some guy and
she wasn’t about to begin now.

“
Come on, Beth.” Selena
waved her arm and Beth hurried to catch up, a big smile on her
face.

“
I guess I’ll see you
around,” Matt said as Beth caught up to them.

He stopped walking as the girls continued on
their way. He stood and watched as they walked away. Selena’s
cowboy boots had a bit of a heel on them and he liked the way it
made her hips swing as she walked across the desert. She was quite
different from the type of girls he was used to. Normally, he was
around models and actresses who were too full of themselves to pay
much attention to him. Or fans, who were completely in love with
his character from a movie, but they didn’t know him personally.
They had no idea who he really was. They almost seemed surprised
when he didn’t look and act like the character they had fallen in
love with.

But this girl was different. He could sense
it about her. She was much deeper than the shallow actresses he
knew and she obviously wasn’t an adoring fan. And those big, dark
eyes, they looked like she was hiding some sort of mysteries behind
them. If he could just pry her away from her short, curly-haired
friend, he thought he just might like to get to know her better.
Maybe I can find out what secrets she’s hiding behind those
beautiful eyes, he thought. He watched until the two girls
disappeared into the crowd, then he turned back to the catering
table, his thoughts still on Selena.

Chapter 4

Selena and Beth hung around the set the rest
of the day. Selena wasn’t needed again; she mostly sat around bored
as the crew moved lights and microphones around. It seemed to take
so long to set up for each shot, then only a few minutes of
filming. What a boring job, she thought as she leaned back in her
chair, the spring sun beating on her face. She closed her eyes as
the sun relaxed her body, the noise of the crowd fading into the
background.

It was late in the afternoon and Selena was
dozing in her chair when she heard a galloping horse. She opened
her eyes to see Matt Mason galloping across the desert on a big bay
horse with black legs and a black mane and tail. The pickup was
rolling alongside as they filmed. She noticed immediately how well
he sat his horse as it galloped. He sat tall and straight in the
saddle, his hands light on the reins. Selena was stunned at how
handsome he looked wearing a black cowboy hat. She could see his
blue eyes shining happily as he galloped past. A funny tingle
started in the pit of her stomach as she watched him and she was
wide awake for the first time in hours.

“
See, I told you he was
hot,” Beth whispered. “And he seemed to feel the same about
you.”

Selena shrugged her shoulders, not sure how
to answer as her eyes continued to follow Matt. He does look good
on a horse, she thought. I like the tall, dark and sexy look. He
seems so completely different from the local guys around here. She
finally shook her head to clear it as she stretched back out in the
chair and closed her eyes. He’s just eye candy, she told herself.
He’s probably got more Hollywood girlfriends than I have blue
ribbons from barrel racing.

Beth wasn’t able to go with her to the set
every day after school. She was involved in so many after-school
activities, it was late every day when she got home. Selena missed
her friendly chatter as she sat around the set each day after
school, lonely and bored. She had only filmed one short scene,
where she repeated her few lines over and over until Don finally
called out, “that’s a wrap.” It hadn’t been as bad as she’d
expected. She blocked the crowd from her mind as she said her
lines, pretending she was one of the characters in the stories she
was always writing. The rest of the time had been spent sitting
around with nothing to do. She took her schoolbooks and did her
homework. She tried reading, but she hadn’t found a good book
lately, one that would really draw her into a good story. After a
few boring afternoons, she finally pulled out a notebook and began
writing. She picked up the story of Trish where she had left off,
planning to transfer her work to her home computer as time
permitted.

She was lost in the life of Trish one
evening just before sunset, her hand moving furiously across the
page as she worked to get her thoughts down. She paid no attention
when someone occupied the chair beside her. The crew came and went
constantly, grabbing whatever seat they could get.

“
Are you doing
homework?”

Selena jumped as the smooth, sexy voice
penetrated her thoughts. She looked up, her mind struggling to
return to the current time and place.

“
Uh, no. It’s a book I’ve
been working on,” she stammered as she looked at Matt. Her face
reddened as she realized she’d told him the truth. Beth didn’t even
know about her stories. Well, she had been caught off guard; her
mind had been in another time and place. Matt leaned closer and
draped his arm over the back of her chair. He leaned toward her as
he spoke and the intimacy of his nearness confused Selena. She
quickly closed her notebook and shifted in her seat, turning to
look at him and putting a little space between them.

“
Are you serious?” Matt
said with the mischievous glint to his blue eyes. “You’re a rodeo
queen and an actress and now you’re going to be a famous author
too?”

“
I’m none of those
things,” Selena laughed nervously. “I’m just a person who enjoys
horseback riding and barrel racing. I’m stuck in a movie that I
have no interest in, and I enjoy writing stories.”

Matt threw back his head and laughed. His
laugh had a musical, happy sound. It caught the interest of a
couple of passing crew members. Selena looked up as the two women
stared at Matt, then continued on their way, giggling and
whispering to each other. I bet he gets that a lot, Selena thought,
a bit of a frown crinkling her forehead. I bet he’s used to girls
fawning all over him.

“
I just stopped by to see
if you’d like to have dinner with me tonight?” Matt’s face took on
a serious tone as he stared into her eyes. He almost looked like a
fourteen year-old boy, asking a girl to his first dance and afraid
of the rejection, she thought, amusement replacing her frown. How
charming. I would have expected more of the, ‘I’m an incredibly
sexy movie star and you’re lucky I’m paying attention to you,’ kind
of attitude, she thought as she stared back at him.

“
Sure, I guess,” she
answered. What was this guy doing asking
her
out when he
could have his pick of any of the girls here? And acting like a kid
instead of a smooth, sexy movie star. Ah, well he is an actor,
after all. She smiled as it came clear to her.

“
Do you know Santa Fe?
I’ve mostly stayed out here in the RV. I haven’t really had a
chance to explore the town yet.”

“
Sure. I know a couple of
nice restaurants in Old Town.”

“
Great.” Matt whipped out
a cell phone and made a quick call. “Right by the beige horse
trailer,” he said into the phone.

He took Selena’s arm and led her toward her
horse trailer. She refilled Rusty’s water bucket and threw him
another flake of hay. “We’ll be right back, Rusty,” she told him as
she scratched his withers. Rusty dropped his head, scratching his
face against her side, and then returned to his meal.

Selena looked up at the sound of a long
black car bouncing across the desert toward them. “A limo,
really?”

“
Yes. It’s for the cast to
use. I just haven’t had an excuse til now.”

“
It looks like it should
be following a hearse.”

Matt laughed as he held the door and she
stepped into the long, black car. The interior was a soft, beige
leather. It was so out of place out here in the desert, she almost
laughed herself. She felt like a character in one of her stories.
Maybe I can even use it, she thought. Write it into a scene. Bad
guy chases Trish across the desert in long, black limo.

“
Which way?” Matt pulled
her head back from the clouds. The car had reached the highway and
the driver awaited their direction.

She directed the driver to Old Town, where
he parked on the street in front of a New Mexican restaurant. The
driver hurried to open the door for her and even took her hand to
help her out. I’m being treated like Hollywood royalty, while I’m
wearing jeans and boots and riding a horse in their movie. She
smiled as she stepped out and looked back at the car. Other drivers
passing on the street and even pedestrians were staring as they
passed by. Matt took her arm as they moved to the door of the
restaurant.

The hostess was a young Hispanic girl. She
gushed as she saw Matt Mason in front of her. “Right this way Mr.
Mason. This is the best table we have, right in the window.”

“
Thank you,” Matt said
without looking at her as he held Selena’s chair.

The hostess still stood there, menus in
hand, staring at Matt as a middle-aged waitress appeared at her
side. “I can take it from here, Roberta,” she said, taking the
menus from the younger girl’s hand.

“
I’ve seen all of your
movies,” the older lady told Matt as she set the menus down and
took their drink order. Matt smiled and thanked her, but he kept
his eyes on Selena. He wondered what she was thinking as he looked
at her violet eyes that seemed to hold so many secrets. The aura of
mystery was mesmerizing as he stared at her. Her eyes had almost a
faraway look to them, as if she were always thinking of a different
time and place.

Selena glanced around the restaurant.
Everyone in the room was staring at Matthew Mason. She felt her
face redden as she realized they were the center of attention.
Maybe we should have went through a drive-thru somewhere, she was
thinking. I would never want to be famous, if it meant all this
attention everywhere you go. Rich, yeah…but Matt Mason can have his
fame.

She jumped slightly as Matt took her hand
where it lay on the table. “You get used to it,” he told her,
nodding his head toward the stares.

“
Yeah…I don’t think so.”
She looked at his hand where he had left it over hers on the table.
She temporarily forgot the onlookers as she looked into his amused
blue eyes. Her insides churned as he stared at her. Then he smiled
and the mischievous twinkle sparkled in his eyes. I was right, Matt
thought. She doesn’t like being the center of attention. It was a
refreshing change from the type of girls he knew. Most of them
acted outlandishly, trying to draw attention to themselves in any
way possible.

Selena began to relax a little once Matt
took his hand away and picked up his menu. She had felt knots of
nervous tension go through her as he stared at her with his hand
still covering hers on the table. A vibration, like a hum of
electricity had passed between their hands. And she could still
feel every eye in the restaurant on them. Guess they’re not used to
having a big movie star eating at a local hangout, she thought.
Yeah, as if I am. She snuck a peek at Matt over her menu. He seemed
completely at ease with all the eyes on them, as if he dealt with
it every day of the week, which he probably did.