What it Takes (18 page)

“What gift?” he teased.

She smiled politely. “The flower was beautiful.” She watched his face and after a few seconds a delightful wrinkle creased his forehead.

“And the charm?” he casually remarked.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as the corners of her mouth threatened to turn up. She quickly got them in check. “I knew they were from you.”

“Guilty.” He laughed. “They were from me.”

Kelsey studied his face. He looked very pleased with himself, too pleased. He probably thought she was there to thank him. She wanted to but needed to know something else first. Her hands twisted together on the table. “Why?”

“Just wanted you to know I’ve been thinking about you.”

Kelsey raised an eyebrow. “What exactly have you been thinking about me?”

His mouth fell open for a moment before he snapped it shut.

Kelsey looked at the table as she hesitantly asked, “Do you give all your leading ladies flowers?”

After a few moments of silence, except for his steady respirations, he spoke. “Just what is that supposed to mean?” he asked sharply. Kelsey looked at him and his eyes widened. “Can’t I give you something, just to be nice?”

“I’m just asking,” she said, keeping her voice low and steady.

“What do you want to know?” His tone was calmer as he leaned closer.

Kelsey mimicked his movement. “Are you really just being nice,” she asked on the inhale, and as she exhaled, “or are you expecting something in return?”

He sat back, frowning, and she could see the hurt in his eyes. As he slowly stood, he put his hands on the table and leaned over them. Kelsey forced herself to hold his gaze.

“It was just a gift. A gesture of friendship,” he stated, then straightened and walked away.

Kelsey pinched her lips together as she closed her eyes and lowered her head. She shouldn’t have asked. He’d been nothing but nice to her and she should have just accepted his gifts without question. She slowly followed him to the next scene.

The next morning Kelsey was a little slower to get moving. She was preparing herself mentally for the day of filming ahead. She opened the door and saw another rose, white, with a hand-written note attached.

It read:
There’s no color to say I’m sorry, so please accept this one instead.

Her heart skipped a beat and she glanced up and down the hall. Patrick was nowhere to be seen. She took the rose into her room and put it on the counter with the others. Three flowers in three vases didn’t look right, so she moved them all into one. There wasn’t enough water in the one, so she added more.

He’d given her the silent treatment for the rest of the day, only speaking to her when he had to. This white rose, and the apology to go with it, were unexpected. But then, Patrick hadn’t really behaved the way she’d expected him to the whole time they’d been working together.

Her hands shook as she rearranged the flowers.

He wasn’t falling in love with her, and she wasn’t going to be so foolish as to believe otherwise. She’d get through the next few days, bid him farewell, and that would be that. She’d go home to Janelle and the kids, and life would return to normal. And as soon as he started filming his next movie, he’d forget all about her.

First, though, she had to make it through the day. The only scene they were filming today was their love scene.

She readjusted the flowers . . . again.

Her stomach was doing somersaults; the feeling was even worse than the morning of the kiss. But those flips hadn’t been nearly as bad as the previous day when they’d filmed the scene leading up to the love scene. Patrick had trailed kisses down her neck as his hands had slowly stripped away her clothes in preparation for today’s scene.

Her skin was suddenly warm and her knees weak. A small part of her hated the fact that he could make her feel this way. Too small a part for her liking. The end of this job couldn’t come fast enough. She stepped back from the flowers and grabbed her bag.

Let’s get this over with
, she thought as she headed out the door.

Kelsey grabbed a bagel from the hotel’s breakfast bar before walking to the waiting car. She and Patrick were the only ones going to the set that morning, so the driver waited the five minutes it took Patrick to join them. He smiled as he slid onto the seat beside her and her appetite fled.

They rode in silence as she looked out the window and picked the bagel apart, trying not to think about the large, warm body beside her. The clean, woodsy scent she associated with him wreathed her senses.

When had she started to notice his smell?

Patrick cleared his throat and she ignored it.

When they finally arrived on set, they went straight to their separate dressing rooms. Kelsey put her modesty patch on, a piece of fabric used to cover her genitals and nothing more. She almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it. She was going to be nearly naked with Patrick, and this little patch was supposed to protect her modesty?

With a sigh, she donned her robe and sat for her hair and make-up to be done. Like the modesty patch, she wasn’t sure hairspray and eye shadow could make her comfortable with what she was about to do.

When ready, she walked to the set, breathing deeply as she went, trying to get her nerves under control. If she couldn’t do that, she didn’t think she’d be able to do the scene. She stepped into the “bedroom” and stopped. The bed dwarfed the space.

“Good, Kelsey, you’re here,” Andy said, looking up from a discussion he was having with the cameramen. She nodded. “I want you on this side of the bed,” he said, pointing to the right side. “Patrick, you’ll be there.”

Without turning, Kelsey felt Patrick behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw his relaxed, confident expression. His dimples appeared and her body heated all over. Her eyes dropped to his lips before she quickly turned around.

Suddenly, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to do the scene.

She walked to the side of the bed and sat cross-legged on top of the covers, pushing her robe into her lap with one hand while holding the top closed with the other. Patrick sat beside her with his legs in front of him, and Andy sat at the foot of the bed.

“Once the cameras start, they won’t stop until the end of the scene,” Andy started. “I’ll change your positions a couple of times, but otherwise I want you to do what feels natural. Any questions?” He stared directly at Kelsey. She shook her head and he walked back to the cameras, giving Kelsey and Patrick some privacy while they got undressed.

Kelsey stood, trying to figure out what to do next as her butterflies tried to burst free.

Patrick pulled the covers down and held the sheet up for her. “Crawl in and cover before you take your robe off,” he suggested. He looked straight ahead as she nodded and followed his recommendation. He kept his eyes averted as she wiggled out of her robe. “Did you get my note?”

“Yes,” she answered softly. She tucked the sheet under her arms, handed her robe to Kay, the woman from the wardrobe department, and tried not to think about the fact that she was practically naked. Kay walked to the other side of the bed to wait for Patrick’s robe. “Why are you apologizing?” She leaned back against the headboard and looked at him.

He kept his eyes forward, staring at the blank wall beyond the foot of the bed. “I never wanted you to think I had an ulterior motive. I wasn’t trying to get you into bed,” he replied. Kelsey’s eyes grew round and he fought a smile. He looked at her, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he waved to the bed. “This was a given,” he teased.

Kelsey shook her head but couldn’t hold back a giggle. He chuckled with her.

She exhaled heavily. “I misunderstood and made an assumption I shouldn’t have made,” she whispered. “That’s not your fault.”

“But it is.” His eyes wandered over her face. He looked relieved to see that she was, at least slightly, more relaxed. “Would you’ve assumed that from someone like Grayson? Or anyone else for that matter?”

She slowly shook her head.

“I didn’t think so,” he muttered and leaned his head against the headboard.

“I don’t know what I would’ve assumed.”

He turned his head slightly and glanced at her. He opened his mouth to say something but Andy returned. He had them get into a pseudo-missionary position, Patrick on top with their legs alternating. Once they were in position and the sheets were adjusted to cover them appropriately, Andy left to check the camera angles and lighting.

Kelsey’s heart beat a little faster as her breasts touched Patrick’s bare chest. She tried not to remember that the last man she was with, in anything close to this way, was Tim. As Patrick’s warmth seeped into her bones, and in spite of repeating that this wasn’t real, she started to feel that long-forgotten flame low in her abdomen.

She glanced briefly at his face then looked at the ceiling as she tried to control her erratic heartbeat. “So, why’d you give them to me?” she asked, hoping to distract herself. As if it wasn’t bad enough that she was in bed, almost naked, with Patrick, she was trying to ignore the other men in the room as well as the desire building in her veins. Andy had positioned a cameraman on each side of the bed and was giving each of them orders as she and Patrick lay there.

“I thought you’d like them.”

“I do,” she whispered, gazing into his rich brown eyes.

Patrick leaned closer. “Does it bother you I might’ve made the same gesture to other women then?”

“What bothers me . . .” she started and got lost as she studied his mouth. She realized how much she wanted to kiss him and her cheeks warmed.

“Was the intent.” He finished her statement for her and she forced her eyes to meet his. “When I’ve sent flowers before, the intent was completely different.”

“What does that mean?” she questioned.

He smirked impishly again.

“Okay, we’re ready,” Andy called. “Action!”

Patrick looked into her eyes and was almost overpowered with desire. As his mouth lowered to Kelsey’s, he forced himself to remember that they were acting. She kissed him back and the enthusiasm of it took him by surprise. He savored the sweetness of her lips before trailing his own across her jaw. He moved and lightly kissed along her hairline and across her cheek before meeting her mouth again, holding her close, making a conscious effort to keep her covered at all times. When their eyes met again, her nervousness seemed to have slipped away. He moved in for another kiss and swallowed her sigh.

Despite being painfully aware of the reality of the situation, he hardened against her leg. Terrified, he looked up and met her large, slightly glazed eyes. He leaned closer and shifted so his erection wasn’t pressing against her.

He put his mouth to her ear. “Sorry,” he whispered as he gently kissed her neck.

He felt the ripple that went through her body when he whispered. She nodded just enough for him to understand and pressed her lips to his temple as she ran her fingers through his hair. Her eyes darkened with desire as he moved against her and kissed her again.

This isn’t supposed to happen
, Kelsey repeated to herself, even as her hands explored the long, hard planes of Patrick’s back. His lips caressed her neck and she closed her eyes, fighting the urge to lose herself in sensations she hadn’t felt in a long time. She was starting to forget this wasn’t real when Andy silently came over and had them change position.

The interruption was enough to remind them both of the reality of the situation.

Andy moved them into a full missionary position and asked Kelsey to pull her leg out from under the covers and wrap it around Patrick. His arousal was easier to feel and Kelsey did her best to hide a shudder. She studied Patrick’s eyes as they resumed.

Patrick kissed her neck, ear, and shoulder as he worked his way down to the top of her breasts. He quickly glanced at the perfectly round and satiny smooth mounds, and it took all his willpower not to continue exploring them with his mouth. She fisted her fingers in his hair, soothing and arousing him at the same time. He moved against her as she slowly trailed her lips over his neck and face.

When their eyes met again, hers sparkled with excitement. He fought a smile and leaned over for a kiss. She moaned as he pressed against her and deepened the kiss. He wished that they were alone and this was real. This was unlike any love scene he’d ever made. He’d never been this aroused. He’d never seen this much passion, lust, and arousal in his co-star. He took a deep breath, trying to regain control of himself, or at least stay sane enough to not cross a line.

Patrick was only slightly relieved when Andy approached to have them change positions again. Patrick pulled Kelsey tightly against him, protecting her modesty as much as possible, as they sat up. Andy directed her to kneel across Patrick’s lap.

Kelsey could feel his tension under her fingers as she shifted into position but his touch was gentle and caring. Once she was positioned on his lap, the sheets were arranged around them, Andy stepped back, and they resumed their “love-making.”

Patrick kissed her continuously, touching his lips to as much of her as he could get away with, and every time he pulled back, he met her eyes. Kelsey couldn’t look away. She was mesmerized by the serenity that relaxed every feature on his face. It filled her with a joy that she hadn’t felt in a long time, knowing that, real or not, she’d put that look on his face.