And Playing the Role of Herself... (35 page)

I glanced back at Robyn nervously, not sure how public she wanted to be, and honestly not certain how public I wanted to be, either. She watched me carefully, as though waiting for some clue, and finally said softly, "I'm dying to touch you, Caid, and right now, I don't really give a damn who's watching, but I'll understand if you're uncomfortable…"
Her words melted my indecision instantly, and I stepped forward to wrap my arms around her before she even finished speaking.
"Whoa," she chuckled as her arms closed around me. "Guess that question is answered."
"Hi," I murmured into her shoulder. Her arms tightened briefly and then, deciding without having to say so that other, more involved greetings could wait until later, we both stepped back. "I didn't expect to see you until morning," I said, unable to stop myself from stroking her arm lightly. "I very glad to be wrong."
She smiled and shrugged slightly. "I got your message, but decided I didn't want to wait until tomorrow when I knew exactly where you were tonight." She hesitated, and then leaned forward and pressed her lips to my cheek, letting the kiss linger far past what could reasonably be construed as a friendly peck. "Hi," she whispered as she pulled back.
I blinked in surprise, both at her boldness and the sweetness of the gesture. She squeezed my hand and glanced behind me with a friendly smile. "Hi Liz."
"Hi Robyn," Liz's amused voice replied. "Good to see you. Finally finished, hmm?"
I turned, embarrassed to have forgotten Liz was standing there, and met her amused look with an apologetic one.
"Yeah, finally." Robyn put her hands in the pockets of her jacket and rocked back and forth on her heels. "It was a cluster-fuck there at the end, but supposedly things are all done. And perfect timing too - they're in the middle of a heat wave in New York. When I flew out today, it was 98 degrees and something like ninety percent humidity."
Unthinking, I snaked an arm around Robyn's waist as she talked, and when I realized what I was doing, slowly started to withdraw it. She casually pulled a hand out of her pocket to snag the retreating limb and put it back on her waist, keeping it there with a gentle pat. "I was ready to get back to something at least a little drier…" She laughed and waved at the rain around us. "This is somewhat unexpected."
"No shit," I mumbled, suddenly reminded that despite the warmth Robyn's presence caused, under my coat I still wore a soaked cotton shirt and wet jeans. I shivered, and Robyn looked over at me with a frown, seeming for the first time to notice my bedraggled state.
Liz made a shooing motion and pushed us both down the line of trailers. "Go. You've been bitching about being cold for two hours - you don't need to stand out here and get even colder. Robyn, I'm glad you're back, and Caid, I'll see you in the morning."
I groaned, remembering that despite tonight's late shoot, we still had a 7:30 call time in the morning, which meant that I had to be here at 5:30. "Shit," I muttered and sighed heavily as we said goodbye to Liz and trudged down the row of trailers to the last one. I mounted the steps and unlocked the door, pushing it open and letting Robyn enter first. My brain was still grumbling about the early call time when I was yanked into the trailer, the door slammed behind me, and Robyn's deliciously warm, demanding mouth descended on mine.
After overcoming my initial surprise I gave as good as I got, even pushed up against the door as I was. Her kisses were, impossible as it seemed, even better than I remembered, scrambling my brain and sending heat surging through me. We fought for dominance of the kiss until eventually I directed us across the room and onto the couch where we fell, laughing, in an ungraceful heap with Robyn on the bottom.
I straddled her body and propped myself up on my hands, smiling happily down at her. "Hi."
"Hey." She grinned and ran her hands along my thighs, her smile turning to a frown as she rubbed my legs. "Caid, you're soaking wet."
I contemplated an innuendo-laden response, but settled for the facts instead, giving her a quick kiss before sitting up. "I've been lying around in the rain for three hours, of course I'm soaking wet." I unzipped my coat and shrugged it off, tossing it onto a neighboring armchair. "And I'm freezing. I was planning on taking a shower to warm up, but someone distracted me." I smiled to show her I wasn't at all upset by the distraction.
She reached up to finger the collar of my shirt. "Please tell me that's fake."
I looked down at my shirt, realizing that the collar and chest were stained with red, and there were red splatters dotting the rest of it. "Yes, it's fake." I plucked at the collar and sighed. "Shit. Now Zoe's going to be pissed at me, too."
She rested her hands on my thighs, rubbing absently. "What scene were you guys shooting tonight, anyway? I thought I had the most recent script, but I don't remember anything that called for you to lie around in the rain, or get bloody."
"They must not have sent you the 'new and improved' script, then. Not too surprising, since I think they only made the changes yesterday, and we got the new sides today. Your scenes with me in the first half won't change, I don't think, but you've got some new ones in the second half…" I rubbed the raised skin along my cheek and jaw. "Covering these ended up being a butt-load of trouble, so they changed the script and had someone beat the crap out of Rita, to give her character the same scars. That's what we were shooting tonight - the scene where Rita gets attacked."
Her hands tightened on my thighs. "They wrote an attack on you into the script?" she said angrily. "Could they be any more insensitive? Jesus…"
I stopped her outburst with another quick kiss. "It's okay, baby. I told them it was fine. And if it gets things back to normal, I'm more than fine with it." She looked unconvinced. "It wasn't so bad…the damn rain and cold were the worst of it. Which reminds me…" I kissed her again and wiggled off of the couch, unbuttoning my shirt as I stood. "I need to get out of these wet things and take a quick shower." I pulled the tail of the shirt out of my pants to finish unbuttoning it, letting it hang open as I bent down and unlaced my boots, then kicked them off into a corner and worked at the buttons of my jeans. I glanced up from my unbuttoning and stopped, held immobile by the naked heat in Robyn's gaze.
"You're so beautiful, Caid," she said quietly, pushing up off the couch and crossing to where I stood. Warm hands pushed aside the edges of my shirt and rested on my hips, stroking gently. I closed my eyes, enjoying the gentle caresses and her lips claimed mine in a kiss that managed to be incredibly tender and soft, yet intensely passionate at the same time. She broke the kiss and leaned her forehead against mine, and we both sighed softly.
"Missed you."
"I missed you too, baby." I put my hand on her chest, realizing she still wore her damp jacket. I tugged lightly on the material and stepped back. "Why don't you take this off and get comfortable? I'll just be a few minutes, and then maybe we can grab something to eat…I haven't eaten since lunch."
Robyn took off her jacket and tossed it onto the chair with mine, cocking her head at me with a slight smile. "You do realize it's midnight, don't you?"
I shrugged. "It's LA. There's always something open…ah shit!" I smacked my forehead with my hand. "I have a 5:30 call time in the morning…damnit, I keep forgetting."
She crossed her arms and looked genuinely annoyed. "You have to be in at five in the goddamn morning after shooting this late?"
I looked at her apologetically, "I'm sorry, baby…"
"No, no…" She waved her hand. "I'm not mad at you, Caid, I just…" she slumped onto the couch and gave me a wry grin. "Damn. I had plans for you."
I quirked an eyebrow. "Did you now?"
"Mm-hmm." Her eyes perused my half-clothed state. "Definitely. But," she added, leaning back to spread her arms across the back of the couch and crossing one leg over the other, "I'll take a rain check. How about instead, I take you home, feed you, and put you to bed?" She suddenly looked uncertain. "You were planning on spending the night with me, weren't you?"
Her apprehension was misplaced, but kind of cute, and I crossed the room and I leaned down to capture her lips in a fast, rough kiss, pulling back a few inches and stroking her cheek. "Yes, I was planning on spending the night with you, and I still am. We just might be doing a little more sleeping than I originally planned."
She grinned lazily and hooked a finger in the waistband of my pants, pulling my mouth back to hers for a quick kiss before pushing me away. "Go, or this couch is going to get some action."
I laughed and stepped back, gesturing towards the back room. "There's a perfectly good bed…"
"Caid…" she said warningly.
"Alright, alright, I'm going," I said, laughing.
After shutting myself into the small bathroom, I stripped out of my wet clothes and stepped into the shower. I set the water hot enough to make me wince and stood under the blissful heat for a few minutes before starting to scrub at the red streaks on my neck and chest.
"What are you doing tomorrow night?" Robyn's question came from the other side of the shower curtain, startling me so much that I fumbled with the soap and nearly dropped it.
"Uh…"
"You don't mind me coming in here, do you?"
"Uh…no, that's fine." I slowly resumed my washing, very conscious that Robyn was only three feet away.
"So…did you have plans tomorrow night?"
"I didn't have any set plans, no." I dunked my head under the spray and wiped the water out of my eyes. "Although," I added, trying to keep the uncertainty out of my voice, "I had hoped to be doing something with you."
Tomorrow night and every night for the foreseeable future…
I tried to keep in mind what Josh had said - that I wasn't going to lose her by pushing - and told myself that wanting to spend the evening with someone you're in love with, who says they're in love with you too, after two weeks of not seeing each other, wasn't too presumptuous…
Christ, Caid - stop analyzing everything and just go with it…
I was so intent on my little internal dialogue that I didn't notice I had company in the shower until soft, warm skin pressed up against my back and long arms wrapped possessively around my waist.
"I hope you don't mind me joining you, but the thought of you in here, naked, was just to inviting to pass up. I'm only human, after all."
Her throaty voice so close to my ear sent waves of sensation through my body and I jumped a little, then relaxed back against her, humming at the feel of her skin against mine. I laid my arms across hers and squeezed, letting my head fall back against her shoulder with a smile. "No…I don't mind."
"Mmm…you feel good," she murmured, sucking lightly at the back of my neck, making me shiver. She held her lips there for a moment, and rested her chin on my shoulder. "I have to go to a sort of party tomorrow night…I was hoping you would come with me."
I turned my head slightly. "A sort of a party?"
Her hands began to stroke my torso lightly where the spray was hitting, from the top of my hips to just below my breasts and down my sides. "Trish and Mom opened the Santa Monica restaurant five years ago this week…Trish is closing for the night and having a little celebration in honor of the occasion. Diane is coming down, and Lori, and my Mom and Dad…" She hesitated, and kissed the side of my head and squeezed me tightly. "I'd like you to come with me."
Stuck in a strange but pleasant limbo between arousal and utter contentment, it took a moment for the words to sink in. When it did, I turned slowly in her arms and stared at her. It sounded suspiciously like she had just told me she wanted me to meet her family. The invitation certainly wasn't unwelcome, just surprising.
"Are you sure?" I asked cautiously.
She smiled slightly and ducked her head to press light kisses along my collarbone. "Yes," she mumbled into my skin, moving me forward so the spray wasn't hitting her face. "I'm sure." After one final kiss on my chest, she raised her head and looked at me hopefully. "Will you come?"
I stared for a second longer, and shook myself. "Of course," I told her, and she smiled widely.
"Good." She ducked her head again, this time focusing on my neck, and I shut my eyes and stroked my hands up and down her back, thinking about her invitation. I guess she wasn't actually bringing me home to meet the family, but it was a step in the right direction, both in becoming more involved in her life, and her willingness for me to be involved.
A thought struck me. "You know I'm not Trish's favorite person, right? I don't want to cause problems…"
She stopped me with a long kiss, and I'd almost forgotten what we were talking about by the time she answered. "Josh told me something like that," she dropped more light kisses along my chin and down my neck. "It'll be fine. Trish is more bark than bite."
"She really doesn't like me, Rob." I protested weakly, and gasped softly when her warm mouth closed over my nipple. I braced one arm against the shower wall and threaded the other through the hair at the base of her neck, increasing the pressure of her mouth on my breast. "God…"
"Caid?" My eyes fluttered open at her muffled voice, and then closed again with a groan as teeth scraped lightly across sensitive flesh. "I don't want to talk about Trish anymore."
Who needs sleep anyway?
I thought dimly before her hands and mouth pulled me easily into a maelstrom of sensation.

Robyn walked to the large window and stood with her back to me, her arms crossed and her posture wary and defensive.
"I don't know what you want from me," she said abruptly.
Her charcoal gray suit and nearly black hair were stark against the light coming from behind the glass panes, adding to the bleakness of her tone and appearance.
I admired the effect for a moment before speaking.
"
You
kissed
me
, Counselor." I walked up behind her and stood to one side, reaching out a hand to touch her back and hesitating as though I thought better of it before stuffing my hands in my pockets. "That should be my question to ask."
She leaned slightly - almost imperceptibly - away from me, crossing her arms even tighter. "I don't recall hearing any objections from you, Detective," she said coolly. "In fact, you seemed quite amenable at the time."
I turned towards her and leaned one shoulder against the wall, careful to not lean too heavily despite assurances that the flimsy set wall would easily hold me. "I'm not saying I wasn't. And I'm not saying I'm at all unhappy that you kissed me. I'm just saying you started this, and you must have had something in mind when you did. So Counselor," I lowered my voice, leaning forward into her space a bit, trying to catch her eye. "What is it
you
want from
me
?"
"I…" She looked over at me, confusion and fear plain on her face, and then looked away quickly. "I don't know." Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper.
I nodded slowly, not saying anything for a moment, regarding her thoughtfully. "Lunch." I said finally.
She turned slowly, her arms still crossed, but some of the defensiveness was gone. "Lunch?" she repeated, cocking an eyebrow.
I so love that eyebrow
, I thought to myself, but kept my expression serious. "Yes, lunch. It's eleven-thirty. Have lunch with me, Counselor. Consider it a warm-up…like pre-trial preparation. And if we manage to get through an entire hour without killing each other, perhaps you'd consider going to dinner with me sometime this week."
"I…" She blinked and scratched her arm nervously, then seemed to realize what she was doing and gripped her arm tightly instead. "Uh…." She cleared her throat and her eyes darted around the set before finally landing on me again. "Yes."
God she's good
, I thought, just stopping myself from beaming at her in admiration.
"Yes to lunch, or yes to dinner?" I asked, allowing a small smile to flicker across my face.
"Lunch for now." She returned the smile with some of her normal, cocky flair. "Ask me again in an hour, Detective."
"Fair enough." I nodded, letting my smile widen as I pushed off the wall. "And maybe, if you don't feel like it's too much, too soon…you could call me Rita."
She smiled.
"Cut!!!" Nate yelled from where he was watching the action on the monitors behind the flimsy plywood barrier that acted as one of the walls to Judith Torrington's office. "I like it…Let's get the camera set up over here - I want to shoot a couple from this side of the window. Robyn, Caid, can you take your marks by the window, so we can get the focus and lights?"
We both nodded and turned back to the window, standing casually while the operator pulled the boom mike back and people began scurrying purposefully around the set. Jules' assistant Kylie hurried over, eyed both our faces and hair, found them acceptable, and hurried off again. When she had gone, Robyn glanced over at me with a warm smile and I resisted the urge to put my arm around her waist and pull her into a long, unhurried kiss.
It was strange to think that this morning I'd woken in her bed, our limbs so tangled up in each other's that I could hardly tell which were mine and which were hers, and now I had to be cautious about even the most casual contact. Robyn hadn't seemed to mind the crew seeing us together the night before, but today things seemed to be different. It probably had more to do with professionalism than any concern about sparking gossip among the crew, but I still wasn't completely sure of the rules of public conduct I was supposed to follow. I had a feeling that the kind of contact I was wanting right now was well outside the rules.
I fell into buddy mode, which seemed to be acceptable behavior, and bumped her shoulder lightly with mine. "Nice take."
She smiled slightly. "You too. The lean-in was a nice touch."
I grinned, pleased she had noticed. "Thanks."
She slipped her hands into her pockets, glancing around casually. "How you holding up?"
I resisted the urge to grin and glanced around as she had done, lowering my voice although I doubted anyone could hear us over the commotion going on around us. "You mean, considering I only got two hours of sleep last night?"
Not that I was complaining. Despite my tiredness, the late hour, and the distinct lack of space to work with, last night's romp in the trailer's tiny shower stall was definitely the most fun I'd had in a shower in…well…ever. And crawling into her bed to fall asleep in her arms…that hadn't been half-bad either.
Her smile turned self-satisfied. "Mm-hmm."
I couldn't help but laugh, drawing a few curious stares. I waited a moment, until people lost interest. "Proud of ourselves, are we?"
"We are," she said smugly.
I laughed again, quietly. "As well we should be," I murmured.
"Caid," Mariel, the 2nd AD called, popping from behind the wall, "can you go to the second mark?"
I nodded and took a step to my right and leaned against the wall, rolling my shoulders a bit.
"Will you be okay tonight?" Robyn asked quietly when again attention was no longer on us. "If you don't want to go…"
"I'll be fine," I reassured her quickly. "And I definitely want to go." I wasn't about to pass up the chance to meet her family.
"Great." The smile she graced me with was one of those she seemed to save just for me, and the urge to touch her became overwhelming. I blinked and looked away for a moment, and when I looked back, she was staring at me intently, apparently reading my look correctly. Her eyes dropped to my mouth. "Lunch in the trailer later?" she said huskily.
I nodded quickly, and drew a calming breath as Mariel came from behind the wall again. "Ok, let's do it. Places, everyone."
I snuck a glance at my watch.
10:30.
It was going to be a long two hours.
##
In fact, it was four interminable hours before we were allowed to break for lunch, and by then the 'lunch' I'd been looking forward to was reduced to a brief, heated kiss in the trailer before Robyn had to rush back to the IDT set for an afternoon table read and cast meetings. The morning delay in shooting caused the afternoon schedule to shift out as well, and as a result, Nate didn't let us go for the weekend until well after seven o'clock.
By the time I drove home, I was exhausted and cranky and pondered calling Robyn to tell her I couldn't make it, but I quickly dismissed the idea. I told myself to buck up, took a cool, rejuvenating shower, and was dressed and out the door, headed for Santa Monica by eight-thirty, but by that time Robyn, who had wanted to go to the restaurant early to have some time with her family, had long since left for the party. I had called her when I knew I was going to be late, and she'd assured me that I should just show up as soon as I could. As I slipped in and out of traffic along 110, I hoped that nine o'clock wouldn't be too late.
Main Street, Santa Monica was crowded at nine o'clock on a Friday night in August, but I managed to find a parking spot along the street, only three or four blocks from the restaurant. I climbed out of Twila and nervously smoothed my clothes, taking one last glance down at the form-fitting cranberry colored short sleeved top, shot through with thin strands of silver and tucked into simple but dressy pleated tan slacks, a wide brown belt, and pointy, two-inch heeled boots. It was too late to change now, and I prayed I wasn't underdressed, and I didn't look as tired as I felt. Taking a few deep breaths, I skipped across the street, avoiding puddles from the recent rain, and headed towards the restaurant, trying to remember all that Robyn had told me about the different members of her family and hoping to make a good impression, or at least get through the night without embarrassing myself or Robyn.
A tall, bald man dressed in a well-cut tuxedo and sporting a smile that didn't reach his eyes stopped me just inside the door, politely asking my name and even asking to see my ID before checking me off a guest list and asking me to wait a moment while he talked into a small microphone on the cuff of his jacket. He nodded at whatever response he got and waved me onto another tux-clad, muscle-bound man who quickly checked me over with a metal-detecting wand, asked me to please turn off my cell phone if I had one, and told me that if I'd brought a camera or camera phone, I would have to surrender those items for the duration of the party. I assured him I had neither of those items, showed him my phone, and after he'd made sure it was off he mechanically wished me a nice evening.
I shook my head, having been through that kind of security several times in the past at various industry gatherings, but curious as to why they'd need it here. At the top of the wide steps down into the main dining room I paused, running an appreciative eye over the changes made for the party. Swaths of rich colored fabrics hung from the high ceiling and covered the walls, combining with an intricate array of filtered lights to create a rippling affect, as though the cloth were caught by some phantom breeze. Several tables had been removed and the remaining rearranged to allow for serving stations and a bar along one wall and a jazz trio played in the corner, intent on their music and oblivious to the noise and crowd nearly drowning them out.
I was startled to see that the place was noisy and packed, with at least a hundred people standing in pairs and small groups, eating, talking and drinking at what Robyn had called a 'sort of party'. While I hadn't been expecting her family only, I certainly hadn't been expecting this many people, and I found myself a little annoyed that Robyn hadn't specified. The necessity for the tight security became clear, too, as I scanned the crowd and recognized numerous celebrities: local politicians, athletes, musicians, authors and of course several familiar faces from movies and television, along with many of the area's rich and idle were present, several of them dressed to the nines…I still wouldn't consider myself underdressed, but I'd have to remember to ask Robyn a few more question next time we went to a party together, since our ideas of what constituted pertinent information were apparently very different.
I stood scanning the crowd, searching for a glimpse of her, and smiled involuntarily when I spotted her across the room in animated conversation with a couple I didn't recognize. She looked stunning as usual, her hair gathered atop her head in an artfully messy pile and dressed in tight black sheath dress that was cut around the neck and arms like the wet suits I'd seen triathlete's wear, showing off well-defined shoulders, the long, graceful sweep of her neck, and plenty of tan, delectable skin. I noticed a hand resting casually on that skin and followed the hand to where it met an arm that was draped across her shoulder...
Josh.
Standing next to her, laughing with her, his arm around her possessively as thought they were together.
With my woman.
Whoa there, Tarzan…
I frowned at myself and watched the two of them together, feeling a brief stab of jealousy.
For people who weren't going to be a public couple anymore, they certainly looked like one
, I thought with irritation, and then squashed my annoyance, thinking that Josh was going to have to rein in his touchy-feely impulses in public, or I was going to have to rein in my Neanderthal-like possessiveness. Probably a little of both was in order.
"Caidence!" a feminine voice exclaimed just as I was about to go smack Robyn over the head with my club and drag her back to my cave. I paused and turned to find Sophie standing beside me, looking up at me in delighted recognition. She gripped my arms lightly and kissed me on both cheeks, then pulled me into a warm embrace. When she let me go she looked at me fondly and I smile back, very glad to see her.
"Sophie,
buenas noches."
I leaned in and kissed her on both cheeks, as she had done. "It's lovely to see you." I took in her flowing black dress, careful make up and elegant chignon. "You look
muy hermosa
, Señora."
She smiled and held my hands in hers, squeezing gently. "Ah, you flatter an old woman, but I will accept your flattery gladly." Her smile dimmed slightly as she caught sight of the still healing marks on my face. I'd spent several minutes in front of the mirror this evening, contemplating whether I should try to cover them up or not, and decided not to. People were going to look for them regardless; I figured I might as well make them easy to find. Sophie glanced around and pulled me into a less crowded space away from the stairs, then reached up and touched the scar on my cheek gently. I forced myself not to flinch, standing quietly and letting her trace the line with light fingers. "I am very sorry for your pain, Caidence," she said sincerely, and laid her palm against my cheek.
I smiled gently and pulled her hand from my face, holding it in mine. "Thank you, Sophie. And thank you for the flowers. They were beautiful."
"You are well?" she asked, still staring at me intently.
I nodded and squeezed her hands. "I am very well."
"Good…I was so worried for you. And Sabina…" she shook her head. "She was so terribly upset. I am glad she was there with you."
"Me too," I told her honestly, and squeezed her hands again.
"And speaking of my
hija
, I know she has been anxiously waiting for you. She has told us all to behave and not tell embarrassing stories, so of course we have all thought of some to tell…" She smiled widely and for a split-second it was Robyn smiling at me. I blinked away the vision as Sophie tugged at my hand. "Come, I will help you find her and then there are people I know she wishes for you to meet."
I let her pull me back towards the steps, smiling bemusedly.
"Miss Harris?" The deep voice and polite inquiry were accompanied by a hand on my arm and I shied away violently, pulling away from Sophie and nearly bowling over a tiny woman in a bright yellow dress and precariously high heels who was coming up the steps near me. I steadied her with a hand and got a bleary thanks in response, then took a breath and turned to find another tuxedo-clad member of the security team standing beside me, this one tall and lean with less obvious muscle but no less intimidating, despite the contrite expression on his face.