Feast of Saints (33 page)

“You look just like I pictured him!” Jessica trilled.

“You look great, Jake. Incredible work, Lilly,” Monty said. “Jessica, this is Lilly Rose, our special effects supervisor. She’s up for an Oscar this year. As promised, your book’s in good hands.”

Lilly, still smarting from Jake’s iciness, plastered on a smile that she hoped looked genuine and held out her hand to Jessica, who shook it distractedly, still staring, star struck, at Jake. Lilly knew the feeling.

Rubbing his hands, Monty said, “You ready? Let’s catch some morning light.”

“All good,” Jake said smoothly. “Just give us a minute. I’ll be right there.”

“In ten, then,” said Monty and he steered Jessica back toward her chair on the imposing camera boom.

Jake turned to look hard at her. Sighing heavily, he looked skyward, staring at the top of the awning. Lilly waited quietly. When he finally looked back, she saw a glimpse of the Jake who’d saved her at that long ago preproduction party. His expression was wry. It was her favorite. “You holdin’ any of those happy pills?”

Don’t think, just do
, she encouraged herself. Smiling tentatively at him, she said, “As a matter of fact, I have something better.” Opening the cooler at his feet she pulled out the grape G2 and a straw, closed the lid and stepped up on the cooler so that she stood taller than him. Opening the G2 and popping in the straw, she said, “I have this magic purple potion. Open up.”

Pliant, Jake did as he was told, and she placed the straw between his lips. She watched as he obediently took a long pull. Pushing the straw out of his mouth with his lips, Jake said, “That seems to be Gatorade.”

Staring benevolently down on him, she said, “Ah, but I have to keep my secrets disguised. Now, I will give you the special gift of pixie dust, guaranteed to bestow eternal beauty – well, in your case,” she brazenly looked him up and down, “hotness.”

She jumped down from the cooler and grabbed a brush from her gold-toned palette, then hopped back up and dusted all of the creases made by his stormy expression earlier. When she was done, she whispered, “Happy thoughts,” and impulsively kissed him on the forehead feather-light, so as to not smudge the makeup.

Jake looked steadily at her. Although his next words were harsh, his tone was not. “Don’t be here when I get back, Lilly. Go find Clara.”

“I’m not going to do that.” How loud and clear did she need to be? He’d told her to be prepared to accept the consequences of working hands-on with him. Couldn’t he get that she was more than just prepared? “If it’s me that’s put you in this black mood, tell me what to do to fix it.”

Jake stared at her in frustration. “I can’t do that.”

Lilly searched his face, thinking of all the possible things that he might refuse to say. The vision of his Armani tux-clad form filled her mind, along with his words. His first choice to solve their fiery working relationship.

On you. In you
.

Her belly twisted with desire as she suddenly wished desperately that she could shut out everything and everybody and fast forward to the end of the day, when she could wrap her body around his. Her eyes darkened and narrowed as they fell to Jake’s mouth.

“Don’t play with me, Pixie,” he said firmly, anger and desire brimming below the surface. He reached to run his hand through his hair in a frustrated gesture, which would have wreaked havoc with the makeup and effects. Lilly grabbed it and pressed his hand against her speeding heart.

“I’m not playing, and I’m not going to go get Clara. All day, I’ll be here. And tonight, too, if you still want me. I promise.”

Jake pulled his hand away. “You don’t have to do this, Lilly. I shouldn’t have pressured you. I don’t want to be that guy. The guy who’s hard-on for you prevents you from doing your job.”

She cringed at his bluntness, and felt a twinge of remorse that she had made him feel like a creep.

“You’re not
that
guy. There is no other guy like you,” she said. “You’re honest and brave and strong and talented and incredibly gorgeous and warm. I
do
want to do this.”
I want to know what it feels like to wrap myself around you
. Lilly gave him a tremulous smile.

Jake looked away and then back, clearly uncertain, whether about her intent, or his, she wasn’t sure.

At this small break in the ice, Lilly ventured in. “I have some other happy magic, but it’s secret and meant for your eyes only. I’ll have to show it to you later.” She intended to add a lascivious look down her own body, but stopped short at the ugly shapeless scrubs. Pulling at the bunched fabric around her waist, she pouted, “Except it looks better than this.”

Jake snorted. “Alright, cut it out. I appreciate the pep talk if that’s what this is. Now stop messing around. Let’s just get through this, okay?” Gesturing to all of her, he said, “I don’t need to see any more secret magic this morning. It’s distracting.”

With that he stomped out of the oasis. “Happy thoughts, happy thoughts,” she heard him mumble under his breath as he walked to the set.

The day whizzed by in a blur of sun and makeup. All of the makeup artists were frustrated and struggling to keep the problems created by the hot, humid conditions from becoming so bad they slowed down the shoot. When she wasn’t in Jake’s oasis doing touch ups, she was jogging to the other trailers with tips and products to help keep everyone camera ready. By sunset she could barely feel her feet.

“Cut!” yelled Monty. “Let’s call it a wrap for today.” A collective sigh of relief could be heard over the surf.

As Lilly finished packing up the oasis, she saw Jake come out of the makeup trailer, freshly showered. He glanced her way but immediately looked away and headed over to Monty and Jessica Palmer, clustered around a small monitor reviewing the dailies. She hoped the scenes looked as good as they did in her mind’s eye. All she could see was the golden glow of the small screen reflecting in their faces. She had too much work to do to linger.

As much as she’d tried to stay organized, the day had been havoc. Lilly’s supplies were scattered across three trailers. She’d need to collect them all, and she still had to set up her drying station for the next day’s appliances. She thought about her promise to Jake this morning. How she was going to make that come true, she had no idea. She wasn’t as sure this evening that he wanted her to.

The actual filming had gone great. Jake had pulled off the perfect mood for the script. On breaks with Lilly, neither bland nor stony Jake reappeared. Instead, he was coolly professional the entire day. She smiled warmly at him each time he appeared and practically cooed compliments until she started to feel like one of the supplicants that followed Maya around. By midafternoon, she dropped the compliments but still unfailingly greeted him with a sparkly smile. By the end of the day, she couldn’t point to one moment when she’d been rebuffed, but that was her overall impression. He’d politely set a tone meant to keep her at a distance. Fighting dejection, she headed to the Hawaii version of her Lab.

Two hours later, she was satisfied that the apps for the next day were curing properly. They needed about thirty more minutes. Lilly was so tired that she was afraid she’d fall asleep and they’d dry to a crisp overnight. Thinking she’d better set the alarm before she fell into a coma, she reached for the alarm clock she’d taken from her hotel room to use as a timer – gosh, when was that?

She felt confused and fuzzy and she was terribly hungry. She tried to think of when she last ate, and her mind went blank. She looked down at her grubby scrubs. She’d have to change before entering any of the hotel’s fancy restaurants, although maybe she should just order room service and get some sleep.

Back in her room, Lilly found her phone sitting on the bathroom counter, sprinkled with drywall dust from where she’d removed the built-in hair dryer. Sliding her finger across the screen, she saw a text from Jake from over an hour ago. “Dinner?”

Her thoughts of sleep evaporated. She could shower, change, run out to the Lab to turn off her drying contraption, then meet him. That is, if he hadn’t already given up on her.

“Yes!” she typed and hit send, then added hastily, “If ur still hungry.”

He responded immediately, “Where r u?”

Rather than text back, she tapped his number to call him. Jake picked up on the first ring.

“Are you still on the island?” he asked. Had he looked for her?

“I just got back to my room. I’ve been in my Lab.” The mobile version of her Lab was actually the camera truck. The truck had its own external generator to keep the battery-operated camera equipment fully charged. She had to use bottled water since it wasn’t plumbed, but other than that, it had everything she needed.

“I’m still in scrubs, and I’ve got another half hour on tomorrow’s pieces. Can you wait that long?”

There was silence for moment. Lilly heard a female voice in the background talking loudly to someone else in the room. Alison. She fought off a sick feeling in her empty stomach.

“You sound tired,” he said, the makings of an excuse to beg off.

“I’m fine, and I’ve gotta eat,” she said, not wanting him to think that she’d changed her mind since this morning, although she did not want to dine with Alison.

“Hold on.” Lilly could hear him talking to Alison, asking her to extend his regrets to Jessica Palmer.

“Okay, call me when you’re ready.” She thought he’d hang up in his usual Jake perfunctory manner, but he didn’t. “Are you sure you feel up to it?”

Lilly’s heart sped up, wondering if he meant to take her up on this morning’s promise. “Yes,” she croaked.

“I’ll see you in a few minutes, then. And keep your phone on you.” At that, he did hang up.

Elated, and a little dizzy, as much from excitement as lack of food and sleep, Lilly rooted through her suitcase. She’d brought one pretty dress, a bare-backed burgundy crepe halter from the Halston Heritage collection that she’d had professionally hemmed so that it swung just above her knees. Happily hanging it in the bathroom where the steam would smooth out the few wrinkles, she launched herself into the shower, buffing and scrubbing, shaving and washing until she came out shiny and new.

Ack!
The hotel hair dryer was down in the truck, rigged to her drying apparatus. Buzzing housekeeping, she asked for another one, promising a twenty-dollar tip if they’d bring it right away. While she waited, she pulled out her makeup kit and applied concealer around her tired eyes, some navy liner and black mascara. Deciding on a smidge of shiny white shadow on her lids and brow, she was done just as the bell rang.

Dancing to the door, she beamed at the hotel employee, handing over the promised tip with a sincere thank you. The sleek effect she wanted would have been impossible to achieve without the hairdryer. Twenty dollars well spent. And since the first dryer had been sacrificed for work, she felt perfectly justified in expensing it.

Sliding on a pair of Sergio Rossi laser cut high-heeled sandals, she headed out the door, texting Jake on her way down the elevator to let him know she had to run by the Lab and would just be five more minutes. The doors opened on the twelfth floor to Jake, standing behind Alison waiting for the elevator.

Jake was looking down at his phone, which had just buzzed with her text. She was pleased to see him smile, although his face quickly went bland when he looked up and saw her in the elevator. Alison looked at Lilly and smiled her brittle fake smile that she reserved for lesser beings than herself, and then turned back to Jake with a wide-open, cherry red, gaping moo.

“You’re sure you won’t join us? I’ll have you back and to bed early,” her purring suggestion not lost on anyone.

“Thank you, Alison, but no. I’m beat,” he gestured her into the elevator, where Alison positioned herself between Jake and Lilly.

Looking over Alison’s head to Lilly, he asked, “Are you headed to the set?”

Not wanting to acknowledge their date in front of Alison, and not sure if he did, she decided on a safe, noncommittal answer that didn’t imply in any way that they had planned to meet.

“Yes, I’ve got to check something,” she said nervously. The elevator doors opened onto the lobby where small star-studded group stood waiting, including Monty, Jessica Palmer and three other Hollywood notables who must have been staying in the same hotel.

Maya was not among them, otherwise she would have insisted on dragging Lilly and Jake along. She was beginning to suspect that she and Clara’s matchmaking in Italy had worked and that Maya and Alan were off somewhere together.

Jake grabbed her elbow and maneuvered her adeptly around Alison. “I’m headed to the set myself. I’ll walk with you.”

Jake gave a salute to Monty and the others and turned her quickly in the other direction. As soon as they were out of sight of the dinner party, he dropped his hand from her elbow. In silence, they headed through the Fairmont’s open-air bar toward the beach and to a walkway that would lead them down to the trailers by the beach set.

“I didn’t mean to intrude on your dinner plans, Jake. You don’t mind not going with them?” She was just trying to be polite. She was supremely happy that he’d begged off to be with her.

“No.” He slowed. “Unless you’d feel more comfortable joining them?”

“No. Not at all,” she rushed.

At the camera trailer, she unplugged the dryer and quickly checked that everything was in order. Pleased that she was ready for the next day, she locked up the trailer and turned to Jake.

“Where to? I’m fine staying here and ordering room service, if you’d rather not take the risk of getting mobbed.” They certainly wouldn’t be slumming it by staying. The Fairmont Kea Lani was one of the most beautiful hotels in Maui.

Jake looked at the twinkling lights of the resort. “It’s been a long two days. I would like somewhere quiet. I don’t think room service is a good idea, though.”

Oh. Hiding her dashed hopes, she suggested, “Why don’t we just sit outside at the bar?”

Jake nodded, and they headed back the way they had come, Lilly feeling tired and deflated. Something had obviously changed. She’d waited too long, rejected him too many times. Or, maybe things with Sierra were serious, and he was having second thoughts.