Heat Wave (6 page)

‘I left because I thought you were too good for me!' I started shaking, my lips numb and refusing to work properly. ‘But it turns out I didn't even know you! For ten years, I haven't even known your real name.'

‘Beau is my real name. You knew that.'

‘But you've never used it—ever.'

‘
T
he producers liked it better than Tanner.'

He stepped towards me and I backed up towards the wall, snorting. ‘Oh, well, if the producers like it! Would they also like you to get pec implants? Marry a goat?'

‘You'd be surprised at some of the things I had to go through to claim my million bucks from
Erotic Island
. Wade through Jell-O, bungy jump, spend a night with a stranger.'

My heart sank at the thought of Tanner's arms around another woman, of anyone else enjoying his talented fingers and velvet lips.

He had me completely pressed against the cabin wall, his tone fierce. ‘But you know what, Maddie? It was still less humiliating than dealing with the man from the bank who came to repossess my land, or the way people used to make fun of me because they thought I was just an illiterate farm hick! I took control; I changed my life. Can you say that?'

‘No! Maybe I can't, but I don't understand why you would come back a second time.'

‘Because I'm
lonely,'
he bellowed. ‘Because I've spent the last decade pining for my first love and no one else has ever lived up to her.'

‘Do you think it's any different for me?' I pushed at his chest, feeling the corded muscles bunched in tension. ‘Do you think I haven't thought about you every day since I left Texas? I loved you so much, Tanner!'

I didn't get the chance to go on before his lips slammed into mine, covering my mouth with a stormy kiss, turbulent and dark. Feeling the same primal anger, I responded, opening my mouth and biting his lip hard, wanting him to feel me, remember me. My tablet fell to the cushy carpeted floor, forgotten.

Tanner's day-old stubble grazed my chin as he ground against my face, his hands snaking through my hair and tugging the tresses. Rushes of fluid lust and desire pooled inside my belly as I scratched my nails hard through his shirt, needing to imprint him.

Tanner broke the kiss, leaving his forehead close to mine as he panted and said, ‘Why did you have to leave? You walked out, Maddie. How could I ever trust you again? The girl I loved never would have done that.'

Like a vortex, every emotion swirled inside me. ‘Tanner … I'm so sorry.'

His face was distraught as he said brokenly, ‘Too little, too late, Maddie-girl. You made your feelings pretty clear by walking out. I'm going ahead with the show.'

Part of me wanted to fall to my knees and beg for forgiveness, plead with him to take me away to Texas where we could live the rest of our days on his land. But the more practical side of my brain retaliated, throwing up a shield of professionalism.

‘Well, good. This job is important to me, and I hope that our history won't cause any friction between us.'

Tanner's eyes changed, from soft chocolate to hard earth. ‘I don't see why it would. I'm committed to the success of this show; I gave them my word and there are jobs riding on it.'

‘Including mine.'

I bent down and retrieved the table from the carpet, reading Maxine's instructions for the interview. ‘So,
Beau
, why don't you … change into the outfit wardrobe has waiting for you on the bed and I'll organise things out here.'

‘Sure. No problem. After all, we're just colleagues.'

‘That's how it is. How it should be.' I took a breath, concentrating on the words on the screen. ‘Thanks, Beau. See you soon.'

I looked up, just to check that he was going, but his grief-stricken stare held me, pinned me to the spot. Crackling goosebumps crawled all over my skin as I gazed right back at him, and for a moment everything hung in the balance. If one of us had broken, we would have rushed into each other's arms, the show forgotten.

But a knock at the door made me jump and spin. By the time I turned back, Tanner had walked away to his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

I took a moment to smooth my ratty hair and soothe my ragged nerves. Trembling for a thousand reasons, I opened the door, to find a bearded camera guy standing there, grinning like a goof. ‘Hey. I'm Greg.'

‘Maddie.'

‘God, love, you look like hell,' he said cheerfully in an Aussie accent.

I ushered him in. ‘I know. I thought the best lighting would be in the corner over there.'

‘Good eye! Most assistants are only concerned with time-keeping, not making my job easier.'

‘Yeah, well, in a former life, I was an AD.'

He raised a grey-streaked eyebrow. ‘Fall from grace?'

‘You could say that.'

‘Sounds like a good story. I'll have to hear it over a beer in the crew bar later.'

‘Deal.' Despite the trauma of the last day, I found myself smiling at the friendly cameraman. There was something instantly likable about him—a broad-chested man, shorter than Tanner but with such a jaunty manner, I was already relaxed in his presence.

Tanner reappeared, wearing a crisp white tee under a denim jacket, a black cowboy hat on his head. ‘Hey, Greg. How are ya, buddy?'

They shook hands. ‘Good, man. Great to see you.'

‘How's the missus and little ‘uns?'

‘They're great. My eldest is about to start school next year. Time flies, hey?'

‘Yes, speaking of time,' I cut in, inexplicably annoyed by their pre-existing camaraderie, ‘we need to kick off. Beau, can I get you seated in this chair by the window, please?'

Greg swiftly set up and started rolling. I sat behind the camera to the side, providing a good eye-line for Tanner to hold while he spoke.

Falling into my cool, professional voice, I said, ‘Tanner, these are your preliminary questions; mostly, they'll be used for voice-overs to footage of you walking around the ship and looking out to sea. You'll have a proper face-to-face interview with the host later tonight, but for now, just try to relax and answer in as much detail as possible.'

‘Sounds peachy,' said Tanner, a touch of bitterness behind his expression.

‘Okay, in your own words, can you please describe your ideal woman?'

Tanner locked his eyes on me, his drawl becoming more pronounced as he said, ‘Well, I'd have-ta say, my perfect lady would be smart and funny, with a bit of sass about her. She'd have a huge heart, wouldn't take life too seriously and of course, she has to be able to ride a horse.' He chuckled and winked at the camera, and despite the fact I knew it was all for show, I found myself melting in my seat.

‘Most important, we'd have to have that special spark. That moment when you touch someone, and you feel something crackle between you, like lightning over a dry plain. And you just know …'

‘Know what?' I asked breathlessly.

‘You know there's a great ride ahead of you.' Tanner's eyes flicked away and I felt the distance between us stretch as we drifted further apart again.
After all, our ride is over.

‘Great, thanks. Next, can you tell us, why do you think you're still single?'

‘Honestly? I could say it's bad timing, or that my ranch consumes so much of my time. But truly … I've been carryin' a torch for an old flame for a very long time, and every time I think about settling down, she's been the benchmark, and no one has come close to matching her. She was my first love—my only love.'

The room fell silent, aside from the deep hum of the walls as the ship hummed happily seaward. I felt Greg give me a weird look as I went slightly off-book and into self-flagellation territory. ‘What was she like? Your first love?'

‘She was the first person to really see me.' Tanner's eyes softened as he stared at me, remembering. ‘She believed in my potential, knew that I was more than just a poor country boy. She understood the greatness in me. But she left me. Twice. I'm not sure I'll ever forgive her … but I hope that I'll find someone here to help me try to forget her.'

His words stung, but not as much as I would have thought. ‘Are you sorry you met her?' I asked quietly.

He paused. ‘No. I am the man I am today because of her. I wish her nothing but good things, but she's made it clear we aren't right together. It's time for both of us to move on.' He smiled at me sadly.

There was a weird kind of freedom, being in charge of asking questions, delving into his heart. As awkward and awful as it was, it was also weirdly liberating. I swiped through the tablet, looking for the next line. Blushing furiously, I said, ‘So, uh …'
Gulp.
‘How would you say you rate in the bedroom?'

Tanner leaned forward, a wicked smirk crossing his face. ‘Oh, darlin'. This cowboy always guarantees a good ride.'

Chapter 6

As soon as the questions were done, another production runner burst in the door, dragging Tanner off for a last-minute meeting with Maxine and the director. While Greg packed up our gear, I slumped against the wall, watching Tanner's lean frame lope away, taking my heart with him.

Greg looked up. ‘Maddie, we're done now until the deck party tonight; why don't you grab a nanna nap?'

A wave of gutting exhaustion swept over me. I couldn't remember being more fatigued in my life. ‘I don't even know where my cabin is,' I murmured.

‘I do; you're my bunkmate. You're replacing Gordon, and since there aren't any spare berths, you're in with me by default.' Greg blushed a little, running the hand with his wedding ring over his dark hair, streaked with early silver. ‘I hope that's okay? The cabin is pretty small, so there's not much privacy.'

‘Three hours ago, I was literally homeless,' I told him with a weak smile. ‘If there's a bed, I'll be happy.'

‘You say that now, but you wait until you see it.' Grinning, he stood, hefting bags of gear. ‘Come on. I'll drop you off first, then offload all of this.'

Like a compliant zombie, I followed my new friend out the door and down the plush corridor. We turned through a swinging door marked ‘Staff Only' which led us to a much more functional service elevator.

As we dropped into the bowels of the ship, Greg said, ‘So, homeless, hey? I don't know if I've ever worked with a hobo before …'

Despite my tiredness, I giggled. ‘I'm not a hobo, thanks. I'm just … unlucky.' I thought about the series of events leading up to me being in the wrong place at the wrong time and totally blowing my one shot at love with Tanner. ‘Chronically unlucky.'

Greg shifted a bag to his other hand and wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulders. ‘Cheer up, sunshine. You're with me now, and I'm the luckiest bloke I know.'

‘Thanks, Greg.' The doors pinged open and I found myself staring along a sterile white corridor, stretching away as far as I could see. People bustled back and forth, darting in and out of doors and openings. Most of the crew wore uniforms of white and red, but some, like Greg and me, were in casual clothes.

‘This is called the Newell,' Greg explained. ‘It's the main staff corridor, like a big highway. Stick to the left, and you'll be fine.'

We navigated down the narrow hall, Greg's bags crashing into innocent bystanders, while the cameraman issued smiling apologies. Normally, when I hit someone with a bag, they got pissed; Greg seemed to have an innate ability to always have people forgive him instantly, then leave happier than before.

Turning down a narrow corridor off the Newell, we then turned left, left, right and left through a maze of doors and halls. ‘Greg, I'm never going to get out of here alone …'

‘Don't worry, mate. You get a few hours of sleep, and I'll pick you up for dinner about five, yeah?'

He stopped at a door, just like all the others, and waved his ID card over the black panel. The light turned green and we entered.

Greg wasn't kidding …
The entire cabin was about the size of three bathroom stalls; it was so tiny, the door didn't open the full way, and there was barely enough space to turn around in the area in front of the wall-set bunk beds. Our floor was well under sea level, so there were no windows, the space lit by a single bulb in the low ceiling.

‘Do you want the bottom bunk?' Greg asked, awkwardly stepping into the miniscule bathroom to allow me through.

I could see he'd already put clothes away in the footlocker at the bottom of the lower bed. I shook my head. ‘I don't mind being on top.' For some reason, my innocent words gave me a flashback of Tanner's body, lying under mine as I rode him like a stallion. I shivered.

Greg noticed. ‘Okay, no more talk. Get into bed, you hobo. No stealing the toilet paper or building a garbage can fire, please.'

Trembling, I turned to Greg, the one person who'd shown me any kindness since coming on board, and gave him a quick hug. ‘Thank you.'

He stiffened inside my arms.
Way to make the married man feel weird, Maddie
. Then, he raised his arms and returned my hug. ‘You're welcome. See you in a few hours, sunshine.'

***

Ron Weasley is naked. His glowing red pubes are on fire as he chases me down a long hall with no doors.

I try to scream, but a giant makeup brush bursts through the floor and dusts me in the face. Blinded, I run on until I crash into a giant inflatable dog.

Clambering up the side of the dog, I begin to bounce, higher and higher. I can almost touch the moon. One more jump …

The dog disappears and I'm falling overboard. The water tastes of champagne and I splutter, looking up to a balcony. ‘Tanner!'

My shirtless cowboy begins to twirl a lasso, then lets it fly. The rope lands around me in a perfect circle, but then it draws tight around my neck. I clutch at my throat while the moon, which now has a bearded mouth, grins at me as I sink under the surface.