“Brandon.” Seth’s voice, though friendly, seemed unnatural. He shifted his bag and bottles of water to the crook of his arm so he could offer his hand to Brandon. “God, it
has
been forever.”
“Since
Time of Night
. Yeah.”
Heather recognized the movie title, a suspense film that had come out several years before. Seth must have been on the crew. She could look it up on IMDb later. Maybe if she found out what this Brandon guy did on that film, she could figure out the strange tension that had begun when he showed up. Or she could just ask Seth later.
“So what brings you here?” Seth asked, redistributing his food to both arms.
“Our company is producing
Girl Fight
. It was my turn to stop by and check things out.” Brandon’s eyes raked up and down Heather’s body. “And things look good from where I’m standing.”
Did he think she didn’t know he was looking at her? She was two steps away and not stupid. One of the cons of her job—people thought she was an object instead of a real person. It really sucked sometimes.
If Seth hadn’t been tense before, he certainly was now. Despite the unease in the air, Seth’s reaction to Brandon’s wandering eyes gave her tummy flutters.
With gritted teeth, he said, “Brandon, isn’t your wife a fan of Heather’s? You know each other, I’m sure.”
Heather turned toward Brandon, having been invited into the conversation.
“We haven’t met officially.” Brandon took Heather’s hand. “Brandon Drake. My wife can’t wait for the premiere. She’s dying to meet you.” He continued to flirt with her while talking about his wife. How smarmy. Maybe that was why Seth was acting all weird—because Brandon Drake was a perv.
Whatever Seth’s beef with him, Brandon was also a producer of her movie. Her boss, in other words. So she had to play nice. “Aw, thanks.” She sweetened her tone to a ridiculous level that bordered on sappy. “Always nice to hear I have a fan.”
“I’m a fan too.” He winked at her, still holding her hand.
Until Seth cleared his voice, at which point Brandon dropped it promptly. “So what are you doing here? Did you take over as P.D.?”
Heather’s brow furrowed. “P.D.?” It wasn’t unusual for producers to not know their crews, but why would Brandon assume Seth was the Production Designer?
Seth ignored her question. “No, Joe Piedman is. Of course.” Despite the air-conditioned studio, Seth had a fresh layer of sweat on his brow. “You know he lost his crew on short notice.” And he was talking weird. “And we’ve been friends for a quite a while.” In short bursts. “So he called me.” As if making his speech up as he went. “I had a hole in my schedule. So I offered to come on board.”
“As lead carpenter?” Now it was Brandon who looked confused.
“Yep.” Seth’s jaw twitched.
Brandon’s brows rose. “Man, you must be really good friends.”
“Something like that,” Seth said under his breath.
“What was that?” Brandon asked.
Seth covered quickly. “So your team got nominated for the Globes last year. That must have felt good.”
Heather cringed at Seth’s attempt at acknowledgement. Everyone in the biz knew the Golden Globes were a crock of shit. The Foreign Press who gave the awards ran nothing but a giant popularity contest. Maybe the tech level wasn’t aware. Or was Seth trying to change the subject?
“Yeah, it was awesome.” Brandon’s teeth were gritted but he kept his smile. “And I heard that you might be up for—”
Seth cut him off. “I’d totally be up for getting some drinks sometime.” Though Heather didn’t think that’s where Brandon had been going with his statement. Yes. Totally weird interaction.
But before Brandon could react, his attention was caught by the movie’s director passing by. “Oh, hey, I gotta talk to Don. Catch up later?”
“Sure thing.” The tension visibly rolled off Seth the minute Brandon walked away.
“What the eff was that?”
“What do you mean?” Seth asked, turning back to the buffet table as though there might be something he still wanted.
“Do you not get along with him or something? Because the energy between you two was way wacko.”
“Between me and Brandon?” Seth shuffled through bags of sandwiches. “We get along. I just was surprised to see him, that’s all.”
“Uh huh.” Except that wasn’t all it was. Heather was sure. The conversation had just been…off. “Why would he think you’d be the Production Designer?”
He shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe he remembered I’d been interested in that area. Or something. He must have assumed I’d moved up. Since we haven’t seen each other in a while.”
Now Seth was using that weird talk with her. She narrowed her eyes. “But how did he even know you if you were on crew?”
“I was good at networking.”
She wasn’t convinced, and she was pretty sure her face told him that.
“Look,” he said. “The Art Director on the movie we worked on was a drinking buddy of mine. He introduced me to Brandon at a cast party. The party got kind of wild, if you know what I mean. We haven’t seen each other since.”
Well, didn’t that open a whole slew of questions? Like what had happened between Brandon and Seth? And was it something she would’ve wanted to be part of?
But she’d done some crazy things at cast parties that she’d die about if brought out in the light of day, so she simply said, “Gotcha.” Still, even if the two guys had gotten mad drunk and made out, there was something else weird about their conversation. “It seemed like he was really surprised that you were working as a carpenter. Wasn’t that odd?”
Seth took a step closer to Heather and leaned in. So close she could smell his carpentry man smell that she loved so much. “What’s odd,” he said in a rumbly voice that clothed her in goose bumps, “is that we’re still here talking when we could be somewhere else completely not talking.”
Damn. She bit her lip as her lady parts were coated in a fresh pool of moisture. “Give me twenty. Don’t worry about knocking. Just come in.” She paused, wondering if it would be impolite to ask her next question, but decided—rude or not—it had to be asked. “You’ll be discreet?”
He grinned. “You mean not announce to the whole set that I’m about to meet you for wild monkey sex?”
She rolled her eyes. “I meant when you come to my trailer could you, like, make sure no one sees you when you walk in?”
“Yes, princess.” He performed a mock bow. “Wouldn’t want the royalty seen with the hired help.”
“That’s not—”
He cut her off. “I know. I’m giving you a hard time.” Had he emphasized the word hard or was her mind in the gutter? “I’ll be discreet.”
“Thank you.” She had to take a deep breath before taking off for her trailer.
Wild monkey sex
. She was already wet with excitement.
Seth pinched the bridge of his nose.
That was close.
Too
close.
He’d told Joe when he took the job on
Girl Fight
that he didn’t want anyone to know he was anything but a carpenter so Seth hadn’t expected to encounter anyone who knew differently. But Brandon Drake…the movie they’d worked on together had been one of the first that Seth had designed. Brandon would never have expected Seth to be building a set. He’d have to try and catch Brandon and tell him to keep it on the D.L.
Actually, what he should do is come clean with Heather.
He almost groaned at the thought of Heather. At the wonderful thought of showering with her. At the horrible thought of telling her the truth.
He couldn’t do it.
Not just because he was still intent on finding out if she could truly like him no matter what he did for a living, but because now he’d let it go too long. Now there was no way she could think of it as anything but a betrayal. And wasn’t that exactly what it was? A betrayal of her trust? A betrayal of her emotions?
Shit, he was screwed.
But even though it was tearing him up inside, he had to protect his lie. Either that, or lose Heather, and he wasn’t ready for that. He looked at his watch. He had almost twenty minutes before he was supposed to meet her. Hopefully he could catch Brandon before then.
Tamping down thoughts of the lusty afternoon that lay just ahead, he headed for the director’s trailer, figuring that was where he’d find Brandon. The door was shut when he got there, but even without pressing his ear against the door, he could hear Brandon’s voice inside.
He’d have to wait.
Seth leaned against the side of the trailer and checked his watch again. Fifteen minutes. Might as well get lunch in while he waited.
He’d finished his sandwich, a bag of chips and one whole bottle of water before the door opened. Thankfully, Brandon walked out by himself, putting on his sunglasses as he did. Seth glanced at his watch once more. T minus three minutes. He’d have to make this conversation quick.
“Brandon,” he called out, brushing his chip-greased hands on his jeans. “I hoped I’d find you again.”
Brandon pushed his sunglasses back on his head and crinkled his brow. “You were looking for me?”
“Yeah.” He hesitated. Why hadn’t he thought up a good lead in while he was waiting for the guy? Now he was winging it. “Well, like I said, I’d love to catch up sometime. But I don’t think I have your number anymore.”
Brandon cracked a grin. “Good thinking. I’m sure I don’t have yours either.” He pulled out his wallet and leafed through it until he found what he was looking for. “Here’s my card.”
“Awesome. Thanks.” Seth didn’t even look at Brandon’s business card before stuffing it in the back pocket of his jeans. “Oh, one more thing.” He lowered his voice. “You know, I’m doing this gig as a favor to Joe, and just so there wouldn’t be any awkwardness with the crew, I’m keeping my resume hush-hush.”
Brandon snapped his fingers. “That explains it! Man, I couldn’t understand why you weren’t the P.D. I was about to ask around.”
“Please, don’t do that.” Definitely a good thing he talked to Brandon.
“Oh no. Not now that you said something. But you are still in the P.D. biz? Because you’re too good at it not to be. Your talents are wasted in this shit position.”
Seemed Heather wasn’t the only one on the set with a narrow-minded view of the hard-working crew. But he knew that. It wasn’t his first time around the block. The moneybags were almost always pompous. Why was that?
“Yes, I’m still a P.D.,” he said with gritted teeth. “But it’s been really nice to get my hands back on the set. Keeps me in touch with the job and the people who work for me.”
Brandon’s face soured. “Whatever’s your thing, man. In my opinion, that’s a real nice favor you’re doing for Joe.” It was Brandon’s turn to lower his voice. “Hey, um, maybe you could do me a favor as well.”
A favor for Brandon? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. “Shoot.”
“Heather Wainwright…”
Fucking slimy asswipe.
He fought the urge to punch the guy in the face. “Come on, Brandon, you’re married.”
Brandon shrugged. “We have an understanding.”
He should just let it go. Seth knew Heather wasn’t about to hook up with a type like Brandon. Yet he still felt compelled to let Brandon know as well. “Heather isn’t your girl. She’s not into anything that might bring bad press. And she’d never go for a married man, whatever your understanding is. She’s kind of a princess.”
“That’s too bad. That chick has one heck of a smoking body.” He sighed and again Seth wanted to punch him for the dirty thoughts Brandon was surely having about Heather.
Then, Brandon’s face lit up in understanding. “Wait, are you into her?”
“Uh…” Seth hadn’t been prepared for Brandon to be insightful.
“You are!” Brandon clapped him on the back. “That’s all you had to say, man. I’ll keep my hands off. Tell ya what, maybe you could give me a holler when you’re through with her.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’ll do.” The statement dripped of so much sarcasm he wouldn’t be surprised if Brandon noticed. Frankly, Seth didn’t give a fuck. He’d done what he came for and now—he looked at his watch—now he was late for Heather. “Sorry to cut this short, Brandon, but I have an appointment.”
Seth didn’t wait for a proper goodbye, taking off as soon as he’d finished speaking. But he didn’t miss Brandon’s shout after him. “Great seeing you again, Seth. Good luck with that fine slice of pussy.”
Seth cringed.
Such a crass mother fucker.
Not that Heather didn’t have a fine slice of pussy. She did. She also had so much more.
Of course, as he walked into Heather’s trailer, the sounds of a shower already going in the other room, it wasn’t the
so much more
that was at the forefront of his mind.
Chapter Twelve
Heather’s stomach twisted. Seth was late. Seven minutes late. Maybe he got caught up on the set. Or lost track of time. Or wanted to give her a few extra minutes to finish her meal.
Or maybe he wasn’t coming.
Since she’d barely been able to get food down, anxious as she was for her shower with Seth, she’d thrown away her half-eaten salad ten whole minutes before she expected him to arrive. Then she’d brushed her teeth and removed her eye make-up. And washed under her arms. Yeah, she was taking a shower, but she’d been sweaty after a day under hot set lights and she preferred not to subject Seth to her less than ladylike smell.