Kate Hoffmann - For Lust or Money

“No problem,” Zach said. He was afraid to look at her, afraid that once he did, he’d never be able to drag his gaze away. “So, I guess we should rehearse.”

She held out her hand. “I’m Kelly Castelle. Extremely embarrassed actress.”

Zach took her fingers into his grasp. The moment he touched her, he felt his blood warm and his pulse quicken. She had such beautiful hands, perfectly tinted nails and long fingers. His mind flashed on an image of her fingers skimming over his chest, then moving lower to his belly, and then lower still. Zach stifled a moan. “Zach,” he murmured. “Zach Haas. Accommodating cameraman.”

A long silence grew between them. “Maybe we should start?” she said. “We don’t have much time.”

As they read their lines for the first segment, Zach found himself distracted again and again by a surreptitious study of her face. Even with the cheesy dialogue, she managed to find the true emotion in the script. Her acting seemed so natural and effortless on the surface, but he could sense her analyzing and adjusting as they went along. Obviously the jerk they’d hired to play opposite her hadn’t been smart enough to see what she really was. Careful, nuanced…real.

“It’s your line.”

Zach shook himself out of his distraction. “What?”

“You. It’s your line.” She paused. “I’m really sorry for this. If you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to.”

“I do,” Zach answered. “I do.”

She closed her script and smoothed her fingers over the cover. “I don’t know what got in to me. I’m usually a very calm person. I can’t remember the last time I blew up at someone.”

Reaching out, Zach smoothed his palm over the back of her hand. He hadn’t thought twice about touching her. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world, to soothe her regrets. “If it’s any consolation, he deserved it.”

She stared down at his hand, a hesitant smile on her lips. “Still, that’s no excuse.” Drawing a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a moment. “Maybe I’m having a midlife crisis. Not that I want to run out on my husband and have an affair, but I’m just feeling so restless. Like I need to make a huge change in my life or I’ll just go crazy.”

“Do you have a husband?” Zach had never considered that prospect. She wasn’t wearing a wedding band. But then, she wouldn’t wear it if she were playing a single woman in the skit.

“No,” Kelly replied.

“Good.” He smiled as he traced a long, unbroken line up her forearm with his fingertip. “I mean, good that you haven’t broken any marriage vows. Not good that you’re not married. Unless, you don’t want to be married. Then it’s good.”

She giggled and fixed him with a sultry look. “How old are you?”

“Very old,” he teased. “Ancient by teenage standards.”

“ I’m old.”

“How old?” he asked.

“In Hollywood, everyone is twenty-nine. Besides, it’s not polite to ask.”

Zach leaned back, stretching his legs out in front of him and linking his hands behind his head. “I don’t think age makes any difference.”

“The only people who say that are too young to know better,” Kelly said.

Zach clutched his chest. “Ouch. That was cruel.”

“Age makes all the difference,” she said with a serious expression. “At least where I come from.”

“You are, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met. And I’d still think that, no matter how many candles you put on your birthday cake.”

Kelly blushed. “You may not be old, but you are charming beyond your years.”

“How about we just pretend we’re the same age?”

“That would be a bit difficult considering the casting of this skit.” She glanced down at the script. “We should probably get back to work. We haven’t gone over the last segment.”

“The bedroom scene? I figured you were saving the best for last.”

This time she laughed, a light, musical giggle that echoed through the studio. “You are so cocky.”

He grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers. “I love it when you talk dirty to me.”

“Change of plans!”

Kelly yanked her hand from his and stood up, nervously clutching her script. Nicole swept into the studio and regarded them both with a curious expression. Her eyebrow rose as she gave Zach a disapproving look. “We’re going to have to put off taping until tomorrow afternoon. We’ve got to retape a remote interview for another show before the end of the day. Kelly, we’ll have your driver take you back to the hotel. We’ll change your plane ticket and get you another night at the hotel. I hope that’s all right with you?”

“Fine,” Kelly said. “I’ll be ready to go tomorrow, I promise.”

“Then you’ve rehearsed everything?” Nicole asked.

“Not everything,” Zach quickly said. “But we can get together tonight and run lines. Your hotel?”

His request took her by surprise, but Zach knew she couldn’t refuse extra rehearsal, especially in front of Nicole.

“I really think we should keep this on a professional level,” she whispered, just out of earshot of Nicole.

“I wasn’t suggesting a date,” he said, grinning.

“We can meet early tomorrow, before we’re scheduled to tape.”

Zach wasn’t about to give up so easily. He wanted to explore this attraction he had to Kelly and that would take some time outside the studio and away from the prying eyes of his coworkers.

“Zach, can I see you in the hall?” Nicole asked.

He sent Kelly a smile, then followed Nicole. When they reached the hallway, she turned to him.

“Are you sure you took acting classes?” she asked.

Zach nodded. “Three semesters.”

“Then you must have missed the lesson where they taught you not to hit on your costars.”

Zach chuckled. “I’m just trying to get the best performance I can out of Miss Castelle.”

KELLY STARED AT her reflection in the dressing-room mirror. Her face was flushed and her eyes bright and it wasn’t until a few minutes ago that she was able to breathe normally.

This was crazy! From the moment Zach Haas had stepped out from behind the camera, she’d been unable to think, unable to do anything more than just lose herself in every detail of his face and his body. The sound of his voice, the color of his eyes, the shape of his mouth. He was one of those incredibly gorgeous young men, the kind who didn’t realize the effect they had on women, the kind who made females of all ages weak in the knees.

In the course of a half hour together, she’d managed to convince herself that he was probably the best kisser on the planet, that he had a killer body beneath the baggy cargo pants and T-shirt he wore, and that he could seduce a woman by simply smiling at her.

Yes, he was young. But his playful, boyish nature combined with just a bit of bad-boy attitude and quick-witted intelligence was a lethal combination in a package like that.

She’d pegged his age at twenty-five, give or take two years. If he were only twenty-three, then she was dancing close to perversity. But if he were twenty-seven, then that was nearly thirty. And any man over thirty would be an appropriate choice for her.

Kelly groaned and buried her face in her hands. What was happening to her? Ever since leaving L.A., she felt as if her life were spinning too fast for her to think straight. Was it the heat? Or was she really standing on the precipice of a midlife crisis?

“Are you all right?”

She sat up and looked at Jane’s reflection in the mirror, then slowly turned around in the chair. “I’m fine. It’s just been a really long day. I got on a plane this morning at 5:00 a.m. and I haven’t had a chance to relax since then.”