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CHAPTER ONE
I think it was the wink that did it. Or maybe I was a lost cause, anyway?
Could a wink from Shane Rockett, Hollywood heartthrob, turn me into a
quivering, lovesick cow?
You decide.
This is what happened. One minute, his eyes held mine, just like an actor
in a spy movie, as the camera rolled for the audition tape. He leaned
closer, and I tried to concentrate on the golden flecks in his tawny dark
eyes, the way his dirty blond hair looped invitingly over one eyebrow.
Something flickered in those amazing eyes and then grew still again, alert
and watchful. We were inches apart. I tried to ignore how good he smelled.
I stared at his lips, and suddenly thought of long slow kisses that could
melt steel.
Get a grip, Jessie.
I clutched the script in my hand, trying to quiet the rainforest of
butterflies that had descended uninvited, into my stomach. I knew my lines
by heart, and didn’t have to look down at the page. So it’s true what they
said about you. A statement, not a question.
Just as well I had committed it to memory. It was impossible to look away
from those eyes. I thought I was immune to Shane’s
knock-your-socks-off-sexy good looks, but I was wrong.
I took a deep breath and gave my line. Too bad my voice suddenly racheted
up an entire octave. "So it’s true what they said about you."
I had practiced the line over and over with Tracy, my best friend, because
she was the one auditioning for the part. I was just along for the ride.
We had rehearsed her speech all different ways, emphasizing key words,
until we collapsed in giggles.
So it’s true what they said about you. So it’s true what they said about
you.
It seemed funny at the time, but I wasn’t giggling now. The director had
surprised me when he plucked me out of the crowd of Fairmont Academy
gawkers and asked me to read for him. And that’s how I found myself under
the lights, script in hand.
With Shane Rockett. Up close and personal, just inches away from those
broad shoulders and famous smile, I felt like the breath was being sucked
out of me.
And that’s when Shane winked at me. Like we shared a terrific little
secret. "And what do they say, darlin’?" He cracked a half-hearted smile,
dangerous and sexy, moving in a little closer. Out of the corner of my
eye, I saw Alexis Bright, class drama queen, trying to vaporize me with
her glare. She was standing off-camera, next to Tracy. Tracy’s expression,
hurt and betrayed, turned to concrete. They both wanted to be standing
where I was, auditioning with People Magazine’s Sexiest Teen Alive.
"Because sometimes people say things..." Shane continued, his voice husky,
"...that aren’t exactly true."
Okay, so the dialogue wasn’t Dostoevsky, but do you think I cared? My mind
was a blank, because Shane was improvising a little, doing a bit of
"business" as the actors call it, and was playing with my hair. Just
toying with it a little, lifting a lock of my boring-brown tresses and
curling it around his finger. And if his hand just happened to graze my
shoulder, sending tingles all the way down to my toes, well, it was all
part of the scene, right? It wasn’t his fault my heart did a little
quick-step.
"Cut!" The assistant director’s voice washed over the set. "Thanks very
much, and let’s see the next person up there. C’mon, people. Chop, chop."
I started to turn away, still dazed from Shane’s electric presence, when
he gave my shoulder a little squeeze. "Thanks, darlin’. You made me look
good." The two deep dimples that appeared in his cheeks were nearly as
beguiling as the sudden sparkle in his eyes.
I found my voice. "Anytime." I grinned at him. I couldn’t help myself.
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