Dare You to Chase the Soccer Player (Rock Valley High 5)

Despite the fact that my knees had turned to jelly, I managed to stay standing. I had to knock it off. I was never going to make it through the day if I allowed myself to be distracted by him. With a major dose of willpower, I lifted my gaze up slightly to find him already watching me. His lips twinged with the tiniest hint of a snarky smile, as if accusing me of checking him out. Guilty as charged. My cheeks burned and I suddenly found the blades of grass beneath my feet extremely interesting.

“Where’s Janelle?” Our director, a short portly man named Allen, peered at one of the cameras. “I want to check the angles on this shoot. Where’s she gone off to?”

“She’s still in wardrobe,” a woman answered. “Want me to see how they’re coming along?”

Allen grumbled something that sounded like a complaint about actresses and their clothes, with a few swears thrown in-between. I glanced over at Zane. He shrugged and we both silently began to laugh.

“You, spray bottle girl.”

A thick finger appeared inches from my face. I started when I saw the director next to me, still pointing at my nose. “Um...yes?”

“Stand in for Janelle. I need to check the camera angles. You’ll do for now.”

Swallowing hard, I put my spray bottle on the ground and followed him toward the field. My feet moved as if I were walking through water. Doing makeup was one thing. It was behind-the-scenes work and I was pretty confident when it came to the one-on-one interactions. That was easy. Being in front of the cameras was a completely different experience.

Sure, they weren’t rolling, but a dozen eyes were now plastered on me and my every move. Allen grabbed me on each arm and positioned me in front of the cameras and the crew. I stood there awkwardly, trying not to let the nervous laughter I felt simmering in my stomach boil over and out of my mouth.

“Zane, get in there.” Allen stalked back to behind the cameras, his brow furrowed. “Run through your lines and the motions of the scene with her. I want to see how it presents on the screen. Makeup girl, just stand there and look at him.”

Talk about horrible timing. Here I was, wondering how I was going to keep the entire cast from seeing the sparks between me and Zane, and now we were practically on stage in front of the entire world. It was almost hilarious, in a totally not-so-funny way.

A bit of nervous laughter escaped my mouth as I turned slightly to see Zane walking toward me. To the rest of the world, his steady frown was the picture of calm, but I could see the hesitation flitting behind his blue eyes. He stopped just a foot from me and lowered his chin slightly.

“I’m just going to say a few lines and then put my hand on your cheek. Is that okay?”

For some strange reason, I could hear Charlotte and Beth’s voices in the back of my mind, screaming at me to say no. They would’ve saved me, if they’d been here. But Mighty Lexi had to handle it all on her own.

Time to save the world.

I nodded at him, totally unable to move the rest of my body. Zane’s frown deepened for a second and then he took a deep breath, a ch

ange overcoming his face as he turned on the actor side of him.

“Hailey, I’m so sorry.” He took a step closer, gazing deep into my eyes as if to look into my soul. “I’m the biggest idiot in the world.”

It felt like butterfly wings were brushing up and down my spine. I chewed nervously on my bottom lip, unable to break away from his gaze. He was a whirlpool, pulling me into the scene. Two lines in and I’d already been transported to a world where I was some chick named Hailey and Zane was my happily ever after.

Dang, he was good at this.

“I know I was wrong.” He leaned in closer, brushing my hair gently back over my shoulder. “Can you ever forgive me?”

The sudden contact made me flinch, even though I’d been expecting it. Zane didn’t act like he’d noticed. His gaze journeyed down to the base of my neck where his fingers lightly caressed my skin, causing heat to shoot to all of my extremities. Somehow, my hands found their way to his bare chest. He was warm under my palms, his skin smooth. I stood, entranced, as he moved his hand up to cradle my cheek and his blue eyes met mine again.

“I’ll take that as a yes?” His brow lowered wistfully and then he was staring at my mouth like a man wandering the desert stared at a glass of cold water.

Molten lava burst forth in my stomach. Gone was the Hailey chick. I was myself again, but this time I’d been transported back to the picnic shelter where Zane had first kissed me. But now, my body was ready. Ready to kiss him back for all I was worth.

Leaning toward his lips felt like the most natural thing in the world.

“Okay. That’s great, Zane. We can call that good.”

The sound of the director’s voice jolted my traitorous body awake from its daydream as Zane and I both looked over at him. I blinked wildly, then dropped my hands guiltily to my side. All I was supposed to do was stand there. Feeling up the star actor was not on the list of Makeup Girl approved activities.

Zane didn’t seem to notice. He let go of my face and casually shoved his hands through his hair, tousling it in a sexy way that no hairstylist could’ve copied. He flashed the director an understanding smile, as if he was used to living with this kind of intensity every day. I stared at him in awe. How was he so calm? That act had nearly undone me.

I wasn’t going to be able to keep this charade going for much longer.

Mighty Lexi was fast retreating.