‘I don’t mean right now, I mean... Just stop thinking of us as characters on a set.’ His body stirred against hers, and he bent towards her until she could feel the warmth of his breath against her face. ‘Isn’t it time we faced the truth? I want to make love to you—and you want that, top. You know you do. That’s why you can’t play that damned scene.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. The scene embarrasses me, that’s all. It was the same with Tony.’ -
‘The hell it was the same with Tony! You’re scared to play the scene with me because you’re scared of feeling something.’
She turned her face away from his. ‘Acting doesn’t involve feeling, Cade. Acting is...’
‘What we feel for each other hasn’t got a damned thing to do with acting,’ he growled, cupping her chin in his hand and forcing her face towards his. ‘And we both know it.
She took a shuddering breath. ‘Don’t you see how artificial all this is? Jerry Crawford brought us together.’
‘Don’t tell me we’re back to that?’
Shannon shook her head. ‘That’s not what I meant. You know I’ve already admitted you’re a pretty good actor.’
‘Pretty good?’
‘Look, you’re not what I expected, OK? But you’ve got to admit you wouldn’t have this part if it weren’t for Jerry throwing us together.’
‘Crawford’s not responsible for what we feel.’
She took a deep breath. I’ve seen this kind of thing before,’ she said. ‘People meet during a play or a film, they have some kind of stage relationship and...’
‘Damn it, is that all you think this is?’
‘You’re new. You don’t know how easy it is to get trapped inside a part.’
‘Don’t tell me you think what we feel is mixed up with the parts we’re playing.’
‘I’m telling you that it’s easy to confuse fantasy and reality.’
Cade’s eyes searched hers. ‘Some guy did a number on you, didn’t he?’ he asked softly.
‘If you mean have I been through this myself,’ she said, taking a deep breath, ‘the answer is yes. When I was in my first summer stock company. I played Juliet and I...I...’
‘I knew it,’ he said. ‘Listen, I’m not that bastard, that—that two-cent Romeo.’
‘What he was,’ she said tightly, ‘was a lesson well learned.’ She forced a smile to her face. ‘You and I are lucky, Cade. We’re able to bring something special to our scenes together.’
‘And that’s all it is?’ He clasped her shoulders and stared at her, his eyes that indigo mystery that she feared. A thin smile crossed his face. ‘That’s all you want it to be?’
No, she thought suddenly, and her heart thudded against her ribs. But she nodded.
‘Isn’t that enough? We’re going to be the best onscreen lovers in years. We’re gonna knock ’em dead, remember?’
‘I remember everything,’ he said softly, reaching out and tucking a stray curl behind her ear. ‘Everything.’
And so do I, she thought, recalling the feel of his mouth against hers.
It was bad enough she’d have to play on-camera love scenes with him for the next four months. She certainly wasn’t going to play them offstage, as well, and then have him walk away with her heart.
Not even Cade Morgan was entitled to that.
‘Just be sure you remember your lines tomorrow,’ she said in a bright voice, scrambling away from him and getting to her feet. ‘I’d hate to have to improvise dialogue and worry about that collapsing bed at the same time.’
There was enough to worry about already, she thought, turning away from him and starting back up the beach.
Finding a way to hide within Alana Dunbar was going to be a task that would require a talent she was uncertain she possessed.