Exposed to You (One Night of Passion 2)

and Seth got things ready for the makeup application in the back atrium. She’d discovered last night that while Rill had an intense intellect and unique ability to transform complex visions from his mind’s eye to the big screen, he could also be warm, teasing and charming, most especially with his wife, daughter and Everett.

“Everett almost seems like a real brother to you,” Joy observed as she took a platter he handed her and wiped it dry.

“He is. Katie was like a sister, too, until I wised up and realized a sibling was the last thing on earth I wanted her to be,” Rill said with a sideways grin, which Joy returned. “Meg and Stan took me in when I came to California to go to school. The Hugheses have been far more of a family to me than I’ve ever had. I never even knew my real father, and my mother . . . well, she’s impossible to know, even if you’ve lived with her for years—”

A phone started to ring, interrupting him. Rill wiped off his large, soapy hands with a dish towel and dug in his jeans pocket. He greeted whomever was calling warmly.

“No, this is perfect timing. We’re setting up for makeup application right now. I don’t think Seth has any sketches done for you yet, but this will give him a chance to size you up. You’ll inspire him, no doubt. He’ll be up all night working.”

Joy speculated silently about whom it was on the phone. It sounded like someone associated with the film.

“Is John going to come with you?” Rill asked. He listened and nodded his head. “Great. We’ll see you here in an hour or two.”

“That was Jennifer Turner,” Rill told her when he’d hung up his phone and replaced it in his back pocket. “She’s going to be stopping by later this afternoon.”

“Really? That’s great,” Joy said. “She’s the other lead in Razor Pass, isn’t she?”

Rill nodded as he plunged his hands back into the soapy water. Joy had noticed earlier that he cleaned with the gusto of a rugby player—which his stature and rugged good looks certainly called to mind. Apparently, Rill didn’t believe in attacking even the smallest tasks in a small way. She’d watched in wonder as he’d given the kitchen a hearty once-over that any woman would have adored before he’d even begun the dishes.

“Yeah. She has a friend who lives nearby. He’s having some renovations done on his place, and Jennifer came with him. She’s a pretty regular visitor here.”

“We can size her up for makeup,” Joy said, her smile disguising a niggling worm of uncertainty that had started to squirm around in her belly. Jennifer Turner was one of the most beautiful, talented women in the world.

She was also one of Everett’s old girlfriends. If the press had been even 10 percent correct about their hotly speculated two-year relationship, then the one-time couple had at least considered marriage.

It seemed like too much for Joy to wrap her mind around the idea of Jennifer Turner and her—Joy—on the same playing field when it came to a man. It definitely made something burn uncomfortably in her stomach to consider even the faint likelihood of them both vying for Everett’s attention.

Stop being ridiculous, she lectured herself as she put away the large griddle in the cabinet that Rill indicated. It wasn’t as if this thing with Everett was anything she should be getting worked up over. She’d just met him recently. If Everett truly did still have feelings for Jennifer, there was nothing she could do about it. He was an amazing guy. He deserved to be happy.

It wasn’t as if Joy had any long-term influence on whether Everett found happiness or not.

* * *

Joy worked on Everett’s arm tattoos while Seth did the meticulous hair application. Seth’s sketches for the body art were still in the works, but she liked the preliminaries he’d done that incorporated a mixture of Native American, Chinese and ancient Mongol symbols melded and transformed by Seth’s creative mind. It was a little weird working on Everett so closely while other people were around, especially given the history of their first sexual contact. Eventually, however, she managed to mostly lose herself in the art, only occasionally glancing up to admire her uncle’s progress or to assist him when he requested it.

They worked in an atrium where the large surrounding windows could either be thrown open on a temperate day or shut and regulated during the winter and summer months. Given the hot, humid day outside, air-conditioning cooled the sunny room.

“Are you getting cold?” Joy asked Everett an hour or so after they’d started. He’d been holding his arm up for her as she drew on his inner biceps, twisting and flexing it at her request. With her head close to his chest, she’d noticed how hard his nipples had grown.

“I can turn down the AC,” said Katie, who was sitting in a lounger, watching their progress while Rill checked on Daisy.

“No, that’s okay. I’m not cold,” Everett said, his gaze on Joy. She blinked when she saw how warm his eyes looked. It took her several minutes to get back in the groove of her drawing after that.

When they’d finished, Joy was amazed, and she could tell Seth was pleased by the result. Even though he’d only done a partial makeup job along with the hair application and Joy had only done the tattoos on Everett’s arms, the transformation was stunning. Seth went to get his camera while Rill and Katie examined Everett. Rill glanced from Seth’s tattoo drawings to Everett’s arms.

“I like what you did in the application, Joy,” Rill murmured. “You altered the tattoos to fit with the natural contours of Everett’s muscle and bone. It gives it a living, organic effect.”

“Thanks,” Joy said, warmed by Rill’s astute observation.

“She had me flex and move my arms so she could see the natural movement and use it to highlight the tattoos,” Everett said.

Rill examined her with sharp blue eyes. “I know you’re here as Everett’s guest and you aren’t an official part of Seth’s makeup company, but will you consider doing Everett’s tattoos personally when we go to production? Everett and Seth both say you did a fantastic job on the Maritime tattoo for promotional photos. Seth was upset he couldn’t have you do it for the actual shoots.”

“So was I,” Everett said casually as he twisted his arms, examining them.

Joy blushed. “Oh, well, I doubt that—”

“Look who I found,” Seth interrupted her as he joined them again, carrying his camera.