Capture (Seaside Pictures 1)

In his house?

Under their roof?

And it wasn't like I could say she seduced me, even though, if I was one to place blame, I'd be pointing my finger in her direction. She straddled me! Naked! What was I supposed to do? Sing nursery rhymes and close my eyes? Hold my breath?

I was in and out of the makeup trailer within minutes.

We were back on set at the local high school. The movie was being filmed in weird chunks, so technically, even though we'd been filming for a few weeks, we were just now filming the opening scene, where Nat saw Alec and Demetri for the first time.

With a sigh, I made my way onto the set and sat in my chair.

I was there for maybe two seconds before a hand slapped me in the back of the head.

"What?" I jerked to attention and glared as Demetri crossed his arms and stared daggers through me. "Why'd you do that?"

"You know why," he whispered.

I narrowed my eyes. "No, I really don't."

"You're too stupid to live, then. Which means I'm going to have to let Alec kill you."

"Why Alec?"

"He'd do better in prison."

"As opposed to you?"

Demetri puffed out his chest. "I'm too pretty."

"Why are you here? On set?"

"I volunteered." He sighed heavily. "And Dani's afraid Jaymeson's going to kill you then bury the body somewhere in the woods out past the old Smith place, under the cabin by the fifth tree."

"That's…" I coughed. "… scary descriptive."

"He may have let the location slip."

I tensed.

"Like five times when he texted me and Alec to bring shovels."

"She's old enough to make her own decisions. Seriously," I growled. "And it's not like I'm going to leave her. She isn't like that. I'm not like that. It wasn't a bang and high-five moment."

"Bang and high five?"

"You know," I shrugged, "Bang, then give positive reinforcement by a high five before leaving."

Demetri stared, then very slowly, with judgmental eyes shook his head. "To think, bigger whores than myself actually still exist in the wild."

"You?"

"Reformed." He nodded. "But you…" A finger jabbed at my chest. "You're not married. Therefore, you're a slippery fish, one that can flap out of her grasp and swim off into the ocean, leaving us to pick up the…" He frowned. "Not sure where I was going with that metaphor."

"Me either," I muttered, giving him a side-eye.

"I can't believe I actually agreed to help protect you."

"What are you going to do? Take a bullet for me or something? No offense, but if Jaymeson wants to end my life, I highly doubt you standing in the way is going to do anything."

"Half brother." He nodded seriously. "He'd never off his own family. Besides, he's English. Violence to him is forgetting to say sorry."

I burst out laughing.

Jaymeson plopped into the seat on my other side followed by Alec, who, arms crossed, stood in front of me, blocking the view of the rest of the crew that, by the temperature in the room, had all but shuffled away from our little group. Great, no witnesses.

"You're lucky she likes you," Jaymeson said in a low voice. "And you're lucky my wife said not to kill you."

I resisted the urge to tug at my collar. "I'll have to write her a thank you card."

"You won't write her shit." Jaymeson elbowed me. "And you'll do well to remember to keep your hands off my little sister under my roof."

"Sorry." I sighed. "I really am, that was…" I shook my head. "… disrespectful, and I do regret that part."

Alec visibly relaxed in front of me.

Jaymeson still looked ready to spit nails at my face, but instead, he gave me a long, very hostile look before standing up, grabbing his headset, and barking orders. "Extras needed on set."

I let out the breath I'd been keeping in.

Alec hadn't budged from his spot in front of me. Instead, his eyes narrowed. "I'm not one to pass judgment, believe me." His blue eyes were icy in their stripping of all of my comfort. "But if you break her heart, I will find a way to break at least one or two bones in your body. Understand?"

"Yeah." Was it wrong to respect them more after being threatened? She deserved that type of family, the type that didn't give a shit about who I was or what I represented.

It was oddly refreshing.

"Lincoln!" Jay shouted. "Don't make me tell you twice. Or do you need a minute before we shoot the next scene?"

"Nope." I stood quickly. "I'm good."

Demetri grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back. "Remember, in this scene I walk with a dead-sexy swagger." He slapped my ass. "Make me look awesome."

"Watch and learn," I said under my breath as I mentally prepared myself for the next scene. There were no lines, but sometimes, those were the hardest scenes, ones where you had to let your body language speak for you.

For some reason, I was so keyed up, so energized, that I was nearly bouncing on my toes waiting for the scene to be slated.

And then Dani appeared behind Jaymeson. She winked and then slowly licked her lips. Little seductress.

Hell yes, I could walk with swagger, because I was walking toward the camera, toward her.