Stunt Doubled: A Movie Star Standalone

Mac did, but only because it was either that or run me over. “Are you okay, Ronnie?” He moved to get past me, but I stepped to the side, blocking him.

Aiden and Tanner caught up and grabbed Mac’s arms again. “Don’t attack him,” Aiden said.

“Why the hell not?”

I sensed the figure in black getting to his feet behind me. “Because it’s Ford.”

Ford moved to my side and took off the ski mask, his wavy hair sticking up in all directions.

Mac stared at him. “What the fuck is going on here?”

“It was a stage fight,” Tanner said, trying to calm him down. I hoped that Tanner hadn’t had to exert himself too hard tonight. “No real blows were exchanged.”

“Are you two okay?” Aiden asked Ford and me.

“I’m good.” A muscle in my thigh felt a little overextended, and I might have a bruise on my side tomorrow, but I felt good. Adrenaline still flowed through me as I turned to Ford. “You okay?”

“Yep. One of your strikes was a little too close for comfort, but that’s what we get for staging a fight in a dimly lit area.”

“And with only two days of practice,” Tanner added.

Mac was listening to all this with an expression of disbelief on his face, and his eyes narrowed every time he looked at Ford. “So this was all… fake?”

“Yes,” I said.

“But why? You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Aiden patted him on the back. “Ronnie told us that you didn’t think she should train to be a stunt woman. We hope that this little demonstration will show you the potential she’s got.”

“You did this all to prove a point?”

“Yes,” I said.

“And to show you how good she is,” Tanner added.

Mac turned on his heel and strode away.

For a long moment, the four of us just stood there in the dark, staring at each other. Then Aiden sighed. “Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best plan in the world.”

I slept restlessly that night, well aware that it was my second from last night with the guys. I still didn’t know what I wanted—or what they did.

By the time the light started filtering past the blinds, I was dead to the world, at least until I felt something heavy press down the mattress next to me and warm lips kiss my cheek.

My eyes refused to open, but I found out who was when he said, “Time to get up, Princess.”

Aiden.

Covering my eyes with the back of my arm, I reached out with my other hand and stroked his short hair. “It’s too early.”

“Sorry, but I’ve been called in to do some reshoots, and you’re needed too.”

“For reshoots?”

“No.”

My eyes opened, one at a time, and I blinked up at him. “So what do you need me for?”

“Mac wants to see you.”

Oh.

Uh-oh.

27

Ronnie

It was Sunday night.

The filming in the desert had wrapped up.

And it was our last night together.

Dinner was amazing. We’d all contributed something. Aiden had barbecued the ribs. Ford roasted the veggies. Tanner cut up an entire watermelon in an artistic pattern, and I’d made a chocolate cake. It wasn’t even from a box, either. I’d had to call my brother twice with questions, but in the end, I got it done.

The food was incredible, but I could barely taste it. Instead, I had a million questions for these guys. “But what’s the usual path?” I asked Ford as he was chopping veggies. And then again later when we were eating those veggies.

His answer was still annoyingly vague. “It depends, Ronnie. Some people train for years before they get hired to do stunts in a movie. Some take to it more quickly.”

“And it’s not just fighting,” Tanner said. “You can take course on stunt driving—both cars and motorcycles. Hell, you can train on horses if you think you’ll ever make a western. There are a lot of options out there.”

Aiden piled more ribs on my plate. “You’ve just got to narrow down what kind of stunts you want to do. Then we’ll help you figure out what training you need.”

“Says the actor,” Ford commented, and Aiden punched him in the arm, causing Ford to wince.

“Now see, if I’d had fancy stunt training, I could’ve done that without hurting you, but no, I’m just the actor.”

I couldn’t help grinning. I’d been smiling pretty much nonstop since Mac talked to me in his office yesterday. To my amazement, he’d given me his blessing to pursue stunt work. Apparently, our staged fight had convinced him after all that I had enough talent and athleticism to give it a shot.

Though I didn’t feel that I needed Mac’s blessing as a father, I sure as hell needed it since he was so well known in the movie industry. But in a way, our talk yesterday had helped on the family side of things, too. I knew I’d never forget what he told me.