Page 4 of A Dark and Stormy Knight (A Knight’s Tale #3)
W hen Cara finished applying Patrice’s makeup, the woman wanted to take a break before going to costuming.
A break from what? Cara’s lips tilted as she carefully put the foundation, eyeshadow, and lip creams back in their assigned spots.
She closed the makeup box and wheeled her chair away. Standing, she shrugged her aching shoulders, and nodded to Harper. “Have you got this?” She nodded toward Patrice, who was now lying on her back, hands on her stomach, on the twin-size bed installed for her benefit.
She looked like a beautiful corpse.
Harper, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, nodded.
Cara exited the trailer, glad for the chance to beat Patrice to costuming so she could get a look at the necklace the actress was going to wear in the next scene.
She hurried over to the tent set up for wardrobe, ducked inside, and moved around three actresses dressing in period clothing. “I’m an extra today.”
“Help yourself,” one of the girls waved a hand. “Anything on that rack.”
Cara quickly found a gown, a heavy, red brocade with long sleeves and a rounded neckline. If she was trying on the necklace, she wanted to showcase it.
After dressing, she hurried to find Nate, who was separating costumes into piles. “Hey.”
He glanced up and took in her costume. “Hey, yourself.”
“You look busy.”
“Give me a good contemporary romance movie over a historical any day of the week.”
“Are you ready for a break?”
He grinned. “You want to see the necklace, don’t you?”
“This might be my only opportunity.”
After a quick look around, he grinned. “Okay, follow me, but if you tell anyone about this, I’ll deny everything.”
“About what?”
His grin widened. “Exactly.”
They made their way to the exit at the back of the tent, and came out at another row of trailers.
He led her to one, took a key out of his pocket, opened the door, flipped on the light, and gestured her inside.
“The movie is set during the 1200s. They did tests on the necklace, and it’s authentic to the time period.”
There were stacks of clothing on a small bed, a desk with a computer set against one wall, and a couple of duffel bags on the floor. She could see cereal boxes in an open cupboard. There was a small fridge in one corner, and on top, a small safe.
“What’s to stop someone from breaking in here and simply taking the safe?”
Nate shrugged. “It’s not as if I’m telling everyone about the necklace, and even if I did,” he jingled the keys, “I’m the only one with a set, and there’s a guard nearby.”
Nate bent over and punched in a code to the safe, opened it, and pulled out a big black box. He turned in her direction, and slowly lifted the lid.
Cara gasped and put a hand to her chest. “Oh, wow, are you kidding me right now?” she asked.
Nate chuckled. “You’re such a girl. I had a bet with myself that you’d gasp out loud when you saw it.”
She didn’t even look at him, couldn’t look away from the gleaming necklace. “And you didn’t?”
“Are you kidding me? And lose my man card?”
She finally glanced up. “There’s such a thing as a man card? And they let you have one?”
“Oh, you’re hilarious. Do you want to try this on, or what?”
Her eyes strayed to the piece of jewelry once more. It could be called gaudy, simply because of the size. Pearls, diamonds, and rubies caught the light from the fixture above them, lustrous, practically glowing. The blue stone hanging at the bottom was the size of a silver dollar. “What kind of jewel is this?” she asked, running her thumb over the top.
A tingle went up her arm.
“I don’t know,” he pulled out the piece of paper folded into the black velvet lid. “Here’s the information.”
Cara took the paper and turned so the light shone on it.
“The Heart of Eternity was originally commissioned by William de Warrenne for his new bride. In 1160, the piece was eventually sold to cover gambling debts, then it disappeared for a time until it ended up in the coffers of the church during the early middle ages.
In 1262, the necklace was given to Lady Amelia Dinsdale, upon the birth of her first son.
It disappeared for a long while until Heinrick Wilhelm von Hassell, a German merchant, sold it in 1833 to Louis Phillipe I, who bought it for his mistress.”
“It disappeared again, and was rediscovered in 1854 when millionaire William Backhouse Astor Jr. purchased it for his wife at auction in New York City.”
Eyes wide, she glanced up and met Nate’s gaze. “It says the stone is a sapphire.”
“Let’s sell it!” Nate grinned.
They both laughed.
“Were you serious about letting me try it on?”
“Only if you can keep your mouth shut about it.”
“And you’ll take my picture?”
Nate rolled his eyes. “You mean the picture you can never show to anyone?”
“That’s the one,” she said, and reached inside the velvet interior and carefully, oh, so carefully, took out the necklace.
Nate set the box down and she held the pendant in her palm as she flashed the piece this way and that, the radiant colors catching the light once more.
She liked jewelry as much as the next girl, and wore it often, but there was just something about this piece that called to her. “How much is it worth?” she asked.
Nate scoffed as he reached for it. “More than you’ll make in this lifetime, so it doesn’t matter.”
She turned around and he lifted the necklace above her head, lowering it to her neck. She pulled her blonde hair to one side so he could clasp it.
“All done.”
She turned around and smiled, liking the feel of the jewelry, cool on her skin, and the swirl of her skirts against her legs. “Medieval times must have been incredibly glamorous. What do you think?”
“I think it’ll look great onscreen.”
She lifted the pendant. “It really is beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It is, and so are you.”
Startled by Nate’s statement, she glanced up, and before she could move, he took a quick step closer, lowered his head, and kissed her.
Gripping the pendant in one hand, she stood stunned as he moved his mouth on hers. After a moment, Nate lifted his head gauging her reaction.
Cara blinked rapidly. “Uh, Nate? Is there something you want to tell me?”
As startled as she was by the kiss, she couldn’t say she was surprised by his feelings. They’d flirted and laughed together, in a friendly way, consulted on makeup and costume, and generally had fun together.
She still hadn’t been expecting it.
“I really like you, Cara. You’re a lot of fun.”
She swallowed at the sudden tension in the air. She wished she liked him back, but, he was definitely just a friend. She wanted excitement, emotion, the shivery feels. She wanted a long-lasting love like her parents had, and didn’t want to settle. Barring that, she liked being free and unencumbered.
“I like you too, Nate.”
He studied her face. “But not in the same way?”
She really, really didn’t want to lose his friendship. He was one of the bright spots on this trip to Scotland, someone she wouldn’t mind working with again.
But she didn’t have those types of feelings for him, and it wouldn’t be fair to either of them if she said she did. “Nate, I’m sorry.”
Nate’s lips twisted, and his face took on a slightly cruel expression. “Sorry for what?” His tone hardened. “We’ve been having some good times, haven’t we?”
She felt pressured, and didn’t like it. “Of course, we have.”
“Why not make it more fun?”
She couldn’t believe he was going to keep pushing. She didn’t want to say something they’d both regret but she wasn’t going end up in a relationship with the guy simply because she didn’t want to upset him or hurt his feelings. “I’m kind of liking things the way they are.”
Nate suddenly gripped her shoulders and swooped in for another kiss.
She put her hands on his chest and shoved, but he didn’t budge, and only mashed their lips more painfully together.
She made a protesting noise, and at the same time there was a sudden banging.
Nate released her, and they both looked toward the door. Whoever was on the other side now rattled the doorknob, and Cara realized Nate had locked them inside.
“Hey, Nate! I’m going to need that necklace now!” The voice of Steve Ericsson, the director, was easily recognizable, and they both looked at each other, horror etched on their faces.
“Give us just a moment!” Nate yelled, and then whispered to her, “Turn around, we need to get this off you!”
Cara didn’t want Nate at her back, but turned anyway. As he fumbled with the clasp the director pounded on the door, harder this time. “Open up! What’s going on in there?”
“I can’t get it,” Nate rasped.
He was so ham-fisted, wrenching at the thing, she was afraid he’d break it. “Let me do it!”
She swung the necklace around and grasped the clasp with her fingers, but it wouldn’t open.
“Hurry up!”
“I’m trying,” she hissed back, angry that she’d be doing the walk of shame in front of the director.
The banging on the door started up again, and Nate finally hurried to unlock it.
She cringed, caught red-handed as it were.
“Hey, boss,” Nate chuckled. “Sorry about that.”
Steve, thin of stature, his thick salt and pepper hair standing on end as usual, looked at Nate, and then through the doorway at Cara.
The irritated, yet knowing look he shot her, had heat searing her face.
In that moment, she wanted to kill Nate.
She felt used and abused. He’d lured her in here, ruined their friendship, and opened the door too soon! Besides that, her mouth hurt from his kiss.
“Does someone want to tell me what’s going on in here?”
Nate shot her a malevolent look. “I caught Cara trying on the necklace. I don’t want to accuse her of theft or anything, but ...” he left the sentence unfinished.
“What? That is not what happened!” Cara defended herself. Granted, Nate told her he’d deny any involvement, but he hadn’t told her he’d do it so viciously.
The director glanced between the two of them, and he finally shook his head. “You know what? I don’t really care. What I do care about is the fact that one of my makeup artists is wearing the million-dollar necklace that is supposed to be around the neck of my female lead!” He yelled the last two words.
She stood there, still trying to unclasp the piece, feeling a fool, and on the verge of tears.
“Come out here into the sunlight!”
Cara gave up and crossed the space to stumble clumsily down the stairs.
“I will thank you to take that necklace off now, Miss Jones,” the director demanded. “And after that, you can take your sticky little fingers, and get off my set!” He roared the last words so loudly her ears rang.
Humiliation hit her in waves and tears filled her eyes. Without thinking, fight or flight instinct kicked in and she shoved past the director, swerved around one of the tents, and ran out into the open field.
She found herself drawn toward the monument in the distance, some sort of touching stone, or shrine, the religious made pilgrimages to.
Everyone was looking at her! Or it certainly felt like it!
More tears welled in her eyes at Nate’s betrayal.
She stifled the sob rising in her throat and turned around to see the director, and a rather large, thick-necked gentleman wearing a dark suit and sunglasses, walking in her direction. Probably the guard.
She couldn’t believe Nate, someone she’d considered such a good friend, would throw her under the bus. And why? To save his own hide? Or was it really to get revenge for her lack of interest?
She kept trying the clasp, tears blurring her vision now, and she felt a sharp slice on her thumb.
That was it, she gave up. She made it to the stone, place a hand against it while she caught her breath, and turned to see the guard was almost upon her.
She turned the necklace around so he could undo the clasp at her back, rather than her front. Her hand went to the pendant now hanging at her neck.
The moment she touched it, the sharp pain in her thumb made her realize she’d just bled on the thing.
She shivered.
This just wasn’t her day.
Bowing her head, she tried to shut out not only the approaching guard, but everyone who’d come out of trailers and tents to stare at the crazy woman. She bit back a sob.
The quiet whispers and murmurs turned into the harsh sounds of an oncoming locomotive and she quickly opened her eyes and gaped at the huge warhorse about to barrel into her.