Page 49 of Blood Stone

Adrian’s hand touched the small of her back – about the maximum physical contact he indulged in when they were in public. Their relationship wasn’t a declared thing and Kate wasn’t sure she could define what they were even if someone asked. But she was the director and producer and next to God as far as this movie was concerned, so no one questioned her about the man that seemed to hang around the set with nothing to do but watch her work. Hollywood thrived on gossip, though, so she knew with utter certainty that it would have been noted that Adrian was living in her trailer. Everything else would remain idle speculation unless either of them said anything in public.

She glanced up at him as he stood next to her and let his gaze travel around the room. He had a Solo cup in his hand, too. “Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.”

“Garrett’s endless supply of beer might have something to do with that.” She glanced at the amber liquid in her own cup. Beer was simply not her drink, but while she was shooting, she didn’t drink anything harder. She put the cup on the shelf running around the four sides of the big square pillar she was standing next to. Hers was not the first cup placed there.

“So...first week of filming in the can. How do you feel?” Adrian asked.

“Tense,” she admitted. She spotted Garrett again. She had lost track of him in the swirl and mix of people amongst the tables and on the dance floor. But now she saw he was standing next to a table where his assistant sat next to the computer nerd Garrett had bought out. The nerd was another big guy, but not quite as tall as Garrett. He wore glasses with thick lenses and had long, lanky brown hair that tonight was pulled back into a semi-neat ponytail at the back of his neck. Kate realized he had a well-defined jaw and a classically shaped-nose.

She hadn’t noticed him much at all this week, because he spent most of his time in the trailer with the computer equipment that generated their Wi-Fi hotspot, babying it along as it was running on the power of its own generator. There was something about generator power that computers apparently didn’t like. At least, that was what Kate had overheard him muttering as he had helped Sauvage get his laptop hooked into the network.

“Why are you tense?” Adrian asked. “There hasn’t been anything major go wrong that I’ve noticed.”

“That’s just it. Nothing has gone wrong.” She wiped moisture from her palm that had condensed there from the chill of the beer. “There have been a few minor things, but they’re hiccups. That’s part of being on location. But to have absolutely nothing go wrong at all? For a whole week?” She shook her head. “It’s not natural. There’s too many individuals trying to pretend they’re working as a team, when their egos would prefer this all be about them. Hollywood was built on the star system and it has been perpetuated by the people in it ever since. Then there’s the fact that we’re on location, and our supply line is five hours away in San Francisco — it’s a small miracle that we’re still able to eat and bathe, let alone make a movie. But it’s all just...happening.”

“You’re waiting for the shoe to drop,” Adrian guessed.

She nodded. “What’s going to be my Vesuvius, this picture? There’s always at least one. Last movie, I was filming in Morocco and despite having all the right permits and visas and having negotiated to film there over a year before...they still kicked us out of the country after four weeks and without notice. We had to do a lot of scenes over again at a new location, and it took ten days to find somewhere to shoot. Tenveryexpensive days.”

“Why were you kicked out?” Adrian asked curiously.

“They said we were perverting the purity of their citizens with our Western dress and habits. But the city must have a dozen film units at least twice a month, so it wasn’t that. I’ve never found out the real reason.”

She saw a big knot of people around one of the tables sitting on the edge of the dance floo, and wondered what was happening. Then she spotted David, Patrick Sauvage’s keeper, sitting alone at the next small table and realized the knot was around Sauvage. He’d attended after all. Her stomach clenched tighter. Sauvage and drink were an explosive combination. She hoped David was worth whatever money Garret was paying him, because right now was prime danger time. Sauvage was just hitting the gritty scenes and needed to come to grips with his role. The pressure was on.

And she was about to tighten the thumbscrews, too.

“Brace yourself,” Adrian murmured. “Garrett is coming your way.”

“Great,” she muttered. “Perhaps I can convince him to get the hell off my set.”

“Don’t like your chances. He’s the good guy, tonight. He’s entrenched.”

She sighed and sent Garrett a sour smile as he worked his way through the tables toward them. “Tell me something I don’t know,” she said to Adrian.

“It was Garrett and his assistant who brought down the kitchen trailer from L.A. There wasn’t another truck and driver to spare. So Garrett hitched it himself, to save you hiring yet another driver.”

Kate glanced at him. “I meant, tell me somethinggood.”

Adrian grinned and leaned in close to her ear, bending to do so. She felt his breath brush her face. “They talked aboutWarrior Kingon the Late Show last night. You’re already getting airtime.”

Kate looked at him properly, delight filling her. “Why didn’t you tell me? I mean,sooner? God, that’s great! It’s wonderful!” Deliberately, because she knew Garrett was watching, she leaned in closer to Adrian and kissed his cheek. It was a way of displaying warmth and comradeship that she would never extend to the man approaching her.

Ever.

* * * * *

Garrett saw Kate lean in to kiss Roman’s cheek and added that to the pile of rumours he had collected over the week. Put together with what he knew of Roman’s character made it as good as certain that Roman and the woman were intimate.

Roman had always had a weakness for humans.

He was championing her now. He was standing at her shoulder because he didn’t want Garrett messing with her life.

Garrett mentally sighed. Roman wouldn’t hear the truth even if Garrett could tell him. He was determined to make Garrett the bad guy in this and he was probably spoon-feeding the same toxins to Kate. It made Garrett’s job harder.

But not impossible.

Kate glanced at Garrett as he approached. So the little by-play, the kiss, had been for his benefit then.