Page 96 of Blood Stone

He caught her arm. “Kate.”

She pulled her arm out of his grip. “Don’t be melodramatic. It doesn’t play well, even on celluloid.”

“You know where to find me,” he said, behind her.

“Everyone does,” she agreed.

“Not after tomorrow,” he called.

She almost stumbled. Of course, the location shooting finished tomorrow, and they moved back to the studio for four weeks of interior and studio shooting, before early editing and the first round of pick-ups began.

Where would Garrett be, after tomorrow? She had no idea. Would he follow the movie to the studio? Or would he go home to Boston? Or something else?

She headed back to camera 1, her mind and body in turmoil.

* * * * *

Just after midnight, Adrian surprised her with a visit.

It was unusual for him to come to the set. He had stuck around for the first few days of filming, but after that he had begged off, bored out of his brain. He had found more useful and helpful things to do back at the base camp. Kate found it a better arrangement to not have him around her 24-7, too. It fuelled more speculation about his role in her life, and it kept him less accessible for the power mongers on the set, who would use him as a step ladder to Kate.

Every now and again, he would arrive unannounced, though – sometimes with gifts for her: Once he had brought a picnic lunch which they had eaten in a sandy dell far enough away from everyone else on the set. Dessert had been sex on the checkered cloth, before he had returned her to the set for the afternoon’s filming while everyone wore stupid grins on their faces and tried not to smile wisely.

Tonight, he had both hands pushed deep into the leather bomber jacket he wore, and the sleeves pushed up his muscular forearms, as he stood waiting for the take to finish. When it was in the can, Kate glanced at her watch, then at the AD, who looked at his watch and lifted his megaphone. “Forty-five minutes meal-break people! And that means forty-five minutes, not fifty. See you back here at twelve fifty on the dot, thank you!”

The tension that normally held the set immediately evaporated as everyone relaxed and abruptly began talking to each other as they turned in two thousand different directions, heading away from the set, toward food, private spots, or just simplyaway.

Adrian drifted between people, over to where she stood.

“Hey,” she said, pleased to see him.

“Hi. Got a minute to talk?”

“I have forty-five of them. Forty-four,” she amended.

“I don’t need that long,” he told her, looking around.

“You’re not staying?”

“Is there somewhere more private?” he asked.

“Why?”

He just looked at her. Kate frowned, realizing that he hadn’t once smiled since he had arrived. He hadn’t touched her, or given any overt signs of friendliness or pleasantness.

Her heart gave out a pang. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You really want to do this here?” he replied.

“Give it another forty seconds, and the set will be more deserted than a graveyard,” she assured him. “We’ll be as private here as the trailer. Perhaps more so. You never know who is listening outside my door, and there are no doors here.”

He didn’t even attempt to try a smile at her joke.

“So what’s going on?” she pressed.

“I was going to ask you that.”

“Excuse me?”