Page 20 of Romance Is Dead

“You’re banging him tonight, right?” Mara pulled down the passenger-side visor to check her lipstick in the mirror. “Like, should I be planning to find a different way home?”

I raised an eyebrow as I swung the car into a parking spot. “I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Thanks to the disastrous shoot the day before, we’d postponed our outing to The Bar.

No one had felt much like partying after an evening of frigid temperatures and runaway boats.

Teddy had split off for a phone call with his brother, while Mara and I had spent the rest of the night watching a new rom-com she’d been dying to see.

Now, after another full day of shoots today, we were all very ready for a night out.

“Come on, you were wet in more ways than one filming that scene yesterday, if you know what I mean. And the way he got all protective after the dock collapsed? Please.”

“He’s a colleague, may I remind you? A coworker?” I shifted into park. “That would be inappropriate.”

“And that has stopped you when? I see the way you look at him.” Mara reached for the door handle. “I recognize horny eyes when I see them.”

“Those weren’t horny eyes. Those were I’m-freezing-and-might-die-of-hypothermia eyes.”

“If you say so,” she said in a sing-song voice as she pulled open the door to The Bar.

They’d definitely been horny eyes. But I’d made my peace with the fact that I was desperately, annoyingly lustful for Teddy but couldn’t do anything about it.

And Mara should know better than anyone about my rule against dating actors — she’d been there when I’d come up with it over two years ago.

Once this movie wrapped, I didn’t want anything reminding me of what I was giving up.

So for now, I’d just have to cohabit with my horniness. Be one with the horniness.

Inside, the bar was exactly what I’d expect from rural Virginia. From the scuffed black-and-white checked linoleum to the neon sign behind the bar, the place had none of the pretension I’d come to associate with all the hot spots back in LA.

As someone who greatly preferred a dingy dive to a crowded club, I thought it was perfect.

The bar stretched along the left side of the room, with customers perched on tall stools and sipping frothy pints of beer.

I quickly realized we weren’t the only ones from the production who’d had the idea to come out — members of the crew were dotted around the room, gathered at tables and shooting pool.

Apparently, this place really was the only joint in town.

Mara and I made our way to the bar, and the bartender, a tiny brunette with painted red lips and heavily tattooed arms, made her way over. “Can I help you, ladies?” She eyed Mara, her lips curving into a smile. “How about we start with you, gorgeous?”

Mara immediately snapped to attention. She leaned over the bar top as she ordered, fiddling with her hair and murmuring something that made the bartender laugh.

Typical. Mara always seemed to attract attention wherever she went, even if she wasn’t looking for it.

And maybe a hookup with a hot bartender was exactly what Mara needed to get over Austin.

Minutes later, the door once again swung open and Brent, Chloe, and Teddy appeared. Trailing behind them, to my pleasant surprise, was Audrey. Maybe she was finally warming up to us.

Teddy’s eyes roamed the room as he stepped over the threshold. He paused when he spotted me, nodding in my direction as his mouth spread into a grin. Like I’d been the one he was looking for. My stomach swooped in pleasure, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling as I waved him over.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mara staring at me, lips pursed.

As the six of us grabbed our drinks and made our way to a table near the back, the topic of conversation immediately returned to what everyone had been gossiping about all day: who had sabotaged the boat?

“Was it definitely on purpose?” Chloe asked, grabbing one of the battered chairs. “Couldn’t it have been an accident?”

“I mean, a brick was weighing down the throttle.” Audrey’s British accent sounded extra posh against the country music playing in the background. “I’d say it had to be deliberate.”

Sinking into the seat next to me, Teddy reached out an arm and rested it on the back of my chair. I froze. Had that been intentional? He shifted, moving his arm closer until it was tucked around my shoulders.

Yep. Definitely intentional.

“We’re barely a week into filming.” Mara shuddered. “A boat’s been tampered with, the house was vandalized, and poor Trevor. . .”

Chloe’s eyebrows jumped. “You think one person was responsible for all of that?”

Mara shrugged. “Maybe.”

As everyone chatted, the only one silent was Brent, across the table from us.

Keeping my eye on him, I lowered my voice to a whisper and leaned toward Teddy. “I have an idea.”

“Oh?”

I tipped my head toward Brent, who was already almost finished with his first drink. “We need to find out when he was in the attic and if he knows anything about Trevor. This could be a good opportunity.”

Teddy nodded, one thumb rubbing my shoulder absentmindedly. “Why don’t we make this interesting?”

I raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“If I can get information out of Brent, you owe me a back rub. That shoot yesterday was very physically taxing.”

“Waiting in the water was physically taxing?”

“Yes.”

“How is that my fault?”

“It’s not.” Teddy shrugged. “Those are just the rules.”

“Fine. And if I get the information?”

“I’ll give you a back rub, obviously.”

My heart thrummed. There was nothing I loved more than winning, especially if someone was trying to prove I couldn’t. That was why my heart rate had spiked — the thrill of the competition, not because I was imagining what, exactly, it would feel like to have Teddy’s hands rubbing my body.

“Deal. Better limber up those hands.” I eyed Brent as he hopped to his feet, wavering for a second before heading back to the bar.

“I don’t think so, Jigsaw. You’ll be massaging this trapezius before you know it.”

I considered, for a moment, that maybe losing wouldn’t be so bad after all. But I quickly brushed the thought away.

“We’ll see about that.” Despite his bravado, Teddy hadn’t noticed that Brent had left. His eyes hadn’t left my face, and I intended to use that to my full advantage. Jumping up, I made a beeline for where Brent was waiting at the bar.

“Cheater!” Teddy called after me.

Muffling a grin, I rested my elbows on the bar top and focused my attention on Brent.

“Hey.” I nudged his shoulder with mine. “Better day today?”

Brent huffed out a laugh. “No. Definitely not.”

“Really? Natasha seemed in a better mood. I thought things were running a little smoother.”

“Yeah, well.” Brent’s face darkened. “It was a different story with me.”

Interesting. Natasha could be abrasive, but she was also quick to forgive. Did Natasha know something I didn’t?

“Why don’t I buy us a shot? Does tequila work?”

“Hell yeah, it does.”

I waved over the bartender — whose name, according to the tag on her blouse, was Laurie — and ordered two shots of tequila, which arrived alongside a salt shaker and two lime wedges on napkins a few minutes later.

Alright, look sexy , I instructed myself. If I was going to get information out of Brent, my best chance was to flirt it out of him.

“Ready?” Brent nudged the salt shaker toward me. “Ladies first.”

Grasping it in one hand, I slowly licked the skin between my thumb and index finger. His gaze followed my tongue, his eyes darkening as they lingered.

“Mmmm.” I sprinkled the salt on my hand and passed him the shaker. “Ready?”

“Always.” Brent salted his own hand and picked up the tiny glass, which he tipped toward me in cheers. “One, two, three, go!”

I licked the salt and threw back the shot.

Thankfully, the brininess did its job of lessening the burn, but the tequila still scorched my throat.

I sucked the lime wedge seductively, looking up at him through my lashes.

The corner of Brent’s mouth ticked up, the first sign of an emotion other than irritation I’d seen on him all night.

“Wow.” I reached out and placed my hand on top of his. “I don’t know about you, but I needed that.”

“I need about three more.”

“I can arrange that.” I wasn’t planning on drinking that much, but I was willing to foot Brent’s bill if it meant I could get information out of him. “What happened today?”

“I’ve just had it, to be honest. Natasha won’t get off my ass. Weird shit’s going on and somehow it’s my fault?” He shook his head. “I didn’t sign up for this.”

“That sounds awful.” I rubbed his arm soothingly. “Maybe I can help you take your mind off things later?”

I would do no such thing. But Brent didn’t have to know that.

“Oh, yeah?” Brent’s demeanor flipped. No longer slouched and glowering, he leaned in with a cocky smile. “I thought we were past all that.”

“We don’t have to be.”

My eyes flitted toward Teddy. He glanced away as soon as I spotted him, but not quick enough for me to miss him clocking my hand on Brent’s arm.

And he didn’t look happy about it. I pulled back, removing my hand.

Why did I feel guilty? There was nothing wrong with me flirting with Brent.

And it definitely didn’t matter how Teddy felt about it.

“What’s Natasha blaming you for?”

“The brick, obviously.”

“Why would you have wanted to sabotage the boat?”

Brent shook the hair out of his eyes. “Exactly! She thinks because I’ve shown up high a few times that I’m responsible for everything that’s been going on.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” I decided to go out on a limb. “Next thing you know, she’ll be blaming Trevor’s death on you too.”

Brent’s eyes narrowed. “What do you know about Trevor?”

“What do you know about Trevor?” We stared at each other silently, at a standoff. Then, Brent took a breath like he was about to speak.