Page 4

HEATHER

T he stunt was going to be a dry run this time, although they always had cameras running just in case.

Heather stood opposite her costar on her mark.

As she understood it, she and Cole would be intercut with the two stars.

They just had to go through the motions so the editors could digitally splice everything after the fact.

The set was less than impressive, but Heather knew it would look completely different after the digital-effects people got to it.

They were on the top of a building, a constructed rooftop in a studio setting.

The actual building was only two stories high, and behind them was a green screen, where the effects people would eventually add a city skyline.

This would be the first time she had performed the stunts with Cole specifically rather than her practice partner.

In Heather’s opinion, they were starting with one of the more difficult stunts, and she wished they wouldn’t.

To her, it made way more sense to start with something easier, especially since she and Cole hadn’t been able to do any kind of rehearsal together.

Stunt work required precision, clear communication, and a whole lot of trust. She and Cole had none of these yet, especially not the trust. They simply hadn’t been allowed to build it.

Scheduling issues, they said. Wasn’t it just always about scheduling issues?

Heather faced Cole, standing on her mark. The ticking of a metronome sounded in her ears. This would be how the two of them would keep time. What they were doing, this choreographed fight, was more of a dance than anything. It would just look like violence.

They got the cue to start, and Heather made the first move. It was two steps forward, four around. Hit every mark. Pivot. Kick. Cole grabbed her ankle and threw her down. She rolled away from him, shooting back up like her life depended on it. She was on the ground for less than a second.

In this scene, her character was meant to be the aggressor, coming face-to-face with the antagonist who killed her father for the first time.

She waited the required seconds for Cole to get into his place.

During this time the two stars would have a brief exchange that would be intercut with the action scenes.

Heather ran at Cole again. She swung to hit him, and he blocked her wrists, all to the click of the metronome. In her head, she counted the strikes. Hit, hit, hit, kick, hit. On the last hit, Cole caught her wrist and pulled her in.

“Freeze!” the director shouted, and Cole and Heather obeyed.

They were only a few inches apart. Cole had Heather’s wrist caught in his hand, and he was smiling down at her in a way that made her cheeks burn.

He smirked at her, clearly noticing her blush.

She wanted to tell him that it had nothing to do with how attractive he was, even though it probably would have been a lie.

There was something humiliating about being scrutinized this closely.

Heather always had a protective barrier between herself and the rest of the world.

It was how she managed to keep herself whole and deal with all the anxiety she might be feeling at any given time.

Just shove it down and pretend not to feel it at all.

Then he winked at her.

Heather yanked her hand back and walked away from him.

She left her mark, and she could see the director shaking his head in disapproval out of the corner of her eye.

But Cole Reynolds was nothing short of infuriating.

Heather usually had a long fuse — she prided herself on it, in fact — but there was just something about this man. His smirk. Infuriating for sure.

“I need some water,” she said as an excuse.

Great . Day one, and she was already making a nuisance of herself.

After all that self-talk she did into the mirror that morning, too.

One pretty face later, and she was useless.

She needed to pull herself together. She sipped her water.

Gulping too much would be a mistake considering the stunts she was expected to do today.

She could feel the impatience of the crew all around her, and she couldn’t blame them. She straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath, and went back to work.

They started the dance again, and Cole was every bit as cocky as he had been all day long. When they wound up frozen in the same position, he at least had the decency to not wink at her again — though, there was the slightest cocky smirk. She had to give him credit for trying.

“You good?” he said during the pause.

“I’m fine,” she answered defiantly. “And you? You’re looking a bit pale.”

His hand tightened around her wrist, and he pushed in closer by a hair. It was enough to send her heart into overdrive, though. “Oh, I’m doing beautifully, sweetheart,” he said, and she ground her teeth at him. “I’m especially enjoying the view from this rooftop.”

Heather scoffed and started to tell him there was no view before she realized he was talking about her. She was the view. She scrambled to think of a comeback, but before she could, the director restarted the metronome and shouted, “Action!”

They repeated their dance and continued beyond the point where they had stopped on the previous take.

Cole shifted their position closer to the edge, just as his character was supposed to do.

He gripped her wrists, spun her around, and stood with his back to the green screen behind him.

Heather knew the city skyline would be something else when it was superimposed.

This film was going to be gorgeous when it was finished.

She ran at him, a precise number of steps that she had to make look spontaneous.

Then she kicked him in the chest. The kick was gentle in reality.

She pivoted, lifted her foot to his chest and leaned in a bit.

He was meant to act as though he were taking a hit, jerk back a bit, and begin to fall.

The whole scene would be sped up in post, and so it would look like a quick, dangerous fight.

As he fell, Cole was meant to reach out, grab her coat, and pull her down with him.

Instead, he took her by the foot and pulled her over with him.

For a moment, Heather panicked. She wasn’t meant to fall in this position.

She hadn’t practiced it. It wasn’t something she was confident she could roll away from without an injury.

She was furious and terrified, feeling so many things during her short fall that her life may as well have been flashing before her eyes.

Somehow, though she couldn’t have said how, she found the time to twist and position herself for a better landing.

The mat was generous and exceptionally soft, thank God.

The only part of the fall that bruised her was the fact that she fell on top of Cole rather than beside him, which was what she would have been able to do if the fall had gone the way it was supposed to.

Heather lay on top of Cole, straddling him like they were a romantic pair, but instead of kissing him, she screamed down at him and slapped him on the chest. “You asshole! What were you thinking? You could have gotten both of us injured. We’d be out of a job before they even got one scene out of us! ”

Cole caught her wrists, then shrugged at her. “I was thinking the director might appreciate a spontaneous, realistic cut.”

“Did you even ask him?” she shouted.

“No. He would have had to say no for contractual reasons. Now he has the cut without needing to risk his own career over it.”

“Oh, so you were just willing to risk mine instead?”

“Risk it?” He sat up as she slid off him and crawled toward the edge of the mat.

“I just advanced your career with that move, sweetheart. Directors want people who are willing to take risks on their behalf. You’ve just been elevated as a stunt double.

” He jumped off the mat after her. “So, I mean, you’re welcome. ”

Heather let out a frustrated scream rather than shout the words she really wanted to say to him. They were unprofessional, to say the least.

“Enough!” the director called out to them. “Take ten, both of you. Pull it together.”

Heather clenched her fists and marched away from the set.

She had to cool off before she lost it completely.

Her eyes were already welling up a bit. The whole incident had brought back her past injury, how quickly her life had veered off course.

She wasn’t prepared for it to happen again, and she definitely wasn’t prepared for the one stupid mistake that would make her life jump the tracks to be made by anyone other than herself.

The one thing Heather had always been able to tell herself when she started panicking about things that could go wrong was that she was in control.

As long as she was careful and learned from her past, she would not make the same mistake twice.

No matter what, she would never be that stupid again.

Apparently, she had failed to take into consideration the possibility that someone else might be that stupid on her behalf.

Behind the set was a maze of dark corridors and dressing rooms, racks of costumes and random props scattered around. As well-funded as this film seemed to be, it hadn’t paid enough for an organized crew. Or maybe such a thing just didn’t exist.

Under the assumption she had finally found a moment to herself, Heather leaned against the wall and bowed over, holding her knees while she caught her breath.

The way the stunt had gone wrong had triggered memories of her past injury and the years of depression that followed, after she realized the life she had planned for herself was no longer possible.

It was all over in the blink of an eye. She took several slow, deep breaths to keep from hyperventilating, and she stayed that way until she heard footsteps.

“Hey,” a voice said, and she recognized it as Cole’s, though she didn’t look up to see him. “Are you okay?”

“No,” she snapped. Had she ever been this furious before?

She didn’t think so, but she didn’t want to let him know just how much his behavior had affected her.

“That was a stupid move, Cole. That’s not how I rehearsed it, and I’d bet a thousand dollars that’s not how you rehearsed it either.

Because you would have been fired if you had, idiot. ”

She could almost hear him shrug. “It was a natural, spontaneous choice.”

Now she straightened up and actively glared at him. “There’s no room for spontaneity in stunt work!”

He gave her one half of a smile that she guessed was supposed to charm her. But it didn’t come close to its objective. “How much do you want to bet the director chooses that take? He couldn’t ask for it, but we took that risk off his shoulders and now he has his ideal take.”

“Correction,” Heather shot back. “ You took that risk. You gave me no choice in the matter.”

“Either way, it will set us apart from other stunt doubles, won’t it? It’s the only way to get ahead in this industry. You have to stand out.” He was so sure of himself that it disgusted her.

“Oh, you’re standing out all right. You’re standing out as a security risk!

An insurance nightmare! A lawsuit waiting to happen!

” She took a moment to compose herself. “Both of us could have been hurt by your ‘spontaneity,’ and then we’d be out of a job.

Do you know what that’s like, Cole? Because I do. ”

“But we weren’t hurt, were we? I broke your fall well enough, didn’t I? You’re fine.”

“I am not fine!”

“Sure you are. Where does it hurt?” He reached out, and she slapped his hand away. “See? Just as spunky as ever.”

Cole was clearly trying to get Heather to laugh, but she was far from laughter right now. She’d never been so completely disrespected in her life — or if she had, she couldn’t recall it in her current storm of indignation. “You’re an asshole,” she muttered.

“What was that?”

Louder, she repeated, “You’re an asshole.

I don’t think you care about anyone other than yourself.

And if you think you were doing me a favor with that move, you’re beyond wrong.

The last thing I want to do is get injured again and have another career door slammed in my face.

You want to take risks? Fine. That’s your prerogative.

Forcing me to do the same is a dick move, and I think you know it, you arrogant jerk.

You must get away with so much in your everyday life.

You think you can just charm your way out of any consequences, don’t you?

Well, I promise you, that won’t work with me.

And if you ever do anything like what you did today again, I’ll do everything in my power to get your ass kicked off the project. ”

Cole had started to defend himself several times during Heather’s speech, but she wouldn’t let him get a word in.

She was shaking, and as soon as he noticed it, his mouth snapped shut.

Probably, he thought she was overreacting.

He’d never know how completely false that assumption was.

This was not possible to overreact to. Careless, reckless people who never learned infuriated her.

She owned her own mistakes. She wasn’t about to own his, too.

In the dark of the hall, he took several steps away from her. Good , she thought. Let him worry for a change . She straightened up and squared her shoulders. “Do you understand?” she said in a commanding tone.

His lips quirked into half a smirk before he corrected his expression, and answered. “I understand.”