Page 31 of The Aster Valley Collection, Vol. 2

FINN

When I arrived at work on Monday morning with a belly full of bacon and eggs Declan had made just for me, I felt like I was carrying the world’s most exquisite secret.

I’d had mind-blowing sex with Declan Stone.

Sheriff Stone had held me in those big burly arms of his all night long.

He’d called me beautiful again and again.

He’d told me I was sexy, and he’d worked hard to make me feel good over and over and over until I felt like a puddle of sticky honey begging for him to lap me up.

Declan Stone was a generous and diligent lover. And he had a big fucking dick that felt?—

“What the fuck?”

I spun around and nearly dropped the two paper coffee cups I’d picked up on my way through town. Tomo, my makeup tech, had a thing for a caramel latte but rarely treated himself to it since he was saving up for a nicer apartment back in LA.

Kix stared at me like I’d turned into a green, scaly monster since I’d seen him last.

“What? You almost made me drop my coffee,” I said, moving up the steps of the trailer.

“Is that a hickey on your neck?” Kix asked with a dramatic gasp. “Like, from a human other than yourself?”

He followed me into the trailer, and I tried to hide my smug grin. Tomo was already in there waiting for me. I could hear him chatting with someone. As soon as I stepped fully inside the trailer, I saw who he was talking to.

“Mom?” I squeaked.

“There you are. I was worried sick. Come here and give me a hug.” She moved toward me in a cloud of familiar perfume. I handed the drinks tray to Tomo and wrapped my arms around her slender frame.

Lola Heller had always been a gorgeous woman by any standard, but now that she had plenty of money and lived an easy lifestyle, she was even more lovely.

Part of me thought it was simply a matter of growing into her beauty, but maybe it was something else, something more mundane like a high-quality skin care regimen.

Either way, she was undeniably beautiful, and she turned heads wherever she went.

She was also charming as hell. My mother could talk anyone into anything and make them think it was their idea. It was both a blessing and a curse.

“What are you doing here?” I asked when she finally pulled away. Her hands clutched my arms as she gave me a mother’s assessing once-over. Her eyes immediately spotted the mark Kix must have seen, because they narrowed for a split second. Thankfully, she kept her opinions to herself about it.

“Iris called and said you might like having me here for the next few days because of your call schedule.”

I stared at her, unblinking. My agent was behind this? “Why would I need you here?”

She waved a hand in the air. “I didn’t say need, honey. I said want. You know how you get when the call schedule gets demanding. I guess she was a little worried you’re not taking good care of yourself. And I can see now she was right. You look like you’ve barely slept. Have you lost weight?”

I was suddenly unreasonably angry. When Declan had gotten close to the subject of my mother last night, I’d felt defensive.

My mom had busted her ass to get us away from her toxic parents.

She’d done everything she could to support and protect me from people in the industry who might have taken advantage of me along the way.

In fact, she’d spent my very first paycheck on a lawyer to protect me, to protect us , from predators in the business.

But now that she was here, I saw so much of her through a new light. I was twenty-four years old and my mommy had just shown up at my workplace to “manage” me. It was untenable. I was horrified.

For some reason, I wanted to call Declan and ask him how I should handle it, but that only made me feel less in control of my own life. I didn’t need anyone. I needed to handle my own shit.

“Kix, Tomo, would you mind giving us a few minutes, please?”

After they left the trailer, I turned to my mom. “I can’t have you here. Thank you for your concern, but you have to see how inappropriate this is. I’m no longer a child actor, Mom. You can’t just show up on set when I’m working.”

“Iris told me you’d refused to bring Alix to Colorado with you. Why?”

I pictured my personal assistant, a young woman I couldn’t imagine living without most of the time. She’d become one of my closest friends over the three years she’d been working for me. But I hated being seen as a diva on set. I didn’t like showing up with “people.”

“I gave her a few weeks off,” I explained. “She went to Maine with her parents and siblings. I guess they have a house there or something.”

She frowned. “Honey, you can’t expect to be able to manage a starring role like this without some support.”

“I’ve done it before.” I didn’t add that I’d done it many times before. “Also, I have plenty of support on set, and I have Kix here for moral support.”

It sounded as lame out loud as it had sounded in my head. Besides, I still needed to ask Kix about the house party at New Year’s.

“I’d feel more comfortable if I stayed at least for a few days. We can catch up and have a few nice meals. I’m sure you aren’t eating well. You always forget meals when you’re filming.”

She wasn’t wrong, but I’d made a strong effort to manage my nutrition this time around since so many of the scenes involved physical exertion. Plus, I had a trainer working me out every day to keep my physique in top form for the shirtless climbing scenes.

I knew asking my mother to leave would be akin to waving a red flag in front of her, so I tried another tack. “Mom, I think a nice dinner out sounds great. There’s an upscale steak place in Steamboat Springs. It’ll take us less than an hour to drive there, and you can check out the shopping.”

Her face relaxed into a smile. “That sounds perfect. Ken Whittier has a place in Steamboat. I’ve always wanted to check it out.”

I gestured toward the door of the trailer. “I’m going to have someone show you to my chalet so you can relax until I’m done with the shoot today, alright? Get some rest and take your time getting ready. I’ll be there to change clothes after five.”

She nodded and leaned in for a kiss to my cheek. “I missed you. Thank you for not telling your old mother to get lost.”

I couldn’t hold back a snort. “You’re the last person I’d describe as an old mother, and you know it.”

She grinned. “You fell for my trap. You’re so easy.”

I laughed and told her to stop fishing for compliments. When she finally left, Kix and Tomo came back in. Tomo got right to work, preparing me for the first shoot while Kix asked me what was up with my mom showing up on set.

“You know how she is,” I said without elaborating. “I’m going to take her out to a nice dinner tonight and hope she gets bored enough to leave tomorrow.”

Kix made himself comfortable on the sofa while I sat in the straight-backed makeup chair by the kitchen counter where Tomo’s kit was laid out.

“Now will you tell me about the hickey?” Kix asked with a knowing grin. “Tell me it wasn’t that sexy firefighter. I licked him first, so he’s mine. Forgot his name, though. Shame.”

I shook my head. “Not a firefighter.” If I wanted the entire cast and crew of Gold Rats to find out about my private time with the sheriff of Rockley County, I’d spill the beans to Kix. Since I didn’t, I kept my trap shut.

“Who, then? You didn’t even come out with us last night.”

Tomo’s ears were like a cat’s. They seemed to swivel toward the juicy details. The man was quiet as a mouse, but he heard all the best gossip on set. Thankfully, I’d never heard him repeat any of it.

“Did you go to the Roadhouse again?” I asked, trying to get him to forget about my mysterious hickey-maker.

“Don’t change the subject.”

“If you don’t want to talk about that, then let’s talk about New Year’s,” I suggested calmly, as if I’d mentioned planning a trip to the grocery store.

Kix glanced at Tomo and then down at his lap. “Yeah. A bunch of us went to the Roadhouse. Logan flirted with this hot set of twins. I thought they were going to suck him off right there in the booth. Someone said they were barely eighteen, though, so he freaked and left early.”

I watched him from the corner of my eye, trying not to move my face as Tomo did his work to cover up my freckles for the camera. “Mm-hm.”

Kix glanced at me and then away. “We can talk about New Year’s another time.”

I stared at him for a minute, but he didn’t look back. I started to get a sneaking suspicion that there wasn’t a misunderstanding about the NYE thing. That the misunderstanding was me still trusting this guy.

Tomo moved silently around me. His long fingers brushed various products across my skin to make me look sweaty, bruised, and dirty until he finally declared me ready for my first call. With one last glance between the oddly silent Kix and me, he left the trailer.

Kix opened his mouth, but I didn’t have time for this conversation.

It was going to be a shitshow. Besides, I was already pushing the schedule, and I hated being late for a call.

This morning’s first scene was the tyrolean traverse, and it would demand all of my attention.

“Not now,” I muttered, ducking into the back room of the trailer to change into the clothes the wardrobe assistant had left for me there.

It consisted of a filthy red tank top with several rips in it and a pair of khaki cargo pants in the same state.

This scene came after my character had already raced through the woods, fallen down a ravine, and scrambled across a boulder field.

Thankfully, the pants were deceptive. They looked like tight-fitting cotton cargo pants, but they were actually made from a stretchy material that allowed me to climb better than regular pants would have.