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The two fell silent as they continued their walk down the beach. Ashlyn saw the house where she was staying at the time, and she pointed it out to Brandon. “There’s my house. Where did you park this morning?”
“I parked on the other side of the boardwalk,” Brandon said. “I’ll walk you to the back steps, though.”
Ashlyn was silent again as they walked up to the steps. There were their shoes. Ashlyn had almost forgotten and sent Brandon off without his shoes. “Well, good night,” Ashlyn said, dropping Brandon’s hand and turning toward him. She was wondering if she should do something to show that she was still interested. Brandon took care of that, though. He leaned forward and took her lips in hers, his hand resting just under her chin. He kissed her gently, his lips soft on hers.
Ashlyn’s heart thumped at double time as Brandon took her upper lip in his and pulled it toward him, gently biting down. She hungered for more, and she didn’t resist as Brandon planted a hand in her hair and pulled her further toward him. He hungrily consumed her lips, sending shivers down her body. Finally, Brandon pulled back, and they were both breathing hard.
“Sorry,” he whispered. He cleared his throat. “See you soon.” And with that, he was gone.
Chapter Four
Ashlyn didn’t know what to do as Brandon quickly scooped up his sandals and made his way toward the boardwalk. He didn’t even given Ashlyn a chance to say that she hadn’t minded. He hadn’t pushed himself on her at all. She felt warm all over, and her lips were still humming from the intensity of the electricity between them.
Ashlyn considered calling after Brandon, but neither did she want someone in the house to see their interaction and think her desperate. She didn’t want to be the center of the house’s gossip, even though she knew that the crew probably already talked about her.
Ashlyn watched Brandon’s form until he had mounted the steps and disappeared over the bridge into the parking lot beyond. Ashlyn closed her eyes and listened to the crash of the waves on the shore. The waves receded then crashed once more. Ashlyn wondered if it was safe to sleep out on the beach. She knew that the sound of the waves would lull her to sleep in a minute. Ashlyn sighed.
She needed to go inside and get ready for bed. The day was over, and that was that. Worrying over Brandon or trying to understand his hurried goodbye would not change anything. But even Ashlyn’s excellent advice did not help her. She knew that she would still lie in bed that night thinking over every moment of that kiss and its aftermath. When she saw Brandon again, she would kiss him hard and let him know that she enjoyed his kiss.
***
Ashlyn woke up the next morning ready to see Brandon. She wasn’t sure what the filming schedule was for the extras, but she knew that it would take a minimum of three days. There were a lot of scenes with extras on the beach. Ashlyn determined that she would get a moment alone with Brandon to say something.
Sure enough, he was at the set the next day, and Ashlyn hurried over to him. Her camera was all set up, and they still had ten minutes until it was time to film. That was plenty of time to talk.
“Good morning, Brandon,” Ashlyn said.
Brandon nodded at her and sipped his coffee. “Good morning, Sunshine.” Ashlyn wondered at the weird nickname and looked for signs of trouble. Brandon didn’t seem bothered by anything. Should she even mention their kiss?
“How was the dog last night?” Ashlyn said to fill up the conversation as she tried to figure out what to do.
“She was just fine,” Brandon replied. “She’s a very calm pup. I might bring her to the beach sometime so you can meet her.”
He was planning on seeing her in the future. That was clear from what he had just said. Ashlyn decided not to mention anything. There didn’t seem to be any problem, at least from Brandon’s point of view.
“I better get to my camera, but I hope to see you at lunchtime.”
Ashlyn hurried over to her camera stand with a smile on her face. All was well. She watched as Brandon, so personable, struck up conversation with Gary. Gary was normally quite agitated on mornings like this, but he seemed fine talking to Brandon for about five minutes before he was needed to solve a problem. Ashlyn was amazed at how good Brandon was with people. She thought of a saying she had once heard that really applied to Brandon. He could sell ice to Eskimos. Brandon was excellent at making himself likeable and easy to be around. Even if someone didn’t want to like him, they probably would.
Ashlyn certainly liked being around him.
When it was lunchtime, Ashlyn immediately headed over to Brandon, but Mark interceded her. “Have you had a good morning filming?” Mark asked.
Ashlyn nodded cautiously. She always felt self-conscious when she was around Mark. She could never be sure if he was really just trying to patch things up or if he only saw her someone he had slept with. She certainly couldn’t place as much trust in Mark as she could in say, Pamela. Pamela would never do something purposely to hurt Ashlyn.
“I saw you talking to that extra,” Mark said, nodding in the general direction of Brandon. Ashlyn instantly crossed her arms and readied herself for confrontation. “Hey, Ashlyn, I’m just trying to take care of you.”
Ashlyn raised her eyebrows. “Obviously, that’s what you want to do. Maybe I wasn’t great at judging your character, but I’m normally quite good. Brandon is a gentleman.”
“I agree,” Mark replied. That surprised Ashlyn. She thought this was some case of ex-boyfriend’s revenge, but Mark seemed to be telling the truth. “I just want to tell you something as a friend, because I still care about you even though I know you don’t think anything of me now. How did Brandon become an extra? You told him about the spot, didn’t you?”
Ashlyn wondered how Mark knew so much. Had he been a spy before he worked on filming? “And once he knew about the spot, he got the idea of moving up the world. Most people don’t know the acting world well. They think it’s easy. They think that once you’re in, you earn big bucks. Brandon is using you to get a higher place. He’s using you just like the lowest rung on a ladder. He doesn’t mind walking all over you if it means getting higher up.”
Ashlyn opened her mouth to protest. She was not going to let Brandon walk all over her like she was some piece of trash. “I know what I am doing thank you very much. You’ve already taught me one lesson, and that’s all I need from you. I won’t get drunk, and I’ll keep making intelligent decisions. You don’t know the conversation that has passed between Brandon and I before he even knew where I worked. You don’t know anything about him. So just move on and ruin someone else’s day.”
Ashlyn turned away from Mark, but she already didn’t have an appetite. She saw Brandon jovially talking with a few crew members. Ashlyn just wanted a few moments by herself to think. Mark wasn’t right. He couldn’t possibly be right. He was just jealous, but Ashlyn couldn’t keep the doubt from creeping into her mind.
Chapter Five
