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She walked over to the desk, hoped she appeared casual, and picked up a photo of Jessie. Jessie’s beauty never failed to move Jill. She’d never seen this one before, but then she hadn’t had a lot to do with Jessie’s pursuit of acting.
For once her sister had attempted something on her own, and Jill had been relieved. She should have known better. Just look at where leaving things to Jessie had landed Jill. In Europe in a sexy man’s suite in the wee hours of the morning. Hmm. Maybe she needed to rethink this and send Jessie a thank you note. If only Rob wasn’t forbidden territory. As things were, she couldn’t risk him finding out he had the wrong woman. Just how far could she push things before he’d realize the truth?
“Personally, I like this one.” She stared into Jessie’s almost identical eyes. How could two sisters be so different, yet so similar? “Of course, my hair was lighter then.”
“I like your hair darker. It suits you.”
Startled, she turned to face him.
“Thank you.” She touched her hair. “Gregory lightened it quite a bit when he highlighted it. Do you think it’s too much?”
“No. It’s just right.” He shook his head, eyeing her from head-to-toe. “I’ve also decided I like how the extra few pounds fill out your face. You looked a bit gaunt in a few of those pictures. You were too thin.”
What was with the compliments? Didn’t he realize she already liked him too much? Add a great personality, intelligence and compliments to his hot bod, and she was in for some major problems.
“You know, I find it odd. Thanks to airbrush technology, people rarely look better than the photos they submit, but none of your pictures even come close to portraying your beauty. Casting couldn’t have chosen a more suitable woman. You’re sexy as hell, intelligent, and have a genuineness about you that can’t be faked.”
Right then and there she fell just a little bit in love with Rob Lancaster. Sexy as hell. Had a better compliment ever been paid?
Her gaze met his, and she shivered. How could she shiver when her insides were in total meltdown? This man made her hot.
“I plan to supervise your publicity shots. I want to make sure our photographers capture the real you, unlike whoever did your portfolio,” he continued.
His words were a sharp reminder that Rob wasn’t a man vying for her affections. He was her producer. She’d do well to remember that rather than fantasizing about what could never be.
Disoriented by the confusing emotions running through her, she dropped the photo back onto the desk. It landed on a stack of books. There it was. The transcript. Boldly labeled as such on its blue cover. She ran her finger over the smooth cover and wished she could magically absorb the contents, could magically be the woman Rob Lancaster thought she was.
“Looking for some late night reading material?” He stepped up behind her. She could smell his wonderfully male scent. Was that spicy mixture a cologne or pure Rob? And could she possibly purchase a few gallons of the stuff to pour on her pillow so she could breath in his intoxicating aroma all night?
“I’m not real sleepy. Would you mind? The thought of reading my interview converted into a transcript fascinates me.” Not realizing how close he stood, she swiveled. Less than a foot separated her from his magnificent bare chest. Why had she been wasting her time running her fingertip over paper when something much better stood before her? And why buy bottles of a fragrance when the real thing was within sniffing range?
Acting on instinct alone, she reached up to touch his tempting pecs. She yearned to smooth her palms over his wide chest, his sinewy arms, but he captured her fingers before she made contact. His larger hand clasped hers longer than necessary before he gave a gentle squeeze. Electric zings zapped their way to her brain, singeing her nervous system in the process. Holy smoke. How had he done that?
“Take the transcript if you want to read it. I’ll see you at breakfast.” He released her hand and stepped away.
“But I--” Had she been going to beg for more zings? She wasn’t sure what she’d intended to say.
Rob shook his head and opened the door to his suite. “Goodnight, Jane.”
# # #
Two days later, Jill could feel Rob watching her. All morning he’d been in and out of the studio where she worked with Gregory on everything from memorizing her royal heritage to proper princess etiquette. Who would have thought there was so much to learn to star in a reality show?
Jessie couldn’t have realized how much effort this would be. Her sister was highly allergic to anything that remotely resembled work. Jessie. Jill inhaled deeply. After reading the entire transcript two nights ago, she’d concluded her sister had stolen her life. Jessie had listed Jill’s accomplishments—both during her competitive sports days and while on the police force. She’d listed her job on the San Padres Police department, her hobbies, her likes, her dislikes. Everything. Her sister had pretended to be her in all but name--and she’d even gone so far as to state that her friends called her Jill to explain all the references to ‘Jill Davidson’.
The question was why? Why would her fun-loving, sexy sister want to use dull Jill’s background when interviewing for an actress job? Jill couldn’t fathom her sister’s train of thought--but she would ask the moment she returned to California.
Refocusing her attention on the scheduled meeting, Jill glanced around the studio. Currently, she sat at a long heavy wooden table with yellow legal pads all around. JP, Rob, the director of photography, a couple of assistants and several others she couldn’t remember occupied the table, too. She was the only woman present. Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen another female since arriving earlier this week. She leaned back in the gray, hard metal, fold-up chair.
“Why aren’t any women working on this crew?”
A
ll eyes turned to her.
“We decided it would create a higher level of sexual tension if you were the only woman at the castle. We didn’t want to take any chances on one of the bachelors being distracted by one of the crew members or castle staff,” JP answered. Jill liked the older man. He had a fatherly air about him, although she’d heard rumors that he’d been a babe magnet in his day--still was, according to some sources.
“You eliminated the possibility of me having competition. Nice thinking.” Lucky her, she’d truly be the center of the bachelors’ attention. Why wasn’t she more pleased at the prospect? Her gaze shifted to Rob sitting at the head of the long, crowded table.
