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“I can’t stop thinking about you.”
There it was—another jolt to my gut. It was enough to push me over the edge. I sucked in a breath, ready to throw caution to the wind. “I can’t stop thinking about you either.”
We fell into a long moment of silence. It was heavy and full of unexpressed feelings. I opened my mouth, wondering what I should say. We’d gone way past coworkers. Way past friends. This was a dangerous zone, but the fluttering and hopeful feelings bouncing around my stomach didn’t seem to care.
“Who are you talking to at this hour?”
The harsh sound of a deep male voice cut through the background noise. It was nothing like Zane’s, but I definitely recognized it. His dad. The guy who’d created all this trouble in the first place.
“It’s just Freddy.” Zane’s voice was muffled and I imagined him holding a hand over the screen. “I’m getting off now.”
“Good, because you’ve got an early morning shot. Get to bed, Son.”
“Yes, sir.” There was a scuffling noise, then Zane’s voice came through the speakers clearly again. “Sorry, I have to go. Goodnight, Lexi.”
I opened my mouth to tell him sweet dreams, but the line went dead before the words could materialize. Sour bile filled my mouth. I looked down at the phone as it flashed the end of the call. So much for that.
Reality set back in quickly. I’d been dangerously close to throwing all caution to the wind and going after Zane like I would with any other guy. We weren’t allowed to have a relationship and that was it. He was off limits. Dreaming about it on the phone was asking for trouble. No, we were better off staying as far apart as his hotel room and my bedroom.
All of a sudden, the blankets where I’d sought comfort from only a few minutes ago felt suffocating. I kicked them off my bed, lying on the sheets with my bare legs sprawled. Frustration rolled over my skin until I reached for my phone again and opened up the text messaging.
Me: Remind me again why I shouldn’t fall for Zane Rees?
It only took a few seconds for the replies to pop up.
Charlotte: Because he’s leaving in a couple weeks.
And you want this job.
Beth: And I’ll kick your butt if you do.
There. That was it. Another reminder of why this was hopeless.
I shut off my lamp and turned over in bed, staring once again at the yellow streetlights outside my window. Okay, so maybe I wasn’t ready to be a quitter and give up on my dreams. But that meant I had a whole host of problems coming my way. First was dealing with Alanis. The other was keeping my eyes and heart away from Zane.
Tomorrow, I was going to be strong. No more flirtatious Lexi. No more clumsy Lexi. All professional, all the time.
And Alanis was going to love me—whether she wanted to or not.
Chapter Ten
The love had really been missing on set today. Alanis’ scowl could’ve peeled paint from my dad’s rusted old Corvette he kept covered in the garage. She was a walking flashing neon sign telling everyone around her to back the heck up. But I’d survived. Three hours into my shift and I hadn’t done a single thing to make her yell at me.
Yet.
I called that winning.
Okay, so maybe she didn’t love me yet, but at the very least she’d entrusted me with the glistening spray again. The director had called, needing to reshoot a scene from yesterday on the soccer field. I’d hustled out the trailer door, leaving Alanis with one of the poor little extras who had practically begged me with his eyes not to leave him alone. He would survive. If I messed this up again, I wouldn’t be so lucky.
“Set up the lights here,” someone shouted as I approached the field. “We’re almost ready.”
I looked around, ready to get to work. No sign of Freddy or the other guys. They must’ve been fooling around somewhere off set. They seemed to make a habit of it. I’d heard Alanis complain about it and how they constantly messed up her work.
“Never work with children or animals,” she’d growled at me, as if I would have a choice in the future. Still, the fact that Alanis was passing me advice made me seriously elated. Maybe I really did have a shot at impressing her.
But as I looked around the set for the missing cast, my gaze landed solidly on Zane. He stood near the craft table with a bottle of Aquafina halfway to his sculpted lips. Once again, he was shirtless, with all of the sun-kissed muscular goods on display. His athletic shorts hung just low enough on his hips to reveal the V cut of his lower abs that flexed as he tilted his head back to gulp the water.
Someone help me.
