Surrendering To Her Sergeant (26 page)

“
Because of this, the story
will be bigger, the action more intense. We’ll be double-checking
every detail of the plot, with the help of some real-world
consultants generously on loan to us from the Army. I’m happy to
introduce Sergeants Archer, Lange, and Stafford, whom many of you
met during their set visit yesterday. I’d like to thank you all for
continuing our
Dress Blues
hospitality during their time with us.”

Cameron basked in the excited applause
that filled the building. Thirty seconds later, the production crew
swarmed him in full interrogation mode about how the live broadcast
was going to work. Everyone else turned to each other, chattering
about the challenge ahead. It wasn’t rare for reality shows to
broadcast live but in scripted television, the decision was a move
that could either fly high or fall hard. At the moment, everyone
concentrated on the more pleasant of those two options.

It was all background buzz to
Ava.

Cameron’s news had filled in the
blanks about why Ethan was still here. She’d been so riveted on
him, she hadn’t noticed Rhett and Rebel were here, too. Of course,
neither of them had Bella practically sitting in their lap with the
flirtation jets on full, leaving them free to toss Ava a pair of
good-natured waves. She slapped on a brave smile in return but
quickly made her way outside, deciding she needed several minutes
of air and solitude.

There was a corner outside that she’d
secretly claimed as hers. It was located steps from the Wardrobe
Department, a benefit since Bella enjoyed making sure the team
there earned their paychecks with her last-minute changes. Ava
could always scoot there fast if need be. But the location was also
dark and private, thanks to the hydraulic lift that seemed
permanently parked there.

Today, she decided to take advantage
of the equipment. After scooting up onto the platform of the lift,
she rested her arms and chin on the lower railing and stared at the
soundstage wall in contemplative silence.

Ten
days
. Ethan’s stay had just been given a
huge extension because of this gig as one of the show’s advisors.
The decision about the script direction must have happened late
last night, and explained why he’d gotten the drop-everything text
from Franzen.

It was a gift. Wasn’t it?

If asked back at midnight, she would
have danced naked on the beach in thanks to the Hollywood marketing
gods for it. A big part of her was still crazy proud of him, and
girlishly excited for herself. Just knowing he was in the same
geographic vicinity, instead of two states and thousands of miles
away, made the air itself feel a little more special.

But she couldn’t deny what she’d just
seen. The giddy smile on Bella’s face. The cavalier grin on
Ethan’s. And damn it, if Noah were loading up his ark today, they’d
be the pair picked as the most beautiful creatures on earth. Bella
looked like she belonged on his arm—and was fully acting the part
too.

Which means
what
?

The question—to be accurate, her utter
lack of an answer to it—had rolled her gut into the aching ball at
which she winced at now. The spur to her heels, getting her out of
there as fast as she could.

She instantly squirmed in
retaliation. “You don’t cower, Chestain.” She ordered it from
grinding teeth. “Cowering is in your past, damn it.” Her shoulders
straightened on a surge of determination. “You can handle this,
whatever it is. He was in
your
bed last night, not hers. He kissed
you
good-bye until
he
broke
away.”

He was also the person she’d dragged
out Colin and Flynn for. To whom she’d opened herself in ways she
swore would never happen again.

“You told him their names. It wasn’t
not a crime.”

Just like it wasn’t a crime for him to
be holding Bella’s hand and trading some jokes with the woman this
morning.

She had to stop being a
coward. To at least give him the chance to explain.
This time without Bella making like human plastic
wrap on him.

With head high and a confident stride,
she made her way back to work. But once she was back on set,
perplexity hit fast. Bella wasn’t there anymore. That usually meant
the star was in her trailer, which normally generated at least one
frantic text with a demand of Ava’s whereabouts, but the phone had
been silent.

Charlie strolled in. “Hey, sweet
truffle!” he greeted. “There you are. I looked for you during Cam’s
big pep rally. You didn’t miss it, did you?”

She returned his hug. “I was in the
back of the mob.”

“Mmmm.” Though his tone was
encouraging, his gaze darted away. “Probably for the
best.”

Her throat turned into a solid lead
pipe. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Charlie rolled his blue-greens at the
catwalks overhead. “Dear Lawd in Heaven, I told her to jump fast
onto the good bounty that is Ethan Archer, did I not? You heard me,
heavenly fathah, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” she retorted. “And so did I.”
Her face warmed. “And so I…did.”

He plunged his gaze back down, eyes
now wide. “Pardon the hell out of me, crème brûlée?”

“Have you and Matt been on another
dessert obsession?”

“Don’t you dare change the subject.”
He grinned as he grabbed her by the elbows. “You and Mr. Hunk of
Decadent Goodness?”

Ava’s whole face began to warm.
“Yeah,” she muttered. “Yesterday.”

“Yesterday?”

“At Bella’s place.”

“At
Bella’s
place?”

“In the wine room.”

“Holy shit.” He hauled her closer.
“Does Bella know?”

“No!” She grabbed the front
of his black D&G shirt. “And
you
are sworn to secrecy,
Jenkow.”

“Duh,” he countered. But confusion
crunched his features. “I only asked because…”

“Because what?” She dreaded giving the
prompt. And if Charlie gave the answer she expected, the feeling
was doomed to get doubled.

“If Bella caught a whiff of
the tour you
gave him of the villa, that
would explain a few things.”

“What things?” She verbally stomped on
the second word enough to make her friend hunch his brows at her.
But before she could get any more information from Charlie, her
cell buzzed. Bella’s name appeared in the window, along with the
string of exclamation points that formed the woman’s version of a
drop-everything summons. “Guess you lucked out,
sweetie.”

Charlie’s tugged her into a hug, his
face still conveying that strange pensiveness. “And I hope you do
too, creamsicle. God knows, nobody deserves it more.”

She snorted. “You’re just saying that
because you still want that Prada tux.”

Her joke worked. He grinned and
drawled, “I’m just saying that because I love you.” With his old
snark intact again, he pulled back. I also happen to be the new
president of your fan club.”

“Huh?”

“Fornication in Bella Lanza’s wine
room.” He said it like the explanation was obvious. “There’s no
mountain you can’t climb now. Go get him, tiger butter.”

* * * * *

The trip back to Bella’s trailer took
her past the show’s on-site production offices. Ava watched Cameron
walking toward them, head down in what looked like an intense
conversation with Rebel Stafford. Rhett waved at the pair from the
window, sitting at a conference table that looked like a war room
already, giving her the impression Ethan was likely nearby, as
well.

The observation, along with the boost
of knowing she had a fan club with a president and everything, made
her laugh as she walked the last thirty yards to the trailer. She
berated herself for the conclusions to which she’d jumped when
scrutinizing Ethan and Bella earlier. Bella herself would likely
provide the logical explanation for their overtures, citing how
they were remembering old times and couldn’t keep their hands off
each other for a few minutes. She’d respond by listening patiently,
knowing Ethan would call soon…confident they’d find a way to see
each other again during his stay.

Her heartbeat sped. Maybe they could
even revisit the prop room. Just flashing on a memory of their kiss
from yesterday, with the wall at her back and Ethan’s body fitted
to hers in all the right places in front, provided deeper assurance
that whatever happened between him and Bella on main
set—

Was now the main attraction they’d
taken to the dressing trailer.

“Dios
.”

The adrenaline she’d been enjoying two
seconds ago turned into a congealed mess at the base of her throat,
preventing nothing more from coming out. Not a sound. Not a choke.
Certainly not a breath. But her eyes worked just fine, damn them,
and were now seared with the image of Ethan, sans his uniform
jacket, leaned back in Bella’s styling chair, chuckling while the
woman straddled him, playfully brandishing a tube of hair cream.
Like she needed help from the product. Her red fingernails were
missiles of seduction in his thick hair. As she deepened the
invasion, Ethan’s hands tightened against her bare thighs. Such a
thing was possible when all somebody wore was a mini satin dressing
robe, a red demi cup, and matching thong panties.

“Ava!” Bella’s greeting was
half buried in giggles. “Finally.
Per amor
di Dio
, where have you been?”

“I—uhhh—had to—Wardrobe had something
for me to—”

“Did you make it for Cameron’s
meeting?” As the woman scooted off Ethan’s lap, her tone clicked
into a business mien, though that didn’t stop her from sliding a
hand down his chest as she went. Ethan’s tight but discernible
grunt, definitely a sound of pleasure on top of pain, assured that
the knot in Ava’s throat wasn’t going anywhere.

“I—” she stammered. “Yeah. I was
there.” She couldn’t bring herself to move. Or to stop staring into
the mirror, where it seemed easier to look at Ethan now. If she
confined him to the reflection then it wasn’t really him sitting
here. It wasn’t really his wrinkled clothes, with his dark blue
pants stretched into that hard mound where it most mattered. And it
sure as hell wasn’t his stare that stabbed through the dark discord
of his hair, right at her, without a moment of softness or
acknowledgement about what they’d shared yesterday. It wasn’t him
staring as if she might as well be just another pretty face in a
land that ate pretty for breakfast.

“Good, good.” Bella
strolled to the refrigerator and pulled out a vitamin water.
“
Porca vacca
, with
all this excitement, I’m simply parched. Ethan darling, do you want
one, too?”

“Negative.” He let that stretch into
the most uncomfortable three seconds of Ava’s life. “But Ava looks
like she might.”

“I’m fine.”

She spewed the words more than said
them. She could barely stand here breathing the same air as him
right now, let alone be bothered with the sham of civility. Ethan
seemed to understand at least that much but Bella didn’t. Her boss
whipped over a look of such stunned fury, Ava was forced to drop
her head. Humiliation joined her rage, pouring its scalding pain
through the giant crack in her heart and into the center of her
soul.

“Of course she is. Ava’s always good
to go. Aren’t you, sweetie?”

“Oh, yeah.” She threw a smirk full of
Cinderella sweetness at Bella. “That’s me. Ready for…anything.”
With the smile still in place, she let her eyes throw Evil Queen
daggers at Ethan. “But you know, I did leave some, umm, supplies
back at main set. Be back in a jiff.”

As she turned and stumbled to the
door, she was all too aware of Ethan rising behind her. There was
no way she couldn’t be. Even now, with every cell in her body
yearning to get away from him, the awareness of his size, his heat,
his potent presence was like a drug on her helpless libido, pulling
ruthlessly at her for another hit.

When would she learn?

When the
hell
would she realize
that guys like him had special radars for women like her: the ones
who got one look at their dog tags and one earful of their boot
stomps, and opened their legs while closing down their common
sense…until it was too damn late. Like now.

“I need to get going too, missy,” she
heard him say to Bella.

“Awww.” Her trademark pout permeated
every note. “For real, arrow bear?”

Arrow
bear
?

She was strongly tempted to use that
as an excuse to hurl when she got outside the trailer door. But
getting away from Ethan Archer, as fast as she possibly could,
ranked much higher on this mission objective.