Falling Stars (Starstruck Series Book 2) (19 page)

Evan held her that night, nothing more.  He wasn’t going to let her fall into that rabbit hole, as tough as it was to hold back his own need for her.  Even though her body pleaded for it, and fantasies had swirled in her head at least a hundred times, she knew it couldn’t happen.  Not now, not like this.  Alisa was grateful to have someone like Evan in her life. She didn’t want to make things any more tangled than they’d already become.

***

The next morning, Alisa rolled over to an empty bed. There was a note sitting underneath a flower that she was sure she’d spotted in Alex’s arrangement in the dining room.

I hope you had a good night’s rest, sleeping beauty.  Sorry I couldn’t stay longer.  I saw myself out. See you soon – E.

Her heart fluttered.  She wasn’t sure if she should be disappointed or if she should be relieved.  Being fully clothed meant nothing happened, which made her lean more towards relief.   She cursed herself quietly for wanting to still be in Evan’s arms. Then the guilt took over. For a few minutes she just stared at the ceiling and thought of the different ways the night could have ended.  Finishing her daydream she’d had in New York was one of them, but that only made her feel even guiltier.

Once she had the energy to get up, she arrived at the dining table to find Alex and John already waiting.  John had the morning paper open while he ate his breakfast, and Alex was finishing his morning workout with some stretches.  The two of them looked at each other before giving her an inquisitive stare.  No words, just staring.

“What?” She grabbed a piece of toast and sat down, pouring a glass of orange juice from the carafe in the middle of the table.

They looked at each other again.

“Two empty wine bottles, Evan leaving at 5 a.m., and you’re asking
us
what’s up?”  John was the first to break, surprisingly.  Alisa half-expected Alex to be the one to freak out about the entire ordeal.

She tucked her legs in at the table as she sat down and chomped on her toast. “What? Will you both stop looking at me like that?”

In a blink, both of them were in the dining room, sitting across from her, staring. “Nothing happened.  I mean, yeah, we had wine, we talked, hung around out back until it started raining, and …”

“
And
…”

“And, nothing happened. We talked and fell asleep.”

They exchanged another glance.

“Oh, come on, you guys.”

They laughed.  

“Hey, if you’re gonna be bringing Evan around, we’re going to have to lay down ground rules. Like curfew, he’s going to have to call for our blessing--”

“Nothing happened, Alex.  I’m still married, you know.”

“I know,” John nodded at her and turned towards his beau, “But, sweetheart, you gotta turn the ‘Team Evan’ stuff down a notch, okay?”

“Oh, please. You’re only Team Logan because he reserved that suite at the Royale for your party this weekend.”  Alex rolled his eyes.

“Mine’s cuter.”

“No way! Mine’s way hotter.”

“Guys!”

The two of them ceased arguing and looked up to see Alisa standing at the head of the table.

“There’s no teams on this. Got it? No teams.”

“Evan.”                                                             “Logan.”

“You! What happened to rationalizing? You know? Being my word of reason, oh wise one?”  Alisa pointed at John.

He smiled, shrugging innocently.

“Great.” She sighed, “Well, I’m going for a run.”

“Evan.”                                                             “Logan.”

The two looked at each other and pointed as they said the names in sync once again.

“Oh, my God!” Alisa threw her hands in the air and left the room.

“Love you!” They both chuckled.

Chapter Twelve

Today was the big day.  Alisa had been psyching herself up for this episode. To help ease the tension with Evan, she scheduled a set of interviews and a spa date with the girls.  When she wasn’t reading through her lines to ensure she wouldn’t screw anything up, she worked on her next book.  She stared at the script, which sat on the table in her trailer, as she was getting prepped in hair and makeup. Logan had called her a handful of times and text her repeatedly to get her to talk, but she ignored most of them, only giving him short answers here and there in response to those she figured were pertinent to work, and therefore important.  It was a safe assumption that he was only messaging her because he knew what episode they were about to film.

“Knock, knock.”  It was Ray.

“Hey, killer, are you ready for your big scene?”

The makeup artist, Winnie, chuckled, “Of course she is.”

“Thanks, girl,” Alisa smiled as she heard Ray enter. He took a seat beside her.

“What’s up, Ray?”

He took a breath, adjusting one of the curls to fall over her left shoulder as Winnie worked on her eyes.

“Don’t you be distracting her! If I have to start over, Mr. Rider is going to come after me, and then I’m going to come find you.”  She pointed at Ray with the end of her teasing comb.

“Winnie is deadly with a comb and has an arsenal of scissors.” Alisa added.

He raised his hand and gestured towards his face. “Okay, okay! David will come asking questions if you hurt this.”

The girls laughed.

“Are you ready?”  He arched his eyebrow then waggled them both.

Alisa breathed in and out slowly.  It was making her nervous just thinking about it. She had to keep her anxiety at bay, or Winnie would have to reapply her makeup.  “Trying to be.  It’s not that big of a deal, right?”

Ray shrugged, “Depends on how you look at it.  Joann’s been telling me to send pics--”

Alisa placed her hand on Ray’s, “Please don’t.  They’ll go viral before you even finish typing in her number.”

“Aw, it’s your big moment! Everyone’s been enjoying the show so far, and the chemistry’s there. You’re going to be fine, sweetie. I promise.  David and Evie are pretty stoked to see the episode.”

“Creeps.”

“Because it’s a huge step.”

“I’m not stepping anywhere.  It’s in the script, Ray.”

“I know.”

“He’s been fine with it. I’m fine with it.  Logan knew this was going to happen, and he is just going to have to deal. We can’t edit the script now.”  It would be a minor change this episode but vital to the story of Aaron and Theresa later, so Alisa put up little fight with the writers to make any changes.  

Today was the day they were filming Aaron and Theresa’s big scene: their kiss. It had been the talk on the set for weeks.  It had been mentioned during the audition process, and Alisa had been dreading it from the get-go.  Evan was not only her friend but a man she had become physically attracted to. And she would be performing with him, kissing him, while her husband was behind the camera.

“I’m surprised anyone is able to focus on the show with John’s party tonight.”

A smile spread over Ray’s face, “Me too. But it’s going to be fun!”

“Who’s all going tonight, anyway?”

“David, John of course, a couple of guys from John’s new film, John’s brother, Evan, and I think Logan was invited, but I’m not sure if he’s going--”

“Isn’t Logan the best man?”

Ray nodded, “If that’s what you wanna call it.”

Winnie laughed, but Alisa just shook her head.

“Anyway, David said it wouldn’t be fair if I got to go to both, but I may try to convince John to let me tag along.”

“Cheat.”

Ray stuck his tongue out at her playfully.

“Please take care of them tonight.”

He nodded.  She didn’t have to elaborate that she meant Logan and Evan; he just knew. Ray would have to do damage control if things got heated.

“We’re ready for you, Mrs. Rider.” A crew member, Jocelyn, held a clipboard in her hand and offered an audible cue, a knock on the door, before disappearing off towards the set.

She was sure she heard Ray squeal in delight.

“Thank you, Joss.”  Alisa called out and smiled at Winnie in thanks as she excused herself.

Ray fixed her hair and made sure her clothing was lint free and pressed perfectly. “You look fantastic.”

“Thank you.”  Winnie said with a chuckle.

With her friend escorting her, Alisa made it out of her trailer and to the stage.  The adrenaline started to pump, and in seconds her palms started to sweat.  Opening and closing them repeatedly, she tried to shake the feeling off.  It was just a kiss, a scene shared between two fictional characters who just so happened to be her and her handsome and hypnotizing friend. Alisa took a quick breath to calm herself.  Ray said a couple of things to her to try and prepare her, but she had tuned him out.

“Knock ‘em dead.” Ray winked, squeezing her arm before breaking off to take a seat behind the camera. He was beaming, flashing her a thumbs up when she turned to look at him.

“Okay, folks, listen up! We’re going to go from page …” Logan started to announce his agenda.

Alisa tuned out Logan as well as she started pacing over the scene markers, shaking out her hands and breathing through her mouth to be rid of the nerves riddling her insides.  After a couple of deep breaths and her third turnabout, she ran into Evan, who was already waiting on his scene marker, holding a cup of tea from the coffee shop down the street.

“You look like hell.”   

“You know, flattery is not your strongest suit right now.”  She snapped back, closing her eyes as she sat down in the chair.     

It was a living room scene, set in Theresa’s apartment.  She was going over casework for Logan and Dawn’s in-character family, and it was late.  Aaron was stopping by with some documents he had acquired for her, and this was the moment he was going to make his move on Theresa.  Once the lights were on and the cameras were rolling, they heard the clacker fall.  It was go time.

“Aaron, what are you doing here?”  She set the book she’d been reading on the end table near the door and gestured for him to come in.

The scene flew by, and before she knew it, the big moment was upon them.

“The police conduct investigations, not us.” Alisa looked at him, holding the file in her hands.

“The police wouldn’t get near it, so I had to do all of this on my own.  It wasn’t easy, but I’m pretty sure I got everything we need. Theresa, you need me.  I need you.” “Aaron
  
”    

Taking a bold stride forward, he raised a hand to her cheek and held it there as he kissed her, gently brushing his lips over hers.  It was more than he’d offered before and was simply electrifying.  Alisa leaned in closer and returned his kiss as only her character would, trying not to break the authenticity of the scene.  She focused on Evan and Evan only, thinking about how tender his kiss was and how much she was enjoying this moment.

“Cut!”

Despite the director’s evident irritation with the scene, they had to run the scene again and again to get the right feel and the right angles for one of the biggest moments these new cast members would share.  Finally, after the fifth take of the kiss, they managed to get a good shot.  Logan had handled it better than she thought he would, but it was still uncomfortable.

“I dunno. Was that one good?  Maybe we should do it again.”  Evan winked at her but when they both looked at Logan, all laughter and jokes stopped.

“That’s it for now.  Let’s move on to 55.”  Logan didn’t even look at her.  “Dawn and Jen to the set, please.”

 She watched them all disappear from the set as they headed to the other stage then sat back on the couch.

What does he expect? Casting her as Theresa was the sadistic brainchild of his, along with Ray and Kassidy, and he wants to give attitude like that?

“You okay?” Evan plopped down next to her on Theresa’s couch.  

She shrugged.  “As okay as I can be, I guess.”

He nudged her.  “Wait a minute … was that your first ever on-screen kiss?”

Alisa thought back to her first screen moment with Logan in Christian’s movie.  It was the party scene where she had to get shirtless.  If memory served, she did do a kissing scene with her husband there, but she didn’t count that, since it wasn’t really the focal point of the scene. “Yeah.”

Evan nudged her again, this time playfully.  “Well, congratulations! You survived.”

“What about you?”

“I was a guest star on
her
show a while back.  I got to kiss Erica Levine, who is a veteran when it comes to these scenes. That made it intimidating as all hell, but as you can see, I survived.”

Then, as random as it may have been, her curiosity and frustration erupted.  “Evan, how can you be so cool about everything?”

Evan raised his eyebrows as he turned to her. “Huh?”

“Everything going on, saving me from my ex, dealing with your ex, working on a show and a movie and dealing with all of the chaos … How are you holding it together?  If anything, I’d say you need to stay away from me, since I’m causing all of your stress.”

“Stop.”

“I’m serious!” She declared, “It’s like I have some plague or something.  Watch out, I’ll curse your life with bad luck and drama.”

With that knee-weakening gaze, he looked at her in all seriousness.  “You’re not a plague.  Believe me.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”  Alisa rose from her seat.

He shrugged. “One of us has to be.”

“Just stop, okay?”

“Stop what?”

“Just go ahead and drop the act.  You don’t have to be this way just to stay on my good side, or charm me or whatever, because you already have my attention, Evan.”  Alisa didn’t know what words were coming out until they were said.  Something inside her gave way. Evan was just too good to her sometimes, and she couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’m sorry …
what
?”

“You’ve done this to me so often since we’ve met.  You know, Kurt was right.  I’m really nothing special, Evan.  I’m not this princess you keep claiming me to be, I’m just a writer.  Why do you keep putting me up on a pedestal when I don’t deserve to be?  I’m drowning in work and stress and … just the way you’ve been--”

“How I’ve been?”

“I dunno.  You’re just too good to be true.”

He laughed.

“What’s funny?”  She felt offended.  Here she was pouring out all of her thoughts jumbled in her head, and he was laughing?

“I’ve seen this before.  In the movies I direct or watch, in books.  I just don’t understand
 
 
why can’t you let yourself be happy?  You’re entitled to that, Alisa.  You deserve that much.”

“Evan, I can’t--”

“Can’t? Or won’t?”

“I ...”

His lips found hers again, this time, it was unscripted.  The cameras weren’t rolling, and the crew wasn’t standing by to shift the lighting or assess if it was good enough to put into the episode.  This time, it wasn’t Aaron and Theresa, it was Evan and Alisa, completely uninhibited and uncensored.  Evan wrapped his arms around her, and her legs nearly gave way.  Alisa put her hands on his shoulders and kissed him back, but then she reluctantly broke the moment.

“Lis ...” He pressed his forehead to hers before pulling away. Evan took a deep breath and started to back away.

“Evan, I …”

Turning heel, he started to walk away. “Now
that
would have been a good take.”

It was almost 11:50 p.m., and she was putting one of the last chapters of her book together.  The deadline was closing in.

All she could think about was Evan.  Perhaps it was because she’d been burned by her husband or was simply emotionally vulnerable, but Alisa couldn’t stop thinking about him. Part of her wondered what he looked like naked, while the other just wanted to get to know him better—like what his sisters were like, or his parents, if they were even around.  Then she thought about his lips and how soft they were, and how much she enjoyed snuggling with him that night;  talking, nothing more.  His eyes … he had such beautiful eyes.

“What the hell, Alisa?”  She asked herself, rubbing her eyes and grabbing her cup of coffee. She shook the light cardboard container and realized that it was completely empty.  

Alisa let out a sigh and remembered she had offered to be the designated driver for John’s bachelor party.  It was a wonder they all got through the latest episode filming with the party on their minds, but they managed.  John’s party had an early start and was supposed to end up at the Royale hotel in a suite Logan reserved, and it was a good 20 minutes downtown.  Accounting for traffic, she knew she’d have to make a coffee run before heading that way, so after throwing on a hoodie and a scarf, she left her quiet room at Alex and John’s to retrieve the drunken men.