Page 54 of #Moonstruck

He didn’t help things when he reached up to pull my hair back from my face. It had hung around him like a curtain, but now he wrapped the length of it around his hand. “Vince really loves animals. He swerves for turtles and possums.”

Ryan’s strong, steady heartbeat pulsed beneath mine, and my entire body lifted and fell as he breathed. “I should get up.” My voice was little more than a whisper.

“I don’t mind.”

Truth be told, neither did I. I liked the way he felt pressed against me, all strength and firm tightness. Muscle and sinew against my curves and softness.

His free hand went to the small of my back, and my shirt must have ridden up a little because I felt his fingertips on my bare, blazing skin.

Too much. Stimulus overload.

I tried to stand up, ignoring the fact that every movement had me sliding against him, but he still had me by the hair. “Ow!”

He quickly let go, and I finally got clear of him. I stepped back so he could stand as well.

Ryan looked far too pleased with himself.

“Was this some kind of trap?” I asked.

“Yes, I arranged for Vince to almost kill all of us just for this moment. I knew exactly when you’d be walking down this hallway and set the whole thing up flawlessly.”

Was it wrong that I found his sarcasm sexy?

“But now that it happened, I’m not sorry it did.”

Problem was, I couldn’t be sorry about it, either.

So much so that after the show in Seattle, I said yes to something I probably shouldn’t have. Piper told us we had two days off. Some of the crew planned to fly home. I considered doing that, but Angie assured me she had a handle on things. I also thought about going to see the sights, like the Space Needle.

Ryan offered me something that sounded far more interesting.

“The reason we have time off is that the label hired Baylor Michaelsen to film a music video for me at Olympic National Park. Do you want to come watch?”

I immediately agreed.

Which turned out to be a mistake.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Baylor “Bay” Michaelsen was a director whose most popular movies featured constant explosions and scantily clad women. On our early-morning drive to the set, Ryan explained that Bay was trying to get into more indie and artistic films and had offered to direct this video. It would be an attempt to showcase a different side of his work.

Ryan played the song for me that would be featured in the video. Considering it was a two-and-a-half-hour drive, we had plenty of time to listen. The song was called “Be With You” and was about a guy regretting his breakup and wanting to get back to the girl he wished he hadn’t left. It was different from the ballads on his other albums. There was a haunting quality to it. He sounded more authentic, more honest. Less synthesizers, more real music. I actually kind of liked it.

Apparently, the label wanted to release the song and the video the same day. The production company had permits to shoot that day and the next, and then the editing would be completed in two weeks. As soon as we got to the set, Ryan asked for a production assistant who would keep an eye out for me. He said he’d see me later and went to get changed.

The PA, a girl named Lauren, explained the concept of the video. It was about a love affair between a knight and a fairy princess. Her father, the king, had threatened to kill the knight if they so much as touched. They couldn’t be together, but it didn’t stop them from loving each other. Ryan would be singing his song as he searched the fairy princess’s kingdom to find her. We were down by the coast, and I could see these tall rocks off in the distance. Fog clung to everything.

Ryan came out of wardrobe, and my heart nearly stopped. When they’d said “knight,” I had expected, I don’t know, a metal suit of armor or something. Instead, they had him in this black leather getup. His right arm was covered in scales, with small metal rings that went up and formed half a breastplate over his right pectoral muscle. On the left side there were three leather belts, one over his shoulder and two across his torso that held the bulk of his “armor” in place. He had a knife in a leather sheath with two tiny straps on his left arm. Leather pants with a sword scabbard and actual sword, along with matching boots, completed the outfit. They had left him unshaven, his hair wild.

His armor was totally impractical for a real fight.

But any fairy princess who denied him anything was obviously out of her mind.

Lauren showed me to a chair and asked me to turn off my phone and be quiet. Since I hoped someday to shoot my own music videos, I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize being able to stay. I wanted to learn all I could about the process. I did as she asked.

“I’m assigned to you for the next couple of days. Is there anything I can get you? We have a craft-services table set up.”

I was too wired to eat anything, so I told her I was fine.

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