13. Aspen
Chapter 13
Aspen
I ’m even more of a lightweight than I thought. Fifteen minutes after I took two very large shots, Jack calls for the cast to assemble on set. I wobble a bit as I stand and Grey immediately grabs my bicep to steady me. His warm hand wraps around my arm, fully encircling it, and I get goosebumps from the sensation. I glance down at his hand and can’t help but fixate on the veins running from his hand up his arm. I’ve never considered myself a vein girl, but here I am, unable to tear my eyes away.
“You okay there, Jordan?” Grey asks, fighting a smile.
“I’m fine,” I defend. “You try walking in heels, it’s hard.”
“You haven’t started walking yet.”
“Well, if you’d let me go I’d be able to.”
Grey removes his hand from my arm as quickly as if it burned him. I try not to dwell on how cold my arm suddenly feels without his warm skin wrapped around mine. The alcohol combined with my celibacy streak is not doing me any favors right now. I shake my head, physically trying to wipe the unclean thoughts from my mind. But my eyes somehow find his hand again, imagining it wrapped around his hard length instead of my arm, moans spilling from his mouth. Or him squeezing one of my tits as his mouth rests between my legs, his stubble scraping my inner thighs as he groans against me, his tongue moving in?—
“Earth to Jordan,” Grey interrupts my train of thought.
“What?”
“You’re due on set, remember?”
“I remember. I’m headed there now.” I begin to walk the twenty feet to set, moving one foot in front of the other very slowly and intentionally.
He chuckles, walking alongside me. “Damn, two shots and you’re wasted.”
“I’m not wasted,” I protest. “I’m tipsy, just like the doctor ordered.”
“I’m a doctor now?”
“Jack’s the doctor. You’re the little nurse.”
Grey snorts. “Bloody hell, Jordan.”
Once I make it to my mark, Grey separates from me and heads to his own mark. I guess we’re some of the last people to make it, because only a few seconds later, the camera assistant slaps the clap board. “Scene twelve, take one. Action .”
Upbeat dancing music begins to pipe through the set, presumably the same music that will be overlaid onto the final cut. The present music, along with the scuffling of feet and occasional muffled noise will be muted.
I begin moving sensually in time with the beat against the male extra behind me, not nearly as self-conscious about my dancing as I was during rehearsal. My anxiety is nearly non-existent now and I can't help but wonder why I don’t let go and drink more often as I close my eyes and gyrate my ass against the extra’s front.
In response, he leans into me, wrapping an arm around me and resting it gently on my hip. I lazily stretch my arms into the air as I dance, moving them along with the rest of my body. Then I bend my left arm and reach it behind my shoulder to gently caress the extra’s face as he presses it into the side of my neck.
On cue, Grey pushes his way through the sea of clubbers to us. He glares at the man behind me, whose hand immediately falls from my side. As I was instructed to do in rehearsal, I turn my head to look between the two of them. But this time, I realize just how much taller and broader Grey is than the man behind me. In fact, he looks like a pasty little middle-schooler next to Grey. Grey’s a man .
“Hey.” Grey smiles at me. “I’ve been looking all over for you.” His gaze shifts from me onto the man behind me and hardens before he continues his line. “She’s with me.”
The extra holds his hands up in defense before disappearing into the crowd, trying to find another extra to dance with.
Grey wraps his arm around my shoulder and I reach mine around his back to hold onto his side, grateful for that direction because he steadies me among this moving throng of people. And, damn, he’s so muscular it’s like holding onto a boulder.
“I don’t know you, do I?” I ask.
“Nope. But that guy seemed like a creep and I thought you would appreciate an excuse to get away from him.”
“Thanks.”
“Why don’t we get you home? I’ll call you a ride.”
“Okay,” I mumble drunkenly as he leads me through the bustling crowd. “You’re coming with me, right?” I ask him.
“What?” He raises his voice as he was instructed, pretending he can’t hear me over the loud club noise. He stops walking and looks down at me with a confused expression.
I stand on my tip-toes and pull the collar of his shirt, bringing my mouth to his ear. He wraps his hand around my waist to steady me and I’ll be damned if I don’t lean into his touch. I inhale before delivering my line and I’m momentarily distracted by the smell of his cologne. It’s delicious, like a sexy rainforest or something.
I quickly drag myself back to reality. “You’re coming with me, right?”
“No, you’re going home alone tonight.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
“In the condition you’re in, you want to. I promise you that. You probably won’t even remember how you got home by the time you wake up tomorrow morning.”
“Come with me. I don’t want to go alone.”
He thinks this over for a few seconds. “Fine. I’ll ride in the car with you, but only to make sure you get inside your place in one piece. I’m not going inside.”
I fake a yawn and lean more heavily into Grey, snuggling my head against his shoulder.
“If you vomit on me, I’m never doing a nice thing for anyone ever again,” he mumbles as he walks us toward the side door on the set, marked with a large red “exit” sign, ending the scene.
“Cut!” Jack yells. “That was absolutely amazing! Great work, guys. I’m pretty sure we’ve already gotten the shot, but let’s run through it a few more times just to be safe.”
We run through the scene again, as well as dozens of other small shots for production to use—Grey and I individually entering the bar, ordering drinks, dancing, as well as some random shots of us and others. After a few hours, we’re finally ready to wrap for the day.
“Do you still need a car?” Jack asks me as I exit the set.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m fine to drive by now.”
“You sure?”
“Positive. I appreciate the concern, though.”
“All right, stay safe. You were incredible today, by the way. You’re the perfect Rosie.”
I smile at his kind words. “Thank you.”
“You too, Grey,” Jack adds as Grey walks up and joins our conversation. “The perfect Declan.”
Like me, Grey can’t help but smile at the compliment. “Thanks, Macky. See you tomorrow.”
Jack gives us a salute as we leave, walking out the back door toward our trailers.
“Macky?” I ask Grey as we walk.
He shrugs. “I was trying it out.”
“I don’t think it fits.”
“I agree. He got awkward.”
“I know, what was with that salute?”
Grey shows a hint of a smile. “I don’t know. It was weird.”
As we round the corner we run into our PR managers.
“There you are,” mine says. “We’ve been waiting twenty minutes for you guys.”
“Sorry,” I apologize. “I guess we got out late today.”
My PR manager plows on without reacting to my apology. “We wanted to tell you guys to clear your schedules after work on Thursday.”
“This week’s date?” Grey asks.
“No, I want you to babysit my daughter,” she deadpans. “Yes, your date.”
Jeez, she’s in a bad mood.
“You’ll be going to Eldora,” Grey’s PR woman pipes up. “You’re going to each order an ‘Aspen Jordan Smoothie’ and then sit outside to drink them together. It goes without saying that you’ll also need to chat and pretend to enjoy each other's company,” she adds.
“Your bodyguards will be there when you arrive. Please travel in the same car,” my PR woman says. “And don’t spend any fewer than forty-five minutes there.”
“Sounds good.” I nod.
Grey flashes an obviously-fake smile and salutes, mimicking Jack Mack. “Can’t wait.”