Free Three Marie Ferrarella Romances Box Set One by Marie Ferrarella

began to crumble away bit by bit. He stood in the middle of the makeshift set, listening to the director give him last-minute instructions. He looked tired. She sat on a director’s chair and wondered if some late-night tryst had taken its toll on him. She felt a harsh pain and reminded herself firmly that her curiosity was strictly professional!
    He caught her eye and came over to her. “Been keeping late hours?” she asked casually.
    He dropped into the folding chair next to hers, his long frame stretching out before him. “Yesterday was an incredibly long day,” he said.
    “Oh? Tell me about it. I’m all ears,” she said with a slight edge to her voice.
    He seemed to catch it as he looked at her, then grinned, his teeth a stunning contrast to his olive complexion. “And they’re a shade of green.”
    Shane bristled. “What are you talking about? I’m merely—“
    “—jealous,” he said, ending her sentence for her.
    “You’re too full of yourself.”
    “Your eyes are flashing,” he said.
    “It’s the lighting,” she retorted, gesturing at the giant stork-like fixtures that surrounded them as they sat in what was to be the interior of the castle. “It makes everything look like it’s flashing. I’ve only known you for three days. What makes you presume—?”
    “Chemistry,” he told her, again not letting her finish. “I can feel it.”
    “Will you let me finish a sentence?” she cried.
    “Not when I can read your mind.”
    She drew herself up, utterly frustrated. “If you could read my mind, I think you’d be in for a big shock right about now,” she said, trying to leave. She hadn’t given any thought to where she was going to go once she took her initial steps. That would come later.
    But she never got to take her initial steps, as Nick’s hand gripped her wrist. “Can’t you take a little teasing?” he asked. “Or did I strike a nerve?” The question was asked in a very low and sensuous tone. Shane sat back down, but she made no response.
    “As it happens,” he said, “I had to take a quick flight out at 7:00 a.m. Seems the studio heads wanted to hold court and I, for one, don’t believe in trying to buck their authority.”
    “From what I hear, that’s a refreshing change from the usual star complex,” Shane said, hiding behind her notebook as she took further notes. She knew he didn’t owe her an explanation, but she was relieved and glad he was giving her one— and that it didn’t include another woman.
    “They pay me to do a job. If I didn’t like the job, I wouldn’t take it. I see no point in signing a contract and then putting on airs,” he said.
    His voice rang with sincerity and self-confidence. Until she had met him, she had thought she possessed a great deal of self-confidence, and it smoothed the bumpy road of life. But she had the sinking feeling she could not travel through life so easily anymore.
    “Speaking of doing my job ...” Nick said, suddenly getting to his feet. The director, John Bowman, was gesturing for him to join his female costar. “This is where I do some of my finest acting.”
    Shane blinked. It wasn’t like Nick to boast, and she was curious about what the scene entailed. “What do you mean?” she asked forthrightly.
    “This is the scene in which I make love to my costar, a very nasty and unlovable lady in real life,” he said in a stage whisper. He gave her no time to comment, turning quickly to hurry over toward Bowman and Adrienne.
    Shane watched the first two takes of the scene. And she was impressed. How could he look so amorous with someone he professed to dislike? She knew he was an actor, but it was hard for her to believe that he could playact feelings so opposite to his real ones. Didn’t he get any kick from those sensual embraces? And the kisses looked too real. Shane decided that anyone who married an actor was crazy—unless the actor accepted only character roles and never came within lip range of actresses