Free Vengeful Love: A Summer Love Story (contemporary romance) (Sizzling Summer Romance) by Jillian Leeson Page A

compliment from Kate. I like it. Aren’t you lucky that you get to kiss my pretty face?”
    I felt my body tense, and my hands clenched into fists at my sides. I desperately searched my brain for a witty retort, but however much I tried, I couldn’t think of anything apt to say. So I turned on my heel and stormed off the set, chased by Ryan’s deep-rumbled laughter and applause from his giggling teenage fans.  
    Flushed and dizzy from being humiliated, I opened the door to the make-up trailer and stepped in. Thankfully, it was empty as most of the crew were still at the set. The cooled air felt wonderfully soothing on my hot eyes and cheeks.
    I strode over to the fridge and poured myself a tall ice lemon tea, which I sipped while sauntering over to the padded leather sofa. Sinking down into it, I closed my eyes and tipped back my head.
    That jerk Ryan sure knew how to push my buttons. For all I tried, I couldn’t figure out why he was out to get me. What the hell had I done to make him treat me this way? Perhaps it was because I hadn’t, like most women, swooned and fallen to his feet at first sight. Sure, he was good-looking, but I wasn’t the needy and desperate fledgling actress he assumed I’d be.  
    Usually, when I started a movie shoot, I had my co-stars wrapped around my little finger in no time. It was the story of my life; men were rarely able to resist my charms. They were so easy—and I was more than satisfied to jump from fling to fling, enjoying them for their thrill and excitement.  
    Once, I’d almost fallen for a co-star who had seemed to be different from the usual good-looking knuckleheads with their one-track minds. He even enticed me with a relationship beyond the movie set. But a couple of weeks after we finished the movie, I spotted a picture of him in a tabloid, lip-locked with his latest conquest at a celeb party.  
    I was crushed. But it wasn’t because he had broken my heart. It was because he reminded me of my father. My despicable, loathsome excuse for a father who had left my mother in what couldn’t be more of a cliché scenario—he fell for his secretary.  
    After that, my Mom had never been the same. She’d turned cynical, and urged me and my sister never to put our full trust in men. And true enough, I’d experienced exactly what she had warned me about. From that moment, I vowed never to make that mistake again.  
    I had actually been looking forward to meeting Ryan McFarlane - he seemed like the perfect material for a fling. But when I arrived at the Fiji set of Love At Last , I hadn’t expected his icy reception, in spite of my usual charm. By the disdainful way he looked at me, I was almost considering having the nose job done I’d secretly been dreaming of.
    A loud click broke the silence in the trailer, and the door swung open.
    “Is Becky in here?” The head of a young bearded man appeared around the door. I shook my head, and the beard quickly disappeared. The hot summer air swiftly found its way in, and blew its warm breath around the confines of the trailer.  
    Damn, the pinhead left the door open. I walked over and was about to close it when I heard someone say my name outside. I stood right behind the door, my fingertips curled around its edge to ensure it stayed open a crack.  
    “… wait for Kate to come around to do another take. It’s probably going to take an extra day. As it is, the schedule is screwed. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ll be here till Christmas.”
    “Don’t tell me there’s going to be another delay. That Kate is going to be the death of me.”
    I lifted my brow. It was Ryan, and the other guy sounded like the beard from before. I pricked up my ears, dying to find out what they’d be saying behind my back.
    “Sounds like she’s got you all riled up, bro.”
    “Dave, you’d be pissed too if you had to do retake after retake.”
    “I don’t get it, man. Normally you have the chicks eating out of your hand.”  
    “Hey,