Love in the Afternoon Read online

  Behind him, Sandy and Lance tried unsuccessfully to stifle their giggles. Kayla must have heard them as well. Her lips twitched a bit as if she wanted to laugh with them, but she didn’t. She remained professional, keeping a neutral expression on her face.

  And what a face it was.

  Living in Los Angeles, Sean had seen more than his fair share of beautiful women, but Kayla Maxwell was one of those rare women who was beautiful without even having to try.

  Her hair flowed silkily around her shoulders and, like her eyes, was the color of rich dark chocolate. Her nose was small and fit her heart-shaped face perfectly. But it was her mouth that had caught his attention. Full and sensuous, it was a mouth that begged to be kissed. A mouth made for sin.

  That mouth, and her womanly body, pushed his buttons in all the right ways. Unlike the majority of actresses in Hollywood, Kayla wasn’t stick thin. She showcased that curvy body in a pair of black jeans that clung to her hips and thighs, and hugged her firm round ass to perfection. Her clingy turquoise top, while not low cut, couldn’t disguise her full and lush breasts.

  Sean watched with amazement as Marcus inched his hand up Kayla’s midriff toward her breasts. He was close to copping a feel when Kayla, without even a flicker of change in her expression, reached up and pushed his hand back down.

  Sean wasn’t surprised by the asshole’s actions. Marcus’s character was one of the most popular on the show and he was pretty much allowed to get away with murder. Evidently popularity beat out talent. Why else would they allow a mediocre actor and womanizer like him to stay on the show?

  “Great. I got some good shots,” Leo said and turned. “Sean. I’d like to get some shots of you and Kayla and then we’ll finish up with all three of you.” Leo looked past him. “Sandy, Kayla’s a little shiny.”

  “I’m on it, Leo.”

  Marcus let go of Kayla and moved toward Sean.

  “Sean,” he offered with a nod as Sandy headed for Kayla with a jar of powder and a brush in her hand. Kayla smiled at Sandy. He’d noticed Kayla smiled a lot. It seemed genuine, but he’d been fooled before and didn’t plan on making that mistake again.

  “I read that your father is getting rave reviews for his role in King Lear,” Marcus said, drawing Sean’s attention away from Kayla.

  “Has he?” Sean asked, not trying to conceal his annoyance. The only reason Bertrand talked to him at all was because of his burning desire to meet James Barrett. Sean had already worked on A New Dawn for three years when Marcus joined the show. On his first day he’d marched right up to Sean and declared that James Barrett was the reason he’d become an actor. And then he’d gone on to say that James Barrett was the greatest actor of his generation.

  Although Marcus was right, Sean recognized bullshit when he heard it and shut him down immediately. He never talked about his father with anyone and wasn’t going to start with Marcus. But Marcus, being the self-absorbed idiot that he was, didn’t seem to get the hint, and always managed to drop James Barrett’s name whenever he could.

  “There’s talk of another Tony award.” Marcus flashed his famous dimples.

  “We’re ready, Sean,” Leo said, moving to his place behind the camera.

  Marcus grinned while leering at Kayla. “Enjoy. She’s the hottest piece of ass we’ve had on the show in years. Damn, I’d like to tap that.”

  Sean clenched his fist and resisted the urge to punch Marcus’s smug face. “How’s your wife?” he asked instead.

  “Fine,” Marcus said stiffly, his face suffusing with color. “In fact, I should call her. Excuse me.” After pulling his phone from the pocket of his khaki pants, Marcus moved toward a row of chairs at the back of the studio.

  Sean turned and strode toward Kayla. Sandy brushed passed him and gave him a sunny smile. He nodded and then halted next to Kayla. She was taller than he’d realized. He’d worked with Nikki for a long time and whenever they did photo shoots together she had to stand on a box next to him so he wouldn’t have to stoop. That wouldn’t be the case with his new co-star. If Kayla possessed at least half of Nikki’s talent maybe it wouldn’t be so bad working with her.

  “Okay, let’s start with a standard pose,” Leo said. “Kayla, step into Sean’s embrace. Sean, I want you to loop your arms around her waist. Kayla, put your right hand on Sean’s arm.”

  It was indeed a standard pose, and both he and Kayla moved to do it automatically, but the moment Sean put his arms around her he caught a whiff of the soft fragrance she wore. It was subtle but intoxicating—vanilla with a hint of spice. A spike of heat caught him low in his gut, catching him off guard.

  “Good. Very good,” Leo said. “You two look great together.”

  Sean had done hundreds of photo shoots during his tenure on the soap. Over the past ten years his character had had several different love interests, but he sure as hell couldn’t remember being this physically affected by any of them. The pose was chaste yet he was intensely aware of her.

  Leo lifted his head from the camera. “Kayla, I want you to turn with your back to Sean. Sean, you know the drill.”

  Kayla glanced up at him and he realized he still had his arms around her. “Sorry,” he muttered, letting her go. She turned around and stepped back. His arms snaked around her, and the moment her soft curves pressed against him, his body reacted. Heat curled inside him, threatening his control.

  Again, he inhaled her alluring scent and his body tightened anew with sexual awareness. Her breasts curved out just above his clasped hands. Right there, waiting for him to…

  Baseball.

  Think about baseball, not breasts. Let’s see, as of today the Dodgers were in first place. The season was young but anything could happen by the time October rolled around.

  “Sean. Loosen up.” Leo’s voice penetrated his consciousness and Sean realized he’d tensed. Expelling a breath, he tried to relax.

  In his arms, Kayla seemed totally unruffled. He was the one affected by their close proximity, not her. As she had been with Marcus, she was totally professional. Just as Nikki had always been. The only difference was, in the three years he’d worked with Nikki he hadn’t once lusted after her.

  He thought about the relationship he’d ended last year. It had been with an actress, and after discovering she was just one more woman who had wanted to use him to further her own career, he’d vowed never to date another woman in his profession again—no matter how attracted to her he was. And there was no doubt he was attracted to Kayla Maxwell. No doubt at all.

  Kayla pulled her Mustang into a coveted parking spot across from Cheech’s Pizza and turned off the ignition. Glancing at her watch, she saw she was ten minutes early for her lunch date with Lisa. Just as she was about to open the door her cell phone rang. Digging into the side pocket of her purse she pulled it out and saw Lisa’s name on the screen.

  “I’m on Hillhurst,” Lisa said before Kayla could speak. “Are you there yet?”

  “I just got here.”

  “I’ll be there in five minutes. Order my usual.” Kayla waited for Lisa to continue but all she heard was silence. Unable to suppress a grin, Kayla shoved her phone back into her purse and opened the door. She climbed out of her car and waited for the traffic to pass before crossing the street.

  Cheech’s was in the central Los Angeles neighborhood known as Los Feliz. Lantern Studios, where A New Dawn was taped, was in the same part of town but Kayla had discovered the place long before she’d landed her role on the soap. She lived nearby in Atwood Village and had been coming to Cheech’s for years. The prices were affordable and the food delicious, the perfect combination for a struggling actress. But even after she started working steadily and was making more money she still preferred Cheech’s to some of the more trendy pizzerias, the kind of places where people went to be seen. Definitely not her style.

  Once she’d placed her and Lisa’s orders, she brought their drinks outside and snagged the last unoccupied table. She hung her purse over the back of
the chair, sat down and sipped her soda. It was a gorgeous spring day—sunny and warm, the kind of day that drew so many people to California with the promise of year round sunshine.

  Her thoughts drifted to the photo shoot. And to Sean Barrett. Even now, she could feel his strong arms around her and, just like in the studio, her body tingled with awareness. His clean male scent had made her almost lightheaded. She couldn’t remember ever being so drawn to a man before. It had taken everything inside her to remain professional and to not let on just how affected she was by his hard body touching hers.

  Lisa’s silver BMW roadster zipped by. Craning her neck, Kayla watched Lisa expertly maneuver into a small open spot across the street. When Lisa opened the door and stepped out Kayla saw the two men at the table next to her turn and stare—something that happened quite often.

  “I’m famished,” Lisa said when she reached the table. She sat down in the chair opposite Kayla and took off her oversized black sunglasses. She hooked them over the edge of her tote and then stowed it beside her. “How did the photo shoot go?” After brushing back her long white-blonde hair, she reached for the soda Kayla had bought for her. “Did Marcus touch the girls again?” Lisa asked, lowering her gaze briefly to Kayla’s breasts.

  “No. Thank God.” Kayla shuddered, remembering the photo shoot she’d done with him just after she’d joined the show. To this day he maintained that touching her breasts had been accidental. Just like his tongue had accidentally slipped into her mouth during their first kissing scene.

  “He’s a pig.” Lisa took a sip of her soda just as the owner of Cheech’s brought out their order. “I’ve been dying for one of these for days. They make the best vegetarian meatball sub in L.A. Just one slice?” she asked, eying Kayla’s plate with puzzlement.

  Thinking of the lines she had to memorize tonight, Kayla shrugged. “I guess I can afford to eat two. I won’t be wearing leather bustiers and halter tops on the show much longer. Shay’s pregnant.”

  Lisa looked up at her. “What?”

  Kayla picked up her pizza. “It’s in tomorrow’s script. Jared comes across Shay in a park near the cemetery. She’s very upset and he tries to help her. She blurts out that she’s pregnant with Stefan’s baby.”

  “So that’s why they wanted shots of you, Marcus and Sean. Now it makes sense.” She paused, tried to suppress a grin and failed. “How do you feel about working with Sean?”

  Kayla met Lisa’s shrewd gaze. “He’s the best actor on the show,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound as apprehensive as she felt. Not only was Sean the best actor on the show but he was the son of Hollywood royalty. It was intimidating, and what was even more unsettling was that during the photo shoot he’d awakened something that had been dormant inside her since she’d broken up with Greg.

  Her sexuality.

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  Kayla shrugged, not wanting to acknowledge just how much Sean had affected her. “I think I’ll prefer him to Marcus.”

  Lisa snorted. “Working with a trained monkey is preferable to working with Marcus. Not to mention Sean is very easy on the eyes.”

  “Is that why you took him on as a client?”

  “You know I never mix business with pleasure. I took him on because, like you said, he’s the best actor on the show. He’s going to be around a long time. And I think he has the potential to transition out of soaps and into film work. If he wants to.”

  “I wonder why he’s never been nominated for an Emmy.”

  “From what I’ve heard he never submits his name.”

  “That’s unusual.”

  Tilting her head, Lisa met her gaze. “I’ve only worked with him for a short time. He’s nothing like I expected.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He couldn’t care less about fame or publicity. He doesn’t want to do fan events at all, and getting him to a red carpet event is like pulling teeth.”

  “That must make your job difficult.”

  Lisa grinned. “That’s why I get paid the big bucks. I finally convinced him to go to A New Dawn’s fan club luncheon next month.”

  “I’m really looking forward to that.”

  “I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the reaction you’ll get. I’ve been doing a little surfing on the internet. You’ve got a fan base out there. It’s small but growing.”

  “I’ve been afraid to go online. My mom, bless her heart, got into it with some fans on a message board. Evidently, they were saying some really nasty stuff about Shay and about me as well.” Kayla smiled. “Mom tore them a new one and got banned from the website.”

  “That sounds like Patricia. She’s very protective of you and Kelly.”

  Lisa’s mention of her sister reminded Kayla she needed to call Kelly. Her sister was almost three years older, a publicist like Lisa, and worked in the media relations department of the San Francisco Blaze Major League Baseball organization.

  “So, back to Sean…” Lisa was saying.

  “Right. Tomorrow will be the first day we actually share a scene with dialogue.”

  “You up for it?”

  Kayla hoped her primal reaction this morning was just a fluke. If not, working so closely with him was going to prove just how good an actress she was.

  Or, more to the point, wasn’t.

  “I’ll have to be.”

  Chapter Three

  Jared: I want to help you. If you’ll let me.

  Shay: You don’t even know me. And besides, I’m in love with Stefan.

  Early the next morning, Kayla made her way down the brightly lit hallway at Lantern Studios holding a much-needed cup of coffee. As she passed framed head shots of past and present cast members from the show, she noticed her picture was now among them—coincidentally—right next to Sean’s.

  When she reached the last office at the end of the hallway, she paused at the doorway. “Hi,” she said to the show’s stage manager, Amanda Todd. “Are you ready for the weekend?”

  Amanda looked up from her desk and smiled. “I’m always ready. Jim and I are taking a break from the kids and driving up to Santa Barbara.”

  “That sounds fun.” Kayla leaned against the doorframe. “Do you have scripts for me?”

  “Not yet. I should get them before taping is finished. I’ll drop them by your dressing room or you can stop by before you leave today.” Amanda leaned back in her chair. “I looked over today’s script. It looks like you might be working with Sean for a while.” She paused. “And I hear Rachel isn’t too happy about it.”

  “Why would she care?”

  “She’s been lobbying to be Sean’s next love interest.” Amanda picked up a stack of envelopes on her desk held together tightly with a rubber band. “These are for you.” Kayla stepped forward and took them. “Fan mail,” Amanda continued. “I saw them in the production office.”

  “Wow. There’s a lot this week.” Kayla looked up from the letters. “Wait. Did you say love interest? It’s just a couple of scenes. I don’t think I’m Sean’s—I mean Jared’s—new love interest.”

  Amanda’s brows furrowed. “I thought you said you watched soaps.”

  “I did. I watched A New Dawn when I was in high school. But not since I moved to L.A.”

  “Okay, I’ll give you a pass then.” With a good-humored grin, Amanda folded her arms on her desk. “There aren’t any random scenes, Kayla. They’re chem testing you and Sean. If they like what they see then you can bet your ass Jared and Shay will be hooking up.”

  “But…but Shay’s pregnant.”

  Amanda shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Besides, she’s not even past her first trimester. Anything could happen to that baby. It’s a soap. Outrageous stuff happens all the time.”

  “That’s true,” Kayla said. “I mean how many people do you know who’ve come back from the dead?”

  “Or had a baby they forgot they gave birth to,” Amanda deadpanned.

  Kayla laughed and then noticed the clock
on the wall. “I’d better go. Rehearsal is in five minutes.”

  Since she was running behind schedule, instead of relaxing in her dressing room like she usually did, Kayla rushed to put away her purse and fan mail. With her cup of coffee and script in hand, she left the dressing room and headed for the set. She’d never been late and didn’t want to start now and risk angering the show’s director. So rather than stopping to chat with the crew she just gave them a friendly wave and stepped onto the set.

  “Good morning, Kayla,” Bill Caruso said as she came around the gazebo that made up part of the park set where she and Sean would be doing their scenes.

  “Hi, Bill,” she said and then glimpsed Sean on the other side of the gazebo. He was on his cell phone, so engrossed in his conversation he hadn’t seen her come on set.

  Kayla let her gaze roam over him and, damn it, he still looked as hot as he did yesterday at the photo shoot. Last night she’d tried to convince herself she’d only imagined his blond good looks. But she hadn’t. Wearing jeans and a blue chambray shirt, Sean looked so gorgeous her heart started racing.

  Swallowing, she tore her gaze from his muscular frame. She tried to steady her erratic heartbeat but couldn’t. And that worried her. Because if Amanda was right, and Jared and Shay were going to hook up, then she and Sean would be spending a lot of time together on the set. And not only that—there would probably be love scenes. It nerved her up just thinking about it.

  She had worked for seven years in Hollywood and kissed more actors than she could count. Not one of them had ever made her skin tingle and her stomach flutter when she looked at them.

  Only Sean Barrett had ever elicited that reaction.

  * * *

  Sean gripped his phone tightly and wished he hadn’t answered the damn thing to begin with. Talking to his father was never his idea of a good time, but he’d been avoiding his father for quite some time and felt obliged to take the call.