“Penny.” Jeff’s voice touched Giselle’s ear. “Go find Troy for me. I need to talk to him.”
Her heart skipped. Her eyes popped open. She didn’t want Troy here, of all people. She swallowed back her anxiety, but her stomach had tied itself into triple knots by the time Troy entered the cave through the door where she sat in a dark corner.
“What?” he asked, clearly not pleased over the summons.
His deep voice shivered over her, and her body lit up the way it should have during her scene with Alex.
“Hey, Troy, yeah.” Jeff met him at the entrance, and Giselle held her breath, hoping she sank into the shadows. “Listen,” he said, voice low. “Giselle is doing great, but she and Alex just don’t have the chemistry I’m looking for. We’ve done the take six times, and it’s good, don’t get me wrong. She’s absolutely gorgeous on camera. Stunning. But I’m not getting that raw passion I saw between you two. You’ve played great parts for me in the past, I really need you to—”
“No.” Troy cut Jeff off with the quiet but final word. He’d cleaned up at some point in the last couple of hours. He was no longer covered in grime and sweat. His hair was combed off his face, and he’d thrown on a T-shirt. “What you saw was…a moment. Nothing more.”
A stab pinched her heart, one that surprised her. He was right. What they’d had was nothing but a moment.
“Tell yourself whatever you want to get through the day, kid, but I’ve done this long enough to know real emotion between two people when I see it. And I need you to bring that to life for the camera.”
Giselle’s stomach churned in a waterfall of acid. She’d failed at depicting the passion Jeff had wanted. And if she couldn’t pull off this part, if Jeff canceled the cameo, she’d fall right back to where she’d been before the part had been offered—with her future riding on a wing and a prayer.
“Alex is an amazing actor and a great guy,” Troy said. “If you aren’t getting the spark you want with him, you won’t get it with me.”
“Okay, okay…” Jeff’s voice soothed and placated. “What about giving it one try. Just one take. If it’s not there, it’s not there.”
“She’ll never go for it.”
On impulse, she stood and stepped forward. “Yes, I will.” They both startled, their heads snapping toward her. Her stomach jumped and her heart raced. She was doing exactly what he’d accused her of doing earlier—whatever it took to benefit her career. She’d have to face the truth of that later. “I’ll do whatever you want.”
Jeff grinned. “That’a girl.” He turned toward the main space in the cave. “Holly, grab me a script.”
Troy’s gaze drilled into her, challenging, questioning. “You are fucking relentless.”
She held it even as Jeff assured them both this was going to work out great. Even as a young woman rushed over with a script. Even as Jeff spoke to Troy about the part.
“Take thirty,” Jeff said. “Do a dry run if you need to. We’ll meet back here at—”
“I don’t need thirty minutes.” He snapped the script from Jeff’s hand. “I’m ready now.”
Still holding her gaze, he reached behind him, fisted his shirt, and dragged it over his head. Fire licked through Giselle’s body. The move was so let’s-get-it-on carnal, wetness spread through her sex. She fisted her hands, hating the way she responded to him and no one else.
“Casey,” Jeff yelled across the space. “Get Troy into makeup. Thin out his beard to look more like Alex’s scruff, cover that tat again, and slick his hair back.”
“Already there,” Casey said, taking Troy’s bicep and dragging him toward her chair.
“Jill,” Jeff called to another girl, “touch up Giselle.”
A little blonde waved Giselle toward her.
“Get all the cameras you want set up now, Jeff,” Troy said without looking up from the script. “’Cause you’re getting one goddamned take. I’m not doing this twice.”
Jeff snapped his fingers at some of the cameramen, and the room whirled into action like Troy wielded the power of movement. The entire atmosphere of the set changed, everyone focused and serious. Jill powdered Giselle’s face, touched up a few spots, opened her robe, and powdered her breasts and belly.
With his head bowed, his brow furrowed, Troy gave his rapt attention to the script, as if Casey wasn’t fussing all over him with makeup and gel. Then Jeff was back, facing Troy with an open look of expectation.
“Okay, look.” He closed the script and met Jeff’s gaze. “We’ll get close, but it won’t be exact. We’ll flow with it. You film until we stop, then cut and paste the way you want it in editing. She’s done it several times, and I’ve read the script, so don’t be yelling directions at us. Keep your mouth shut. Don’t screw the mood. We’ve got this. As long as Ellie’s on board, you’ll be happy with what you get.”
The way he spoke for her, took control of the situation, wielded the confidence and the balls to order the freaking director around made her nerves rise to the top of her skin and vibrate. Yeah, he’d been dominant at the club, but that was sex, and he’d known Giselle was Giselle. This…this was true power born out of respect, out of trust, out of talent.
And Giselle was ridiculously impressed. And strangely…humbled.
“Giselle?” Jeff’s voice pulled her gaze from Troy’s handsome profile, his features stronger with his hair slicked back.