"Cut!" someone yells. The word is answered by collective groans of frustration. "What's going on back there?"
Shaking my head, I grab the man by his t-shirt. "Didn't look like nothing to me!"
The guy leans back, looking ready to piss himself. "Who the fuck are you?"
"I'm your worst fucking nightmare!" I snarl with spittle flying everywhere.
A middle-aged dude with a scruffy beard and large headphones around his neck appears at our side. "What the hell's going on? Who are you?"
I release my hold on the camera guy to show him my ID badge. "I caught this prick getting ready to jack off."
"I knew it!" the bearded dude answers, glaring at the camera guy. "You have five minutes to get your perverted ass off the premises before security escorts you out, William. You're fired!"
"You can't just fire me without proper notice!" William yells back. "I'm union !"
The bearded man takes one step closer to William, jaw clenched. "Then you better be contacting both your union rep and your lawyer, because I have a sneaking suspicion you're also the one stealing underwear from wardrobe, and listing them on eBay! This is a professional atmosphere and that kind of bullshit won't be tolerated!"
Blood pounds through my ears, muffling whatever William has to say in reply. Is the guy selling Angie's panties? My clouded vision cuts to the camera guy. His neck is flushed a bright red, and he's glaring in my direction. I start for him, intending to rip him limb-from-limb, but the bearded guy tells me to let it go at the same time William storms toward the exit.
The bearded dude curses under his breath before offering his hand. My heart's still pounding like a hummingbird when I take it. I should've ripped William's dick clean off.
"I'm Eddie Sanford, the show's producer. I thought maybe you were an actor in visiting off another set, but I guess you're the bodyguard Angelina hired."
"Ash?" Angie calls out in a high-pitched tone, scurrying in behind the producer as we're finishing shaking hands. I'm relieved as fuck to see she threw on a robe, even though she's still sopping wet and could use a towel, too. Her beautiful eyes dart between me and the producer, burning with a mix of worry and surprise. "What happened?"
"He caught William red-handed, so to speak," Eddie tells her with a friendly roll of his eyes. "I've been looking for an excuse to get rid of that dirtbag since last season." Crossing his arms over his chest, he then glances at the rest of the cast watching on and sighs deeply. "Unfortunately, that means we have to postpone production until I find a new camera operator to take his place." He clears his throat and hollers, "That's a wrap! We'll pick up where we left off on Monday!"
Another chorus of moans follows, then the blunt blast of a loud bell. The crew behind Angie and the producer begins to scatter.
Angie bites down on her lips as our eyes meet. I can't decide if she's angry or amused the way her dull irises catch the overhead lights. All I know is she's beautiful beyond any conventional meaning of the word, and I'm ready to fuck up anyone who does her wrong.
Then she releases a long, deep breath she seems to have been holding. "Thank god. That guy gave me the creeps."
"That creep managed to score you an unscheduled day off," Eddie adds, sounding defeated by the idea. "There's no way I could have someone lined up to take his place by tomorrow morning. Take some time to properly pamper yourself this weekend, Ang. You've earned it." He kisses her wet head in a fatherly way before tipping his head toward me. "I owe you one, buddy. I'm glad someone like you is going to be on our side. Take care of our girl."
"I will," I promise with a firm nod. Although I'm not fond of the affectionate relationship between Angie and her boss, I'm too busy hating myself for not teaching William a lesson.
Once Angie and I are alone, she stands on her tiptoes and throws her arms around my neck. The thin material of her robe does almost nothing to pad her erect nipples, and her wet hair soaks into my shirt. She smells edible, like strawberries. I cut the hug short and back away before my dick gets any ideas.
"I didn't even realize you were on set," she admits, her cheeks tinged with pink. "At least your first day on the job was exciting."
Exciting? Is she fucking kidding? Is this kind of shit normal? Instead of arguing, I grunt. "I decided to stop by early to familiarize myself with your routine."
The redheaded appears beside Angie, eyeing me up and down while blotting her long hair with a towel. "And who's this handsome stud?" Her sexy timber during filming is replaced with a thick southern drawl. She's even more of a knockout up close than onscreen, although it could simply be due to the fact that I just watched her soaping up another hot woman.
"This is the friend from back home I've been telling you about," Angie answers, beaming my way with pride. "Brie, meet my bodyguard-in-training, Asher."
"You didn't mention he's hotter than Hades," the redhead purrs, holding her hand out. "I'm Brie Swanson, but I'm guessin' you already knew that." She tosses me a wink, giggling. "If the gig with Angie doesn't work out, I'll hire you in a heartbeat."
Grunting under my breath, I take her small hand, giving it a light squeeze before letting go. While back home I made a few calls to Dante, taking notes on how private bodyguards are expected to behave. After "don't get romantically involved with clients," he stressed the polite angle. So even though I didn't know this woman's name until this moment, I tell her, "It's an honor, Ms. Swanson."
"Miss Swanson," Brie muses, giggling while batting her thick eyelashes Angie's way. "Darlin', you've been holdin' out on me. This one's tall, dark, handsome, and full of charm! Mind if I get his number?"
Angie laughs it off without answering, instead twisting her arm through mine, and curling her fingers over my bicep. "We better get going. See you Monday, Brie." She leads me away, waving at her costar over her shoulder. I get the impression she's either paranoid about Brie getting too close to me, or maybe even jealous of what could happen if I took her up on the offer. "You can walk me to my dressing room. Have you already settled into your place?"
"Pretty much," I answer.
Her perfect lips spread with a warm smile. "Good. I'll take you out for dinner. I'm starving, and we usually don't get done early enough to eat anywhere decent."
I pull her to a stop, shaking my head. Doesn't she want to go home and rest after a long day? Didn't it freak her out that someone on her crew got off on seeing her naked? "I'm being paid to shadow you, Ang. The whole point of me being here is to make sure you're safe. You don't have to treat me like a guest."
"Doesn't matter. I want to take you out." Her smile fades as her cheeks begin to flush. "Having dinner with an old friend beats eating alone."
Alone? Unacceptable. "What about your boyfriend?" The words come out more like an accusation than a question because I'm tired of wondering why the guy never seems to be around.
"Theo had the day off, so he went down to the Keys for the weekend with some friends. It'll just be you and me until we join him Saturday night." Tugging on my arm, her warm smile returns. "Come on. There's a restaurant down the block from our place that makes the best Pastelitos, and they're done serving at ten."
In the end I agree to it, stoked to hear I'll have her all to myself for 48 hours. If I had any say in the matter, I'd put off meeting her boyfriend indefinitely.
5
Angelina
Asher doesn't have a lot to say once we're seated at Bella's. The way his eyes are constantly taking everything in makes me paranoid. It's like he's looking for a threat or the nearest escape even though we're one of five customers, and the restaurant isn't much bigger than my living room.
The situation with the camera operator seems to have shook him up more than he's letting on. A small part of me worries he's taking this job too seriously, and won't be as much fun as the guy I knew in high school who was always teasing me and charmingly confident. The other 99% is inexplicably turned on by his new somber side.
"Charlie told me your town car will be delivered tomorrow morning," I say, tapping my fingers on a glass of water. "It's perfect timing. We can spend the day checking out the highlights of the city."
Setting his elbows on the table, he holds onto his head like he's working on a headache, eyes closed. "We need to talk about what happened today."
I sink into my chair and let out a long breath. By now I hardly pay any attention to the crew watching on while filming naked scenes, but this was the first time Brie and I had to film one with just the two of us. I was nervous already, so I'm thankful I didn't realize Asher was watching until after the fact.