Chapter 1

1

Sunlight crackled where it hit the roof of the studio and reflected off, blinding anyone unfortunate enough not to be wearing sunglasses. Sam Coles was. The summer brilliance of Los Angeles was a lot different than Ohio’s, and if he didn’t want to have a headache by the time he reached the studio lot, he put his sunglasses on as soon as he set foot out of his small bungalow. More than one newsrag had noticed them, commenting that he was shying away from his rising celebrity. Those articles made Sam laugh. He guessed it didn’t sell enough magazines to report one of the newest teenage heartthrobs had light-sensitive eyes.

No headache today. There was even a bounce in his step. As he headed for the soundstage, he sang “Sh-Boom” under his breath, stuck in the catchy melody after hearing it on the radio on the drive over. He was going to be singing it all day now. Thankfully, it was the first day of shooting, and according to the schedule, it was the big party scene at the beginning of the movie. The mood was supposed to be festive. Sam would fit right in.

Someone had propped open the soundstage door, probably to haul in lights or gear, and he slipped into the welcoming darkness, pushing his glasses up into his hair. People milled about, but not nearly the number that it would be later while they were filming. He was early. Good. He liked being one of the first to show. It gave him more time to run his lines so he didn’t flub up once cameras rolled.

“Hey, Sam!”

A perky blonde rushed over from the gymnasium set currently being lit for the party. Her slim skirt hugged her legs, and her navy sweater molded over her breasts. It took a moment while his eyes adjusted for Sam to recognize who it was. Alma something. The director’s personal assistant. Sam slapped on his best smile and strode to meet her, though he already dreaded what was to come. Gordon Palmer picked his aides not by how smart or capable they were, but by how fast they could get on their knees. Alma was a nice enough girl, but during the screen tests, she’d spent all their downtime prattling on about some new candy on the market she was addicted to. Sam had been hoping Gordon would get distracted by a new girl by the time it came to actually shoot.

“Hey, beautiful.” Sam leaned down to brush a kiss across her cheek. She might annoy the crap out of him, but he’d never let on to that in public. “How are things going?”

“Oh, just marvy. Even Gordon’s in a good mood.”

He winked. “That’s because nobody’s here yet to disagree with him.”

Alma giggled. “Well, you’re here.”

“Oh, but Gordon loves me. I’m like the son he never wanted.” He glanced around. “So am I the first actor to show up?”

“Oh, no. Elijah’s already in his trailer.”

The name made him freeze. Slowly, he turned back in Alma’s direction. “Elijah? Gordon ended up casting Elijah McKinley as Jack?”

“Yeah, didn’t he tell you?”

“No, no, I would’ve remembered that.”

More of his shock must have appeared in his voice than he wanted. A tiny line danced between her perfectly plucked brows. “I thought you got on with Elijah at the screen test.”

“I did.” Too well. “But we don’t look anything alike.”

Alma waved her hand in vague dismissal. “Oh, Gordon doesn’t care about that. He thinks it’ll even help. You know. The boy next door duking it out with the dark and dangerous one. He said something about it making him look deep.”

Yeah, that sounded like Gordon rationale. There were probably a few dollar signs in there, too. Elijah was as much a rising star as Sam.

“Did you want to say hi?”

Her question startled him. For a moment, Sam actually debated saying yes. He was going to be spending a lot of time with Elijah over the next month. They were the two principals; they had the heavy-duty emotional scenes to carry. It would be a smart idea to go and properly introduce himself, get to know each other before the first scene.

There was only one problem. A very big one.

Sam couldn’t look at Elijah McKinley without getting a hard-on.

The man was simply beautiful. Black hair, dark eyes that pierced right through you, a sensual mouth that seemed to be in a perpetual pout. He’d taken off his pullover for the screen test so he wore only his undershirt, and his sculpted muscles had practically begged Sam to get on his knees and lick every square inch.