Here All Along (9 page)

“Don’t call me that.” He punched his arms into the sleeves of his shirt.

“Why not? Sarah does.”

“Red’s the only one who can get away with it.” He made quick work of the buttons on his shirt. “What do you want?”

“To offer my condolences for what appeared to be an arduous experience and perhaps offer some consolation with a drink up at my place.”

A shiver of warning coursed down his spine. Gabe was up to something. “You wouldn’t be trying to set me up for one of your practical jokes, would you?”

“Please. It’s no fun when you’re prepared for it. But I promise that tonight, there’s no trickery involved. I was even able to score some Belching Beaver Peanut Butter Milk Stout.”

Now his skin was practically crawling. How would Gabe know his favorite beer? Something felt very wrong about this.

“Don’t look at me that way,” Gabe said with a crooked smile. “Sarah mentioned she was going out to get some for you this morning—”

“You talked with her this morning?”

“Yeah. She dropped by the set, but you were too busy getting hot and heavy with Mackinzie to notice.”

He cursed under his breath and gathered his things into his backpack. The last thing he wanted was Red watching him in bed with another woman, even if it was just acting.

“So I asked her to grab me a few bottles so I could give it a try,” Gabe continued as though nothing were amiss. “I hope you don’t mind that I asked your
assistant
to do that for me.”

Gideon slung the pack over his shoulder and got within punching range of his co-star. “What the fuck are you getting at?”

“Just that I wanted to have a little chat with you.” Gabe stood his ground, his bemused smile grating on Gideon’s nerves. “After all, we’re going to be working together on this film for the next few weeks, and I’m sensing some hostility from you that I’d like to clear up before it affects the shoot.”

Gideon uncurled his fingers one by one. This was his chance to tell Gabe to stay the hell away from Red. “Fine.”

“Excellent.” Gabe pushed off the door frame and stepped aside. “After you.”

They made their way to the Nobu Villa in silence, which suited Gideon. The less he had to say to Gabe, the better. Besides, it gave him a chance to compose what he wanted to say once they were behind closed doors.

The faint scent of lemon and ginger filling the villa soothed his senses, and the muscles in his shoulders started to unwind a bit by the time Gabe grabbed two bottles of the microbrew and poured them into pint glasses.

“Since you don’t trust me, I’ll let you choose which one you want.”

Gideon grabbed the glass on the left, but didn’t drink it right away. The familiar peanut butter and chocolate scent wafted up from the foamy top, but that didn’t mean Gabe hadn’t tampered with it.

Gabe’s brows steepled. “Jeez, cut me some slack, will ya? I’ll even take the first sip.”

Once he did—and didn’t end up choking—Gideon followed. The beer reminded him of the Reese’s Peanut Butter cereal he loved as a child and was one of his few guilty indulgences. No wonder Red mentioned that she was going to grab some for him. If she’d witnessed what he’d had to endure today, she would’ve known he’d want one.

“See? I can play nice.” Gabe took a longer drink and surveyed the glass. “Not bad. I might have to ask Sarah where she got this.”

“Will you please stop monopolizing my assistant?” Gideon blurted out the words before he could catch himself, but Gabe only grinned wider.

“But your
assistant
intrigues me.”

“In what way?”

“A lot of ways, actually. She’s smart, talented, beautiful…” Gideon’s teeth ground harder with each word until Gabe finished with, “and completely devoted to you.”

That settled one fear. No matter what moves Gabe had tried on her last night, he didn’t get anywhere with her. “She’s my best friend.”

“Funny. That’s exactly what she said to me.” Gabe wandered toward the rooftop balcony and motioned for Gideon to follow him.

The sun was just starting to set over the Strip, and the nightlife had yet to get started. This was the lull in Vegas, the time when most visitors returned to their rooms to escape the afternoon heat and get ready for dinner or a show.

Gideon peered down to the south end of the Strip. “Can we please cut to the chase?”

“Of course.” Gabe set his glass down and crossed his arms again. “What’s the real story between you two?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I think that’s obvious.” Gabe’s cool gaze flickered over him as though he were sizing up the competition. “But the last thing I want is to be accused of breaking up what appears to be a perfect couple.”

“We’re not a couple,” Gideon grumbled. “Yet.”

“So you
are
more than just friends?”

“Your sarcasm is starting to piss me off.”

Gabe laughed and let his arms fall to the side. “I’m a New Yorker. We’re known for our sarcasm.”

“Well, I’m a Chicagoan, and we’re known for kicking asses, so lay off, okay?”

“Gotcha. I don’t want to end up being used for batting practice.” Gabe took another sip of beer. “So why aren’t you two a couple?”

“Ask Red.” As much as he appreciated Gabe’s desire to not step on his toes, he didn’t feel the need to spill his guts.

“I did. And her reply was vague, at best.”

“And you thought by getting me liquored up, you’d be able to find out more from me?”

Gabe shrugged. “I think it’s pretty clear that I don’t stand a chance with her as long as you’re in the picture, so I thought it was time to change my objective.”

“And what is it now?”

“Helping you get the girl.”

Gideon let the words roll around in his mind before replying. For a second, he wondered if he’d heard Gabe correctly. “Why would you want to do that?”

“Hey, if I can’t have her, you should.”

“Hate to break it to you, but I’ve already tried once to convince her to be more than friends, and I almost lost her in the process. Not going there again.” He turned to head back into the villa, but stopped short of the door when Gabe called after him.

“Too scared?”

He spun around. “Yes, I am scared. Sarah’s my best friend, and I’d rather have her as that than lose her completely.”

“Even though you’re in love with her?”

The question hit him like a punch to the chest, driving the air from his lungs. He pressed his palm over the ache around his heart. “Is it that obvious?”

Gabe nodded. “And I have a hunch she feels the same way, but just like you, she’s scared.”

“Yeah, I know. She doesn’t want to ruin our friendship.”

“No, I think it’s more than that.” Gabe grabbed a chair and straddled it, his expression turning serious. “She’s scared of being in the spotlight again.”

“Understandably. You know her story.”

“Yes, and like I told her last night, it’s unfortunate that she’s choosing to waste her talent.” He rested his chin in his hand. “But maybe your solution to winning her heart lies there.”

“What are you talking about?”

Gabe tapped his index finger on his cheek, looking past Gideon into nothingness.

“Hello, Earth to Gabe?”

“Give me a minute, Kid. I’m coming up with the perfect plan.”

Gideon drained his glass, hoping it would ease the sick feeling forming in the center of his gut. He knew coming up here was a mistake.

“Yes, this might just work.” Gabe focused his attention on Gideon. “Are you in?”

“In on what?”

“My plan to get Sarah over her stage fright.”

“What does this have to do with me and her?”

“Everything.” Gabe hopped up from his chair. “Let’s get you another beer and hash out the details. If we can get her comfortable in the spotlight again, then she has no excuse not to be with you.”

He’d hit the core of the problem right on the head, even though Gideon had never revealed the real reason Sarah had given him on why they couldn’t be more than friends. She’d told him months ago that whoever he dated would have to accompany him to events and smile for the cameras, and she wanted nothing to do with that sort of life any more. But if he’d figured out the source of the problem, then maybe Gabe’s plan would help him get around it.

He followed Gabe into the villa and accepted the open bottle of beer. “So what’s the plan?”

“Part one involves helping her remember the joy of acting.”

“And how to you plan to do that?”

Gabe grinned. “Leave that to me.”

“You’re not going to get her a bit part in the film or something, are you?” He took a chug from the bottle and immediately regretted it. Fire burned through his mouth and along his throat. He spat out the beer and grabbed a bottle of water sitting on the counter.

Gabe pulled a tiny bottle of hot sauce from his pocket. “Got you.”

“Asshole.”

“And now that we have that behind us, we can move forward with Operation My Fair Lady.”

“You can’t come up with a better title than that?”

Gabe handed him an unopened bottle of a Mexican lager. “Just wait and see.”

But as Gideon listened, his own plan formed in his head. The one that he’d been too chicken to carry out last month. The one that was still sitting in an unopened box in his bedroom.

Maybe Gabe had a point about reminding Sarah of her brilliance.

And he had a golden opportunity to do so.

Chapter Eight

Gideon stood in the shadows and tried his best not to laugh out loud. None of the scenes today called for him, but when he learned that Gabe had to suffer through his own kissing scene with Mackinzie, he decided it would be worth the trip. Especially when he had the perfect practical joke planned to get Gabe back for the pepper sauce a few days ago.

Besides, it gave him a chance to get out of the villa and away from Sarah. He’d arranged for his housekeeper to mail him Red’s Golden Globe award, and it had arrived less than an hour ago. Now, if only he could come up with a good way to give it to her. As much as he thought she would appreciate the gesture, part of him still worried it would backfire, and she’d leave him. It was the main reason why he hadn’t given it to her earlier.

Now it was Gabe’s turn to squirm under the lights as Mackinzie ground her boney body against him and stuck her tongue down his throat.

Gideon’s grin widened. All those times Gabe had stood back and teased him about his love scenes with Mackinzie were now coming back to bite him in the ass. Payback was a bitch.

As soon as Karl yelled, “Cut!” Gabe wiped his mouth and did all but run off the set.

Gideon caught up to him in the kitchen of the home they’d rented to represent Esteban’s mansion. “Having fun?”

Gabe spit out the water he’d been gargling and coughed. “I need a drink.”

He tried his best to keep a straight face as Gabe opened the fridge. Last night, he’d taken a six-pack of twenty-ounce Diet Coke bottles and booby-trapped them. When he arrived on the set, he’d replaced the sodas chilling in the fridge that were reserved for Gabe. A single Mentos candy hung by a string under the cap, and the second Gabe opened it, it fell into the soda and created a geyser that splashed into his co-star’s face.

Gabe shrieked, and Gideon erupted into laughter. “Gotcha!”

“You son of a—”

“Hey, you ruined my favorite beer with hot sauce. Now we’re even.”

“Wrong, Kid.” Gabe shook off the soda from his hands. There wasn’t a spot from the waist up on him that hadn’t been soaked. “You went above and beyond.”

And the gleam in his eye told Gideon that he was already plotting the next prank to get back at him.

One of the women from wardrobe ran in, her mouth agape when she saw Gabe. “What did you do to your costume?”

“Ask him.” Gabe shed the damp jacket and handed them to her, followed by his dress shirt and tie. “It’s just Diet Coke. It should come out.”

“From a silk tie?” The wardrobe mistress narrowed her eyes and leveled her icy glare on Gideon. “The next time you two want to play a joke on each other, keep it off the set.”

Gideon continued to laugh as she stormed off. However, his mirth evaporated the second Mackinzie arrived.

“Oooh, Gabe.” She pressed her palms against his pecs and practically dug her nails into his flesh. “You’re even sexier with your shirt off. Maybe we need to reshoot that scene with you like this—hot and naked and wet.”

Somehow, she managed to make the last five words sound like the title of a porno.

The effect was visible on Gabe’s face. His eyes widened, and he scrambled to put some space between them. “I think that would hurt Esteban’s image.”

“Why? You can be a manly stud. Besides, he’s supposed to be Mexican, right?”

“And what does that have to do with him being shirtless?” Gideon asked.

“I—uh…” Her face went as blank as her mind.