HOT SET: Playing with Fidelity (A romantic suspense novel) (20 page)

“
I’ll be back in a moment. I don’t suppose those painkillers are close are they?”

“
I’ll get them.” And she hurried off.

Rhys
walked towards the toilet block. With less effort then he expected, he got the zipper undone on his pants and in a moment was feeling a hell of a lot better. His wobbly fingers managed to get the zipper up and five minutes after leaving the campsite, walked back into the light to find Kate chewing on her lower lip in worry.

“
I was about to come and find you. I thought you might have collapsed or something back there.”

His ego was already bruised enough from his earlier crash and burn and hearing that
she thought he’d done it again was too much.

“
No. I’d never fainted before and I’m not about to do it again.”

She handed him the packet of headache pills and he cracked off three and washed them down with
the cup of water she’d also brought.

“
Now sit down and I’ll bring you some food. Paracetamol works better when you take food with it.”Kate hurried off.

Rhys
grinned at her mothering; it reminded him of his fussing mum.

She came back with a large bowl of the great-smelling stew and he almost forgot his manners reaching for it.

“This is great, thank you so much.”

H
e pushed as much into his mouth as possible before realising it was hot. His face went red and he sucked in air noisily over his burnt tongue trying to get the contents cooled.

“
Shit, that’s hot,” he wheezed.

Kate
turned her head to hide the smile. Then, taking more care, Rhys chowed-down on the delicious stew. He was so busy eating, he’d forgotten Kate and when he’d cleaned up half the bowl, he noticed her still standing next to him, her discomfit clear.

“
What’s up?”

“
Nothing...much.” She continued to fiddle with the corner of the blanket. “Yes-I just… I mean… I just don’t know how to tell you I’m grateful for what you did today. Thank you is just not enough.”

Rhys squirmed
.

“
It’s just that… well, how do you say thanks to someone who has just saved your life?”

Awkward silence fell between them
. Rhys couldn’t think of what to say either, so he just mumbled, “Aww shucks, t’was nothin’.”

She paused before saying so so
ftly he could barely hear it, “it was to me.”

And with that she bent and kissed him on the cheek before hurrying to the other side of the campsite
. Rhys watched her progress in astonishment, his cheek tingling as though her lips were still there.

He wasn’t
hungry any more.

Amelia’s mobile started to ring as she came home from work. It was Patrick Dester. He heard about the storm from the a journo friend, who’d heard it from a mate in Australia, and he was wondering if anyone had called her. Amelia ended the conversation as soon as possible and panicked, spent several hours trying to get hold of Rhys, calling in every favour she knew in order to reach him. She paced across her apartment, frantic, scoured the internet for clues but there was nothing. Finally, it was him who called her and he assured her repeatedly (and with a tone she didn’t particularly like) that he was fine.

“
But Rhys, you could have been killed.”

“
Nah, it wasn’t that bad.”

“
Well, Kathy nearly drowned.”

“
That’s Kate and it was an accident.”

“
I’m coming over.”

“
No, you don’t have to. Everything’s fine. Just stay there and finish the publicity tour.”

“
But Rhys, I want to make sure you’re okay. It’s what girlfriends are supposed to do.”

“
Thanks hun, and I appreciate you want to, but there’s really no need. I’m fine and we need to keep going on the movie. Plus, I don’t think you’ll like it out here.”

“
Why not?”

“
We’re in the middle of a desert. It’s a bit rough.”

He was right, it sounded awful
, but he’d nearly died!

“
But-”

“
Look, someone else needs to use the phone so I have to go.”

“
But – Rhys.”

“
Talk to you later. Be good...” She heard his voice fade as the phone was pulled away. Then he said, “missing you,” perfunctorily and hung up the phone.

It took all her willpower not to get onto the first plane to Australia.

Two full days after
Kate and Rhys had been pulled out of the river, they’d been prodded by every member of the medical profession in Alice Springs, questioned heavily by the insurance company, had been on long telephone calls with the directors from the production company in Melbourne and had listened to fear-stricken wailing from family and friends. The few satellite mobile phones and the single phone in the office were against someone’s ear so often the cost of the phone calls alone would exceed the entire movie budget.

‘The Incident’ had hit the media and was front page coverage during the days after the event with several enterprising journalists trying to get on set and take photos of the pair of them.

Mark had spoken to Kate many times but she didn’t want him to come out. He was days away from finishing a large development and Kate insisted she was okay, that she missed and loved him terribly but he had to get that done. He would only let her go if they spoke every day.

Finally on day three, after the numerous doctors, the studio execs and the aliens on Mars had given their all clear,
Kate and Rhys were back filming their scenes. Make-up had used some of their real injuries to add authenticity to their costumes and both felt almost back to normal.

What
wasn’t normal, however, that in last three days, a strange undercurrent had grown between them. It was an awareness and special rapport that neither dared to examine closely. Kate found Rhys watching her and to her shame, she was watching him back. She guiltily joined all the other adoring women on the set that covertly monitored Rhys’s moves. For the last three nights they’d sat by the campfire and talked for hours, long after the others had gone to bed. He’d offered to carry things for her several times and she’d offered him unnecessary pain killers twice.

She knew it was high-school behaviour but couldn’t stop it.

She adored Mark and would never dream of being unfaithful to him. In all the years she’d been with him, she’d never taken a second look at another man. She was so confused and so ashamed and just wanted this whole movie to be over so she could go home to her loving husband and life would go back to normal.

Rhys
, too, was having a hard time keeping her out of his mind. What happened in the river would galvanise any friendship, he reasoned. And then, there was Amelia. But, he was old fashioned with marriage so these feelings were a waste of time.

Useless.
Unnecessary. But still there.

He had no idea what to do… no, that wasn’t
true. He knew what to do and yet he still found himself talking to her until late at night. He tried to control himself but his eyes sought her out constantly.

He knew it was high-school behaviour but couldn’t stop it.

They spent so much time together on set and a natural, easy friendship had formed. Kate had to remind herself continually that Mark was waiting impatiently for her to return and Rhys knew he should be thinking of Amelia.

Others noticed
their attraction, it was impossible not to. Female cast members were being exclusionary when Kate talked to them during the day. Although no one said it aloud, they were jealous that she, a married woman, was getting the lion share of his attention. Trystan was more direct and at breakfast that morning had told her what everyone was saying.

Kate
was hurt by the whispers and even Rhys, normally incognisant, noticed the strange hostility. Yet, despite this, at midnight on the fourth day after the storm, they were sitting alone in a contented silence, watching the flames tickle the star-laden sky.

They’d been discussing Charlie Chaplin and other early film heroes and
Kate’s lethargy was slurring her words.

“
It’s bed time for me.” Kate stood and stretched while holding a scratchy green blanket around her shoulders. As she did, a gap formed between her black long-sleeved shirt and old jeans and Rhys saw a flash of soft skin on her hip. He swallowed.

“
Yeah, me too. Although I might stay here just a second longer, it’s awesome out here at night.”

Kate
yawned widely,”… I agree, but my eyes are not staying open long enough to see it anymore.”

She walked to where he was seated, trying to move between him and the fire. As she passed,
Kate stepped on the edge of the blanket and tripped forward. Rhys quickly grabbed for her hand to steady her. As she regained her footing, his hand remained on hers. They froze.

Kate
was staring into his shadowed eyes, gazes locked in a mystic stranglehold. He sat in her silhouette, darkened and tantalising. The currents simmered down their arms and made their touching fingers tingle. Rhys’s mouth filled with water and his head swam. They watched at each other for a year-long moment.

In that bubble of time, that fraction of a second, they were compacted into this single moment; everything else was non-existent. Silence descended, light ceased. All he had to do was pull her down and she would go without struggle. All he had to do was tug and she’d be in his arms. She wanted to go; wanted to feel him hot and strong against her and to know what he tasted like. It would be intoxicating, exciting and she blinked at the flash of erotic images scrolling behind her eyes
.

His hand was perceptibly starting to pull downwards and
Kate leant forward a fraction to follow when the loud whir of a tent zip ripping upwards sliced instantly through the bond. They both let go and Kate stepped away from Rhys as Dave’s messy head emerged from the fabric and he lurched sleepily across the campsite towards the toilets, not even glancing their direction.

Kate
walked away from Rhys, her footsteps mutedly loud on the rocky soil. Her shoulders were dropped in sad defeat and she muttered good night. At her tent, her hands shaky, she looked back momentarily as she lifted the tent zipper to see his eyes on her and she quickly disappeared into the safe, dark interior.

Rhys
watched her tent for the next five minutes before shaking his own head at his incalculable stupidity and then went to bed.

His sleep was horrid that night
; his dreams conjuring up arousing images of a seaside bedroom and Kate naked and sliding over smooth sheets with him. He woke up at 5am grumpy, sore and very horny. Even a hard slog up the side of the Range didn’t fix it.

Amelia met Megan at the suggested diner Friday night
. The cab pulled away and Amelia shivered as repressed memories slithered down her spine as the restaurant, confusingly named Treasure Diner, reminded her on the outside of the dingy places she’d waitressed at over the years. But Megan had said the food was great, so she took a deep breath and trying not to gag, opened the door and stepped into a surprise.

The interior of the cosy restaurant was gently lit by halogen drop lights, the décor homey and scattered with irregular, plush lounge chairs and coffee tables
. Pressed to the back wall were some regular tables with richly upholstered, mismatched chairs from old estates. The walls were flooded with framed photographs of everything from cars, old movie stars, animals and random people in random places, some yellow with age and some taken with the latest digital cameras. The wallpaper was a blue and yellow floral concoction straight out of the 70s with little sparkles built into the paper that twinkled as the lights swayed from air currents. Amelia loved it.

Megan was sitting at a low coffee table flanked by two high-backed arm chairs upholstered in worn soft velvet, one green and one
red. She had her messy hair tucked behind her ears and was wearing track pants and a loose t-shirt. Amelia plopped into the vacant red chair and nearly purred when the chair practically closed its arms around her. The coffee table had a scatter of papers, open notepad and a laptop spread out.

“
Great place.”

“
Isn’t it! I absolutely love it here. If I’m not here, I’m at work or home. The coffee is great, too. Want?”

“
Definitely.”

Megan got up and ordered at the counter while Amelia got her notes organised
. Megan came back carrying two glasses of water which Amelia accepted with thanks.

“
How’s Rhys?”

“
Fine, as far as I’m aware. We’ve only talked once since it happened. Being so far from civilisation, it’s hard to get service.”

Megan nodded and said,
“alright, so where do we start? How’d you go with the lawyer, Denise?”

“
Nothing. She might be retired but she still was holding onto that freakin’ loyalty clause.”

“
What about the offer of cash?”

“
Nope.”

Megan had a drink of water
. “I didn’t have any luck either. I’ve also been running some net searches on Bill and there isn’t much at all, considering how long he’s been around for. There’s something really wrong here.”

Their coffee arrived and Amelia found Megan’s prediction to be an underestimation.

“Wow.” She licked the foam off her upper lip. “Wow. Now that’s good. This is quickly becoming my favourite place too.”

“
Well, I’m happy to share it with you.” Megan smiled tentatively.

Amelia smiled back and nodded
. “I’d like that.”

They smiled again and continued to plan.