Page 52 of One Kind Hand

Deeming the coffee table a fur-free zone, he sat on the edge of it and slipped his feet into dress loafers that never would have survived today’s shoot. He’d found himself back underground—in a totally new and reinforced set of tunnels that had no pavement above them this time. He hated to admit it, but the first few moments when he’d descended that makeshift manhole had tightened his chest. Stunts rarely bothered him. In fact, he considered them perks of the job. He had fun figuring out with the stunts specialists how to make what they were doing appear real. But after yesterday . . . that had been a close one and there had been no Charlie on the set to rescue him today.

And damn he’d missed her. He’d been shooting movies for many years now and why having Charlie on set for a single day had changed his perspective so much was a mystery. But she had. A few times between scenes, he’d actually scanned the people working around him, looking for her. She was, of course, off doing her own work and he wondered where she’d had to fly her client. He had to talk himself out of texting her to say hello. He never texted anyone to say hello.

“You’re in deep, man.” Spending a single night with Charlie had hooked him. He only hoped he could convince her to stay the night again because he wanted more. He’d lucked out last night without having to actually ask her to stay. The concussion watch had been the perfect ruse, but if he wanted her to stay tonight, he’d have to outright invite her. The crazy thing was he was prepared to do just that. Maybe beg if he had to.

He could already read the tabloid headlines. Austin Rayhill Begs Pilot to Stay. Which did make him wonder how long he could keep Charlie a secret. They’d been out in public together, but no one had recognized him. Tonight, he wasn’t doing anything to disguise himself. He looked exactly like the Austin Rayhill his fans had seen in movies, countless magazines, TV shows, and internet articles. How would Charlie handle the attention? Would she revel in it or be completely turned off by it? Would tonight’s dinner put an end to whatever was happening between them?

Berto sitting on his shoe pulled Austin out of his mini panic attack. He looked down at his pup. “I hope this fancy dinner out on the town isn’t a huge mistake, Berto.” Too late to change the night’s plan though as it was four o’clock and Charlie had to be on her way by now. Besides, it was probably better to find out how she’d react to his fame in public sooner rather than later. That way they could stop this . . . thing between them before either of them got in too deep.

Austin’s phone rang and he half wondered if Charlie had been having the same thoughts he’d been having. Was she calling to cancel tonight? He picked up the phone to see Claire’s name. Hopefully his sister could talk him down from the ledge.

“I might be making a mistake,” he blurted.

“Umm . . . okay,” Claire said. “About what?”

“I asked the chopper pilot who is working on my movie out on a dinner date tonight and I’d planned to fly her to New York for a real night on the town but now I’m not sure that’s a good idea but it’s too late to cancel because she’ll be here any minute.” He heaved in a huge breath when he got to the end of his brain dump.

“Wow. Not enough commas or periods in that, Austin. Okay. Let’s start by taking another deep breath, but let’s have this one be cleansing.”

He drew in a deep inhale through his nose and slowly sifted it out through his mouth. “I don’t feel any better, Claire.”

“Austin, this isn’t like you. You’re the one who keeps the rest of us calm. I kinda don’t know what to do beyond the deep cleansing breath,” Claire said. “Why are you so freaked? You take women out on fancy dates all the time.”

“I know, I know.” He stood and paced to the kitchen and back, Berto following along. “But Charlie is . . . Charlie’s different.”

“I see,” Claire said. “So you actually like this one.”

“I do. A lot. Too much.” He raked his hand through his hair then feared he’d messed it all up and marched to the bathroom to check.

Jesus. What is wrong with me?

“She must be something to have you so frazzled, Austin. You’ve never been like this before.”

“She’s amazing, Claire. The attraction was instantaneous. The moment she hopped down from her chopper, it was as if this wave of . . . of . . . I don’t even know. I was like struck by her.”

“Hmm. This sounds serious.”

“Good serious or bad serious?”

“Both,” Claire said, further confusing him. “Good serious because these intense feelings could mean you’ve found someone who is right for you. Bad serious because you sound like you’re about to lose your shit.”

He puffed out a long breath. “Have you ever felt like this?”

“I don’t believe so, but you know how Brooke, Morgan, and I are. We don’t actually hunt for men of any substance. We’re just having fun.”

And Austin worried about that fun on a regular basis. “You’ve all been careful while I’m in Vermont, right?”

“Of course, my dear brother.”

“Because I’m taking Charlie to New York for dinner. Be real easy for me to pop home and check up on you three.”

“Great. Do it. We’d love to grill this chick.”

“Never mind. I’m not taking her anywhere near you maniacs yet.” It was definitely too soon for the meet-the-family stuff. “Seriously though, you guys are all right?”

“Oh, there he is. There’s my reasonable, level-headed, protective big brother. Hi, nice to hear you.”

“Claire . . .”