Page 8 of In His Skates

“Forgetting to brush your teeth isn’t a medical condition,” I grit out.

“Come on, guys. I thought you were old friends,” Vincent pipes up again, and I can hear the frustration in his tone.

Damn it. I know Keanu ate garlic bread and drank coffee before the kiss scene on purpose, counting on me recoiling. He wants to make me look bad. If I had known beforehand, I would have breathed through my mouth. I don’t want to be labeled a diva by anyone, but I’m sure that’s exactly how I’m coming across.

“All right. You guys take five. And for the love of God, someone please get Keanu a mint.”

I skate away from the bane of my existence and sit on the bench where Flora is waiting to retouch my makeup. I don’t think I need a touch-up, but it’s normal for makeup artists to do that whenever we have breaks between shoots. She just powders my nose, then waves Keanu over.

“What are you doing?” I hiss.

“Fixing his bad breath. You still have to kiss him, right?”

Keanu approaches us, curiosity gleaming in his blue eyes. “What’s up?”

Flora pulls a silk pouch from her pocket and tells Keanu to turn his palm up. She then drops a homemade mint onto it.

“What’s this?” He looks at the mint with suspicion.

“That’s my version of an Altoids. It’s a million times better, though. Go on, try it.”

“You’d better eat that, or I swear to God, I’m going to bite you when you come near me again with that rotten breath,” I say.

He arches a brow. “What makes you think your breath is any better?”

“Here, Leigh, have one too.”

I accept the offer so Keanu doesn’t have an excuse not to eat his. We keep glaring at each other as we pop our mints into our respective mouths. Winter explodes on my tongue, making my eyes water.

Keanu widens his eyes. “Whoa. What did you put in this?”

“It’s a family secret.” Flora powders his nose, catching him by surprise.

He jerks back and loses his balance, almost falling on his ass. Too bad he catches himself in time. “Hey! A bit of warning, lady.”

I notice Vincent looking in our direction. “Come on. Our five minutes are up.”

I skate ahead of him, but Keanu is faster and zooms past me. Show-off. He’s always been like that. I’ve shared a rink with him plenty of times. I used to play hockey too, but then I caught the acting bug and focused on that instead.

Keanu and I return to our marks, and when Vincent calls action, I get into the zone. I’m prepared in case Flora’s mint didn’t help Keanu’s stinky breath. When I skate toward him, I picture myself going toward Jimmy McCoy, my biggest celebrity crush when I was a teen. It helps to bring all the feelings I need to convey in this scene.

I begin to slow down, but Keanu keeps skating at full speed. When he stops in front of me abruptly, he creates a powder of crushed ice that gets all over my legs. He’s still playing stupid games. Dumbass. But I won’t fall for it this time.

I look into his eyes, conveying surprise and yearning, just like Vincent wants. By some miracle, Keanu gets into his character as well, and for the first time ever, he doesn’t look at me as if I’m his enemy. He’s staring at me as though I’m the only thing that matters in the world, and hell, it does something to me. His blue eyes are acting like hook, line, and sinker, and my body is saying reel me in.

I lean away from him, shuffling back, but he wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me closer, and with his free hand, he pinches my chin, tilting my face up. My pulse accelerates, and a rush of excitement goes through me. This isn’t acting. My reaction is real.

Keanu’s lips curl upward in a lopsided grin. I’ve seen that expression on his face many times before—not aimed at me, but at girls he was about to make out with in high school.

Then he kisses me, and a zing of pleasure races down my spine. Grabbing his arms, I relax into him.

What the hell! I’m not supposed to be having any of these visceral reactions to Keanu. But when he deepens the kiss, coaxing my lips open with his tongue—something he wasn’t supposed to do—anger snuffs away any sort of pleasurable sensation from my body.

I shove him back. “What the hell, Keanu!”

He smiles like a fiend. “What?”

Vincent yells, “Cut!” in the background, but my fury blocks his voice.