"I don't think much is hurt but my dignity," Ms. Crashed—apparently really named Kayla—said in a remarkable, rich voice of her own. "Well, that and the take, which was ruined. Thank you for helping me up."
A shiver went down Jordan's spine as she spoke, her warm husky tone suddenly triggering a memory. He knew that voice, although he wouldn't have recognized the face without it, not after the twenty-or-so years since high school. But now the serious, huge liquid blue eyes, the lush-but-terrible hair, the amazing cheekbones, all fell into place.
"Oh my God," Jordan said, thunderstruck. "Kylie?"
Chapter 3
If Kayla had a list of things she wanted to have happen, being knocked over by a dog and ruining a take was probably near the bottom of that list. She wasn'thurt: the winter coat and layers had saved her from much more than a bounce off the sidewalk. But it was embarrassing, and it meant they absolutely had to get the next take right because the film really didn't have the budget for re-shooting a scene an infinite number of times.
However, the guy responsible for knocking her over saying her name, herrealname, was much, much lower on that list of things she wanted to have happen. She didn'twantto be recognized in Virtue. She didn't want to be remembered. She didn't especially want to be there, because of the risk of those things happening. And now practically the first person she'd interacted with who wasn't an actual member of the film crew…knew who she was.
Anderson said, "Kylie?" with interest, and Kayla was suddenly painfully aware that there were about thirty of her coworkers standing around, getting a front-row seat to Kayla's Hometown History Coming Home To Haunt Her. She couldprobably make a movie out of the idea. She just didn't know if it would be a comedy or a horror film.
There was no backing out of it now. Pretending shewasn'tKylie Quinn would just be embarrassing. So Kayla gathered herself, tried not to rub her hip where she'd landed on the sidewalk, and actually looked at the guy whose dog had knocked her over.
It took a few seconds before she said her own faint, "Oh my God. Jordan Rhodes. I didn't recognize you."
She hadn't. She wouldn't have. Kayla remembered Jordan as a slim, not terribly tall kid a couple years ahead of her in school. He'd done drama and been in art classes; that was where she knew him from. She'd liked him, in a sort of generalized 'upperclassman she only had a few real interactions with' kind of way. He'd been a terrific artist; Kayla remembered that for sure.
He'd grown uptall. Tall and broad-shouldered, with a long, well-shaped jaw that framed a smile whose dimple it turned out she remembered, too. A blush of heat ran through her at that dimple, in fact, casting her back to high school and the sudden conviction that she'd forgotten how she'd nursed a liiiiiiiittle crush on Jordan Rhodes. He wore a winter cap shoved back on his head, revealing a bit of thick sandy blonde hair that tended toward curls, and darkish eyebrows over twinkling brown eyes. He had a great nose. Who ever cared about noses? It turned out Kayla did, at least in this case. He was absolutely devastatingly attractive. He was?—
Jordan said, "Kylie," again in complete delight. "I didn't recognize you either. What are you doing here? I'm so sorry," he added—repeated—with a gesture around at the chaos his dog had caused. "You look great! Look, I'm really sorry, but would you like to go get a cup of coffee and catch up? I'll explain the whole mess with the dog—this is Barney, I just picked him up todog sit this morning and I had no idea he would bolt like that—but it's great to see you!"
It was not great to see Jordan. It was absolutely not great, because Kayla had a whole series of terrible romances just barely in her rear view mirror, and she was not prepared for Jordan Rhodes, high school cutie-nerd and adult hottie,to be her fated mate.
Woo-hoo!her owl said joyfully.
"No, obviously you can't have coffee right now," Jordan went on with an incredible amount of cheer for a guy who'd just let his dog knock somebody over. The dog, which wasn't all that big, was sitting against his legs now, looking abjectly sorry for having caused trouble. "What's going on, some kind of news segment? I'm sorry I got in the way. Oh, God, I hope this doesn't turn into a 'local man is a clown' thing. Are you doing some kind of interview? That's great, good job, what are you up to these days, anyway?"
Kayla cleared her throat. "I'm filming a movie."
"Nokidding, holy crap, really? That's amazing! Is that what you're doing these days? I've been an extra on a couple of films, wow it's boring. Is that what you're doi—" Jordan's mouth froze mid-word. His entire self froze, in fact, like there would be a record scratch and a voiceover saying,I bet you're wondering how I got here,before the film rewound to explain the backstory.
Kayla's owl perked up, watching Jordan carefully. When prey went still like that, it meant it was afraid it had been seen. The owl was prepared to throw itself on Jordan if he moved even an inch.
Hunt, the owl said with injured dignity.I willhuntour fated mate, not throw myself on him. That's whatyouwant to do.
I do not!
The owl gave her a slow blink that Kayla, with great effort, managed to ignore. Jordan was now moving, but only withhis gaze: it went back and forth, taking in the film crew, the lights, the cameras, all of it. Somebody was brushing snow off Anderson, who was gazing rather soulfully at Jordan. Well, Kayla couldn't blame him for that: Jordan had grown up very nicely. Cyril, their director, was around the corner yelling, but most of the rest of the crew was grinning dippily between Jordan and Kayla, obviously waiting to see what happened next.
What happened was that Jordan's gaze came back to Kayla and he swallowed. "You're, uh. You're not an extra, are you."
She didn't want to smile. That felt like it would be encouraging not only Jordan, but the entire, riveted crew. The corner of her mouth betrayed her and Kayla bit the inside of her cheek, trying to control the little grin. "No, I'm not."
"You're, uh." Jordan cleared his throat, glanced past her at Anderson, and visibly winced from the bottom of his soul as his attention returned to her. "You're the star, aren't you."
Kayla had to suck both her cheeks in to keep the smile from winning. "I am."
Jordan's whole face crumpled. "And I just ruined your meet cute, didn't I."
"Actually," Anderson said before Kayla could speak, "I think you just orchestrated a real one. Ethan Anderson, but for God's sake, call me Anderson. It's nice to meet you…Jordan, was it?" He stepped forward, offering Jordan his hand, and Kayla's attempts at keeping her laughter under control completely failed as Jordan made an incoherent noise, shook Anderson's hand, and forgot to let go as he gazed, starry-eyed, up at her costar.
Kayla couldn't blame him at all. Anderson wasridiculouslyattractive, with chiseled cheekbones and a jaw that superheroes would weep to claim as their own. He had soft hair that fell injust exactlythe waves and curls that the hair and makeup team wanted them to, and his dark gaze offered deliciously wicked promises to be fulfilled in the deep of night. Hedressed beautifully—even his home-town flannel and jeans were somehow elevated just by being lucky enough to be on his tall, strong, muscular body—and Kayla knew that his hands were unbelievably soft, the mark of a man who had never done physical labor in his life.
Jordan, with unmistakable sincerity, said, "Wow," to Anderson. "I'm, hi. You're, wow. Jordan. No. I'm Jordan, yes. Anderson. Hi."
A giggling rush ran over the watching crew. Kayla wasn't immune to it herself, although she mashed a hand over her mouth to try to muffle it. Her owl hooted,But he'sourmate!in dismay, and Kayla broke down in giggles behind her hand.
