Nolan was two minutes from his
call to the set, and his makeup artist, Cynthia, was feverishly reworking his
eyeliner where it had run in the heat of the scene they'd been shooting all
day. She was patting with this and dabbing with that, all the while biting her
bottom lip in that way that told Nolan it wasn't going well.
"They might just have to let
me take it all off and start fresh, I just don't know what they expect me to do
with four minutes in this heat," she scowled as she dabbed a bit more.
"I'm sure it will look
fine," Nolan said. "You always deliver. But I have to admit, I do
like the way you nibble on your lips when you're nervous."
Blushing, she paused for a
second. She met his gaze and her eyes skittered away from his. "Thanks for
the compliment, and as for the lip thing, it's still a no, Mr. Ridley."
"Cynth, it's been two months
now, I think it's time you started calling me Nolan," he chided with a
mischievous grin on his handsome face.
"I'm sorry Mr.--Nolan,"
she said. "Now hold still! They're giving you the signal and I've just got
to make this last little dab." Sighing, she lifted the dark kohl pencil
from his eyelid and gestured that she was through.
"How do I look?" He
asked. He puffed his mostly naked torso and flexed his biceps, which were
gleaming with the oils she'd rubbed into them just moments before.
"Like a sexy beast. Now go,
before they fire me for keeping you so long!" She shoved him gently toward
the cameras, shaking her head.
Nolan Ridley was indeed a sexy
man, and he knew it. In the eight weeks since they'd hired her to replace his
previous makeup artist, she'd seen him move through the women on the set like
wildfire, each one seeming not to mind when their one-night stands never turned
into anything more. If anything, they seemed almost grateful to have become one of his conquests!
Somehow, Nolan had given them the
night of their lives, which they'd willingly offered in return for an
appearance at some event that involved the paparazzi. Then he'd simply moved on
to the next willing female, and she had no idea how he'd managed to do so
without the women hating his guts as well as causing strife between the other
women on the crew who competed for his attention.
It was a mystery to her, but she
could only assume he was as good in bed as they all claimed. She also knew he
was very generous with them afterwards, giving them a "hey, thanks for
playing on the Ridley gameshow--here are your parting gifts" sort of prize
that seemed to cause them to bear no ill will towards him or the next female on
his list.
Well, whatever it was, Cynthia
had no intentions of becoming another notch on his belt. Those bronzed biceps
and that delicious face were hers for as long as it took to cover them in
makeup each day, but as soon as he was in front of the cameras, he belonged to
the world.
