The Jaguar Star (Tales of the Were: Jaguar Island Book 4) by Bianca D'Arc (the first e reader .TXT) 📕

Sonia finally called a halt to the kissing. She was both relieved and disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to go on kissing Ren anymore. Only an hour or so of intermittent kisses, and she was very much afraid that she was already addicted.

Anything she had expected of Ren’s kiss had been grossly mistaken. He kissed even better than he looked, and that was saying something. If she’d been wearing socks, he would’ve knocked them clean off. Her head had spun from the moment he’d touched her, and it had only gotten worse—or better, depending on your point of view—as the kissing had gone on.

She had a quick scene to film that afternoon, where she needed to look a little shell-shocked from the kiss, so she stayed on set when Ren left. Sonia worked with her to get just the shots she wanted, mostly consisting of close-ups. As time passed, Kat felt the reaction high from kissing Ren fade from her body, and by the time she was done filming, she felt almost normal again.

That is, she felt normal until she stepped beyond the pool of bright light in front of the cameras and into the darker recesses of the large stone building. Ren was there. Watching from the shadows. The moment she saw him, her body went on high alert, once more.

“Have you been here the whole time?” she asked, surprised as he walked closer to meet her.

He shrugged. “I wanted to see how you were getting along. Looked good to me. Lots of money shots there, if I’m not much mistaken.”

She walked beside him as they headed for the exit at the back of the building. “Really? How can you tell?”

“You get a feel for these things after a few years of doing this,” he replied vaguely. “Sonia was right to cast you in this. The camera loves your face. You’re ridiculously photogenic.”

She laughed and looked over at him as he walked beside her. “Coming from the most photogenic man of his generation, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

He held up one hand palm outward in a sign of denial. “Oh, I can’t take any credit for what other people think. It’s just these peepers that people seem to find interesting.”

“Your eyes?” She was surprised at his humility. “Yeah, they are mesmerizing. Until I met you, I thought maybe there was some photo enhancing going on.”

He shrugged again. “An accident of birth. Not something I can control, really. But they brought me to this career and made me what I am, so I can’t complain.”

He opened the door for her as they went outside, and they both heard Sonia call lunch for the crew at about the same time. He escorted Kat toward the picnic pavilion. She knew the buffet tables would be overrun shortly, if they didn’t get there first. Of course, they were still both in costume, so they’d probably have to detour through the costume trailer before it would be safe to eat.

“Are you hungry?” she asked, then thought better of her words. “What am I saying? You’re always hungry.” She laughed and rolled her eyes at him as she picked up her skirts, preparing to make a dash for the costume trailer. “If we hurry, we might be able to get back to the buffet before everyone else demolishes it.”

“You’re on,” he replied, a smile lighting his face and sparkling in those famous green eyes. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Eleven

Katrina began jogging toward the costume trailer, which was parked on the other side of the picnic pavilion. Ren, politely, didn’t run ahead of her but kept pace solicitously, as if ready to catch her if she fell. Unfortunately, that was an all-too-real possibility, running in a long gown that kept wanting to slide out of her grasp.

She felt younger than she had in a very long time, reaching the trailer out of breath and laughing like a kid. Ren, of course, physical specimen that he was, wasn’t even breathing hard. He went ahead with one of the helpers that would take his costume from him and care for it. There were separate little cubicles for each of them, to give them a little privacy while they changed.

Catching her breath, Katrina went into hers and quickly changed into her own clothes, giving the gorgeous dress to another helper, who would clean it, if necessary, and hang it up for her. She found Ren waiting for her outside, at the steps of the trailer. They’d both changed quickly and were right next to the pavilion, so they were able to get to the buffet before too many of the crew had arrived.

“Good timing,” Ren observed, looking around the pavilion. “You’re faster than I thought you’d be.”

“I’m not exactly sure how to take that,” she quipped, making a face at him, “but if it means we get first pick of lunch, then it has to be a good thing, right?”

“Absolutely right,” he agreed and ushered her to the very short line forming at the end of the buffet line.

Ren handed her a plate, and they both took their choices from the spread in front of them. Ren, she noticed, loaded up with meat, of which there were many varieties. She made herself a decadent salad with hard-boiled egg, chickpeas, cheddar and a dash of ranch dressing. Not quite what she normally ate, but she was done filming for the day, so she felt a little indulgence was in order.

“I see you’re really going to town with that ranch dressing,” Ren observed with a glint of humor in his gaze as he looked at her plate.

They had sat down a table on the outskirts of the pavilion where others could join them, if they wished. As the place filled up, Katrina was sure they’d have company at their table, but for now, they had it all to themselves.

“I honestly don’t know how you eat the way you do and still look as good as you do,” Katrina replied.

Ren puffed