She grabbed her toiletries bag and checked out the bathroom. Tiny, but that was to be expected. Thankfully, she had her shampoo and toiletries and stuff in a bag that hung easily from a hook on the back of the door.
The tabloids, she shoved in one of the kitchen drawers and her new book went on the shelf by her bed, along with her netbook. She’d planned to do some online research but that wouldn’t be happening unless she could get a connection.
Within five minutes she was unpacked and settled in. She really needed a shower. She felt grungy after being in the car all day. Tomorrow morning, she promised herself. She’d get up early.
It only took her two minutes to drag off her clothes and pull on her sleep shirt. She took another minute to remove her watch and set the alarm. She didn’t want to oversleep. Tomorrow would be filled with meeting new people, including her fellow actors. She could read the script and maybe they could run some lines. She started to remove her necklace but stopped, deciding to keep it on.
Kellsie yanked back the covers, crawled in and pulled the sheet and blankets over her. God, she was tired. Not even a strange bed with a hard mattress was going to keep her awake tonight.
She reached over her head and turned off the lamp. The only light in the trailer was coming from the bathroom. She’d left it on in case she woke in the middle of the night and had no idea where she was. She’d slept in so many different places this past week she expected to be disoriented if she woke.
Her stomach growled, but she ignored it. Sleep was more important.
Snuggling down, she sighed. Her left hand found the claw dangling between her breasts. She wrapped her fingers around it, holding it tight. She closed her eyes and slept.
Chapter Four
A loud banging woke Kellsie. She wondered if Lonny from 3C was fixing the front door for the folks in the apartment next to her. It was slightly warped and tended to stick. The banging continued and she rolled over, pulling her pillow over her head.
“Kellsie.”
Kellsie frowned and opened her eyes as the female voice penetrated her brain. She pried her eyes open and groaned. She was in a trailer on a movie set, not at home. A quick glance at her watch made her swear. It was almost noon. She’d slept through the entire night and her alarm. She must have been even more exhausted than she thought to sleep that long and heavy.
Stumbling to the door, she unlocked and opened it. Brittany stood outside, a worried look on her face. “Did I wake you?”
Kellsie dragged a hand through her hair and tried to get her mind firing on all cylinders. “I’m really sorry. I meant to be up and around early this morning.” She did not want to get the reputation with the crew of being a diva before filming even started.
“No problem,” Brittany assured her. “The director isn’t back yet and we all knew you were just coming off a shoot and turned around and came straight here.”
Kellsie silently blessed Maury. He must have alerted the director and his staff that she was going to be tired when she finally arrived. “I just need a few minutes to catch a quick shower.”
“Sure.” Brittany motioned to the dining tent off in the distance. “You should stop by and have something to eat and meet some of the others.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” And she was. The familiar tingles began to vibrate in her stomach. God, she loved working on movies. There couldn’t possibly be a better job in the world. She got to play make-believe and create something that hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of people would view and enjoy.
Some people might call her profession frivolous, but Kellsie had long ago come to grips with their arguments. Life was hard enough. If one of her movies took a stressed-out, overworked person out of their everyday life for a few hours and gave them some pleasure, then that could only be a good thing. She was proud of what she did for a living.
“I’ll be waiting for you,” Brittany called over her shoulder as she hurried over to the dining hall.
Kellsie shook her head at the younger woman’s perkiness. But it worked for her, friendly without being vapid. “Don’t stereotype,” she warned herself. “Others do that to you.” As if being blonde meant you didn’t have the same amount of brain cells that brunettes did. Brittany was a friendly, beautiful young woman, who just happened to fill out her short shorts and tiny top in all the right places, and Kellsie was grateful she’d taken the time to stop by and wake her. There’s no telling how much longer she might have slept otherwise.
Closing the door, she marshaled her thoughts. Shower first.
Within seconds, she stripped out of her sleepwear and stepped beneath the spray of the shower. Not that it could technically be called a spray. It was more of a trickle really.
Ignoring the slight chill to the water, she squeezed bodywash onto her cleaning puff and went to work scrubbing her arms. She did well, managing to bang her elbow only twice. It got trickier when she washed her hair, but she managed to contort her body to work around the tight quarters.
Years of experience of working on low-budget movies helped. She’d showered in more than her fair share of trailer bathrooms. She hurried, not knowing yet how quickly the water would turn icy. She turned the taps off and reached for a towel.
The mirror was a little foggy but not bad. The water had been too cool to really steam it. Kellsie stared at her reflection and nodded. She looked and felt better than she had in several days. All that sleep had helped.
Her stomach growled, making her laugh. “I promise I’ll feed you.”
Wrapping the towel around her, she left the bathroom behind. It didn’t take her long to dig out some clean clothes. She stuck to jeans and a long-sleeved cotton shirt, casual and approachable. Exactly the look she was going for.
Another quick trip to the bathroom and she slicked back her hair, pulling it into a simple braid, and applied some light make-up. Giving her reflection a satisfied nod, she turned and stubbed her toe of the edge of the wall. “Damn. Damn. Damn.” She said worse curse words as she bounced off the sink when she grabbed her poor, abused foot.
“Sneakers next,” she muttered as she limped toward the bed. She sat there and pulled on her footwear. By the time she was done her toes were no longer aching quite so much and the excitement of meeting the crew was setting in.
She left her script behind, knowing she could run back and get it later. This was about eating and doing a meet-and-greet with the others. Kellsie tossed the covers over the mattress and smoothed them. It wasn’t great, but it was good enough. She opened her trailer door and took her first step into this new, exciting project.
He stood motionless, half-hidden by the bulk of the oak tree he was leaning against. The rest of him was lost in shadows. This was the woman Hades had sent him to watch, and to kill if it became necessary. But the Olympian god had other plans for Kellsie Morris if the warrior she freed couldn’t be turned. That’s assuming Hades was right and she was one of the chosen few women who could indeed free one of the warriors from his imprisonment.
He wouldn’t want to be in her shoes. He didn’t want to be in his own, but he was a warrior and had made his choice. This frail human had no choice in what was about to happen to her.
“What do you think?” Brittany, the little succubus who had been sniffing around his bed for the past few weeks, sidled up closer to him. She was a tempting tidbit, the perfect woman, unless you knew what lurked beneath the exterior packaging.
Mordecai didn’t bother to look at her or answer her question. It didn’t matter what he thought about her. He was here to do a job.
Brittany’s hand grazed his chest before slowly sliding downward. He didn’t think she’d be very happy to discover he wasn’t the least bit aroused. He struck hard and fast, grabbing her wrist before she reached her destination. She laughed, a low, sultry sound with a hint of promise. The wicked tone had lured more than one male to his doom.