Acting Brave (Fenbrook Academy #3) by Helena Newbury Page A

“Let’s do this.”
    The guy I was partnered with sauntered forward—the one who’d play my love interest for the whole series, if we both got the parts. And revealed behind him was Ryan. I hadn’t seen him come back in. My heart lifted—I could talk to him after I’d done my scene, take him off somewhere quiet and apologize and ask about Hux—
    Oh God.
    Ryan was staring right at me, his eyes locked on mine. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even look away. I knew I needed to be looking at my partner, but suddenly that wasn’t even an option.
    And then Ryan was walking toward me.
    Dixon looked confused. “Uh—” he started.
    Ryan marched straight past him, his sheer physical size allowing no arguments.
    The actor I was partnered with was still swaggering toward me, finishing right up close— too close. He smiled an animal smile and I saw his eyes flick to my breasts.
    Ryan slapped one massive hand on the guy’s shoulder and pulled him away from me. The actor’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish’s. “What? What are you—?”
    “You’re not good enough for her,” Ryan told him, his voice low and dangerous.
    The blood was thundering in my ears, drowning out the worried hubbub of the crowd. What the hell was he doing?!
    “Uh—” said Dixon. “Can we just stick to—?”
    “ Back off!” snarled Ryan, and Dixon wilted in the face of his anger. God, he was completely out of control! All that bottled-up rage I’d seen in his eyes was coming out. And the spark that had set him off was...me. You’re not good enough for her.
    My heart melted.
    Ryan moved in close to me, closer even than the actor had done. But the feeling was completely different. With the actor, I’d felt myself tense as he breached my personal space. With Ryan, I wanted to lean in and drag him closer, feel that solid wall of muscle against my softness. I wanted to plaster myself to him until there wasn’t a molecule of air between us. I could feel that I was panting, my mouth hanging open in shock, my face upturned to him. Somewhere far away, the sane part of my brain was screaming at me, telling me to snap out of it. To ask Ryan what the hell he thought he was doing. To get back to the scene.
    “What—” I said. “What are you—?”
    “I want you,” he said.
    The world stopped.
    “I’ve wanted you since last winter,” he said. “When I saw you in the alley. I can’t stop thinking about you.”
    I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. Had he just said what I thought he’d said? I’d known that he liked me, but— No! No, no no! God, I can’t! Not Ryan! I’d led him on, allowing myself my stupid, stupid Ryan Moments and now he was telling me how he felt.
    And if he did that, there was a real danger I was going to tell him how I felt.
    I took a shuddering breath as I felt his hand against my cheek, his warm palm cradling it. His fingers stroked softly through my hair. “I need you,” he said. “I have to have you.”
    I swallowed. “We—We can’t,” I said. I was no longer acting. I’d forgotten about the lights and the cameras and the people watching. All I cared about was him, this gorgeous, strong man who was laying himself bare for me. Who thought I was a real person and not just an illusion. I had to stop him, or I’d break his heart. “I can’t be with you,” I managed.
    His other hand was coming closer and God it was on my waist, tendrils of fire spreading through me from every touch of his fingers. That hand felt like the most solid, trustworthy thing I’d ever felt in my life, like it would stay there even if everything else slipped away. I wanted to nestle into it and never break contact again. Somewhere, distantly, was the thought that this is your big break and it’s being destroyed. But even that didn’t seem important, right then.
    “I don’t care,” he said. His face was coming closer, that gorgeous, full lower lip so kiss ably soft, his jaw set with such determination that it looked