Star Struck by Laurelin Paige

rather, if Nat had ever shot anywhere but on a set so she added, “Location gets old fast. It’s lonely and lacks amenities.”
    Nat nodded again. She nodded so often and so enthusiastically Heather decided to nickname her Bobblehead. In her head, of course. She’d never say it to Nat’s face.
    Also in her head she imagined smacking herself for her constant rude inner-dialogue.
    “Our set looks awesome too,” Bobblehead said, unaware of the less-than-nice thoughts running through Heather’s mind. “I can’t believe they built it under pressure. And the crew…” Natalia leaned in, lowering her voice. “There’s at least one hottie.”
    “You mean a carpenter?” Did her nipples just perk up at the thought of a hot carpenter? Down girls—fat chance it’s Seth.
    “I don’t know. Whatever they call those guys with all the tools.”
    Normally Heather would have made some snarky comment about Nat’s naiveté, at least to herself, but the idea that it could be Seth had her distracted, scanning the set behind them for anyone that might be a carpenter. She spotted someone with a tool belt. Not Seth. Not really hot either, but maybe Nat’s thing was the uniform, not the actual man. Heather nodded her head toward him. “That guy?”
    Natalia nodded her head in another direction. “That one.”
    Heather followed her gaze.
    And nearly peed.
    Was loss of bladder control an early sign of pregnancy? Or was it just a sign of pure and utter shock at realizing the hot carpenter was her hot carpenter?
    She didn’t mean to stare, but she couldn’t help herself. He looked even yummier than he had at the Broad Stage—he hadn’t worn a belt then, she hadn’t gotten to see him use his tools. Now, he stood behind a set piece, securing a loose board with a nail gun. Why the sight had her rubbing her legs together like a cricket singing a lullaby, she had no idea.
    And as if he could hear her cricket song, he turned his head and stared directly at her, his eyes nailing her across the distance as efficiently as he’d nailed his set piece. Even if she wanted to look away, she couldn’t. She was glued to him, the world seeming to disappear around them as his lips slowly curled into a sexy grin.
    Then he was walking toward them, closing the space between them with sure-footed steps that exuded nothing but pure male confidence. She was heady from his stride alone. When he was near enough for her to catch his scent, her knees wobbled. Holy shit, what the man did to her…
    Natalia’s eyes flitted back and forth from Seth to Heather. “He’s coming over here,” she whispered with an excitement that made Heather oddly pissy.
    “Yeah, I know him.” She meant her words to claim him. Though she was in no way with Seth, it didn’t make him free game to anyone else. As if that made any sense.
    “Lucky,” Nat said under her breath as Seth reached them.
    He crossed his arms over his chest—had his arms always been that buff? It was sort of disgusting in a totally hot way. “Heather,” he said with a nod.
    Did the sound of his voice turn everyone to jelly or just her?
    “Seth. Fancy seeing you here.” Her voice was terse, but his smile widened anyway, increasing her pissyness. Why was he here? On her set. And why did it make her so damn unsettled?
    “I don’t think anyone’s ever said fancy in reference to me before.”
    “I imagine they haven’t.” In direct contrast to Heather’s acerbic tone, Natalia’s dripped with sugar and honey and all those sweet girly things that a woman put in her voice when interested in a guy.
    Heather didn’t hide her eye roll. “Seth, this is Natalia Lowen.” As she made the introduction, Heather felt a sharp pain to the chest that she didn’t quite recognize. Maybe it was indigestion. Didn’t pregnant women get all sorts of heartburn?
    Seth took Nat’s outstretched hand. “I know who you are, Natalia.”
    Heather wrapped her arms around herself, trying to warm up from the sudden