to Sandy now? Letting her touch him? Telling her about the brother and sister he’d have to get rid of before they could be together again? Verity’s heart bled at the thought, but her imagination was already churning. She had to see him. She had to look in his eyes to know that they were going to be okay . . . or not.
She worried her bottom lip, thinking about Beverly waiting for the Viking helmets.
Well, she can just get them her damned self, thought Verity, pushing open the stockroom door and letting it slam behind her as she beelined for the stables.
***
Colt ran his forearm over his drenched brow, looking back and forth between Shawn and Sebastian, who were also taking a break. All three men had taken off their shirts an hour ago, and they all glistened with sweat. They’d been at it for hours now, choreographing a new scene where the Viking, Gaelic, and Renaissance Knights fight to the death, but Morgan still wasn’t satisfied with the routine.
“Shawn,” said the production designer, Morgan, looking at her notes, “what if you headlocked Sebastian from behind and pushed him into Colton? That would give you ten seconds to grab the mace while Colton’s squire offered him a sword.”
Shawn looked doubtfully at Sebastian, who was a head taller than he. “Uh, not sure that would work.”
Morgan’s lips twitched with annoyance. “Okay. Colt, you headlock Sebastian. Shawn, you do a back roll and grab your sword.”
Colt shook his head. “He lost his sword three minutes ago to me.”
“Ahhh, fuck,” said Morgan, looking up at the blaring late afternoon sun, which baked the equine practice ring. “Take ten, okay? Let me work this out. You guys get some water.”
All three muttered their assent, and Colt headed toward the stable that housed Thor, where Joe kept a small fridge of bottled water. The dim light made him blink as his boots scuffed over the straw on the cement floor. He didn’t see her at first, but suddenly there she was in front of him.
Sandy Rucker.
After two years away.
“Colt, you fuckin’ stallion,” she purred, stepping out of the shadows.
“Sandy?” he said, squinting at her. “What are you . . . you’re back?”
“Mm-hm,” she said, stepping toward him. “My sister’s husband is sick so I’m helpin’ out for a month or two. Got my old job back. Glad to see me?”
He took a deep breath, his eyes scanning her body reflexively. One thing was certain: Sandy had always been hot. At five nine and wearing three-inch heels, she looked him almost in the eyes, the emerald orbs popping from her creamy-white skin like gemstones. Her lips were as full and red as they’d been two years ago, and Colt had a sudden flashback to them clamped around his cock and inhaled sharply, meeting her eyes.
What had she asked him? Fuck. He couldn’t remember.
She chuckled, a low throaty laugh that told him she hadn’t given up smoking since moving away. “Go ahead and look. I like it.”
He took a step back, frowning at her. “I’m with someone now.”
“Ohhh.” Her eyes widened innocently. “You don’t say.”
“Yeah.”
“Not the titless little blonde in the gift shop?”
“You already know,” he said, putting his hands on his hips.
“You can’t be serious,” she said, thrusting her size-D chest his way as she pushed her breasts up and over her corset until he could see the edge of the dark pink flesh that circled her nipple. “We had a good thing, lover.”
“We had a shallow thing, Sandy.”
“You want something . . . deeper?”
Her eyes dropped to his chest, tracing the lines and ripples of his naked muscles, and fuck, but the heat in her eyes made his cock jump without warning, and he hated himself for it because she fucking noticed.
“Oh, ho!” she said, laughing as her eyes slid slowly back up his chest to meet his scowl. “Maybe you liked shallow more than you remember. I know I liked shallow. A lot.”
“No, I . . . fuck this. I have to go,” he muttered, totally disgusted with himself, even though his reaction was physiological and had no bearing on his feelings for Sandy, which amounted to less than nothing.
He was in love with Verity. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Had she heard that Sandy was back? Did she know? Fuck. Her words—I’m not good at sharing—suddenly resonated in his head. He needed to see her, to talk to her and make sure that she knew that