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

justly famous. Their gazes met and held for a beat, then two. She couldn’t look away. That famous green gaze was magnetic. Almost hypnotic.

Why was he looking at her? It felt almost as if he was studying her. Like a bug under a microscope. She did her best not to fidget.

Then, Franny moved and blocked the view in the mirror. Thank goodness.

A moment later, Franny pronounced Katrina done for now and turned to confront her clearly reluctant next victim. Katrina didn’t exactly run from the room, but she needed a few minutes and some distance from Ren to regain her composure. She wasn’t sure what had been going on in there, but when she hit the hallway, she felt like both a coward and someone who had just decided retreat was better than standing and fighting against something she didn’t completely understand.

Katrina went to the lobby and sat down in one of the chairs, going through her notes to keep herself busy while her mind spun in all sorts of wild directions. Ren was too good looking for her peace of mind, and he’d been so nice to her. Nice and also a little distant. But all that was going to end today.

For today, they were scheduled to film Marian and Robin’s first kiss. Katrina had known it was coming and had tried her best to be professional and ignore the girlish giggles that wanted to pour forth from her mouth whenever she thought about it. She’d been extra rigorous with brushing her teeth this morning and even had mints in her bag, just in case. She was prepared, but was she ready mentally?

Sadly, she didn’t think so. Not after the previous few minutes in the makeup room.

Or had Ren been deliberately trying to unnerve her for some reason? It didn’t make sense, but the man was as inscrutable as a cat, sometimes. She never knew what he was going to do, or not do. One minute, he was being kind and solicitous. The next, he was ignoring her. It was enough to make her a little crazy.

How in the world was she going to kiss him on screen? Or anywhere, for that matter? The situation felt absurd. A movie star she’d had a crush on for years had to kiss her, and she was freaking out about it. Not necessarily in a good way.

Ren had been making movies for the past decade and had been at the top of the A list of celebrities for the past four to five years. He’d kissed all the biggest leading ladies of the day and had been pictured with supermodels and other women who were his social equals or up-and-comers in Hollywood.

Katrina was a nobody. A nobody who had crushed hard on the young Ren the first time she’d seen him in a movie. She’d followed his career to some extent, seeing each of his new movies and enjoying his performances and those mesmerizing green eyes that were, she had discovered, even more potent in person.

He had barely aged since his debut a decade or more ago. He was still fit and trim and handsome as sin. He really lived up to that promotional logo that had been used on one of his early movies. She could see no real difference in the Ren of ten years ago and the Ren of today. She would’ve thought he’d at least look a little more weathered, but no.

Ren was still as handsome as he’d been back in his first film, with no visible signs that he’d changed much at all in the intervening years. Men had it easy. They grew more mature and handsome while women just got old. At least, that’s the way it still was in Hollywood. Katrina had known, when she’d first tried to make a living at acting, that her shelf life was limited. There was a narrow band of years when a woman could play leading roles like the one she’d been given here.

Katrina had sometimes fantasized about acting again when she got older. She could play supporting characters. Mothers, aunts, crazy old cat ladies…but Sonia’s offer had come at a time when she’d given up on being the lead. Well, as the Bard said, there are stranger things in heaven and earth.

Katrina caught her breath and tried to calm herself. Within moments, she’d have to face Ren again. Franny would be with him, and the past few days had taught her that Franny was a keen observer of human nature. Katrina wanted to project a professional competence. A nonchalance that was diametrically opposed to how she was really feeling inside just thinking about what she was going to do today.

For today, she was going to kiss Rendall Smith. Glory hallelujah!

“What is it with you today, Ren?” Franny asked once the door had closed behind Kat. “You were scaring her.” Franny gestured to the door where Kat had beat a rather hasty retreat. “Your cat is in your eyes.”

“He’s always there, Fran. You know that,” he told her as he flopped down into the makeup chair and spun to face her. “He’s part of what made me so disgustingly famous.”

“I know that,” she told him, “and you know that, but little Miss Kat has no clue. Yet, she still ran from the predator.”

“Maybe she just has good instincts,” Ren said offhandedly, but he knew he wasn’t fooling Francesca.

“Maybe you should be a little more careful around the human,” Franny countered. “Now, don’t fight me on this. You may be a handsome devil, but you shine. Your natural glow needs to be toned down for film, and you know it.” She grabbed the arm of the chair and swiveled him around to face the mirror. Then, without giving him the opportunity to object, she set to work, evening out his skin tone and taking the shine off his face.

She’d have to touch him and Kat up—along with anyone else who was going to be on camera today—as needed, but