High-Stakes Bachelor. Cindy Dees

this fight sequence was more about grappling and falling than throwing punches. Still, Ana was embarrassed on behalf of all women to watch the other girls muff their way through fake fighting.

      The stuntman and casting director looked bored out of their minds. Whenever a superhot blonde with impressive cleavage came along, they perked up a little. But that was the extent of it.

      “Next!” an assistant with a clipboard called.

      “Hold up,” the stuntman complained. “I need to piss.”

      The casting director huffed. “Make it fast.”

      A male voice, familiar to her from movie theaters, piped up. “I’ll take over fighting until he gets back.”

      Ana turned, gaping. OMG. Jackson Prescott in the flesh. The star of the movie being cast stepped out of the shadows beyond the stage lights. He was a muscular, bronzed god of a man with sun-bleached hair and golden-hazel eyes that leaped off a movie screen and melted hearts all over the movie-going world. And in person...well, he was even hotter. Squeals, followed by an audible series of sighs, went up from the crowd of starlets. Ana was a little ashamed to realize she’d contributed to the collective swoon.

      “Who’s next?” Jackson asked the clipboard girl.

      “That would be Number 127.”

      Oh. Crap. That was her. Ana lurched forward. She caught her foot on the edge of the raised stage and narrowly avoided face-planting as she stumbled into the wash of down lighting.

      “You sure you want to try fighting?” Jackson joked. “Maybe you should master walking first?”

      A titter of laughter went up from the Barbie doll brigade, and her face erupted in heat. She opened her mouth to make a clever quip back, but no sound came out. Instead, she raised her hands defensively in front of her and settled into a fighting stance.

      “Okay, then,” Jackson murmured. He stepped up to her, and she was abruptly struck by how much taller and more muscular than her he was. The guy had to be pushing six foot four. And he was so pretty she had trouble tearing her stare away from his face. The combination of boyish charm and masculine confidence was mesmerizing, and his eyes were a warm golden-green that almost seemed lit from within.

      “Let’s do this,” he rumbled low and sexy.

      Her insides twisted with shocking lust that distracted her just as he pounced. She barely dodged in time as his fist flew at her face. Wow, he was fast. The swiftness of the leg that swept her feet to the side caught her by surprise, too, and she slammed to the ground on her back as he jumped on top of her.

      Her breath whooshed out on a grunt of shock and pain as she fought to draw the next one. Jackson straddled her stomach, pinning her down with his superior weight.

      A brief look of disappointment crossed his face. She was supposed to have swung back at him with her fists and rolled aside before he could land on top of her, but she’d blown the move and let him pin her arms. He looked like he’d already mentally checked her off the list and moved on to the next starlet in the audition. In fact, seeming supremely bored, he went off script and reached down to wrap his hands around her neck as if to punctuate her failure.

      But as his fingers tightened around her larynx, panic roared to the fore. Black night closed in on her, and she gasped for air as other big hands tightened around her neck. Dying. She was dying. Helplessness washed over her. She had to find a way to fight off her would-be killer. Had to live—

      Fight, Ana. Live. She kicked her right leg up frantically, jamming her toes into the back of his head sharply enough to make him turn her neck loose and block her next kick with his forearm. She dragged in a rasping breath.

       Get. Off. Me.

      She fought like a tiger, twisting and turning violently between his knees, wrenching an arm free. She threw a punch at his face and connected solidly with his jaw. He lurched back and she tore her other arm loose. She flailed at him like a wildcat, unreasoning rage joining her panic.

      He blocked her blows, which flew at him thick and fast, until he managed to catch her left wrist in his right hand. He yanked it over her head. She got in one last body blow with her right fist before he snagged that wrist, as well. He yanked it up, stretching her out flat beneath him. He sprawled on top of her, using his superior weight to physically subdue her.

      Not that she went down without a fight. She wriggled and writhed beneath him, seeking a weakness, desperate to throw him off.

      A chuckle vibrated in her ear. “Fiery little thing, aren’t you?”

      Startled, she froze beneath her attacker—no, wait. Beneath Jackson Prescott. Audition. Movie. Fake fight. Not trying to kill her.

      She went limp beneath him, and his big body pressed down on her, overwhelming in its hard planes and bulging muscles. One of his thighs pressed intimately between hers, and his chest crushed her breasts until she couldn’t draw a full breath. His face was about eight inches from hers. And the bastard was grinning down at her.

      If sparks could actually fly from a person’s eyes, then they were crackling forth from his, all gold and green and smoking hot, snapping back and forth between the two of them as she glared back at him. She registered disbelief as something deep and unwilling inside her responded instinctively and powerfully to the man’s raw sex appeal.

      “Thank you, Number 127,” the casting director called.

      With a quick flex of muscular arms, Jackson did a push-up over her and jumped to his feet. “Nice fight.”

      Vague shock at having survived the attack washed over her...no, not an attack. Just pretend. She sagged against the mat, emotionally exhausted. She’d made it. She was still alive. “Thank you, Mr. Prescott.”

      Memory of that horrible night retreated back into its dark little cave in her mind. The lime color of the green screen set replaced the impersonal blackness of a cold night sky.

      “Call me Jackson.” His gaze slid down her body as she lay between his feet, taking in every detail of her appearance with disconcerting thoroughness. He held a friendly hand down to her. Embarrassed, she skipped his hand and jumped to her feet, shooting him a patently fake, everything’s-peachy-keen grin.

      “You’re not what I expected,” he commented thoughtfully.

      “Um, neither are you. I thought I’d be fighting one of the stunt coordinators. I was hoping to pick up some stunt work.”

      “I think you may be destined for more than that,” Jackson replied, his voice a purring caress down her spine.

      Ho. Lee. Cow. Was he flirting with her? With a soundstage full of Playboy Bunny blondes to choose from?

      “I’ll put in a good word with the producers for you,” he remarked drolly as if it was some kind of inside joke.

      She frowned, not sure how to take that. Confused, she dusted off her rear end and headed offstage. The other stuntman returned from the restroom and took Jackson’s place on the mat as the other actresses closed in around Ana aggressively, demanding to know what it was like to roll around with Jackson Prescott.

      One especially gorgeous girl hissed, “You think you’re so special getting to audition with Jackson Prescott. This job’s mine and no one’s going to steal it from me.”

      Wow. Venom much? Ana sidled away from the nasty woman and slung her cheap nylon gym bag over her shoulder. She turned for the exit, but clipboard girl was right behind her. Ana drew up, startled.

      “Is the phone number on your head shot the one Mr. Prescott should use to call you?”

      Ana blinked, stunned. “Yes. That’s my cell phone.”

      “Keep it turned on,” the assistant murmured under the background noise of the last audition finishing and the mob of auditionees dissolving into chatter.

      She nodded at the assistant, uncomfortable.