Hollywood Merman PG-13 Version Page 5

  Chapter 5: Romantic Koi

  Vivien was currently busy filming the scenes in The Little Merman where Prince Dylan was wooing the princess while the merprince watched from the sea. As Vivien enjoyed a ‘fake’ picnic outing with the handsome Dylan on the beach, she couldn’t help but wonder if Levi really were out there watching them from behind that rock in the ocean that she could see in the distance.

  Vivien shook her head of such silly thoughts. No. He wasn’t out there. Director Maverick had told her that Levi had been given the day off, so surely he was at Poseidon’s Trident cooking up some amazing, orgasmic seafood cuisine.

  “Princess?” Dylan’s voice cut through her thoughts.

  Oops! “Uh, yes? Whoops…line?” Vivien called out.

  “CUT!” Director Maverick yelled out angrily. He took his baseball cap off and rubbed at his buzz cut of black hair in a frustrated gesture. Scott stomped over towards Vivien and Dylan, and placed his hands on his hips as he glared at the actress. “Vivien! Where is your head this morning? You’re supposed to have your full attention on Prince Dylan right now. You’re supposed to be falling in love with Dylan!”

  Supposed to be falling in love with Dylan. Vivien shot Dylan an apologetic look. “I’m really sorry I-” Vivien’s words died in her throat when she saw the look Dylan was giving her - it was so angry and cold. But just as quickly as she’d seen the look it vanished. Did I just imagine that? She rubbed her arms unconsciously, feeling unsettled.

  Dylan smiled charmingly at Vivien. “Don’t worry about it, Vivi.”

  Director Maverick was still frowning. “Let’s take a break. Vivien, I want you to concentrate on what Princess Vivien is feeling during this scene. She’s on a picnic with a handsome prince who claims to be her savior. She’s falling for him despite her desire to be free and unmarried.”

  Vivien nodded as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. They would have to reshoot the scene because of her. “Understood, Sir. I’ll do my best.”

  Director Maverick clapped his hands. “Ten minute break everyone!”

  Manager Charlie ran over with a folding chair for Dylan and set it down on the beach. From out of nowhere Charlie whipped out a purple velvet cushion that had gold tassels on it and which he set down upon the chair next. Dylan took a seat, kicked his legs out, and held his hand out expectantly to Charlie. “Gatorade.”

  “Yes, Sir.” Charlie took off the backpack he was wearing, set it down on the beach, unzipped it, and removed a blue Gatorade. He handed the chilled beverage to Dylan.

  Dylan took the drink, unscrewed the cap, and began to guzzle it, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Mmm. Dylan was attractive, handsome, powerful, but…Vivien sighed. She still wasn’t sure how she was supposed to act during the romantic scene with him.

  The truth of the matter was Vivien had never been in love before. Which was odd for a girl her age. Sure, she’d had boyfriends and lovers. The actress wasn’t some blushing virgin or something. She’d had sex before…and couldn’t really understand what the ‘big deal’ was either.

  Most of the guys she’d gone out with had either gone out with her because she was a celebrity, and they’d been trying to boost their own careers, or her parents had set her up on a blind date with them.

  But…she’d never felt those things that people who were in love claimed to feel: butterflies in your stomach, tingles running up and down your arms, your heart rate speeding up, and feeling like you couldn’t breathe. After she’d slept with her boyfriends…she’d just felt used and hollow.

  Because Vivien had never been in love, she didn’t know how to express this emotion in her acting, which was the real reason why no movie director had chosen her for the more serious roles in romance or drama movies thus far. They’d all told her the same thing - that she lacked emotional conveyance.

  But if Vivien didn’t make it in showbiz her parents were going to be incredibly disappointed in her. Vivien’s parents were both famous actors who’d met each other while filming a very popular romantic drama together. They expected Vivien to follow in their footsteps - become a respected, serious actress, meet a successful male actor, get married, and have at least three kids.

  No matter how hard she tried; Vivien just couldn’t convey love accurately in her acting. One movie director had taken pity on her when he’d noticed her crestfallen expression when he turned her down for the role of the heroine in a romantic drama, and had offered her the opportunity of participating in the movie as the main heroine’s stuntwoman instead. Vivien had instantly agreed. She didn’t care how dangerous the stunts were or what they were as long as she’d finally be participating in a movie.

  Luckily, Vivien had managed to execute the stunts for the movie flawlessly. She’d always been sporty and had been on the track team during high school. And after the movie had been released, she immediately received an offer to be another actress’ stuntwoman. Vivien had instantly agreed to take the job.

  After that she’d started to take the whole being a stuntwoman thing more seriously. Vivien had started going to the gym more, hired a personal trainer, took martial arts classes and eventually gained a black belt in karate.

  Finally, through all her hard work and effort, and by keeping up her appearance one director decided to cast her as the heroine in the action movie he’d be directing next. The movie was mostly fight scenes and she didn’t have that many lines as she fought off hoards of zombies. Why was it always zombies? And because of this the director hadn’t noted her flaw yet a.k.a her inability to express the emotion of love in her acting.

  One may have wondered what her parents’ reaction had been to all of this. It hadn’t been that good. Pretty cold fish. They didn’t like the idea of Vivien being a stuntwoman and insisted that she continue auditioning for more serious roles, even though Vivien knew that was just going to be a dead end. After she was finally cast in a movie as the heroine, her parents still insisted she needed to be in a more serious movie and that killing zombies was child’s play and amateurish.

  No matter how hard Vivien tried or how well she succeeded it was never good enough for her parents. She was just dying for them to smile at her and say: ‘Good job, honey.’ ‘You make us so proud’. And then she would imagine them hugging her. Her parents never showed her very much physical attention.

  Some people may wonder why she even gave a crap about her parents after all that, but Vivien admired them and strove to be more like them. They had truly been the most incredible actor and actress of their time. She wanted their love. Craved their respect. Their acceptance.

  Around the time Vivien started to become known due to her zombie movies, her sister Audrey decided to become Vivien’s manager in order to try and get her cast for more serious roles. Audrey was their parents’ favorite, and she always did everything she could to please them. In their eyes Audrey could do no wrong, though they didn’t hide their disappointment in Audrey’s lack of good looks and the fact that she had no interest in acting herself.

  Unfortunately, Vivien had been ‘type cast’ as an action heroine and word was spreading about how she bravely carried out all her own stunts. People began referring to her as the ‘female Jackie Chan’. Except for the fact that she wasn’t Chinese and didn’t look at all Asian. But whatever.

  “Here.” Teresa’s voice cut through Vivien’s musings and she turned to see her stylist holding out a bottle of ice cold Aquafina towards her.

  “Thanks.” Vivien said taking the bottle, and putting it against her forehead to cool her heated flesh. She noticed what Teresa was wearing - a cute, purple, belly shirt, jean capris and strappy platform sandals. The sun was really shinning and glinted off the large golden hoop earrings that Teresa was wearing. The sun was beating down so mercilessly that having a picnic on the beach without an umbrella seemed pretty crazy. It made Vivien wonder if they had beach umbrellas in the 17th Century. She knew they had parasols but she had the feeling that Director Maverick wouldn’t agree to
the idea of having a huge beach umbrella for the scene.

  “Need a towel?” Her bodyguard Urban asked, holding up a white towel.

  “Sure, thanks.” Vivien said, and Urban tossed her the towel, which she caught.

  “Well, I thought you were doing really good, girl.” Teresa put in as she fluffed her Afro with one hand. “That Director Maverick is such a stickler.”

  Vivien gave Teresa a skeptical look. “Aha. Director Maverick said I looked all spaced out.”

  “It didn’t look that way to me.” Teresa tapped her lower lip in a thoughtful manner. “It looked like you were on the picnic with Prince Dylan but thinking that maybe he’s not really the one who saved you and that your savior could still be out there somewhere.”

  Urban chuckled at Teresa’s interpretation of the scene. “Yeah, it looked like you were thinking about another guy.”

  Another guy? Vivien flushed. Because the truth was that she’d been thinking about another guy…Levi to be specific. “I wasn’t thinking about anything really, I-”

  “Vivien!” Came Audrey’s harsh voice.

  Vivien groaned and felt like burying herself in the sand. “Oh, Great. Here she comes.” She muttered.

  Audrey stomped across the sand in their direction. She stopped in front of the trio, placed her hands on her hips, and glared fiercely at Vivien, her brown eyes flashing. “Director Maverick just told me what happened. Vivien, you need to take this more seriously. This is your big chance to finally be recognized as a serious actress that can leave a profound, emotional impression on people, and not just some blonde bimbo who knows martial arts!”

  “I am taking this seriously.” Vivien’s temper flared at her sister’s harsh words. She was doing her best, dang it! And her sister wasn’t the one wearing a thirteen-pound dress in this blasted heat. Vivien had on pantaloons, an undershirt, corset, shift, hoop, and lastly her gown. “I’m doing my best, I-”

  “Your best isn’t good enough! It never is.” Audrey snapped. “Princess Vivien is supposed to be falling in love with Prince Dylan…so look at him like you’re in love with him! You need to try harder!”

  Vivien sucked in a breath at her sister’s cutting words. They really hit home. And hard. My best is never good enough. “I already know that…maybe I’m not meant to be a serious actress, Audrey! Did you ever think of that? Maybe I should just remain an action heroine-”

  Audrey slapped Vivien hard across the face. Teresa gasped. Urban stiffened and had to resist the urge to reach for his gun. “How dare you! Do have any idea how many sacrifices I’ve had to make to get you this far? How hard I’ve had to work to cover up your mistakes. I have no social life because of you.”

  Vivien brought a hand up to her stinging cheek. Sadness shone in her blue-green eyes. But sadness quickly shifted to anger. “Good going, sis…looks like filming will be canceled for today. I can’t very well film this scene with a swollen cheek…it’ll make the dashing prince look like a wife beater.”

  “I-” Audrey began, looking incensed. However-

  The sound of a Harley Davidson’s engine was heard, revving loudly, and making the ground vibrate. Vivien and the others looked towards the sound to see Levi Devlin on the boardwalk riding a Harley. The Harley was beautiful - black with a blue wave pattern on it. Levi was wearing a black leather jacket with metal spikes on it that glinted in the bright sunlight. Levi looked hot, dangerous, tempting. Forbidden.

  Levi’s dark blue gaze scanned the film site and then landed on her. The merman smirked and motioned to the back of his bike with his thumb.

  Vivien blinked. Was Levi telling her to go with him?

  “Don’t you dare go off with him-” Audrey began scathingly.

  Audrey sure seemed to think so. “Sorry guys, tell Director Maverick we’ll continue this scene tomorrow. See ya!” Vivien grinned before running off in her Victorian gown, up the beach and to the boardwalk where Levi was waiting for her. Eeee! I’m so bad.

  “Vivien! Don’t you dare! You get your butt back here this instant!” Audrey shrieked as she watched Vivien get on the bike behind Levi and wrap her arms around the man’s torso. Audrey stomped her foot angrily. “Argh! What am I going to do with her?”

  Audrey, Teresa and Urban watched as Levi and Vivien rode off, but then Audrey whirled on Urban. “Just what do you think you’re doing just standing there? Vivien’s just been taken away by that low class chef! Go after them! What do you think I’m paying you for?”

  Urban’s eyes widened. “Uh…yes, Mam.” The bodyguard rushed up the beach towards the boardwalk and ran the rest of the way to the Escalade. Urban got in behind the wheel and was super surprised when Teresa opened the passenger side door and hopped inside along with him.

  “I’m coming too.” Teresa announced as she put on her seatbelt. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world. A modern day date with a merprince.”

  Urban raised an eyebrow at his coworker. “What makes you think this is a date? And he’s not a real merprince, you know.”

  Teresa rolled her eyes. “Haven’t you noticed the way Levi looks at Vivi? All intense and heated like he wants to eat her?”

  “Good point.” Urban turned on the engine and tossed Teresa his smart phone. “Use the cell phone tracking app to find out the current location of Vivien’s phone.”

  “You got it.” Teresa tapped on the smart phone’s screen until she’d brought up the GPS tracking app. “Looks like they’re heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge.” Urban merged into traffic and headed towards the bridge.

  ***

  Five minutes earlier…

  Vivien hefted her gown up and swung her leg over Levi’s bike. She then wrapped her arms around his huge, muscular torso. Her heart was beating faster…but that was because she’d just run up the beach.

  Levi took off as soon as he felt Vivien’s arms wrap around him. “I promised you a ride on my bike. I hope I didn’t interrupt your filming.”

  In that moment, Levi felt like her ‘hero’. He’d saved her from her sister Audrey and her cutting words. Vivien shook her head, “No, it was done for the day.”

  “Good. Is there anywhere you’d like to go in particular?” Levi asked as he kept his eyes on the road.

  “Not really, let’s just ride around. It’s a beautiful day. And this feeling…I feel so free! This is great.” Vivien shouted over the sound of traffic.

  Levi grinned, “Glad you like it, princess.”

  It was a hot, summer day, not a cloud in the sky, and Levi took Vivien across the Golden Gate Bridge. After that they toured around San Francisco enjoying the many sights the cosmopolitan city had to offer. Summer was Vivien’s favorite time of the year. The world seemed happier - all the flowers were in full bloom, everyone was outside jogging, biking, walking their pets, and wearing colorful clothes. The city seemed so alive this time of year. She felt so rebellious wearing her period costume and sitting on the back of a Harley. “Whoo!” So free. Her plaited hair undid itself and streamed out behind her like a golden flag.

  Because of the stifling heat, sweat began to pour off of them both. Vivien was dying for an ice cream. A moment later, she spotted an ice cream truck and it was like seeing a mirage of an oasis in the middle of a desert. “Oh! Levi! Pull over! It’s an ice cream truck! Hurry!” Vivien pointed in the truck’s direction.

  Levi spotted the ice cream truck, and turned the bike in the truck’s direction. However, he didn’t just pull over, but continued on towards the small truck entering the Justin Harman Plaza on his Harley.

  “Ah, Levi…I don’t think you’re supposed to ride your bike here.” Vivien chided.

  Too late.

  “Huh? What was that?” Levi questioned as he parked the Harley, dismounted, and held his hand out to her.

  Vivien shook her head and her expression turned bemused. “Never mind.” She put her hand in Levi’s and allowed him to help her off the bike. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that they’
d drawn a lot of attention by entering the plaza on a Harley. Not to mention she was wearing a 17th Century gown, and she was pretty famous. Vivien wished she’d remembered to bring her sunglasses. Oops.

  “Is something wrong?” Levi asked, sensing her unease and getting on his guard. He glanced around the plaza warily in case an enemy might pop out and attack them. He’d heard of cases of rabid anti-fans attacking celebrities before. Levi pitied any anti-fans who dared to attack Vivien while she was in his presence - he’d turn them into human pretzels and present them to Vivien like a snack.

  “No.” Vivien said in a strange voice.

  Levi focused his attention completely on her and that’s when he noticed her red cheek. He reached out and had to stop his hand a few inches away from her cheek. “Your cheek…it looks red. Did someone hit you?” If so, they’re so dead.

  Vivien’s eyes widened, surprised that Levi had even noticed. “My sister…but it was no big deal. I deserved it.”

  Levi lowered his hand, but looked unconvinced. His attention returned to the ice cream truck and he strolled over to it, thinking that an ice cream would cheer Vivien up. “Two ice creams, please.” He told the ice cream vendor inside the truck. Audrey is lucky she is female, or else I would have kicked her butt.

  “What would you like?” The ice cream vendor asked.

  A muscle in Levi’s jaw ticked in irritation. “Didn’t you just hear me? I said two ice creams.”

  The man began to tremble as Levi loomed over him. “But, uh…Sir…what kind?”

  “I said-” Levi began again.

  “Uh, we’ll have two Neapolitans.” Vivi said quickly. “Thanks.”

  “Sure.” The ice cream vendor reached into his cooler and fished out two Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches, and handed them to Levi and Vivi. Levi whipped out his wallet and paid the man. Vivien giggled as she watched Levi pay. Levi raised a blue eyebrow at her. “What?”

  “I almost expected you to walk away without paying…and then say something like: ‘Money? What’s money?’”

  Levi scowled at the actress. “I’ve been living on land for…almost three years now. I know what money is.”

  Vivien grabbed Levi’s arm and pulled him farther away from the ice cream seller so that they could speak without being overheard. “Wait a minute. You’ve only been living on land for that little amount of time? How long did you live in the ocean?”

  “More than five hundred years.”

  Vivien choked on a bite of ice cream. “Five hundred years! You’re so…old.”

  Levi stiffened. “I’m immortal. I don’t get old. I’ll look like this forever and I won’t die. Well, at least until I’m killed off.” He amended.

  “Killed?” Vivien frowned.

  “I meant…if I were killed.” Levi coughed into his hand. “How old are you?”

  “You never ask a lady her age!” Vivien shoved at Levi’s arm. He didn’t budge an inch.

  “That old, huh.” Levi took a huge bite out of his ice cream sandwich.

  “I’m 29.” Vivien admitted with a huff. “But don’t tell anyone.”

  “Why not?” Levi questioned as he tossed the rest of the ice cream sandwich into his mouth and began to lick his fingers.

  Vivien sighed. “I’m an old maid already according to the world of showbiz. I should already be married with a ton of kids by now.”

  Levi paused in the licking of his fingers to give Vivien an incredulous look. “What does your age have to do with something like that? Don’t you have to wait until you find a proper mate who will provide for you and your young, and protect you?”

  Vivien burst out laughing at Levi’s archaic way of thinking. “Well said, but…it gets more dangerous for women to have children the longer they wait.”

  “I see.” If you’re in a hurry, why don’t you just have my child?

  Vivien took a seat on a park bench and patted the seat next to her. Levi sat down next to her. “What about you?”

  Levi gave her a questioning look. “What do you mean?”

  “Do you uh…have a family? A wife? Like a mermaid?” Vivien made sure to make her voice sound casual; it wasn’t like she was dying to know or anything. Please.

  Levi’s expression darkened. “Five hundred years ago…I just came into existence, fully grown, and with no memories. I opened my eyes and just…was. I had no mother. No father. And for those five hundred years I searched the entire ocean for people like me - merfolk.”

  “Did you ever find any?” Vivien asked and held her breath as she awaited his response.

  Levi shook his head sadly. “No. As far as I know I’m the only one of my kind…left.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. It must have been lonely.” Vivien couldn’t imagine living such a solitary life. Family and friends always surrounded her. She had to resist the urge to reach out and place her hand on Levi’s arm to offer him some comfort.

  Levi shrugged carelessly. “Not so much, actually. I can telepathically communicate with all sea creatures. Whales and dolphins are a whole lot more intelligent than humans think they are. But because whales can live so long they are the wisest and most interesting conversationalists in the sea.”

  Vivien’s eyes went wide at Levi’s revelation. “You can speak to animals? And you’re saying whales are…smart?”

  Levi nodded. “Yes, but only creatures of the sea. And yes, whales…are my true friends.”

  “Did you ever try to make contact with us…I mean, with humans?” Vivien cringed at her own wording.

  A cloud seemed to fall over Levi’s expression. “Yes.”

  Vivien noticed Levi’s dour expression and had a bad feeling. “What happened?”

  Levi let out a sigh. “The first time…I really scared some fishermen. The second time, those same fishermen tried to kill me. For the next five hundred years…anytime I revealed myself to the humans I was met with a similar hostile response. They either feared me or wanted to kill me.”

  Vivien’s heart went out to Levi. She could only imagine what their rejection and fear must have felt like. How alone he must have felt in the world even though he claimed that the sea creatures were his friends. But being friends with animals wasn’t the same as being friends with humans…or beings that were more like you, as was the case with Levi. He probably wouldn’t admit it but he must have craved human interaction at some point. “I wasn’t afraid of you.” She said softly.

  Levi’s eyes glowed with emotion. “No, you weren’t. You’re…special. And extremely brave for a human female.”

  Vivien’s heart started to beat a little faster, but that was probably because of the hot weather. “I…thank you. I would never hurt you.” She found herself blurting out.

  Levi’s expression suddenly turned cold. “You’re blackmailing me to be in your movie, remember? Or else you’ll tell my secret…and I’ll end up on a dissection table somewhere.”

  Vivien sucked in a breath. “I…you’re right, but I have a really good reason for it. And when I saw you…when I realized you were a real merman…it was like you were Heaven-sent to help me. That’s how I felt at the time at least. I didn’t see you as…some creature to exploit. I saw you as my knight in shinning armor coming to save me.”

  “Knight?” Levi liked the sound of that.

  “I knew that with your help The Little Merman would be the best movie ever. I want to finally make my parents proud.” The urgency she felt was obvious in Vivien’s tone of voice.

  “You’ve mentioned that before. Aren’t they already proud of you? Because they should be.” Levi had the urge to touch Vivien’s arm. He resisted.

  Vivien shook her head sadly. “My parents are famous actors. My mother and father starred in serious dramas and romances. They are respected as being serious actors. As for me…I couldn’t even get cast in a movie at first, but then I was offered a gig as a stuntwoman. I took it. That opened the door for me into showbiz. I went from stuntwoman to famo
us action heroine quickly, but…my parents still won’t praise me for it.”

  “Why do you need their acknowledgement so badly?” Levi asked curiously. He didn’t give a crap what people thought about him…or at least he didn’t used to. The merman glanced at Vivien and realized that for the first time ever he cared about what someone thought about him. But he still didn’t understand the relationship she had with her parents since he’d never had parents to begin with.

  “Because I love them. They’re my parents. They brought me into this world. I wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for them. They may be strict and cold at times…but I still love and respect them. They’re family. I also admire them and strive to be more like them.” Vivien explained passionately.

  Levi reached out and patted Vivien’s head. He could no longer resist touching her. Her family was lucky to have her. It was sad that they didn’t seem to realize it. “Don’t put so much pressure on yourself, Vivien. You’re already an incredible actress. That night, when we swam together under the stars…you really looked in love with the ocean.”

  Vivien sighed in a defeated manner. “That wasn’t acting. I really do love the ocean and water. I always have. Whenever I go to the gym I always swim in the pool there. Also, my penthouse apartment back in Hollywood has a rooftop pool. Maybe the reason I’m so drawn to water is because I’m a Cancer. I was born July 9th.” When Levi didn’t respond right away, Vivien turned her head to see what was up and saw that his intense gaze was focused elsewhere. She followed his line of sight and saw that he was looking at the Vaillancourt Fountain.

  “A fountain.” Levi’s voice seemed awed.

  “Yeah. It’s called the Vaillancourt Fountain. It’s pretty neat, huh?” Vivien said offhandedly. The Vaillancourt Fountain was a large, super modern fountain made up of long, rectangular-shaped, metal shoots that were gushing water into a large, square basin. The shoots were bent this way and that for an artistic effect.

  “I didn’t notice it before. I’m supposed to stay away from fountains because...” Levi trailed off with a dazed look on his face.

  “Huh? Why?” Vivien prodded.

  Levi shrugged his leather jacket off, tossed it on the bench, and stood up. He then removed his shirt and tossed it on top of his jacket.

  “Uh, Levi what are you doing?” Vivien swallowed nervously as she couldn’t help but admire his muscular chest and torso. Don’t stare like an idiot, Vivien.

  Levi took his boots off and started on his pants. It wasn’t long before his pants had joined the pile of clothes on the bench. However, when Levi was about to pull his boxer shorts down Vivien finally snapped out of it, stood up and grabbed Levi’s wrists in order to stop him. “Whoa boy, what are you doing?”

  “It’s hot…the fountain…going for a swim…” Levi said in a droning tone.

  “Not naked you’re not, buddy! And besides what if you transform…crap, crap, crap…” Vivien looked around the plaza worriedly. All these people would see him…!

  Levi shook his head. “It has to be saltwater.”

  Vivien let out a breath of relief and visibly relaxed. “Phew.”

  “Come.” Levi said as he began to pull her with him towards the fountain.

  “Ah, Levi, stop…we’re not allowed to do this-” Vivien objected. But Levi swooped Vivien up into his arms, cutting off what she’d been trying to say, and hopped right into the fountain with a splash. He set Vivien down on her feet before walking over to stand under one of the gushing sprays. “Ah…feels so good.” Levi groaned in bliss.

  Vivien’s heart was definitely beating faster. But that was just because they were doing something illegal. The actress swallowed and stood dumbly still, watching as the water cascaded down over this magnificent male animal. Down over his muscular torso, his six pack abs, his powerful legs. Wow. Just wow.

  Levi looked so…otherworldly beneath the spray. In his true element. Water. At home. At peace. He was so…beautiful.

  Levi turned and smiled at her. This boyish grin that made him look way younger than he usually appeared. It was a heart-stopping smile. In fact, Vivien couldn’t recall a time she’d seen him smile like that. The merman reached his hand out to her. “Come, female.”

  Vivien found herself taking a step forward, but then stopping and shaking her head. “This is crazy.” Normal people don’t do things like this.

  Levi raised a blue eyebrow at her. “So?”

  “Aw, what the hell.” We’re going to be in so much trouble! Vivien strode forward and put her hand in Levi’s. He pulled her close, and after a few seconds began to dance with her. A fluid waltz.

  “You know how to dance? How?” Vivien’s blue-green eye were brimming with curiosity.

  “I learned it on TV. From one of your movies actually.” Levi admitted.

  “Yeah…I remember that one. I had to take hours of dance lessons to get rid of my two left feet.” A self-deprecating smile formed on Vivien’s lips.

  “I don’t believe it. You’re incredibly graceful. Like a swam…no, a dolphin.” Levi’s blue eyes burned with some indefinable emotion.

  “Ha! When I’m not knocking into things maybe. I’ll tell you a secret - I’m a total klutz!” She giggled as Levi spun her around in the water. In that moment, the rest of the world just seemed to disappear until it was just the two of them dancing in the fountain beneath the spray.

  Around this time, Urban and Teresa entered the plaza, and when Urban caught sight of Vivien and Levi dancing together in the fountain his jaw dropped. “What the hell are those two doing?”

  “Looks like they’re dancing.” Teresa smirked.

  Urban slapped a hand to his forehead and groaned. “I know that, but…look.” The bodyguard waved his hand at the gathered crowd of people who’d whipped out their smart phones and were currently taking pictures and videos of the dancing couple in the fountain. “That can’t be good. Audrey is going to kill me. I’m so fired.”

  Teresa looked at the crowd next, and frowned. “You’re right. We better go stop them before they get themselves arrested.”

  “Hey, that’s my line. I’m the bodyguard, remember? And these muscles aren’t just for show.” Urban held up his bicep for Teresa’s inspection.

  Teresa boldly reached out and squeezed it. She made an appreciative noise. “Hmm. Yeah.” Le sigh.

  Urban smirked at Teresa before jogging over to the fountain and calling out to the dancing couple. “Hey, you two lovebirds. Time to go!”

  Levi and Vivien stopped dancing. Vivien’s attention focused on Urban and then the gathered crowd. Vivien’s eyes widened and her face paled as she seemed to realize the situation she was suddenly in. “Oh no…what have I done?” She let go of Levi’s hand.

  “Quick! Before the cops get here!” Urban reached his hand out to Vivien in an urgent manner.

  Vivien ran over and let Urban help her down from the fountain. Urban then turned to Levi. “You too, big guy. Gotta get out of there before the cops come.”

  “I…” Levi couldn’t resist the allure of the fountain…the water…the spray…

  “Urban, go up there and bring him down from there. Now.” Vivien ordered, realizing what the problem was. Levi’s tie to water was just that strong.

  “Vivi?” Urban gave her a questioning look.

  “He has heatstroke. He’s not in his right mind.” Vivien quickly explained. Improv, baby.

  Urban nodded in understanding. He’d witnessed his men go nuts in Afghanistan from heatstroke after all. “Got it. Leave this to me.” The bodyguard hopped up into the fountain and grabbed Levi’s arm. “Come on, big guy, time to go.” He pulled hard.

  Levi didn’t budge an inch.

  The guy was that strong. Urban frowned as he tugged and tugged again, but it was like pulling on a mountain. “Levi, do you really want to cause Vivien trouble?”

  Levi’s gaze finally focused on Urban. “Vivien? Trouble?”

  “Yeah, man, she’s going t
o be in deep trouble because of you.” Urban said sternly.

  Levi’s eyes flared and he let Urban drag him out of the fountain. Levi took a deep breath once his feet hit the ground and he used all of his willpower to avoid looking in the fountain’s direction. He gave Urban a thankful look. “Thanks, man. I owe you one.”

  “No problem.” Urban squeezed Levi’s arm. “You want a ride home? Or do you think you can still ride your bike without falling over from heatstroke?”

  Heatstroke? “I’ll be fine on my own. Get Vivien out of here. And make sure she has a hot bath so that she doesn’t get sick.” Levi said in a possessive manner.

  A flash of surprise crossed Urban’s expression at Levi’s words before he nodded. He wondered if Levi realized that he was acting like a protective boyfriend. “Yeah, I’ll do that, man. No worries.”

  “Vivi! Are you okay?” Teresa asked her concernedly.

  Vivien rolled her eyes. “Of course I’m okay.”

  “I mean…you’re not sunburn anywhere are you! That’s a real pain to hide with makeup.” Teresa explained and then an amused smile curled her lips. “So…that was way romantic, wasn’t it? The two of you…dancing together in the fountain like that.”

  “Romantic?” Vivien watched Levi putting his clothes back on. “Yeah…I guess.” The actress had to wonder why her heart was still pounding.