He picked up Heather’s discarded robe from the floor and held it open for her. She turned her back to him to slide her arms in.

He leaned in, his breath caressing her neck. “I was only pointing out that I want to be with you, Heather. Even when your clothes are on and you’re lashing at me with words instead of with that sweet tongue of yours.”

God, he had a hold on her. She didn’t even know him. And he didn’t know her. He might not want another date once he experienced what it meant to be part of her world. “Let’s start with one date,” she said, dropping her towel and tying her robe in its place. She turned to face him, rubbing her hands against the sinewy muscles along his shoulders. “But I must warn you, I’m not an easy person to date.”

“I’ve already figured that out.” He reached for another towel and bunched it around her hair, squeezing the excess water into the material.

“Not because of my personality, you ass. Because it’s hard to get privacy.” She took the towel from him and gathered it like a turban on her head.

Seth grabbed the towel she’d discarded on the floor and used it to dry his hair before tossing it in the laundry basket. “And privacy is important to you.”

“It is important to me.” Heather opened the bathroom door and stepped into the trailer’s bedroom. She smiled at Seth’s clothes piled on the bed then turned back to see him still standing in the bathroom, watching her with a furrowed brow. “Not because I’m embarrassed to be seen with you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

He followed her into the bedroom. “Thank you for clarifying. I get it. It’s the fans.”

“Yes.” Stupid fans. She hated to be the type of person who complained about them. She recognized they were the ones who kept her in a job. But couldn’t they love and admire her without encroaching on her personal space? Sometimes she couldn’t even pee without being bothered.

Seth picked up his jeans and dropped his towel. Heather’s heart picked up at the semi he still sported. What she wouldn’t give to spend the rest of the day na**d with him in her trailer instead of filming.

Pulling his jeans on sans underwear, Seth said, “Well, personally, I’d prefer my dates to be with you. Not your entourage. So trust me when I say I will plan accordingly.”

“Seth?” A man into wild monkey sex and conscientious of her groupies? What more could she ask for? “You’re awesome.”

“You can’t possibly mean that.” He paused while he put his T-shirt on. “I mean, I am awesome, but you don’t know that. Yet.”

God, if he didn’t stop grinning at her like that, she’d never be on time for make-up. “I think I—” The sound of a door opening stopped her. She put her finger up to her mouth to gesture to Seth to be quiet. “Did you hear that?” she whispered.

“Yeah,” he whispered back. “You expecting anybody?”

A chill ran through her. People didn’t just walk into the actors’ trailers. It was cause for termination and everyone on set knew it. Also, the lot was secured. No one that shouldn’t be there could have gotten access. She shrugged off her anxiety. “It’s probably my assistant. She’s the only person I know who would walk in without knocking.” But what if it wasn’t? It would be obvious to anyone that she and Seth had just showered together, both of their hair still wet. “Shit. I should have had you lock the door. I’ll, um, do you mind staying put while I check it out?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Seth sat on the bed to put on his socks. “Tell me when the coast is clear or give me some sort of sign.” He winked at her.

“Thanks.”

Heather took a deep breath and pulled back the partition enough to step through, then shut it behind her. She saw him immediately, sitting on her sofa, his feet propped up on the table while he played absentmindedly with his lighter.

At the sight of her, one side of his mouth curled up in greeting. “Well, hello, baby doll.”

Heather closed her eyes, hoping the sight in front of her was a figment of her imagination—some cruel waking nightmare. Why here? Why now?

But when she opened her eyes, he was still there, lounging in her trailer as if he belonged.

Her heart sank at the reality. “Hi, Daddy.”

Chapter Thirteen

Heather pulled her robe tighter, unable to lose the chill that had overcome her. It had been almost two years since she’d last seen her father. That time he’d shown up at a movie premiere and threatened to cause a scene if she didn’t talk to him. She’d given him money to go away, as she always did when she saw him. Why else did he ever show up?

She braced against the counter for support, her legs suddenly feeling wobbly. “How did you get in here?” He would have had to pass a security guard to get on the lot. Dean Hutchins was a crafty man though. Security rarely deterred him.

Dean pocketed the lighter he’d been playing with and held his hands out to his sides. “Now, is that any way to greet your old man?”

She glanced up at the clock on the microwave. She was due in wardrobe at exactly that moment. She didn’t have time for this.

And Seth!

He was still in the room behind her, a flimsy partition the only barrier between this part of the trailer and that. He’d hear everything, no matter how she hushed her voice.

She swallowed her sob of humiliation—she couldn’t worry about Seth now—and repeated her question. “How did you get in here, Daddy?”

Dean took one booted foot off the table and put it on the floor. “I opened the door. Didn’t even have to pick the lock this time.”

That had been nearly five years ago. When she’d done a six-week run in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Ahmanson Theatre. He’d picked the lock to her dressing room, was waiting after a show. “I told you if you ever did that again I’d have you arrested.”

“But you didn’t mean it, baby doll.”

“I did mean it.” Though she wasn’t sure about that. Pressing charges against Dean would bring him into the limelight. Everyone would know about him and, subsequently, everyone would know about her. What her stock was. That she was, at heart, nothing but trash.

She always took precautions now. Lexie knew about her father, extra security was written into all her contracts. The lot was secured! “Who let you on the lot? You have to have clearance to get through security.”