Page 7 of The Singapore Stunt

“Hope you didn’t mind flying commercial. I’m sure you’re used to traveling by private jet. Your staff of twelve isn’t here with you, so we’re going to have to go to baggage claims to pick up the rest of your stuff.”

She adjusts the hoodie on her head, her eyes scanning the surrounding area. “You’re kidding, right? I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been on a private jet, and Singapore Air is ten times better than any of them. Best service in the world.” She paces to keep up with me and points toward the airport exit and the ground transportation signs. “We can head right to the car. I didn’t check any luggage.”

My feet halt. “This is all you’ve brought?”

Her hand taps the small backpack looped across her shoulder. “I don’t need much. Shooting starts in a few days, and I’ll be in costumes fourteen hours a day.”

I blink away the confusion in my head, visions of stuffing my trunk and back seat with bag after bag of ballroom gowns, makeup supplies, and ten outfits a day evaporating.

I reach into my rear pocket and grab the keys to the car. “Great.” I toss the cars at her, and she doesn’t flinch. Her gaze locked on me the entire time as she snatches the keys from midair. “You’re driving.”

Chapter Five

Kimberly

I know exactly what he’s doing. Mattias is testing me.

It’s not like I didn’t expect this in some form. I’m a woman in Hollywood. I’m tested every day of my life. Every time I step onto the set, people want to challenge me to see if I deserve to be in the room. In that role. On that magazine cover.

I stopped whining about it a long time ago. Nowadays, I scream to myself, let’s get this over with and get back to work.

“Make a left,” Mattias barks from the passenger seat. It’s the third time he’s waited until the last second to provide directions.

I signal and turn along with the flow of traffic and bite my inner cheek. “So, you aren’t going to tell me where we’re going?”

He taps away on his phone, never turning to face me. “I could give you the address, but it wouldn’t mean anything to you.”

“Which is why, once again, I’m asking why you aren’t driving?”

“Right at the corner.”

We’re in the left lane with a row of cabs, BMWs, and Mercedes-Benzes to my immediate right. The corner is less than ten yards away. I press on the accelerator, and the Audi springs forward. I signal, slip into a space in front of the BMW, and continue to turn at the corner.

“That’s why,” he says, and I don’t remember the question. “I needed to see you drive on unfamiliar streets.”

The road ahead is flat, and I slow to the pace of the surrounding traffic. I steal a glance at Mattias. He’s tapping again on the phone. The bright sunlight highlights his dark curls. Just like Xavier’s. Even when he doesn’t know I’m looking in his direction, he tilts his head away from me. It’s obvious why he does this, and I feel for him. Across his left eye is a long scar. High on his cheekbone, the jagged line doesn’t stop until it reaches the top of his eyebrow across his eye. He’s half facing the window, yet I still take in his profile. A handsome profile, a strong jawline, and a scruffy dusting of hair that few men can pull off. He’s as striking as any movie star I’ve ever worked with.

“The car chase scene. I needed to see what we’re working with.” He reminds me of why he has me driving.

I give him a smirk but don’t say a word. He’s toying with me. I’m familiar with chase scenes in movies. There were two in my last picture. We filmed them on closed roads with professional drivers. For the interior and close-up shots, don’t drive. They pulled the principals around in a vehicle hooked to the back of a truck with camera cranes attached.

“How’d I do?” I hear the humor in my voice.

“You didn’t crash.” He looks up from the phone, and for the first time since we’ve met, he offers me a smile. A short smile that is gone too soon. One which I make a promise to myself to see if I can elicit again and again.

He’s made it clear that he doesn’t appreciate me being here. That’s fine.

This man is the only obstacle standing between me and the movie. Him and, oh, a little thing called the Singapore Stunt. I’ll conquer them both. One at a time. First, the man.

***

“You can pull in there.” Mattias points to the narrow driveway, which opens out to a courtyard and attached cottages. According to the sign we’ve passed, these are serviced apartments, short-term housing typically used by business people and ex-pats working in Singapore. “I’m not sure if Xavier told you, but he had me cancel your five-star resort reservation at the fancy Marina Bay Sands complex. He thought you should slum here and experience what it’s like to be a stunt person. I thought his suggestion was brilliant. Your all-day massages will have to wait.”

He does not know I’m the one who had to convince Xavier of this arrangement. The studio has the principals staying at the Marina Bay Sands. It’s part of the studio contract. The stunt will occur on their property, and during our stay, I have to post to my social media accounts once a day about me enjoying the properties.

Xavier, protective of his team, thought a little separation might be good after working with Mattias all day. I thought the suggestion was for my benefit. However, after meeting Mattias, I’m pretty sure Xavier made it knowing his brother.

It only took me five minutes to change Xavier’s mind. That the studio contract doesn’t start until I’m officially on site for filming. That for now, he should consider me a full-time member of his stunt squad. To not treat me any differently. I could tell the pain in his ribs had taken away his ability to fight, and he conceded. He suggested he propose the arrangement as one coming from him to get his brother to accept it. And he was right.

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