Once in a Blue Moon by Kristin James Page A

flesh and clothes, and it was beating too hard and rapidly to be entirely normal. It gave Isabelle a curious sense of satisfaction to think that perhaps he, too, was not entirely unmoved by this enforced intimacy between them.
    “Cut!” Lyle said. “Great. That was great.”
    Isabelle pulled back from Michael immediately and jumped up from the sofa, turning away from his bright blue gaze. Her heart was racing. She was annoyed with herself and Michael and the entire complement of writers. But, more than that, she was scared. The past scene was only the beginning of the seduction. If it had affected her this much, how was she going to make it through the rest of the day of shooting the seduction?
    Numbly, she turned away.

Four
    “I sabelle? Are you all right?” She heard Michael’s voice close behind her, and then his hand was around her arm.
    She stopped and looked back up at him. He was frowning down at her with concern. His fingers were warm against her bare flesh.
    “What?”
    “Are you feeling okay? You looked pale all of a sudden.”
    “Yes. I’m fine.” Isabelle eased her arm out of his grasp and quickly walked away. She was glad to see that he did not try to follow her.
    They had to repeat two portions of the scene so that the camera could shoot it from the other side to get the other person’s reaction. Then, after a break, they blocked and rehearsed the next scene. They began to shoot.
    This scene took up exactly where the other one had ended, with Isabelle’s hand pressing against Michael’s chest to keep him from rising. She scooted closer to him on the couch.
    “Don’t go,” she said huskily. Remembering what Lyle had instructed her, she turned the full force of her eyes upon Michael. “I mean, since we’re both so close to Mark, it doesn’t make sense that we should argue. We ought to be together, to...unite to help him however we can.”
    “If you’re trying to convince me to persuade him not to go on the medical mission,” Michael said, his voice a trifle uneven, “you can forget it. It’s what he wants, and it’s a wonderful project. I’m not going to use my influence with Mark to keep him from doing something that means so much to him.”
    Isabelle’s hand moved slowly up Michael’s chest to the hollow of his throat. “I’m not asking you to do that,” she assured him softly, her eyes never leaving his. “I just want us to be friends.”
    Now her fingers trailed down the middle of his shirt, lingering over each button. Michael gazed into her eyes, seemingly unable to tear his gaze away. His breath came harder and faster.
    “There’s no reason for us to be enemies,” Isabelle went on in a low, sexy voice, and as she talked, she moved her face closer and closer to his. “Come on. Can’t we kiss and make up?”
    She leaned forward to kiss him. For an instant, his face moved toward hers, too, but then he stopped and grasped her shoulders with his hands, thrusting her away from him. He jumped up and walked away to the window, then whirled around.
    “What in the hell do you think you’re pulling, Jessica?”
    “I don’t know what you mean,” Isabelle replied, visibly smoothing the irritation from her face. She left the sofa and slinked across the set toward Michael. “Why are you so jumpy?”
    “I’m not jumpy. But you were...” He gestured toward the couch.
    “I was what?” she asked, rounding her eyes innocently.
    He glared at her. “You know exactly what you were doing, but I’ll feel like a fool if I say it.” He released a long breath. “I’d better go.”
    “No. Please. We haven’t finished talking.”
    Michael grimaced. “I think we’ve more than finished. I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but it won’t work. This is one man who doesn’t fall for your wiles.”
    “Oh, really? And why is that?” Isabelle smiled, and she ran her eyes slowly down his body. “Funny, you look like you’d be fully...functional.” She cocked an eyebrow