A Slow Burning Fire

A Slow Burning Fire

by J.F. Jenkins

Published by Astraea Press

www.astraeapress.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

A SLOW BURNING FIRE

Copyright © 2013 J.F. JENKINS

ISBN 978-1-62135-155-9

Cover Art Designed by Book Beautiful

For my Mom, for sharing her love of her home with me

and teaching me about love.

Chapter One

Arial Oakley gazed up into the dreamy, olive-green eyes of super Hollywood hunk, Bryce Valentine. Those eyes sparkled with a unique light as he gazed back into her bright baby blues. His strong arms were holding her shoulders tenderly, and his sandy blond hair was gelled playfully at the bangs, giving him a small touch of bad boy flair. The way he filled out the tight black T-shirt he wore was absolutely divine. He looked back at her with the softness of a man in love.

Unfortunately for her, it was all an act for the part he played. On their television show,
Three Wishes,
his character, the dark and troubled Kevin, thought she was the love of his life. Well, not her, but her character Veronica.

The drama of the show couldn't be any further from the truth. Not only was Bryce the nicest guy on the planet, but he was practically married to their co-star Katie Daniels. Hollywood's perfect couple — sort of. When it came to all of the glamorous red carpet events, the two were inseparable in an almost sickening kind of way. Behind the scenes, however, was another story. As far as Arial knew, everything was fine between them, but things were far from being perfect. The couple fought more openly on set, and Katie no longer gave him small bits of affection between set time. In fact, they hardly spent any time together outside of the scenes where they had to interact.

The tabloids loved to try and paint all kinds of crazy love triangles involving the cast of the show. In the end, it all amounted to a bunch of ungrounded rumors. Arial may have admired Bryce in secret for the past nine years, but it was clear he only had eyes for Katie, despite whatever bumps were in their relationship.

“I mean it this time, Veronica. I'm staying, forever,” he said. His face leaned in toward hers, and they shared a kiss. Arial caught the slight taste of his minty breath, and the smile she wore when she pulled away from him was genuine.

Once more her gaze met his. “You told me you didn't believe in happily ever after.”

“Someone changed my mind,” he said into her ear.

“And cut!” the director called out.

Bryce lingered against her for a moment, his nose in her hair. For those brief few seconds, she savored the feeling of his warm embrace around her. She didn't know the next time she would get the chance to be in it.

The director climbed off of his chair and joined them on the set floor. He shook each of their hands. “Thank you for the past nine years. It's been a pleasure to work with you. I wish you the best in all of your future endeavors.”

“Thank you,” Arial said softly, trying to fight the tears that were pooling in her eyes. She sucked in a deep breath. “I'm going to go back to my trailer and pack up the rest of my stuff. They still want us gone by the end of the day, right?”

Bryce let out a heavy sigh. “Security wants us off the lot in three hours. Come on, I'll walk you back.”

“Always the gentleman,” she teased. “Yes, you can escort me back to my trailer. But don't think this is going to be the last time you see me. You can't get away from me that easily. In fact, I think you're stuck with me for the rest of your life. I hope you don't mind.”

He always walked her back, insisting he had to make sure she stayed safe despite the plethora of security guards around the lot. She wouldn't trade those walks for the world, though. It saddened her to think this would be the last one.

Together, the two left the set and stepped out into the warm California sunshine. The weather was perfect, as usual. Only a few small tufts of clouds were in the otherwise blue sky. It was a little on the hot side, given that it was the middle of the afternoon. They'd started shooting their last handful of scenes for the show early in the morning. There were about five more left to do, but none of them involved her or Bryce.

“I wouldn't dream of having a life without you,” he said and gave her a half smile. How was it that he always knew the perfect thing to say even without a script? And that half-smile of his was just as sexy and swoon-worthy as the whole thing.

Arial rubbed his arm. “I'll get to see you at the wrap party tonight. You and Katie are coming, yeah? She mentioned possibly not being there, and my heart died a little inside. It won't be the same if you don't at least make an appearance.” She'd only been teasing him, but she noticed the muscles of his arm tense under her grip. While she would have loved to admire their developed form, she knew he wasn't doing it for a good reason. “What's wrong?”

His smile widened, but she could see that it was his more polished and fake version of the gesture. The smile he gave all of the paparazzi whenever they harassed him, or offered the teenage fans who got a little too frisky with their hands at meet and greets. Arial never wanted to be on the receiving end of that smile, and now she was.

“Katie broke up with me two weeks ago,” he said, so casually she had a hard time processing his words.

“What do you mean she broke up with you two weeks ago? Why didn't you say something about it sooner?” she asked, brow furrowed. When he only shrugged, she pressed deeper. “Don't tell me it's not a big deal, because it is. You've been together since we started producing this show. Weren't you the one who always told me you were each other's first loves? What happened?”

He stopped walking and stared at her, his gaze piercing. “People grow apart. I don't want to talk about it right now. That's why I didn't tell you. I wasn't ready to mention it, and I'm still not. There are only so many days left until it breaks to the public, and you know there's going to be a crazy media storm once it does. I need to be ready. We all will. The tabloids are brutal.”

Arial's frown deepened, her heart aching as she listened to him.
Just like Bryce, trying to be strong when it's okay for him to fall apart
, she thought. “If there's anything I can do, let me know. And please be sure to come to the party tonight. I think it would be good for you.”

“I'll think about it.” He paused to lick his lips. “She's not going because of some other work commitment. You know, that big movie she's filming in Hawaii soon. She had a flight to catch this morning, which is why all of her scenes got moved to earlier in the week.” Another pause. “I do want to go. So much of my life has been this show. It would be wrong not to.”

“Very wrong, so make sure you show up and we'll have an awesome time together. I promise.” She stopped walking when they arrived at her trailer.

Bryce did as well. He looked up at her door. “Thanks for letting me bring you back one last time. I'll see you later.”

Before she could reply, he continued down the back lot alley with his hands shoved inside his pockets. Arial's heart only broke more at the sight. She unlocked her trailer door and went inside. The emptiness of it unsettled her. Earlier in the week she'd made sure to move everything out except for the bare essentials. All of her homey touches were in a box, sitting on her apartment floor waiting to be put away.

With a heavy sigh, she sat down in front of her vanity, staring back into the eyes of her own reflection at a girl she barely recognized. Though her blue eyes were dimmed with tears, they still maintained their innocent sparkle. Her curly dark hair was pulled back into a sultry messy bun. Then, of course, there was the navy blue button-down that was not only tight against her hourglass curves but also barely contained her breasts. Veronica was not a sweet character. The critics always marveled at how someone who was so naïve and innocent to the ways of the world could play someone so cold and jaded. Especially since Veronica was an experienced girl in the ways of relationships, whereas Arial had yet to go past the hand-holding stage with any of her boyfriends. Most of them had been long-distance. Work would call one, or both, of them away, and by the time they were with each other physically again, one of them, usually the guy, would have moved on.

There had been a number of on-screen kisses, of course. When it came to work, she'd kissed over half of young Hollywood's finest studs. But she was probably the only twenty-three-year-old virgin in the business. This was partly by choice, because she didn't want to give herself away to just anyone, and part pure bad luck. Deep down inside of her, Arial still dreamed of having a true white wedding. What could possibly be more romantic than having her first intimate moment be with the man she'd spend the rest of her life with?

Her thoughts drifted back to Bryce. She couldn't help but be worried. The way he looked when he walked away from her was not something she'd seen for a long time — like he was hopeless. As much as she wanted to tell him everything would be okay, she also knew him better than to utter the words. Nor could she tell him he'd find someone better… or how she actually felt for him.

She'd been in love with him as soon as she was old enough to understand what those feelings were like. She was sixteen years old when that happened. Two things had gotten in her way from saying anything. The first being their five-year age difference, and the second being Katie. Arial doubted he'd take a confession from her heart that dated back to her teenage years seriously, and even if he did, the love he had for his ex would always get in the way.

****

Bryce Valentine flipped his cell phone over in his hands repeatedly. He measured the pros and cons of calling Katie again. Not that he wanted to come across as desperate, but there was so much about the break-up he didn't understand. She'd thrown away nine years of life with him overnight.

“You know why,”
she had said when he asked her why she was leaving him. But he didn't know, not completely.

Things had been stale for the past few years, comfortable. He'd always figured that had something to do with being together for so long. Once all of the mysteries of a person were discovered, what else was there to keep things spicy? Not that he'd necessarily minded. The two had found ways to keep things interesting enough in their relationship to the point where he could overlook his overall sense of lacking. It bothered him all the same that he trusted his other co-stars, most particularly Arial, more than he did his own girlfriend. Deep down in his heart, he felt like something was missing between him and Katie, but the stubborn side of him did not want to give up his first love.

Katie was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. Before he'd become famous, girls did not notice him. He was the quiet theater geek in school. Friendly, but he kept to himself all the same. Katie was the opposite. She had spunk and passion, and when she wanted something, she went for it. And she had wanted him. Their relationship was like a powder keg lit with a fuse. It exploded instantly with the same chemistry and passion before fizzling out into the comfortable routine they'd been in for years. She'd even gone so far as to be surprised he wanted to be in a long-term committed relationship with her to begin with. He'd been so enamored with her when they first met, he couldn't imagine letting her go. Most Hollywood romances didn't last. Then again, he wasn't like most of the guys in the business. Screwing around wasn't something he fancied trying either. When he devoted himself to something, he gave it his all, and that's exactly what he had done in regard to her.

Hollywood could be fickle, but he'd been raised to have a good head on his shoulders. He also hadn't started acting until he was almost out of high school. For a while, he never thought he'd make it as an actor. Small parts here and there went into his savings before he hit it big.
Three Wishes
sent his career skyrocketing within a year. Being a young superstar made him perfect material for teen romance films. His chiseled abdomen didn't hurt either, of course. The movies were fun to make and he was easy to work with, which made casting directors want to seek him out all the more. Sprinkle in a few independent film projects, and he had a recipe for success, now that the show was over. Bryce was ready to show off the rest of his acting skills. What he wasn't ready for was doing it alone.

What does Katie mean by “You know why”?
he wondered. Was it because they had gone stale? Or was there someone else? The past few years she had gotten increasingly flirtatious with some of her co-stars. He'd brushed it off. Katie had always been a bit more outgoing than he was. Friendly, yes, but he never felt comfortable flirting with a stranger. Then again, he also respected Katie, as well as his relationship with her.