what I’ve learned about the surfing world, having companies sponsor you is the only way to make a living at it as a professional,” she said.
“I’m not a pro.”
“Not yet. This documentary will do it for you though. Maybe you’ve seen the video series this is going to be a part of. It’s been showcased in some pretty big markets—the first one got high ratings. It was all about drag racing and it’s called X-treme Sports.”
He groaned, and she had a sinking suspicion that things were about to go off the rails. “You’re not spelling extreme with an X, are you?”
“Yes, we are.” She’d cringed when the project had first been pitched, but it had strong commercial appeal, based on the widespread popularity of these kinds of sports. Discovery Network was optioning the series, as well. This was a significant chance to get her name in front of some important people and they could put a bow on it and call it a pig for all she cared, as long as the end result of grant money was the same.
“It’s worse than I thought. And, for the record, I can go slowly when I need to. When it counts.”
She ignored his comments and pressed on. “You never signed the release form, and I can’t use you in the film unless you sign off. And I’ve got the paper right here,” she explained, holding it out toward him.
“Can’t,” he said, shaking his head after a momentary glance at the form. And suddenly, with the threat of her best video crashing like the surf, all bets, and thoughts of taking this man to bed, were off. Over. And, after pulling an all-nighter to get the film ready for Vic’s viewing, her patience, always in short supply to begin with, was gone.
“Why not? I mean, it’s all legal. It only says that we’ve got permission to use your images.”
“I don’t want in,” he said.
“Maybe we can come to some sort of compromise,” she suggested, mentally calculating the amount of effort it was going to take in order to cut his scenes completely from the tape and still hand it in to the producer on time.
“Afraid not.” He grabbed his board and tried to move past her, but she blocked his way.
God, he was big. Broad shoulders, broad chest, and he really did tower over her. And he didn’t look happy. “If I have to take you out of the video, it’ll ruin everything,” she tried.
“You don’t give up, do you?” he asked.
“Never. What can I do to convince you?”
He sighed. “There’s nothing you can do, honey.”
“Look, this could be a big break for you,” she implored.
“But I’m not looking for a big break.”
“I don’t see a reason why you’d say no,” she argued. Unless he really was a criminal with something to hide. Either way, she’d have to resort to begging and pleading. “Please, I’ll do anything….”
Wait, had she said anything? Because she certainly hadn’t meant anything, but it was out there and Cash wasn’t about to let it go.
“Anything?” he asked. He’d cocked one eyebrow and his gaze swept over her.
“I didn’t… I won’t sleep with you….” Not now, anyway. If he’d brought it up earlier, when she was still drooling and her fantasy hadn’t disintegrated, who knew?
“I didn’t ask you to. You’re the one who brought it up,” he interrupted her stammering explanation. “Do you always proposition men to get them to sign release forms?”
“No!”
“So I’m just one of the lucky ones?” he demanded. “Maybe I should talk with your boss because I’ve got a bad feeling about this, like even if I say no, I’ll still end up on that tape.”
“I wouldn’t do that. It’s not legal.”
“Well, you seem desperate enough to do anything. Said so yourself.” He grabbed the release papers from her hand and studied them for a second.
Yeah, the surfer named Cash had something to hide. And he was making her see red. “All the information’s on that paper. Company name, contact information. I’m not desperate enough to do something illegal. But truly, I don’t see what the huge deal is. This is a win-win situation for both of us.”
“Not for me. If I don’t sign, you can’t use my image and that’s your tough luck. Not my fault if you can’t find someone as good.”
“You know, all of you X-treme types are alike,” she said, making sure to put extra emphasis on the X, and enjoyed seeing him wince. “You all think the world should bow down to you, like you’re all something special.”
He shrugged. “Obviously, your videos wouldn’t get produced if others didn’t feel the same way. But that still doesn’t mean I’m sleeping with you in exchange for using my image on film.”
“I’m not sleeping with you, either,” she said, a little too loudly, because the group of teenage girls, who’d moved nearby, giggled. And she thought she heard one of them say that they’d sleep with him without any problem, and yeah, Cash would no doubt take them up on it, jailbait or not.
“Well, that’s settled then. Unless world peace depends on it, this is a no go.”
“My future jobs depend on it. But that’s something you wouldn’t understand,” she stated, unable to keep the anger from bubbling up. And it was so damned easy for him to throw away something that her future was riding on.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded, his laid-back surfer attitude disappearing, his blue eyes darkening.
“It means, you can go back to your surfer-dude, beach-bum ways or your criminal ways or whatever ways you have and not worry about the rest of us who actually have to work for a living.”
He stared at her hard for just a second, and then he was back to being cool, calm and collected. “No one says, surfer dude, anymore.”
“Thanks for your help. All of it. Especially since I won’t be able to quote you on it,” she fumed. “Just go be with your waves, because I wouldn’t want to interfere with letting you ride another one or hang ten or whatever it is you do with your life.”
He took a step toward her so there were mere inches separating them, kept his voice low. “And what you do with your life is so all-fired important?”
“More than playing some trumped-up version of a water sport.” She grit her teeth so hard her jaw ached, the anger pumping through her faster than she knew what to do with it, except aim it at the guy who’d caused it. Sure yes, there was always next time, but to come so close and have it ripped from her grasp hurt too badly.
“You know, it must be so easy to make judgments from that side of the lens, splicing the story together to make sure all of it fits together seamlessly. Perfectly. But real life’s not like that.” He ran a hand over her bare shoulder and her body reacted before she pushed his
