Behind Closed Curtains (Desires of the Forbidden)

Chapter 7

So much information was just thrown at me in the span of less than a minute that I was simply speechless, thoughtless as to how to respond.

Could this rehearsal possibly get any more overwhelming?

"Alright! Ladies, up on stage please. We'll start blocking the museum scene and get as far as we can before calling it a day," Dave bellowed out, turning to face us, leaning his back against the stage casually.

As it turns out, it could.

With a labored sigh and reluctant feet, I got up out of my seat and followed behind Meg as we made our way up the stairs on the side of the stage, leading us up onto stage right.

I could feel Kaleb's eyes burning into my profile, begging me to share a glance with him, to answer all of the questions swirling through his mind.

But I kept my head stoic, my stare straight forward and my body rigid as I waited for further instructions from Dave.

"Okay, so we'll start with Anna and Larry, then Dan and Alice, and then intermingle the two for the end of the scene. So Leah, please go stand with Kaleb on stage left until I've finished with these two."

Seriously?

My mind began to spin, boggled at the amount of terrible luck pushed upon me today. I found my lips were suddenly parched and my mind blank as I gave Dave a measly nod.

Each step I took towards the other side of the stage seemed to ring through my ears, pounding along with my uncontrollable heartbeat. I felt as if I was walking in slow motion, the people surrounding me passing in blurs as my feet took me those final, grueling steps until I was unfortunately right where both Dave and Kaleb wanted me.

"Hey," Kaleb spoke.

Nervously, I pulled my soft lips in between my teeth, nodding a 'hello' and spared a flicker of a glance his way.

I had to bite down on the bottom lip that was captured in my teeth's grasp, holding in the appreciative breath that tried to slip out as I truly took him in for the first time today.

That was it. I couldn't deny it anymore. Kaleb was ungodly attractive and even as I fought it with every fiber of my being, a small part of me was attracted to him.

His midnight black hair was swept back into curled perfection, a stray piece hanging over his forehead enticingly. My fingers twitched, needy to reach out and grab it between my fingers, moving it back in place with the rest of his hair.

His strong torso was covered in an off white, long sleeved shirt that formed to his broad, muscular chest superbly.

"Leah."

Kaleb's voice broke through my sinful thoughts as he called my name. My eyes snapped away from his body and fixed on his inquisitive eyes.

"Hmm?"

I continued to stare at him, my brows raised in question. I was playing dumb and I could see that it was getting to him as his eyes morphed with irritation.

"Really?" he asked in a drawl tone, his eyes hard and intruding into mine.

The intense look engraved within his beautiful eyes had my heartbeat increasing and my insides quivering as his stare became too much, too inquisitive, too extreme.

I opened my mouth to speak, my lips parting and attempting to form the words that weren't there.

So I closed my mouth, shaking my head dismissively as I tore my eyes from his.

"Hold on." Dave's voice, which was lost to me before as he was directing the scene on the other side of the stage, suddenly rang out across the theater.