Merrick: Harlequins MC Read Online Free PDF Page A

Taylor said she starred in a hit movie and television show that gave her the big head. Is that all there is to it?”
     
    Blake nodded as they moved to a table under an umbrella. “She’s had it easy. That’s not to say she doesn’t have acting chops, because she does, but very few people are fortunate enough to land their first role in a hit television series, become the star even though they were cast as a secondary character, then transition into film and have their first movie be a monster mega hit. She did.”
     
    Merrick grunted in understanding. “What about you?”
     
    Blake grinned. “I’m one of the less fortunate. I’ve been acting for more than twenty years, since I was twelve, playing bit parts here and there on television and in bad low budget movies. I got my break with Smokejumpers a few years ago. I’ve done a couple of action movies since, but Smokejumpers was my big hit. Have you seen it?”
     
    Merrick grinned. “Sorry, can’t say I have. I’ll check it out. What part did you play?”
     
    Blake puffed out his chest and struck a heroic poise with his fists on his hips. “I was Danny McKay, heroic fireman and savior of women and kittens!”
     
    Merrick snickered. “Women and kittens, huh?”
     
    “Well, woman. You know the type of movie. Boy meets girl, boy risks life to save girl but is too late, boy is heartbroken and blames himself for her death, boy finds another girl later and saves the day in a daring rescue to make up for his past sins, and everyone lives happily ever after. Still, it made a lot of money, over four hundred million, and put me on the map. The sequel is hung up in preproduction because of the script, but I’ve agreed to come back if they can get it green lit.” He grinned as he picked at his food. “I have to tell you, though, after filming that movie and talking to the guys who fight forest fires for real, I’ll never look at a camp fire the same way again. Those guys have balls dees big, ” he said, affecting a stereotypical Mexican accent and holding his hands two feet apart. “Big brass ones.”
     
    Merrick laughed. He really liked Blake. “From firefighter to cop.”
     
    Blake sighed dramatically. “I’m cursed to pay heroes. What about you? What do you do when you’re not running security on a movie location?”
     
    “I build houses.”
     
    “Really?”
     
    “Really. I own a framing company with a half-dozen crews.”
     
    “Framing. That’s the guys who build the walls and stuff, right?”
     
    “Yeah. We come in after the foundation is laid and put up the walls, ceilings, floors, and roof. All the rough carpentry to dry the house in.”
     
    “You still swing a hammer?”
     
    “Sometimes, if we get in a pinch, but not much anymore. Too busy arguing with contractors, inspectors, and shit like that. Nothing is ever done fast enough or cheap enough to suit the contractors, and the inspectors are even worse. We had one inspector try to fail a house because we had gaps on the subflooring panels. That guy was a real piece of work. I made him show me where in the code the ⅛-inch gap we leave to prevent the floor from bucking wasn’t allowed, and he couldn’t do it. Another example of someone educated beyond their intelligence.”
     
    Blake chuckled. “I know some guys like that. The movie industry is full of them.”
     
    Merrick was about to respond the building industry was, too, when he noticed a man walking around and peering into the prop car. There was something about the way he was acting that didn’t feel right. “Excuse me a second,” he said as he rose.
     
    Blake rose and followed Merrick as he approached the pudgy man. He wasn’t wearing a pass. “You’re not supposed to be here,” Merrick said.
     
    “I know,” the man said, smiling at Merrick. “I figured since filming had stopped, nobody would care if I wandered around so long as I didn’t touch anything.”
     
    “You can’t be on the set, location,