‘Why?’ Lettie asked. ‘What did you think was on Callum’s mind?’
Riley frowned and rested his elbows either side of his plate and then his chin on his hands. He gazed thoughtfully at Callum before returning his attention to Lettie. ‘I thought it might be because he had seen my wonderful assistant standing on the sidelines watching my scene.’
He saw Tasha’s hand nearest to him clench slightly and knew she was irritated. That might be her role but they both knew she was so much more than that, being available at all times of the day or night to reassure Riley, manage his mess-ups with ex-girlfriends, apologise to people on his behalf when he had offended someone and keep an eye on what he posted on social media when he had drunk too much.
‘No, it wasn’t that,’ Callum argued.
Riley tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes, smiling. ‘I saw you looking in her direction though.’
Callum purposely hesitated, wanting Riley to feel uncomfortable for pushing the subject. ‘My sister was also standing there.’ He smiled at Erin. ‘Weren’t you?’
‘That’s right.’ She blushed at the admission and immediately Riley’s attention was diverted to her.
It was a relief, although Callum wondered how long his sister and Riley would stay interested in each other. How was she going to feel when filming finished and he left the island? Would Riley ask his sister to visit him? Whatever happened, he was sorry that when Riley left, Tasha would be going with him.
With lunch over, Callum thanked Lettie and Brodie for their hospitality and followed Riley and Erin with Tasha back to prepare for his last scene. Erin and Riley made their way to the hair and make-up trailer while Tasha took a call.
As Callum walked back to join the crew, he thought how it had been interesting to take part in the series in such a small way. He had not really wanted to do it, but now knew he would probably look back and be glad that he had.
‘Ah, there you are.’
Callum saw the director walking over to him and felt a sense of unease. ‘We were at lunch. I hope we haven’t kept anyone waiting.’
The man shook his head. ‘Not at all. I was coming over to ask you if you would agree to be in some stills for advertising the show.’
Callum didn’t see why. ‘I’m surprised you’re asking me.’
‘Why?’
‘I’ve only got a tiny part.’ He shrugged. ‘I clearly don’t know a thing about how all this works but, thinking of promotional photos from television shows I’ve watched, I’ve always assumed it’s the main cast who would be used for this sort of thing.’
The director lowered his voice. ‘I like the contrast between both your looks. You come across as the boy next door, whereas Riley has something darker about him. You’re also from here and we need the locals to take the new series to their hearts and help spread the word on their social media platforms. I think both those things will work well and help entice as many viewers to watch as possible.’
Callum still didn’t like to imagine Riley’s reaction to this news.
‘Well, what do you say? You can have time to think about it, of course. Not long though. Say, an hour?’
Callum laughed. ‘Boy next door? I’ve never been called that before.’
An assistant standing near the director said, ‘Boy next door who would make a perfect Tom Ford model.’ She gave a flirtatious laugh before walking off.
‘So, what do you think? Will you consider it? You’ll be paid, of course.’
Callum wasn’t fazed about being paid, but wasn’t sure whether he could be bothered with Riley’s reaction. He might not know the man all that well, but he knew enough about Riley’s arrogance to suspect he would not be impressed about having someone with barely any lines standing in the same shot as him for promotional photos.
‘Say yes,’ Tasha said from somewhere behind his right shoulder.
He turned to her and laughed. ‘Where did you spring from?’
‘I was coming to chat to you and was intrigued to see the pair of you here.’ She smiled at the director. ‘Sorry to interrupt your conversation with Callum, Mike.’
He shook his head. ‘Don’t apologise, Tasha. If you manage to persuade him, then I’ll be very happy.’
Deciding he needed to broach what was concerning him, Callum checked that Riley wasn’t anywhere nearby before doing so. ‘I’m not sure Riley will like the idea.’
The director didn’t seem at all bothered. ‘And?’
‘He’s your star. I’m not even an actor. You’ve already had to redo several scenes and I would hate for anything I do to cause further issues.’
