“Fuck the contract; I’ll talk to him about it.”
She shook her head. “What’s the rush? Shoot ends in a few weeks; I’ll come see your office after.”
I huffed. I’m aware that I was being a brat, but that attitude fell under the territorial category, so that should be explanation enough.
“Why don’t I take you to the office with me this weekend? You can see how things work, from both my side and my assistant’s. After all, she is the one who handles everything when I’m on set. It’s not a hectic position, I promise. It’s just a lot of calls and boring meetings and flashy presentations.”
“Wow…” Zaira placed a hand over her heart. “That’s such an adventurous job; I’m practically preening at the opportunity,” she deadpanned.
I rolled my eyes and bopped her nose with a knuckle. “Smartass.”
She chuckled, and then bent to press a quick kiss on my forehead. “But in all honesty, it sounds great. I would love to be your assistant.”
I grinned. “Yeah? So does that mean you–”
“Nope,” she cut me off with a smirk. “I amnotleaving here until the movie wraps up.”
I huffed.Again. “Name your price?”
She tipped her head back and laughed. “All I want is your patience. It’s just a few weeks, Gallan. They’ll go by quicker than you think.”
“Hopefully. I pray that they do.”
She shook her head at me. “Baboon.”
I smiled at her use of term, which made her chuckle again.
“I just want to make sure you have a proper job,” I said to her. “You’re talented and amazing, and I’ll be honored to have you.”
Her eyes softened. “You’re phenomenal, Gallan Underwood.” She brushed my hair away from my eye. “Fucking outstanding. And I’m so lucky to be the receiver of your kindness.”
I swallowed at her words. “You really know how to make a guy blush, don’t you?”
She smiled. “Only a certain actor who I’m madly in love with.”
I grinned and leaned in so I could kiss her, but stopped when I realized…
“Photos…”
“Huh?” Zaira looked at me in confusion. “What?”
I quickly finished my coffee and turned my laptop around before waking its screen. “Help me pick one,” I said to Zaira, and then waved a hand over the dozen or so photos of me. “It’s a photoshoot I did at the beginning of the month for a new hoodie edition for March. My assistant, Sage, suggested I go with the pastel theme because it’s in trend, so that’s what my designers did. I have these photos for advertisements, promos, and for my website, butPeople’s mag wants to do a feature, and they asked me to choose a shot for their March front cover. I don’t know which one to pick, because honestly, they all look the same to me, so I’ll leave the decision up to you.” I cleared my throat a little after I was done.
Zaira patted my shoulder. “Breathe, Gall.Breathe.”
I ran a hand over the back of my neck. “I really went all freight-train on it, didn’t I?” I asked as I laughed.
She chuckled. “You did, yes. For a second there I was worried you might need CPR if you maintained that speed and octave.”
I gave her alook, which only made her chuckle more.
“Photo, babe – pick one.” I tilted my head towards my laptop.
With an arm draped around my neck, she shifted on my lap and leaned forward. She adjusted her glasses, moved the cursor around as she browsed the photos, and once she was done, she sat back and looked at me.
“Damn, that washard.” She released a long breath. “My nipples and I – we are on the brink of explosion. Seriously. We really,reallylove seeing you in hoodies, especially ones that are pastel in color and have cute quotes on them. Queue bodily volcanoes.”
I was so confused.
