Gideon hadn’t said much since they left his office, and she couldn’t tell if he was annoyed. He probably should be. She’d just told him straight up she was going to drop his class after getting what she wanted. What he refused to give her.
Despite the fact that she wanted him to like her, she was proud of herself. This was a Haley move, for sure. She’d landed on something she needed, and had made it happen. One small step for an average human, one giant leap for Megs.
"Okay," Gideon said as they entered the studio, "let's get started." He hit a few buttons, then strode through the door into the recording area and adjusted the microphone.Let’sget started? Was he planning to stay here while she recorded?
Megs’ heart galloped. She’d practiced in her room, alone, but hadn’t read in front of anyone before. She’d stopped allowing her mom to work on her self-tapes for auditions by the time she was fourteen and hadn’t shown anyone besides coaches and casting directors her work in years. She certainly wasn’t going to start with Coffee Shop Guy. “If you just show me what to do, I can—”
“You’ll stand here.” Gideon motioned for her to approach the mic. “I assume you have your material on your phone?” Megs nodded, and Gideon held up a cord. “If you plug it in here, the text will display on this screen. Make it a bit easier to read.”
Megs stepped closer and pulled up the audition script. Her fingers brushed Gideon’s as she took the cord from him, sending the same pitter-patter of energy past her wrist as when they’d touched in the coffee shop.
She cleared her throat. “And then I can plug in my laptop? In the booth?”
Gideon nodded. “Do you have recording software already downloaded? If not, we can use the computer there and use a drive to transfer the files to your computer after.”
“That might be easier.” Megs hadn’t downloaded any software, and her confidence was draining out of her faster than a bathtub with a pulled plug. This was all foreign to her, and what was supposed to be a simple, no-fuss audition now felt like a sandbag strapped to her back.
But Gideon was standing right there, and after the show she’d put on in his office, she couldn’t pick up her things and walk out. Megs swallowed. “Should I just come find you when I’m done?”
Gideon frowned. “I’ll be in the booth.”
Megs’ throat constricted. “The whole time?”
He smiled and quirked an eyebrow. “Yes. Did you think we let students who’ve only been enrolled in class for five minutes run rampant here?”
Spots appeared in Megs’ vision. Was she going to have to read a steamy romance scene in front of this man? He was going to watch her lips form those words and hear herpantand—
“Megs? You okay?”
She nodded, her cheeks on fire. “It’s just that—”
“I’ve seen the audition material.” Gideon’s throat bobbed. “If that’s what you’re concerned about.”
Megs glanced up and met his eyes. “Kind of embarrassing to read in front of . . . another human being.”A hot human being. A human being I’m already feeling quite self-conscious in front of.
“I promise, you won’t even know I’m there. I’ll make sure it’s recording, then scroll on my phone or something.”
Megs laughed. “Do you have headphones?”
Gideon’s blue eyes glinted. “Sure.”
She opened her mouth to ask for clarification on that answer, but Gideon was already through the door and settling down in front of the control panel. He pressed a button and his voice piped in through speakers. “Start whenever you’re ready.”
Megs nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. Simple. Consistent space from the microphone. Conversational. Just read. She started, and after a few sentences paused and asked if she could start again. Gideon nodded through the glass. When he gave her a thumbs up, she began afresh.
This time, she stared at the text on the screen and imagined herself standing in a darkened room. Rain pattering against the window panes. The man she loved standing across from her, his hair matted to his face since he’d run through the storm to get to her.
Megs started reading. She stumbled here and there, but just restarted the sentence, never allowing herself to drop out of character. Her cadence evened out as she moved further into the text.
“Elena caught his hand in hers,” she read. “‘You left me, Nathan. You left and didn't say a word.’ Nathan dropped his head and pressed his forehead to hers. ‘Because there was too much to say.’
Elena tilted her head, and as Nathan's mouth pressed closer, the room seemed to fade away, leaving only the pulsating energy between them. His lips pressed against hers in a searing kiss, obliterating the dam of pent-up desire she’d built brick by brick and sending fire through her veins.
Elena's fingers tangled in Nathan's hair. Their tongues danced with reckless abandon, and she couldn’t pull him close enough. Couldn’t press her body against his hard enough.
‘I’ve waited too long—’ Her breath caught in her throat as Nathan dragged his hands over her and lifted her from the floor. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he buried his mouth against her neck.”
Megs stopped at the end of the page, coming up for air.Was that it?She scrolled up, but the page didn’t move. She stepped back from the microphone and wet her lips, then glanced up at the glass for the first time since she’d started again.
