“Well done,” Toni said. Her gaze only lingered on him for a few seconds. Toni looked at Addie then. “Both of you.”
“They’re good characters. Acting when they’re well-rounded is easier,” Addie said, staring at Toni, fearing that she could probably hear Addie’s heart beating.
Marcela Gibson, the producer, pulled Philip aside, steering him away from Toni. He resisted, clearly interested in trying to talk to Toni. “I have motivation thoughts about—”
“Write them out, Philip. I can give them to her if you are signed for the role.” Marcela’s voice carried, and Addie repressed a flicker of hope that he wouldn’t be cast in the role. Honestly, though, perhaps she wouldn’t be.Would Toni find it awkward that I’m here?
Addie turned to leave the stage, too, unsure of the protocol here. Philip had been steered away, so maybe she was to depart, too. No one there knew that she and Toni were friends.Pen friends? Online friends?Addie smiled as she thought about the inability to label them.
“Adelaine? Wait, please.” Toni’s voice was rougher than Addie remembered.
Philip looked back at them and glared, but then he was gone. Hopefully that would be the end of him.
“You didn’t say you cut your hair,” Toni said, voice lowered now.
“You didn’t say quite a few things either,” Addie managed to say. Then she added, “So… I cut my hair. Not all the way short. Just a bit less like I fell out of a John William Waterhouse painting. Anythingyouforgot to tellme?”
Toni chuckled. “You look good.… I, umm, wrote a book. I wrote it before we met, but I sold it after that. I didn’t know what to say about it.”
“Luckily, I do. Your book isamazing.I’ve read it a lot of times.” Addie lifted her chin. She was blushing. Her entire face felt flame-hot, but Toni watched her with something that looked like respect.
Toni stared as Addie pulled a long strand forward.
“Your acting was wonderful,” said the other woman with Toni, the one who had been at her conference panel in Edinburgh. She held out her hand. “Emily. I’m Toni’s agent.”
“Addie. Adelaine, actually… in real life, not the character, but I am hopeful.” Addie smiled even wider. Emily was Toni’sagent,not her girlfriend. Addie had considered asking about her in the email exchanges, but there was no graceful way to mention the sexy brunette at the conference without admitting to being there in the first place. Toni had said she was single and that was enough. Addie had thought, though, that the pretty brunette was someone Toni had been with intimately. The relief that she wasn’t washed over Addie.
“Howlovelyto meet you, Adelaine. I’m Emily Haide,” Emily said, glancing at Toni with a look that made Addie absolutely certain that Emily knew something about Addie and Toni.
“Em.” Toni’s tone was stern enough to make Addie have an unexpected flutter in regions lower than her belly. That commanding voice brought forth memories that were suddenly crystal clear—and exceptionally awkward in the moment.
Well, then…Before Addie had much time to ponder her reaction to hearing Toni sound so controlling, Toni flashed her a friendly smile. “I may start to think you have no modern clothes, Adelaine. The last two times I’ve seen you, you were dressed like you were from another era.”
Addie blurted, “Well, I have perfectly sound explanations.”
“Sorry about that. Philip tells me he has another callback anyhow,” Marcela, the woman who held Addie’s career in her hands, said as she rejoined them. “He would love to talk to you if he’s cast as Colin.”
“Perfectly fine,” Emily said when Toni failed to reply.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.” Toni looked Addie up and down.
“I sent an email.” Addie knew damn well her email was likely sitting in Toni’s “to read” file, but shehadsent it.
Marcela looked like someone had just handed her a gift. “You already know Miss Stewart? That’s just unexpectedlywonderful! How do you know each other?”
Really, what was she to say? Addie bit her lip and looked away.
We kissed in a bar and didmorein a garden, and ever since that night, Toni was the star of every masturbatory fantasy I’ve enjoyed the past year,Addie thought, but she said nothing of the sort. Those were not things Addie had shared even with her dearest friend.
Oh, and Toni hid her surname and novel from me the past year while we emailed incessantly,Addie silently continued as she waited for Toni to answer.
Instead, Toni gestured to Addie with a surprising amount of trust and said, “Why don’t you explain, Addie?”
“Scotland.” She glanced at Toni, feeling like this was a test of some sort. “I was preparing to star inMina,and I believe Dr. Darbyshire was in town for a conference.… It’s a little vague since that was over a year ago.”
A brief look between Emily and Toni made Addie falter. She couldn’t recall if Toni had mentioned the conference, and from the suspicious look on Toni’s face now, neither could she.
“That’s right. We were both in Scotland at the same time for work,” Toni agreed. She caught Addie’s gaze. “Were you at the conference or…”
