I cringe. Busted. “When I remembered.”
Micah sighs and scrubs his face with his hand as a few women break from the crowd and rush his side of the car. They pound on his window, but he seems to be trying his best to ignore them.
“Did you know it would be like this today?”
How do I tell him that Iknewbut neverconsidered? It’s something I’m used to, something that’s just part of this side of advertising. I didn’t stop to think that this type of crowd might upset Micah. I glance back in the back seat at Hailey, who seems curious about the crowd but not afraid of them.
“I’m sorry, Micah. I guess it’s been part of my job for so long now that I never thought about how it might affect you.” I hang my head and wring my hands together in my lap.
Another sigh. The girls outside give up, and Micah pulls forward again.
“Will these women get so crazy that they might hurt Hailey? Hurt you?”
“No!” My head jerks up, and I wave my hand in a dismissive gesture. “If you were Sloan, they might mob you, yeah, but we’re nobodies to them. It’ll get a bit close for comfort, but I don’t think any of them would hurt us. They’re just here for a chance to see Sloan.”
“So, the fact that his fans are called ‘rabid’ shouldn’t concern me?”
It’s like he heard my thoughts earlier. “Did I say that?”
He turns to me with a smirk. “Babe, the whole internet says that.”
We finally make it through the crowd to the security gate, where I show my badge to get us in. Micah breathes a sigh of relief when we leave the fans behind us. We park a little bit away from the sound stage, and after he gets Hailey out of her car seat, Micah takes my hand for the walk inside.
Hailey starts to get shy and antsy halfway through the parking lot. Her eyes are wide, and she jumps whenever someone walks too close to us. She sticks her thumb in her mouth and hugs closer to Micah as he carries her.
At least this is just rehearsals. Maybe she’ll get used to it before production really begins. I’d hate to think I’ve traumatized the poor girl with crew members and hair and makeup and costuming and all that madness. Micah’s grip on my hand gets tighter when we enter the stage, and at first, I can’t figure out why—until I see Sloan, in all his tall, tattooed, dark-haired glory, flash me a broad grin.
I may have neglected to mention to Micah that I’ve worked with Sloan before on another campaign.
“Iris! Great to see you again.” Sloan strides up with his muscular arms extended for a hug, but I sidestep closer to Micah and offer him a handshake instead. The ruggedly handsome Sloan looks a bit confused, but from the tension that bleeds off Micah, I think I made the right call. A hug from this movie star-Adonis hybrid might have spelled sudden doom for our burgeoning relationship.
“Hey, Sloan. How have you been since that deodorant campaign?” There. Hopefully Micah will realize it’s just a work thing and nothing to worry about.
“Smelling clean,” he says with a wink.
Damnit, Sloan. Don’t wink at me. I try to mitigate the damage he’s causing by changing the subject. “Oh! Since you’ll be playing this little girl’s dad, I should introduce you to her real dad, my boyfriend Micah.”
A knowing look flashes across Sloan’s face, and he reaches towards Micah with his right hand for a more formal greeting. “Boyfriend, huh? Lucky guy. Guess the rest of us will have to pine from a distance now.”
I put a hand on my hip and scowl at Sloan. “There will be no pining! You act like I was some sort of hot commodity on-set last time we met.”
Sloan and Micah exchange the same raised-brow glance, then both men burst into laughter.
“No clue?” Sloan says, squeezing past me to put an arm around Micah’s shoulder.
“Nope.” Micah chuckles and walks off with Sloan. My jaw drops as the two gorgeous men insta-bond over some joke that I don’t get, laughing with each other and talking back and forth like they were old friends. Micah even passes Hailey to Sloan at one point, and the girl bubbles over with giggles.
What happened there? Did I miss something?
I’d butt in and ask them, but I’m stopped by the appearance of the director and our client, Mr. Jones. There’s a bit of a dispute about whether or not Hailey will give the little boy a kiss on the cheek, but I put my foot down on that one. I know how Micah feels about that, so I’m not going to let them renegotiate that part of Hailey’s contract this close to filming. No way.
“But Iris—”
I put up a hand to stop our director, Landon. “No buts. Hailey will not be kissing anyone on this commercial. That’s set in stone.”
Mr. Jones grumbles a bit, but they both finally give in and drop it. Good. I don’t want Micah to know that was even being considered again.
The premise of the commercial is a cute one: Sloan and Hailey’s characters move to a new neighborhood, where they meet the young boy actor and his “mother.” Cue the instant attraction between adults, but at first the kids butt heads. Hailey’s character doesn’t want to share her toys, but the boy’s character happens to bring along The Product, a cheesy kids’ snack that’s killing it in the sales department. Having Sloan’s character talk his “daughter” into agreeing to share her toys in exchange for a taste of the snack will just ensure that millions of single moms—and lonely housewives—pick up the treat for their own kids. I know ifIwas single and had to pick which snacks to buy, the ones plugged by hot guys like Sloan would be what I’d go for.
