“Did I look older?”
She shrugged. “All the muscles.”
I smile and hold up a bicep. Her eyes follow the line of my arm, the bulge when I flex. I smile and drop my arm. “About this room.”
She shakes her head. “How would we explain when we pedal home in the morning?”
She has a point. I can’t lose this job. “You’re right.”
After a massive dinner,the rain lightens up, and we head on our bikes back to the castle. It’s dark, but the bikes have little lights on the handlebars that help. There is a true break in the clouds, and the moon shines down, helping to light the way. The sky is absolutely filled with stars. I’ve been in remote locations before and seen my fair share of starry nights, but this is on another level. It’s like Scotland has more stars than the rest of the world.
The ride is quiet. I’m hoping to sneak Skye into my room, or sneak into hers, but before we even wheel the bikes into the shed, Minnie runs up to us, her red hair tucked into a neat bun. Minnie is one of the PAs. She’s young but amazing at her job. This is the third film I’ve worked on with her. Once she gets closer, I can see the urgency in her face.
“Miles,” she yells.
“Uh-oh,” Skye says as she opens the door to the shed and wheels her bike in.
“Minnie! What’s up? I didn’t know you were working on this project. I want you to meet Skye.”
She’s out of breath and pauses for a moment with her hands on her knees, then takes my bike from me.
“They’re in the middle of a design presentation.” Minnie catches her breath and adds, “Nice to meet you, Skye.” She turns back to me. “You need to go now. They’ve been looking all over for you. Didn’t you get any of their texts?”
I shake my head. “No service.” I may have had service at the pub. But the truth was, I hadn’t checked my phone since we left. “Why didn’t anyone mention it?”
We all start walking to the castle. I wish I could grab Skye’s hand. I’m a naturally affectionate person. Thiskeeping things secret and not having any public displays of affectionthing goes against every fiber in my being.
Minnie grabs my arm and pulls me inside. I catch Skye’s eye as she heads upstairs and give her a little air kiss behind Minnie’s back. The smile Skye gives me in return lights up my chest.
“Can’t I change first?” My sweater is still damp from getting caught in the rain.
“No. It’s almost over,” Minnie says. She leads me to the dining room where we had the table read, and it feels like déjà vu. Again, the only open spot is next to Ty. Thora is speaking, and a fair amount of the cast have glasses of wine in front of them. Everyone looks beat. The designer is nodding, listening attentively to Thora’s question.
I silently sit down.
“That’s an excellent point, Thora. I’m going to have to give it some thought, bring it to the team, and get back to you.”
Natalie says, “I think that’s all for now. We’ll start filming in the morning. You should all have the schedule in your inbox, but if you don’t,”—she looks pointedly at me when she says this—“please let me know now. Thank you, everyone.”
Minnie comes to my side, and we’re just about to leave together when Natalie says in a bone-chilling tone, “Miles, a word.”
Minnie whispers, “I’ll see you later.”
I nod.
Once everyone has filed out, Natalie looks at me with her fiery, deep-brown eyes.
I start by apologizing. “I didn’t realize the design presentation was so soon.”
“Everyone was emailed.”
I hadn’t checked my phone. “I must have missed it. It won’t happen again.”
Natalie cuts right to the point. “Miles, are you sleeping with our host?”
“Callum? No. He’s a nice guy. I just don’t think of him that way.” I smile, but it is not returned.
“Skye. Are you sleeping with Skye? You are a grown man, and under any other circumstances, I would say do your thing. But we can’t lose this location. My mom was close with Callum’s late wife. She pulled some strings to get us here. I will say it again to be super clear…Youwould be more easily replaced than this castle. Got it?”
