We’re in the middle of a scene in the library, and I’m lost in my endless spiral of self-doubt.
“Miles,” Natalie calls out. “It’s your line.”
I shake my head and adjust my kilt. “Right.” I look at Ava. “Aye, sure. I’ve seen Nessie a dozen times. I can show ye, if ye like.”
Ava’s tiny hands fly to my chest. That stage direction is not in the script, and I’m so surprised by it that I stumble back. “Show me. Show me now.”
“Cut,” Natalie yells. “Let’s take a five-minute break. When we come back, we’ll shoot that one again.”
Everyone nods, and I’m wondering if I can find Skye and sneak a kiss before we have to reset the shot.
“Miles.” Natalie beckons me with the crook of her finger, and I have the sinking feeling of being summoned by the queen.
I try to act casual heading over. “What’s up?”
Natalie lowers her voice to a whisper. “On the next take, can you try not to look so repulsed when Ava touches you? You’re supposed tobein lovewith her.”
“I was just surprised.” Oh man, did I look repulsed? I wasn’t. Ava is very beautiful, objectively. I’m just not attracted to her.
“You looked disgusted and a little terrified.”
I sigh. “On the next take, I’ll look enamored, I swear. I was just caught off guard.”
She nods. “Is everything all right? You seem a little off.”
“Have my performances been okay?”
“Yes, for the most part. You just seem…I don’t know. Distracted.” She lowers her voice even more. “Have I been working everyone too hard?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think so.”
She nods, but she’s chewing on the end of her pen, her tell whenever she’s nervous or unsure of something. “I’m giving everyone the weekend off. It’s Halloween.”
I’d kind of forgotten about holidays or days of the week, even. “Right.”
“We should all go blow off some steam. Where can we go?”
Karaoke. But I don’t want to say it out loud. I want it to be just a Skye and me thing.
Elsie comes up behind me with two fresh coffees and hands one to Natalie, then takes a seat in the chair next to her. “Go where?”
Natalie blows on her cup, steam wafting off it in the cold castle. “Somewhere everyone can have a good time.”
“Thistle House has karaoke tonight. Skye told me about it.”
Natalie smiles like a cat with a canary in her sights. “Perfect.” She clears her throat. “Okay, let’s go again.”
I hold in my sigh and walk back to my mark. I wouldn’t have been able to kiss Skye or even hold her hand at the pub anyway, as per our agreement, but I was looking forward to some time away from the rest of the cast.
We shoot the scene ten times, and it takes pretty much the rest of the morning. I’m about to bolt out to find Skye when Minnie booms over the megaphone. “Fifteen-minute break.”
I look at the time, and it’s already a little after noon. A fifteen-minute break isn’t even long enough to get out of costume, which isn’t so bad. I’ve come to quite like the feel of the kilt. I drag myself to the dining room for some coffee. They’ve taken over the whole thing for a craft service table. Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a massive array of just about every cookie known to man, all artfully arranged on the dining room table. I grab a paper cup and fill it from the large carafe of coffee. Is it even worth going to find Skye to have to leave so soon after?
I decide it is. Of course, it is. It always is. I walk purposefully out the door just as Ty is striding into the room. We collide, and my cup smashes into my chest, hot coffee soaking into my light-gray linen shirt. The pain is sharp, and even worse, there goes my time with Skye.
“Shit.” I’m so frustrated with having to share the same space with this idiot. How was I ever friends with him?
Ty brushes off his shirt, which has maybe three small spots of coffee on it. “Whoa. You have to look where you’re going. Get your head out of the clouds.” He walks toward the table and mutters, “Or out of that redhead’s skirt, rather.”
