I nod. “Got it.”
“Make them fall in love with you early on. Big chemistry, and maybe a little playful arguing. Viewers eat that up.”
“We can make that work,” Tucker says first. “But the main focus will remain on the house and its story, right?”
My knees nearly give out on me with his question. Wejuststarted, and he immediately remembered my worries about how the fake relationship in front of the cameras would take away from the house. And here he is asking the question I was too afraid to ask myself.
“Yes. Of course,” Andrea says quickly. “But if the viewers fall in love with you, it’ll be great for the ratings.”
Tucker doesn’t reply, and I look from Andrea to him. His eyes are fixed on her as she looks down at her clipboard. He looks as if he’s assessing her motives and searching for something he can’t seem to place in her.
He turns his body to face me, his gaze finally leaving Andrea. “So, what’s the plan, boss?” he asks quietly. “Are you walking them through first, or do you want me to stay in the background until you call me in?”
The word boss shouldn’t do anything to me.
But it does.
I straighten my spine. “I’ll start the introduction to the house out here. Once we get inside for the walk through, I’ll bring you in. Structural, load bearing walls…you know, all the things I’m not allowed to pretend I know so you have your part in this.”
His mouth curves into a grin. “I appreciate your commitment to honesty.”
Andrea claps her hands once. “Perfect. That’s exactly what we want. Easy and natural.”
Tucker grins to the side of me, crossing his arms over his chest. “Oh, you’ll still get arguing though. She’s got plenty of experience pretending to like me. Should be easy.”
“I don’t pretend,” I say sweetly. “I just work really well with difficult material.”
“I’m, uh, going to let the film crew know you’re ready and we can start rolling in a few,” Andrea says, giving us a quick, approving look before walking away.
The moment she’s gone the space feels different.
Like we’re trapped in a bubble and the rest of the world faded back a step.
“So,” I say, breaking the silence between us. “Is your crew here?”
“Nope.”
“Don’t you need to wrangle them up or something?”
He glances down at me with a half-smile tugging at his mouth. “I’m good right here.”
There’s something in his voice that makes me feel fully at ease. As if my body knew I wasn’t before and just hearing that solidified it for me. He studies me for a second, my grip tightening around the cup in my hand. Instinctively, I roll my shoulders like I’m trying to shake something loose.
“Are you nervous?”
“A little,” I admit. “It…feels weird.”
“How so?”
I don’t answer back right away, because my thoughts can’t even be put into words. When I look at this house, all it is to me is a project. My one opportunity to catapult me into something more and be taken seriously.
Reality is, it’s more than that.
I’ve been here before—spent time here before.
This house is part of a family I don’t remember.
But I can’t tell him all that.
