Page 86 of (Not So) Famous in Paradise

I drive straight to the city offices so I can be there when they open at nine. This is why I didn’t take care of the permit. I had to be on set every day by seven a.m. for makeup and to go through the script. I’ve had no time to come down here during the day, and they close at five, long before we finish up for the day.

The whole way to the city offices, I tap my fingers on the steering wheel. When I get there, I have to wait for Sheryl Tuttle to show up—ten minutes late, no less—and open for the day. Then it takes her another twenty minutes to find the paperwork I need while telling me about her grandkids and asking about Mom.

Meanwhile, all I want to do is get to Georgia. I don’t know yet if today is the day Ike will want us to kiss. No matter what, though, I’ll get to put my arm around her, feel her hand in mine, see the desire in her eyes.

I fill out the paperwork as quickly as possible, which isn’t very fast considering how long it takes me to read through it. Then Sheryl makes hard copies and places one in each councilmember’s mailbox, while I seriously think about running for city council myself on a Make Paradise Efficient Again campaign.

Finally, when I’m positive everything is squared away with the permit, I run to my Bronco and speed all the way to Little Copenhagen and Granny Neilsen’s. I’m hours late, but that’s not why I risk an encounter with Officer Tuttle—Sheryl’s ancient husband and Paradise’s only traffic cop.

Nope. My reasons for wanting to get to the set are easy.

Today I get to stop pretending that my feelings for Georgia are just for the camera. I don’t have to turn them off when Ike yells cut. Best of all, if I have the chance to kiss her, I’m going to take it. Whether or not it’s in the script.

Chapter 35

Georgia

Zach is late this morning, a fact that tests my patience for two reasons: one, we’re behind schedule; two, I’m dying to see him. Not just see him but talk to him. I need him to tell me this is real. I’m not his rebound from Carly or a placeholder for the next blonde he meets.

The one advantage to his being late is that he’s not here to get the script Teri’s left for him on the table. I glance around the room. Amber is working on Evie’s makeup. Nick and Gracyn are setting up lights and cameras. Stella, Ike, and Teri are still in the trailer.

With everyone busy, no one notices me pick up Zach’s script. I only want a peek. Just to see if we finally get our kissing scene. I want to be prepared for it.

I scan each page, reading as carefully but quickly as I can. My ears are attuned to the noise around me so I can drop the script if anyone walks my way. As soon as I’m done, I put it right back where it was and school my emotions. Namely the excitement that has to be written all over my face. Today is the day.

At least on camera.

But I kind of hate that our first kiss (okay, second first kiss) will be for the public and not because it’s what we both want in the moment. After yesterday, though, the possibility exists for us to kiss off camera.

Zach looked ready to kiss me then, before Britta called. There’s no reason why I can’t recreate that moment before we shoot. All I have to do is get Zach alone, make sure he feels what I do, and—if he does—kiss him like he’s never been kissed before. I’ve had fifteen years of practice since that first kiss. He liked it then, and I’ve only gotten better since.

And with all the sexual tension that’s been building between us the last few days, it’s better that we release some of it before our on-camera kiss.At Home with Georgia Roseis supposed to be G-rated. My thoughts about Zach and what kissing him will be like are definitely not G-rated.

Wherever Zach is, I wonder if he’s thinking about kissing me too. That thought sends shivers from the top of my head all the way to my toes. Thinking about Zach thinking about kissing me—anticipating it, getting excited about it—is hot. So hot, my shiver is followed by a flash of heat that sets my flesh on fire.

There’s no insulation left in this house, so the cold from outside seeps into every corner. I should be freezing. But I’m fanning myself with my script when Evie walks to the table to pick up the coffee I brought.

“What’s got you all hot and bothered?” Evie takes the lid off her coffee and blows on it. Steam billows past her face, as if to emphasize her point.

“Nothing.” I fan myself harder.

If this is whatthinkingabout Zach’s lips on mine does to me, I may actually burst into flames when he kisses me for real.

“Uh-huh.” Evie smiles as she sips.

Then Ike walks through the door, and I put away any more thoughts of Zach for the next two hours as Evie and I shoot our scenes. We talk through our ideas and compare paint and fabric swatches. All of this will end up being about five minutes of actual footage used. Same with the trip we’re taking to Florence tomorrow to pick out furniture at a local store that also does custom orders.

Despite the scenes we’re shooting, we’re nowhere near ready to start decorating. The house still doesn’t have walls—Adam’s crew will work on those tomorrow while my crew is off-site. But our shooting schedule has to stay ahead of the actual renovation schedule. Evie and I will finish all the decorating and final touches this summer after we officially wrap up shooting. We’ll also get plans in place for the next cottage.

When the crew returns in September, Evie and I will be ready to go with the next cottage, and Nick will shoot the final reveal for this cottage. That footage will be in the last episode of season one. Ike and the producers will have time to cut it in while the other episodes run. Then season two will air shortly after because they’ll have all the footage from our renovation of the third cottage.

And we’ll move onto the next. And the next. And the next. Until all twelve cottages are done within three to four years.

I’m tired just thinking about what my life will look like for the next few years until this entire project is done. But also excited by what it’s going to do for Paradise. Adam has already hired more guys for his construction crew in anticipation of the work, including a project manager, so he won’t have to be onsite all the time.

In a way, it’s comfortable having the certainty of my life planned out like it is. The one big unknown is Zach and me.

As excited as I am about the possibility of us, I’m also scared to death.

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