Page 23 of Bad Reputation

That much she felt comfortable saying, even though it was exactly why this crush was going to linger. She liked him, in addition to being attracted to him. It would’ve been easier if he’d been simply the hot, vacuous guy she’d assumed he was, but the real Cole James wasn’t the Cole James brand. Not at all.

“Now we just have to get Tasha to do the same,” he said.

When Maggie hadn’t been able to fall asleep last night, she’d spent the wee hours contemplating the Rubik’s Cube that was Tasha Russell.

This first episode of the season included a Geordie-Effie love scene in her jail cell. The audience needed to see the history between them but also their desperation, which was no small order. Since the table read for episode one was just a few days away, Maggie and the actors needed to start work on the blocking immediately.

“I’m going to take another swing at her, one on one.”

“You sure?” Cole was impressed, and it took a lot of self-control for Maggie not to preen.

“Yup. I have some theories about what’s going on, and I need to test them without witnesses.”

“Okay, but maybe you should get that gear baseball catchers use. The pads and the mask.”

“Do you have fencing gear to practice the sword fighting? Maybe I could borrow some from Ryan Baris.” Maggie hadn’t met the stunt coordinator yet, but from the way Cole talked about him, it was clear he and Tasha liked and trusted him. She was kind of jealous about that.

“Actually, no. We’re not using sharp swords, but they have me training with the stuff that we’ll use for filming. No masks or eye protection or anything. The gear for the sex is more hardcore.”

“Whoa.”

Cole shot another look at Rhiannon, but she wasn’t paying attention to them at all. She was smiling at her phone, probably texting someone.

He set a hand on the table and leaned closer to Maggie. Close enough that she could smell his deodorant. “I’m really glad you’re here, Maggie Niven. I don’t think I’ve talked about the hows of acting or creating characters more than I have today.”

Maggie’s voice came out soft. Intimate. “That, Cole James, is a crime.”

For a long moment, they stood there, watching each other. The sun had shifted during the morning, and the room was now all soft grays and blues. Cole’s hair looked less blond and more brown and gold than this morning. Maggie wanted to push back the lock that had fallen over his forehead.

But Maggie needed this job. She needed to begoodat this job.

So she just waved her hand awkwardly. “Have a good day.”

She made that big, including both actors. And then she left before she accidentally said something else too revealing.

Chapter 6

INT. CONFERENCE ROOM

Esme McCullough—Zoya’s assistant—read the description that brought the first episode of the third season ofWaverleyto an end:“CLOSING MONTAGE: AN ANGUISHED GEORDIE LEANING AGAINST THE WALL OF THE TOLBOOTH PRISON, AN ANGRY MOB POURS THROUGH THE STREETS OF EDINBURGH, A DETERMINED EFFIE ALONE IN HER CELL, MORE SHOTS OF THE MOB, A FRIGHTENED JEANIE HUDDLES IN HER COTTAGE, AND THE FEET OF THE HANGED MAN SWINGING. OUT.”

The room was silent. Maggie had no problem imagining it, and if everyone here did their jobs, it was going to be awesome.

Someone whooped, and the cast and crew broke into applause.

“Great work,” Zoya shouted over the clapping. “I don’t know about you all, but I’m pumped.”

Maggie might be pumped, but the nausea was doing a good job masking it.

Next to her, the stunt coordinator sat up.Ryan Baris, according to the paper tent in front of him—the guy who’d worked with Cole and Tasha several times. He folded his arms onto the table in a mirror of Maggie’s posture and said, under his breath, “You feeling all right?”

Great. Her face must be broadcasting her trepidation for everyone’s amusement. “I don’t think I realized howbigthis is.” Maggie hadknown that there would be fifty people at the table read, and even more on set once they started filming, but the sheer size ofWaverleywas only beginning to hit her.

“It’s like being back in Afghanistan.”

“I didn’t realize you’d served.” Since she’d never spoken with him before today, she couldn’t’ve known, but she still felt vaguely guilty.

Ryan snorted. “Why would you?”

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