Page 24 of Bad Reputation

She shrugged in apology. “I guess it’s obvious I’m a little overwhelmed.”

“Yup.”

Someone had mentioned that Ryan had gotten his start as Cole’s stand-in, and Maggie was having trouble believing it. The men had a superficial resemblance, sure, insofar as they were both tall and fit with dirty-blond hair. But they had completely different energies. Cole was a teddy bear, all soft warmth and self-deprecating smiles. Ryan had an edge that felt genuinely intimidating.

But maybe it was a front, because the look Ryan shot her was kind. “Just keep faking it, and one of these days, you’ll realize you know what you’re doing.”

“Did that work for you?”

“Yup. Just be aware, once you get a taste for this”—he gestured at the room—“it’s addictive.”

The jury was still out as far as she was concerned.

“Can you tell me something? Why are we shooting wildly out of order?” They wouldn’t finish with all the stuff for the first episode until four months from now.

“When we’re in Edinburgh in a few weeks, we have to get all of the location stuff. Then we move to the Highlands for all the pretty vista shit, and we wrap up with the interiors in the studio in Glasgow. I don’t know how they do it.” He pointed to the actors. “It would mess with my head.”

There, way down the ring of conference tables, was Tasha Russell, whom Maggie hadn’t seen since the disastrous dinner at Troncos. Theactress rolled her neck before giving Cole, on her right, a small smile. Tasha had been absolutely focused during the read-through, alert and determined, like a bird of prey. But Cole was in a full-on serious mode that Maggie had never seen from him before. While most of the actors had been giving a half-strength version of their performances, feeling out the beats and logistics of the script as much as anything else, Cole had been giving it his all.

It had been exhilarating to watch. For all his worries about this part, and the moments of vulnerability that he’d shared with her, he was nailing this role.

The former-director part of Maggie was happy for him. The now-intimacy-coordinator-who-might-be-credited-with-supporting-him was delighted. But under both of those roles, Maggie was also a person. A person who’d come to care about him a totally normal amount for a couple of days of acquaintance. He was a charming, sweet guy—of course she wanted him to be amazing in this role.

That was all the tenderness in her gut was. Nothing else.

“I gotta check in with the sword guys,” Ryan said, “but holler if you need anything.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Maggie flipped through her script and added a note.Check with David re: camera angles.

During the table read, she’d followed along on a clean copy of the latest version of the script. This sat next to her annotated, working, and slightly-out-of-date copy, but that one was already thick with highlighting, sticky tabs, and notes. If she’d added anything else to it, it would’ve been unusable.

Zoya, who’d been accepting congratulations, stood, and the room fell silent. “Thanks, everyone. That was great work all around. Actors, you’re free to go. Any meetings that you have with wardrobe will be delayed for a bit until I can finish conferring with Alexa. Same with Ryan on stunts and Maggie for intimacy.”

Alexa Pratt was a legend who needed no introduction. An older white woman with a stylish gray bob and chunky red-framed glasses, Alexa was currently deliberating with several assistants, who were sitting in the outer ring of chairs around the table. Ryan and Maggie were not famous. Zoya pointed to them, and they gave obligatory waves, but no one paid attention. The conference room had melted back into a mix of overlapping conversations and laughter.

Cole caught Maggie’s eye, and for a second, a smile passed over his face—just a flicker of the man underneath the movie star—and Maggie’s breath lodged in her throat. She nearly choked when he began walking through the crowd, which parted around him as he made his way over to her.

“Did you get it?” he asked her.

“Get what?”

“The Wordle. I saw you working on it when you came in.”

Cole James—the movie star—wanted to know if she’d solved today’s Wordle.

Life, it comes at you fast.

“Yup, in four.SAVVY.” It had been atrickyone. “How many five-letter words have doubleVs?”

“Bevvy,” he offered.

“And divvy. Damn, there are more than I thought.”

“Well, regardless, good work.” Then, because she was only barely holding it together as it was, he leaned closer. “You okay? You were a little green. Saw Ryan checking in on you.”

At some point, when sensation returned to her body, Maggie was going to be mortified that everyone apparently could sense how out of her depth she felt. But with Cole smiling down on her, everything seemed okay with the world.

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