Page 90 of Not Exactly a Small-Town Romance

Me:Don’t be.

Jester:When are you going to stop this nonsense and tell her how you feel?

Me:A half an hour after never.

Jester:It’s not right. She should know.

No way. If I can’t play this straight, she’ll feel guilty, particularly after the night we had.

Me:We’re all right. She’s happy.

Jester:And you’re miserable!

He might be right. I’m going to have to find some way to distract myself with all this going on. I’ll lose my mind.

Jester:I knew it!

I hesitated again.

Me:I’ll live. Forward any of the work you have that I can take off K’s plate. She’s got plans.

Jester:All right, honey bear. But I think you should nip this misdirection before you go plumb crazy.

Me:Not my story here. It’s hers.

Jester:Can’t blame me for worrying.

I hear Kelsey’s voice in the other room. She must be talking to Desdemona. It’s late afternoon in France. I fully intend to help out if her workload gets in the way of her husband plan.

When my phone buzzes again, it’s Kels.

Help!

I hurry to her room. She stands in front of the tapestry she normally hangs on the wall behind her desk to make a pretty video background.

“He’s right here,” she says.

She wants me on the call?

I’m not dressed for work, which I realize is a grave error. Desdemona will call it out. I’ve never once worn shorts to the office.

“Hold on,” Kelsey says. She sets the phone face down on the desk. “Get a suit jacket on!” She waves me off.

I race to my room, grab a jacket, thankful the collarless shirt look is back. When I return, she says, “He had to finish a call. Oh! He’s done.”

I take the phone from her, careful to keep it angled above the waist and with the tapestry behind me. “Hello, Desdemona.”

She’s sitting on a veranda, the Riviera in the background. “What is your availability?”

“I’m heading to Ibiza in about four hours,” I say. “What’s your timeline?”

She waves a hand. “Nothing pressing. But Catalina Ferrig will be in town at the beginning of June, and I want her to accept the lead role for aRomeo and Julietremake.”

“I’m sure she’ll be interested in that without my help.”

“Luigi Casperra is directing.”

“Oh.” Catalina made clear on a late-night talk show that she’d rather go blind than take direction from Luigi.

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