Page 91 of Not Exactly a Small-Town Romance

“I want her to be absolutely swooning when we approach her. Give her the full work. Make her want to be someone’s Juliet.”

I catch Kelsey looking away, her lips tight. “Understood.”

“Give me back to Kelsey.”

Kelsey slips in close so I can hand off the phone in front of the narrow background. It’s tight, and her body brushes against mine.

I quickly step away, but not before everything ignites. Maybe I should go back, return to my old game. Plunder the future Juliet.

But the idea doesn’t appeal like it once did.

Instead, I find myself watching Kelsey bend over to take notes on the pretty paper left on the antique side table she’s using as a desk.

Desdemona barks out rapid orders. “We’ll need to contact our usual BG for a cattle call of three hundred extras under thirty.”

“Call the BG for background extras. Got it.”

“Contact a few hot models in trashy clothes for close-ups. They can be SAG. It’s a big-budget concert scene, and they don’t want to CGI the floor, only the mezzanine.”

Kelsey scribbles madly on the paper.

It makes me smile, watching her handle the Demon’s demands so easily. Kelsey was so green at the beginning, with no idea that BG stood forbackground extrasor that SAG meant actors who were part of the professional acting guild. She’s good now. She’s competent. More than that. She’s fantastic.

But she’s notmine. I have to tear my gaze away.

Desdemona hasn’t paused for a breath. “Make sure the BG is fully represented on the set. No rando assistants. I want brass. We’re using them for that soccer movie, right?”

“Yes, they gave us the extras for the arena.”

“I’m thinking about coming back to watch that one to make sure everything’s good for the big one.”

Uh-oh.

Kelsey stops writing. “You’re going to come in person?”

“That’s what I said.”

“That’s in two weeks.”

“I know. I hate it, but I should probably be there.”

Kelsey looks up at me. I can see the panic she’s trying to tamp down. “I can handle it. I really can. I can take Jester. Zachery, even.”

There’s silence for a minute, and Kelsey watches me, trying to hold her neutral expression for Desdemona.

“Maybe. Tell me how the conversation goes when you book the concert-scene crowd.”

“Okay. I’m on it. We’ll handle it beautifully.”

Then her phone goes dark. Desdemona isn’t one for polite sign-offs.

“Two weeks?” Kelsey wails. “That won’t be enough time.”

I walk over to her and drape an arm over her shoulder. “You’ll totally convince her you’ve got this. She doesn’t want to come. Show her she doesn’t need to.”

“But I have to be there. Why is this happening? I just got a great new possibility!”

“I can be there. Jester can be there. We’re babysitting a company babysitting a herd of extras. It’s going to be fine.”

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