Page 17 of Full House

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Victoria!”

Pausing with a hand on the commissary’s door, Victoria swiveled when she heard her name shouted. Rick Massey, who played Nate’s business partner in their movie, was flagging her down.

She waved back and waited while he did a fast jog to reach her.

“Getting something to eat?” he asked barely winded.

She nodded. “Yep.”

“Mind if I join you?”

Victoria had planned to grab a salad and take it back to her trailer to eat before needing to be back on the set in two hours, but she didn’t mind changing her plans. She didn’t know Rick well, but he seemed like a nice guy, and she didn’t want him to have to eat alone. “Sure.”

He gave her a wide smile. “Great.”

He pulled open the door for them and motioned for her to go in first. The studio commissary was really just an upscale cafeteria with a food bar in the back and a dining area up front. They made their way through the restaurant and stood at the back of the line.

Victoria recognized many famous and not-so-famous people, and it was hard not to feel a bit star struck in a room full of so many well-known faces.

After waiting in line and collecting their food, they found a four-seater table and sat across from one another.

“I saw you in Morning Song. You were great.” Rick said after taking a bite of his sandwich and swallowing.

Embarrassment heated her cheeks. Morning Song had been her first movie role. She’d barely been in it and had only four lines. She had a feeling he was full of shit, but not to be ungracious, smiled and said a polite, “Thank you.”

She took a large bite of her salad, stalling, trying to remember the name of any of the movies he’d been in. She was pretty sure one had been a pirate movie, the name of which was on the tip of her tongue.

He grinned, giving her a knowing look. “Blackbird, Savages, and Under the Sun.”

She grimaced after swallowing her bite. “Sorry, was I that obvious?”

“Other than your look of panic and twitch in your right eye? No.”

She rolled her eyes dramatically. “My eye did not twitch.”

Rick smirked, before conceding, “Okay, I might have made up the eye twitch.” He paused a moment before continuing, “Listen, I hope this doesn’t sound lame, but I’m a huge fan of your mom. It was a dark day when she gave up acting.”

Victoria knew he was speaking in generalizations, he was far too young to actually remember that day. She gave him an understanding smile before taking another bite of salad. Shannon Lee had given up her acting career when she’d discovered she was pregnant with Victoria. People had called her crazy, but her mom had stated countless times, she’d never regretted her retirement from acting to become a full-time mother and always said, when anyone asked, she’d make the same choice all over again. Seeing how happy her mom had always been, Victoria had never doubted her word.

Rick gave her a sheepish smile. “Not that I would ever invite you to lunch just to get Shannon Lee’s autograph, but seeing as we’re here…”

Victoria laughed. “Story of my life. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride.” She fluttered her lashes at him. “I’ll see what I can do.”

A plate thunked down on the table beside hers, and she looked up to find Nate’s towering figure at her side. It had been almost a week since their dinner date. Long hours filming and sheer exhaustion, inhibiting any further ones.

She smiled up at him before he took the seat next to her. “I thought you were still filming a scene.”

“We got done early.” His eyes slid to Rick, and Nate gave him a tight smile. “Massey.”

Rick gave him a chin lift. “Reed.”

Victoria frowned. “I thought you guys were friends?” They’d always seemed friendly on set.

Nate opened his water bottle, leaned back in his chair, throwing his arm over the back of Victoria’s, and took a long swig, eyeing Rick the whole time. “That’s up to Massey.”

Rick’s eyes flicked from her to Nate and back to her again before landing on his plate. He picked up his sandwich and shrugged. “You won’t have any problems from me.”

---