Page 68 of Stuart Woods' Golden Hour

He opened the door. “Good morning, Lizzie.”

“Mark! Good, you’re up.”

“I didn’t know it was an option not to be.”

“It’s not. But you’ve only been here a day, and I wasn’t sure how you’d react to jet lag.”

“Not something I ever worry about.”

“Lucky you. I’m here to remind you to be in the lobby in ten minutes.”

“I’ll be there with bells on,” he said.

“No bells, please. It’ll interfere with the mics.”

“I’ll be there with no bells on, then.”

“If only all talent was as accommodating.” She looked him up and down.

“Something wrong with my outfit?” he asked.

“Nope. Looks great.”

“I’m pleased to have your approval.”

“You should be. I have a very discerning eye.” Her phone vibrated. “I need to take this. See you in a bit.”

After she departed, he texted Stacy to remind her to cover for Billy.

Then he texted Vesna.

About to leave.

Anything on Schmidt?

Vesna replied:

Working on it. Anything on the men with Owen Pace?

There was no time to get into it now, so he texted her:

Yes. I’ll fill you in when I have a moment.

She sent another reply.

Always the tease.

BTW, who are you today?

He stopped, took a picture of himself, and sent it to her with a message that read:

Hi. I’m Mark. Pleasure to meet you.

She replied with a rolling eyes emoji.

Mark and Tessa rode downone of the canals in a gondola. With them was Javier Coma, the host ofFood Comaon EDC, the Eats & Delights Channel. Javier had started off as a YouTuber before being tapped by EDC to be their next big star.

The lead actors ofStorm’s Eyewere Javier’s guests for a day of exploring and eating in Venice. The show was scheduled to air the weekend before the movie came out.

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