Page 13 of The Backup Bride Proposal

Of course she wouldn’t have to go through full makeup and costume today. Today was just rehearsal, setting up camera shots for various scenes and the like. Hopefully she’d feel a little more relaxed for that.

He went into the other dressing area and tried on all theclothes, letting Abigail mark whatever adjustments she wanted to make. Then he changed back into his own clothes while Abigail did the same with Mae. After Mae was done, they headed outside together. He stopped at the craft services table for a coffee and a croissant. Mae didn’t pick anything up.

“You can have anything you want to eat or drink,” he said.

She nodded. “Yeah, they told me. I already ate.”

The way she was twisting her fingers together let him know that she was a bundle of nerves, which likely accounted for why she didn’t want anything to eat. He also knew that an empty stomach wouldn’t settle her, it would only make things worse.

He tore off a piece of his croissant as they walked and offered it to her. “This is pretty damn good.”

Reluctantly, she took it from him and nibbled, then nodded. “It’s from our local bakery. They make outstanding pastries.”

“I’m kind of a sucker for croissants,” he said, shoving a hunk into his mouth. She was right about the bakery. This croissant was melt-in-your-mouth good.

“Really.” She looked him over. “How do you keep that body in such good shape?”

He tried not to grin at the compliment. “Lots of crushingly painful gym work.”

She snorted out a laugh. “I can imagine.”

“Worth it, though. Then I get to eat these.” He tore the last of the croissant in half and handed it to her. This time she took it without hesitation.

“Kane and Mae, you’re needed on set.”

She nearly jumped at the loudspeaker calling them to set.

“They just want to do a scene setup,” he said. He reached out to touch her, to ease her, but knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, so he let his hand drop. Instead, he gave her a smile. “It’ll be easy.”

She gave a quick nod. “Sure. Right. Easy.”

They walked over to where the cameras were set up outside in the bright morning sun.

Mae had a look of awe on her face. “It doesn’t even look like the vineyard I know.”

“That’s the idea,” he said as he walked alongside her.

“Oh, good, you’re here. Let’s get moving.”

Alexis was in director mode, so Kane knew not to tease around with her. The assistant director got them into position, and then hair and makeup came in to do a minor brush and comb and touch-up since they hadn’t been in for full hair and makeup today.

“Okay, let’s do a run-through of scene six,” Alexis said.

They walked onto the set. “Are you familiar with the scene?” Kane asked Mae.

“That’s the one where he overhears her talking on the phone.”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

One of the production assistants handed Mae a phone.

“Now, in this scene, Mae, I want you pacing from that mark to this one while you’re talking on the phone.” She motioned for Kane, who came over. “He’s going to be over there, but you aren’t going to look his way. You’re concentrating on that call, which is upsetting you. Kane, you’re curious about who’s on the other end of the call. Everyone got this?”

Mae nodded quickly. She wasn’t an actress and Kane knew that. He hoped Alexis remembered that, too. Not that Mae would have to speak lines or anything. This was just for camera to mark the scenes today.

He walked over to the vineyard, crouched down, and readied himself for the scene.

Now he only hoped they hadn’t scared the hell out of Mae, because they all needed her right now.

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