Page 4 of Between the Lines

“Hey, Shaw.”

Chapter Two

ELODIE

What the hellare you doing here?

I wanted to know but for obvious reasons couldn’t ask—especially not in front of all these people. I had to just plaster a smile on my face, willing my palms to stop sweating as he took the seat next to me, bringing along his usual clean, woodsy aroma that made me want to take a deep inhale.

I…should’ve expected this, honestly.

TheSugar&Spicecover crowning this year’s heartthrobs had literary been Daniel, Alec, and Shaw—if the network was pulling out all the stops to ensure this show got plenty of attention,of coursethey’d called him.

Him and his damn shoulders.

He leaned into me a little, invading my space with his fresh lineup and waves to murmur, “You didn’t tell me you booked this.”

“Neither did you,” I countered, and he gave me a little smirk, nodding as he settled back into his own place.

Shit.

I had to tune him out.

It was the only way I was going to avoid getting completely distracted, not paying attention like I should—and good thing Ireturned my attention to Charlotte because she’d been talking about the inspiration behind the project and was speaking about the casting now.

“I’m excited to see what each of you will bring to your character,” she said, looking to where Alec, Vanessa, Shaw, and I were seated—the young actress portraying Shannon, the orphaned child, was a few seats down, flanked by her agent on one side, her mother on the other. “You’re our principal roles—and we’re especially grateful to have Shaw, who is stepping in at the last minute, right after spending months shooting a movie, and we all know how taxing that is.”

A chorus of agreement went around the room, and Shaw shook his head. “I just show up where I’m needed,” he chuckled, charming as ever, and I squeezed my legs closed.

I could think of somewhere he was needed.

Focus, El.

That focus was absolutely necessary, because before I knew it, we were on to the table read. I’d pored backward and forward over the script in the couple days since it was delivered, to the point that I could probably run lines for any character. Still, I opened the fresh copy in front of me, ready to take notes and make corrections as we went along.

The table read was always one of my favorite parts.

Not everybody handled them the way WAWG did, but I’d been blessed so far with projects where this step was a necessary collaborative effort. It wasn’t about rewriting by any means—thewriterswould handle that. But we were welcome to offer input and insights into our characters, take liberties with the performances, really immerse ourselves in the ethos of the project.

It was thebestkind of energy.

Once I was tapped into it, the nerves that always surrounded anything to do with acting for me dissipated, and I was in myusual bad bitch element. Of course, I’d prefer it was more of a constant, but if I had to choose when to be sure of myself, the best possible option was,when it’s time to perform.

Luna

Mr. Miles—you’re Shannon’s father?

Silas

Looks to Shannon—he’s searching for familiarity in her features.

They’re telling me some shit about not being able to bring her back until I talk to you. Is she acting out or something?

Luna

No, not at all. Shannon is a very sweet child, never any behavior problems?—

Silas

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