Page 27 of Hot Set

“He clearly cares a lot about you,” I said.

“He does,” Brandon replied, sighing, “But sometimes, I wish he’d just be a little less protective. He means well, but he suffocates me.”

I nodded.

“Not that I can complain all that much,” Brandon said. “Dad is supporting this whole thing. I just wish he’d understand…but then, you know. We’ve talked about this before.”

Right before we had sex.

Alarm bells went off in my head. I needed to steer the conversation somewhere else, and I needed to do it before we opened Pandora’s box.

“I’m wondering if I wouldn’t like to do this full time,” Brandon continued. “It’s…fun to make movies. It’s clear there’s a learning curve to it, but I think I’m getting the hang of it, don’t you?”

I nearly breathed a sigh of relief. Careers were safer territory, much safer than Brandon’s father. Much safer than my sex with Brandon.

“You should go for it,” I said. “You have such a passion for films.”

Brandon nodded. “Yeah,” he replied. “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. How are your career plans going?”

“I have another interview with the FBI,” I said. “It’s just been scheduled.”

“Oh! That’s great,” Brandon said. “Any word yet on when they’d want you to start working?”

None at all.

I looked at my make-up box. Why couldn’t this be theonetime Seth showed up when he was supposed to?

“Soon, I suppose,” I said. “You probably want to start looking for a make-up artist just in case. If I do get the job, I’ll have to move.”

“Of course, you will,” Brandon replied.

“I don’t want to chance leaving you high and dry with this production going,” I said. “That wouldn’t be fair to you or anyone else.”

“Oh, well,” Brandon said. “We don’t really know when it will be, though.”

When, or even if.

“It’s better safe than sorry,” I said. “With a production like this, you should have a replacement ready if I have to leave suddenly.”

Brandon narrowed his eyes. I tried to ignore how blue they were and how warmth flooded my face when I looked at him. I wasn’t attracted to Brandon. I didn’t like men at all. I never had. But Brandon made my heart race.

It was just…just a weird infatuation. That was all. Nothing serious.

“If you leave suddenly, that’s when we’ll start the search for your replacement,” Brandon replied with a one-shouldered shrug. “It won’t be the end of the world if we have to be short-handed for a few days.”

But that didn’t make any sense.

“Wouldn’t it be better to go ahead and begin looking, though? Just in case,” I said.

“You haven’t gotten this job yet,” Brandon said. “What are we going to do if we replace you, and you keep working here?”

My throat was dry. “I’d find a job elsewhere,” I said.

That was an idea. I could look for another job, doing something else. Anything else, as long as it didn’t involve me having to keep ignoring Brandon.

“That isn’t fair to you, though,” Brandon replied. “You have a job here, and we won't just kick you out in the cold.”

But why? It would be better for him to be safer rather than sorry. Maybe Brandon wasn’t taking me seriously, but that didn’t seem like Brandon. Maybe there was something else going on. Or maybe he just really cared about my job prospects and didn’t want me jobless. My heart fluttered as I thought of the latter.

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