Page 22 of Sparks Like Ours

Elle felt the blush that no one was around to see. She flippedaround and faced her refrigerator for no real reason and then flipped back. “Itwasn’tnotgood.”

“Hey, I’ll take that. Not-bad sex dreams count.” Holly’s energydropped noticeably. “Oh, hey, Stan.”

Elle suppressed a smile. “Stan-the-Man is right on time. I’ll letyou get back to work. Thanks for the help.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You were my sounding board.”

“Then I’m brilliant.”

Elle laughed. “Sure. We’ll go with brilliant. Bye to Stan.”

“Don’t encourage him. Can we do a surf date this weekend?”

Elle mentally scanned her calendar. “I’d love to. Let’s book it.”

“Done. Hey, wait. Who was in the sex dream? You didn’t say. Was itme? It was, wasn’t it? You’ve always loved my hair.”

“Sorry, Hol. Definitely wasn’t you. Bye.” She clicked off the callbefore she was pressed further. She preferred to keep the identity of her dreamcompanion in the vault. She didn’t know why, but it mattered.

Speaking of, she had an hour to be on her way to the Trainersshoot, this time for a short commercial spot that would air in a handful ofmarkets in the coming weeks. She scanned the short script on her phone as sheate, realizing distantly that seeing Gia might feel…weird, given the pasttwenty-four hours. She shook her shoulders as a pleasurable chill moved throughher. She needed a plan. Walking in blind was a bad idea. Okay, she shouldcertainly reference the news articles, at the very least in jest, just to getit out there. Keep it from being weird. And she should smile a lot. Be alaid-back, breezy person just enjoying an afternoon commercial shoot. The morepersonal details of her night, she’d keep to herself. She’d focus on the workand her job, and wait for time to wash away the memories of last night. Maybeafter the shoot, she’d call Christopher and see if he was free for dinner.

Status quo was firmly in place. Nothing to see here. Her plan wasperfect. Airtight.

What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

Gia sat in her small dressing room, waiting until they needed heron set and clutching the script Trainers had provided. She’d practiced herlines with Hadley at least a hundred times in preparation for the shooting ofthis commercial spot, knowing full well that Elle would walk in and nail it.She was not about to draw attention to herself as the surfer who could onlysurf. If she prepared enough, and shehad,she’d get through the afternoon looking every bit the champ Elle was.

“These photos of you and Elle are amazing,” Hadley had said theday before.

They’d been rehearsing at Gia’s kitchen table when Hadley spottedthe proofs from the recent photo shoot on the counter. When Gia had firstscrolled through the ad agency’s favorite shots, she’d had the same reaction.They’d truly made the two of them look fantastic. Elle was obviously made forthe camera, but the photographer had made Gia look great, too. Seeing theclose-to-final results of the shoot had her feeling more confident in her rolein this campaign, like maybe she’d emerge from this thing without looking likea fool, and wouldn’t that be a relief?

“Yeah, they came out all right,” she said to Had. “I’m relieved.”

“All right? No. Not all right. These are smokin’ hot.” She flashedone of the prints at Gia. “Look at the challenging smolder you guys have goingon. The menacing grin, the slightly raised eyebrow you sport. They are going tosell so many chips off this thing. There will be a chip shortage. You thinkthis country needs more jobs? Nope. Not after this ad. Everyone will be hiredto make more chips. Speaking of,” she glanced around sadly, “I’m hungry.”

Gia smiled and grabbed one of the fifteen bags of Trainers thecompany had had delivered to her. “Knock yourself out.”

“Can’t. That photo already did the job.” Hadley fanned herself andfell back into her chair.

A production assistant pulled Gia from the memory. “Ms. Malone,we’re ready for you on set.”

She smiled and gave the college-age girl a nod. How official didthat sound? On set. She followed the assistant to the small soundstage, whereshe found Elle smiling and laughing with Colleen, the director Gia had metearlier.

“Is Timothy five now? He must be, what, in kindergarten?” Elleasked. Apparently, these two had worked together before.

Colleen beamed. “You have a good memory.”

“Like I could forget that adorable nugget.”

“Hey,” Gia said, as she arrived next to Elle.

“Hi, Gia.” Elle offered her a smile, but it was brief and didn’tcome with the normal Elle Britton wattage. Odd. The production assistant handedGia a bottle of water. She stole glances at Elle, who continued to chat withColleen, as she drank it. The wardrobe department had them dressed in athleticwear for the commercial. Gia in running shorts and a hoodie, zipped halfway.Elle in running capris and a sleeveless spandex top that showed off hershoulders, which were…nice. A small number of freckles were visible beneath thetan. She didn’t have any on her face, just those shoulders, which piqued Gia’sinterest. Why only there? The hair and makeup team had pulled Gia’s hair backinto a ponytail. Most likely for contrast, they’d left Elle’s down and given ita soft curl that fell past her shoulders.

“And what about you?” Colleen asked Gia, smiling.

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