Page 11 of The Grumpy Actor

“She slandered me and called me a bad actor.”

“No, she said you’d make a bad romantic lead.”

“It’s the same thing. I pride myself as an actor who can embody any role. You think I’d just let that insult pass?”

Julian sighs, rolling his eyes. “I get it, you’re the best. Now do the job without complaining, because the production is paying a fortune to have you here.”

If I hadn’t already signed the contract and I wasn’t so vexed about that slanderous article, I might have bailed right now.

Julian stands up, stretching his arms. I follow his movement with my eyes.

“Where you going?”

“In case you’ve forgotten, you’re not the only talent my company manages, and I do still run that company,” Julian points out dryly. “It’s unheard of for a CEO to personally manage a talent on his own instead of handing him over to an employee. But it’s you, Liam, and no one else wants to deal with you.”

I roll my eyes. “Keep saying that like a complaint when I bring in over half of your company’s profit.”

“And that, too.” Julian groans. “I’m going to LA for a meeting. I should be back in two days.”

“Oh really.”

“Don’t worry, Sophie will babysit you properly in my absence.” I throw him a sharp glare, and he chuckles. “Come on, you’ll be fine.”

A knock on the trailer door cuts off what I’m about to say. I glance at the door and stiffen when Sophie enters.

She’s holding a stack of neatly pressed clothes in polythene wrap. She hurries toward the table and places them on it.

I try not to watch the lithe movements of her form but fail miserably. Like always, it’s hard to ignore Sophie when she’s so effortlessly beautiful.

Is she intentionally swaying her hips to distract me, or am I overthinking this?

Sophie dusts her palms together and nods at Julian with a smile, but when she turns to me there’s a blank expression on her face.

How does she manage to look like she’s not affected by this situation? Even this morning, when we had that distressing conversation, she didn’t seem to break a sweat when I’d been hyperventilating inside.

Even when I thought her eyes were giving away a deeper emotion than she was letting on, her sharp retort made it hard to believe there was anything under the surface. She really doesn’t care about me or that we used to date; that’s how she’s able to work as my personal assistant without any discomfort.

And I’m over here, on edge about everything.

“What else do you need?”

“Let’s see, how about the coffee I asked for almost an hour ago? When’s that supposed to arrive? When I’m old and gray?” I snap. “Maybe you’re not cut out for this job after all. Why don’t you just quit?”

Anger flashes across her face, and I wait for her comeback, but it doesn’t come.

Sophie beams at me despite the fire still burning in her eyes. “I’m sorry, I’ll get it for you now.”

She struts out of the trailer without waiting for my answer. I hold back a gasp at her reaction.

“Is it just me, or are you on edge around Sophie?” Julian asks as soon as she leaves.

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, you’re being unnecessarily rude to her.”

I roll my eyes. “You’ve said it yourself, Julian. I’m rude, cold, and grumpy, which is why most of my assistants quit.”

“Yeah, but with those other assistants, I can tell that you actually don’t care what they do or how you treat them because you’re just being yourself.” He tilts his head to the side. “But with Sophie, it’s almost like you’re putting in extra effort just to be mean to her. Like you definitely care about how you treat her, but you don’t want anyone to see it.”

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