Page 34 of The Casting Couch

I stood there, heart pounding, watching her disappear down the block.

Fuck.

So much for my big dramatic speech about turning down the job.

Looked like I was getting naked on camera after all.

ChapterEight

Nico

Monday mornings at Boys On Film were like a carnival if the carnival was run entirely by hungover bisexuals and people with boundary issues.

I strolled through the front doors, sunglasses still on, coffee in hand, wearing my best fake smile.My brain was barely online, but I was upright and that counted for something.

“Good morning!”Petyr sang from behind the front desk.

“Tell me something good,” I said, sidestepping a half-open box of lube samples on the floor.

Petyr held up his clipboard dramatically, like he was presenting the next stone tablet from Moses.

“We’re out of coconut-scented lube.Catastrophic.I’m preparing a report for Jack and Liam.”

I snorted, grabbed the clipboard from him, and scanned the page.It was covered in what looked like… chicken scratch?Or maybe a visual representation of a mental breakdown.

“What the hell is this?”

Petyr blinked innocently.“The report.”

Dimitri appeared from behind a curtain, looming like a Slavic cryptid.His voice, low and slow as ever: “It’s in Russian.”

I stared at him.Then back at the clipboard.Then back at him.

“Why?”

Dimitri just shrugged like that, answered everything.

I handed it back.“I’m not paid enough to decode your Cold War nonsense.”

Petyr shrugged, and Dimitri just went back to whatever was going on behind that curtain.I kept moving toward Nessa’s office.Monday mornings meant schedule meetings, and Nessa treated them like a sacred ritual.

As I got closer, two guys stepped out of her office and into the hallway.Both were tall and built like they could bench press me without breaking a sweat.They were Asian, Japanese, if I had to guess, and dressed like they were about to close a million-dollar business deal.Crisp suits.Shiny shoes.Smiles big enough to power the entire building.

New talent?I wondered.

They gave me a polite nod as they passed, and I gave them my best “I’m too tired for small talk but nice to meet you,” smile in return.

Nessa appeared in the doorway next, wearing leopard print leggings, a neon pink tank top, and about three pounds of gold jewelry.Her lipstick was red enough to be seen from space.

“Nico!Get your ass in here!”

I obeyed.

Her office smelled like vanilla body spray.I shut the door behind me, dropped into the chair across from her desk, stretching out my legs like I had all the time in the world.

“So… who were those guys?”I asked, jerking my thumb toward the hall.

Nessa smirked, flopped back into her chair, and propped her heels up on the desk like she was about to drop some royal gossip.

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