Page 48 of Not the Bodyguard's Princess
“Of course you wouldn’t. There is no ‘one’ inteam, and Hastings is always a team.” Alan didn’t sound as perturbed as he had earlier. “Andrew, I’ve put you on the schedule to replace Ben on Jordan’s detail Sunday afternoon.”
“Thanks.” Andrew put his personal items in his backpack.
Elle held out her hand. “Comms?”
Andrew pulled his earpiece out and handed it to Elle, then grabbed it back and spoke into the mic. “Thanks, Elle, you’re the best.”
Elle shook her head and waved him out of the room.
11:32. Too late to call. Andrew texted as he walked down the hall.Just got off work. Call me if you want to talk.
The phone rang as he pulled into his apartment complex. He parked as he answered. “Hey, sorry it is so late, but I’m glad you called.”
“You won’t be in a moment.” Jordan’s voice hiccupped. Andrew wasn’t sure if it was the connection or her.
“Why not?” Andrew held the phone to his ear as he exited the car.
“Storm was wearing a button cam that day. He... he says if I don’t go to brunch with him, he’ll post the video of the kiss.”
Andrew tripped on the curb. “When?”
“I’m not sure. Paul made a schedule change, and we’re shooting tomorrow out at the mansion. Sunday at the earliest.”
The sounds coming over the phone were sobs, not static.
“What time are you leaving for tomorrow’s shoot?” Andrew opened his door and turned the lights on.
“Five a.m. Paul wants to try the sunrise scenes, and tomorrow’s weather looks good.”
“I can be there at 4:30.” In his bedroom, Andrew started pulling out the clothes he would need for another week.
“It won’t do any good. Princess isn’t allowed on location, so you won’t be allowed. Storm isn’t likely to try anything on set after today anyway.” Jordan’s sobs faded as her voice grew louder.
“Jordan? What happened today?” Andrew sat on the end of his bed.
“We reshot the first kiss.”
“But you did that on Wednesday.” It had been their longest call of the week.
“The file got corrupted or something. We had to do three takes. And Maria and Reggie threatened to report Storm to the SAG.”
“Maria?”
“She’s my makeup artist.” Jordan took a deep breath. Andrew knew it the moment she pulled out her actress self and started plowing through without tears. “I asked that she be on set, mostly because there are only a couple of females among the crew. I knew she would speak up if Storm tried to push things on set. Since it’s only a kiss, I don’t need a SAG intimacy coordinator or anything, but as you know, even a kiss can get out of hand. And Storm is pretty annoyed with how G-rated our first kiss was.”
“What happened?”
“It took three takes today. I don’t want to detail them. Paul was pretty ticked after the second, and that had nothing to do with Maria yelling “Cut!” and getting between us and the camera. Fortunately, Paul made Storm stick to the script. But he hinted that he might modify the wedding kiss if Storm would behave.”
“Can they do that?” Andrew hastily folded his shirts.
“Within reason. This is a Hearthfire show, but the script calls for a longer kiss. No tongue, but, as you know, it can still be fairly uncomfortable without.”
“Are you sure Storm had a camera?”
“He showed me the footage. I look like a—” Jordan started sobbing again.
“I’ll be up there before you leave for the mansion.”
