Page 13 of Love At First Fright
“Are you coming to the dinner tonight?” slipped out instead.
Rosemary raised an eyebrow, sticking him again with that piercing brown-eyed gaze. “I had planned on it, why?”
“Only that it would be good to speak more. I have a few questions about Alfred I’d like to run past you.”
The expression softened. Perhaps her loathing for him wasn’t as all-consuming as it appeared?
“You do? I— Well, I thought—”
“You thought?”
“That you wouldn’t be interested in having that conversation with me,” Rosemary admitted, her voice slipping into a whisper.
“Because I’m not the ‘right casting choice’ for Alfred, you mean?”
She flinched a little at his words before collecting herself, her thigh shifting against his again as she rose to stand. Ellis did the same, perversely gratified that she only came up to his collarbone.
“I am entitled to my own opinion, Ellis.”
“And do you still stand by it?”
Rosemary pouted her lower lip out. Biteable.
“For now. Until you prove me otherwise.”
Before he could say anything else, Rosemary peeled away, leaving the scent of lavender in her wake.
—
Ellis slipped into the heatedpool, steam billowing around him as he took a deep breath and sank into the water. He closed his eyes, feeling the world float away as his heartbeat slowed to a steady beat, his muscles loosening from the pent-up tension of the afternoon meeting. He pushed off the side, falling easily into the familiar routine of laps.
The more laps he did, the more the day’s nerves dissolved away. He’d always been a bit of a wreck when it came to preliminary meetings, more so today because this wasn’t part of a franchise he’d already starred in. He’d never been in a horror movie before, and he felt the need to prove his mettle.
When Ellis had walked into the suite, he’d felt the eyes of all the production hotshots on him, appraising, surveying their purchase. Would he make them enough money? Would he draw in enough crowds to the cinemas? Would he be worth the salary Brody had negotiated for him? Perhaps he looked older than they imagined, or less glamourous, without all the studio makeup and good lighting. And then he’d met Rosemary.
Until you prove me otherwise.Her words haunted him. He didn’t know what was worse, that he’d got into a whispered argument with the screenwriter, who also happened to probably be a good decade younger than him, or that all he could think about now was impressing her. Why should it matter to him whether or not Rosemary Shaw thought he deserved his place as the main character in her movie?
Ellis glanced at his waterproof watch, checking that he still had time for a few more laps before he had to go and get readyfor the dinner. He’d received a text from Jenna earlier confirming that she would be there as his “date.” He wouldn’t be surprised if she’d nicknamed him as “Grandpa” on her phone. He groaned internally. When he walked in with Jenna tonight, Ellis would be fulfilling the classic stereotype of middle-aged Hollywood actor with a much younger woman. What would everyone else think of him? What would a certain grumpy little American think of him?
He kicked off from the far side, this time pushing deeper into the water, pulling himself forwards in great breaststroke sweeps. He held off until the very last moment to come up for air, but when he did, Ellis was met with the slick plastic roof of a pool float. Desperate for breath, he pushed it to the side, vaguely aware that something splashed into the water as he sucked in sweet air. He thought he was alone in the pool, but he supposed someone could have come in while he was under the water. Ellis hoped it wasn’t anyone from the production.
An empty pool float bobbed on the pool’s surface and, spluttering as she tread water, holding up a book that was now soaked through and wrinkling, was the absolute last person Ellis wanted to see right now: Rosemary.
She’d taken off her glasses, her ginger hair now a darker colour since he had unintentionally hauled her off her float. From the way she was brandishing her soaked book like a weapon, it was clear she was thoroughly pissed off. Being thrown into a body of water tended to do that to a person.
Ellis ran a hand through his hair to clear it from his face.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”
Rosemary smacked her soaked book down onto the float. “That is abundantly clear.”
“In my defence, I thought I was alone.”
“That is not a defence.”
“Well, I apologise.”
Rosemary snorted. “Sure.” She began to swim to the side. Ellis followed.
