Page 4 of Role Play
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I grabbedthe clipboard from beneath my arm, clutching it tightly in my hand, and adjusted the headset against my ear. There was an excitement around the studio today, which only made my stomach sink more. I was letting them down. All of them.If only they knew. If only they knew how disappointed Richard was in us... Inme.
I grabbed my phone and texted my assistant, Raina to get me Pierce Whitley’s agent on the phone as quickly aspossible.
"Ash Livingston, you're needed in wardrobe," a voice echoed in myear.
Cupping the earpiece, I spoke into the microphone. "Be right there, uh,Callie."
"This isKelly."
I cringed at her sharp tone. Shit. Off to a good start. It had been four months since we met—passing strangers at a party. Callie—wait, no…Kelly, was just a one-night stand. I thought we were both on the same page about that. Apparentlynot.
I sighed. Maybe there were two costume designers on the project now, I thought, picking up the pace toward wardrobe. Maybe Callie and Kelly were the both a part of the wardrobe team. Pushing through the door, I entered the workspace that was filled with lines of clothing like fabric tunnels forming a giantmaze.
I didn't have to go far though, Callie/Kelly was standing there waiting for me, hand gripping her hip and Prada-clad toe tapping against the marble floor. Oh boy. She did not look happy. Please, oh please, let that frown on her face be because of something business related and not because of our historytogether.
"I've been told my budget was cut by $80,000."
Thank God, I thought, a deep breath releasing from my inflated lungs. Those blue eyes of hers—which only sixteen weeks ago had been so sweet, so alluring—were now like two poison darts attempting to take me out at thejugular.
"We talked about this in last week's meeting,” I said. “I don't have a lot of sway over thisCa—”
"Kelly! My goddamn name isKelly!"
Fuck. "I know. You didn't let me finish. I was gonna say I don’t have a lot of sway over this caaaaatostrophic budgetcut."
"You know, Ash. I really thought you were different. I thought you were the kind of guy who stuck to hisword."
"My word? What word? We talked about this atthe meeting. The eighty-thousand budget cut is not my decision. The producers need us to cut back, and it makes sense that a working-class administrative assistant would be wearing Gap, notGucci."
I was used to dealing with high maintenance actors. But a high maintenance costume designer? This was a newone.
The flush high on her cheeks heated to an apple-like red. She took a deep breath and I couldn't help it as my eyes drifted to the swell of her breasts, expanding with the inhalation. Hell, I was human, after all. "But that's not what you said the other night," Kelly said, her voice suddenly quiet and sweet in a way that was completely in contrast to her bedroom eyes and the sultry jut of her bottomlip.
My gaze jerked back to hers and narrowed. "What do you mean what I ‘said the othernight’?”
Her smile curved along her jaw, trailing toward her eyes in a malevolent way that could give Hannibal Lector a run for his money. “You know. The other night. In ourprivatemeeting.”
“We didn’t have a private meeting the other night.” Anger swelled in my chest, growing and swirling like a fireball. Was she trying to blackmail me? Fuck thatshit.
“No…” she said, stretching the word out to be multi-syllabic. “But wecouldhave one. I know I sure wouldn’t mind arepeat.”
My anger dissolved into a wave of humor as my mouth tilted into a smirk. “You’re offering to fuck me in exchange for getting your budget back?” Well, this was a new one. "That’s not a good idea.” That was a total fucking lie. At the moment, it felt like a great idea. “And it wouldn’t change a damn thing about the budget.” That one? Not so much a lie. I truly had no say over the budgetcuts.
Her eyes narrowed. “You sure about that? I can be verypersuasive.”
I sighed and pinched my fingers against the bridge of my nose. “Babe, you’re good. But you’re not eighty-thousand dollars good. And like I said… I have no control over thebudget.”
Her jaw dropped momentarily before she snapped it closed and her expression sagged into a scowl. As she folded her arms, her breasts pushed even higher toward her chin. Only this time, I didn’t take the bait andpeek.
“You came to us from that streaming series, right? The one with the group of girlfriends who all wore couture?” Iasked.
The muscle in her jaw twitched, indicating I was correct. “Yes. I’m used to standards with mywardrobes.”
“We have standards here as well,” I said. “Sometimes budgets get cut, unfortunately. It’s how most film sets work.”Yeah, when your daddy isn’t executive producer of the network.I’d heard rumors that she was a trust fund baby and her other stints involved her father in some way. Rich had chosen the wardrobe team on this film, so I could only assume he owed her dad a favor. A hugefavor.
Catching her bottom lip beneath her teeth, she said, “But the first thing people will notice is the actor’soutfits.”
