Page 52 of Force of Nature

Chapter Eighteen

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“You nervous?” Thadglances in my direction before his eyes dart back to the road.

We’ve been driving nearly an hour and I have to admit the closer we get to the airport the more anxious I become.

“A little.” I downplay just how much I know is riding on this audition.

I mean, this isn’t some little role. This is a role that could sky rocket my career. A life changing role. The role of a lifetime. Hell, I’m not nervous, I’m downright terrified.

“You’re going to be great,” Thad reassures me, his hand finding mine before giving it a firm squeeze.

I expect him to release it but instead he entwines his fingers with mine and rests our joined hands on the seat between us. It’s such an innocent act and yet feels overwhelming all the same. Then again I find that most things about this man overwhelm me.

“You don’t know that. You’ve never even seen me act.”

“I have actually.” He throws me a sideways grin.

“When?” I keep my eyes trained on the side of his face.

“Your parents have an extensive video collection of your work.”

“You didn’t.” I flush, slightly embarrassed at the thought of him watching some ridiculous play I did in elementary school or something.

“I did. And I must say, while I’ve never been a fan of theater, you were probably the best Sandy I’ve ever seen. Or it might have just been the pants, I’m not really sure.”

“Shut up.” I laugh, shaking my head at him.

“Seriously though, you’re very talented.”

“Thank you. Though I hated every second of that show.”

“Really? Most people love Grease.”

“And so do I. It’s just unoriginal if you ask me. I wanted to do something more serious, something where I could really showcase what I could do, rather than dancing around acting like a prissy high school student.”

“But you were a prissy high school student at the time so it should have been easy for you,” he teases, chuckling when I throw him a hateful glare.

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just insult me.” I lift my nose in the air. “And then I’m going to agree with you... To an extent. Because that was the point I was trying to make. It was too easy. That’s why I’m excited about the possibility of playing Rose on Blood Lust. It’s something so far outside of my comfort zone that I will be forced to push myself every day.”

“Normal people prefer easy,” he interjects.

“In case you haven’t noticed yet, I’m not exactly what you would classify as normal.”

“That you are not,” he agrees, a wide smile lighting up his handsome face. “But if you ask me that’s a good thing.”

“I like to think so.”

“So tell me about this show.”

“Blood Lust.”

“Right. Blood Lust. Sorry, someone kept me up all night last night,” he says in a way of excuse.

“You weren’t complaining last night.”

“I’m not complaining this morning. Just wanted to point out why my brain is only functioning at twenty percent.”

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