Page 29 of Touch in the Dark

“You were about to drop that,” he says with a smile. He moves his arm and lifts it, so the strap is firmly on my shoulder. “Do you need a hand with any of this?”

“I’m good, now,” I blow my hair up out of my face. “Thank you though.”

“No problem,” he winks again.

He’s cute. His eyes are like dark pools of chocolate and his grin makes him look boyishly charming, though he’s definitely not a boy. He is rocking some serious arm porn in his short-sleeved shirt. He has his own equipment in a heavy bag strapped over his chest. I haven’t seen him before, I think I would have remembered him if I had.

“Ah, I should be thanking you, for before.”

“Don’t sweat it,” he smiles. “Rather me than you.”

“I appreciate it, but you shouldn’t have done it, what if you get into trouble.”

He shrugs. “I’m not worried. I’m only on set today,” he says, glancing at the other people waiting for the elevator. He gives Reggie a smile.

“I’m not always as unprofessional as I was back there,” I whisper.

“Trust me, I won’t tell,” he whispers back. “The director is a dick though, so be careful,” he adds.

“I’m learning that,” I nod.

He gets on the elevator with us, holding his arm out for us to enter first.

“I’m Joel,” he offers his hand as the doors close.

A couple of people look over at him and for a second, I’m confused about why they look so apprehensive. He seems harmless, and kind. He’s one of the few people who’ve actually taken the time to be nice and introduce themselves. And he saved my ass, so I owe him one.

“Elsa,” I take his hand, it’s warm and a little rough. “This is my assistant, Reggie,” I tilt my head because I'm keeping hold of my case with one hand, and he still has hold of the other.

“Hey Reggie,” he gives her a quick look, then his eyes come back to me. He seems to finally realise he still has hold of my hand and lets it go. “So that was some good work you did on Miles’ ass. When I zoomed in all I could see was that monster, and I’m not referring to his…” he wiggles his eyebrows, his eyes darting down to his crotch and up again.

I can’t help but bark out a laugh. “All in a day’s work,” I say getting control of myself.

Joel stands beside me, and we both look up at the numbers as the elevator descends to the ground floor. When the doors open, he lets us out first, the others move out quickly and head straight for the exit. I fix both straps of my rucksack and head for the door.

“You have a ride?” Joel asks as he holds the doors open for us.

“I have called for a car that’ll come pick us up.”

Remi offered us the use of his driver while we’re here and I’ve been glad of it, given how expensive cabs are and what a ball ache it would be dragging all of my equipment onto the subway.

His lips turn down, like he’s disappointed in my answer. We walk out onto the street where a number of large vans belonging to the studio are packing up all the equipment from the apartment.

“So, you won’t be back next week?” I ask him.

“I wasn’t planning on it, I was just filling in today as the regular guy got sick.”

“Oh, that’s a shame.”

“Is it?” he grins. “This isn’t my usual gig,” he admits, his gaze fully focused on me. “I was supposed to be filming a wildlife show down in the Everglades but there was a weather warning, so they postponed it. I found myself up here with friends and a call came out for a camera guy last minute.”

I’m shocked to realise I’m blushing but the way he focuses all of his attention on me is making me feel hot. Could I have actually managed to find a nice guy when I’m not even looking. Although if he isn’t coming back for the rest of the movie and moving on to something else, chances are I won’t see him again.

“Sounds a lot more exciting than pointing out pimples on movie stars buns.”

He laughs, loudly, his head tipping back. “Well, I wanted to thank you for giving me a laugh today, I thought this was going to be soul destroying, I hate doing this kind of thing.”

“Why’d you do it then?”

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