Page 36 of The Texan's Secrets

Five

“You’re doing great on camera,” Nico said encouragingly as Emilia tripped up on a sentence for the second time in a row. He didn’t want her to get rattled over the little mistake.

“Should we restructure the sentence?” Taylor Atkins asked from behind the camera. “Do the words consistency and concurrency have to be so close together?”

“It’s a darn good thing we’re not live on this,” Emilia said with obvious frustration, pushing up the sleeves of her block-colored Henley shirt. It topped a pair of faded button-fly jeans and maroon sneakers.

Since they wanted to appeal to teenagers, they’d agreed she’d opt for a young, casual look and a breezy delivery style, which she was pulling off like a pro.

“That’s why we planned a full rehearsal day,” Nico said.

“We sure need it.” She blew out a breath and rotated her shoulders.

They’d set up a temporary studio in a private room of the Glass House restaurant at the posh Bellamy resort. The space overlooked the grounds and magnificent gardens. He’d rented it for three days to give them a fresh, upbeat backdrop.

After reviewing the current list of Coders Plus workshops, Nico and Emilia had decided to focus on database development rather than straight-up coding. They’d come up with the cheeky title: Putting It In and Getting It Out—Relational Database Modeling.

Nico was sure it was going to be a hit. Who wouldn’t want to watch Emilia and listen to anything she said?

“You’re just getting tired,” he pointed out.

“I’m fine,” she responded tartly.

“How about we review the game tape and start fresh tomorrow?” he suggested.

Emilia pulled a face, still looking frustrated, but she didn’t argue.

“You need me to hang around for that?” Taylor asked. It had been a long day for him too.

“We’ll be fine,” Nico answered. “Just point me to the video files.”

“They’re in the current directory under today’s date.”

“I can keep going,” Emilia offered.

“It’s not an endurance contest,” Nico said. He wanted the project to be fun, not grueling.

“Then, can we order something to drink?”

Taylor grinned as he packed up his camera.

“Whatever you like,” Nico answered. “I’m sure they’ll bring us something in here, or we can sit in the dining room if you’d rather.”

It was coming up on five o’clock. The lunch rush would be over, and dinner wouldn’t be underway yet. Nico was sure they could easily get a table.

“Here’s fine,” she said, settling at the table that held the laptop. She brought up the file directory.

“See you tomorrow,” Taylor called on his way to the door.

“Can we start earlier?” Nico asked him. “Emilia and I have a thing later in the evening.”

“Nine? Ten?” Taylor asked.

Nico looked to Emilia.

“Nine’s fine for me,” she said. “I’m sure I can use the extra time.”

“Nine it is,” Taylor said and pushed the door open in front of him.

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