Page 34 of Let’s Make a Scene

“I have been busy,” he says, stiffly.

I stop walking, and his good manners force him to stop beside me. I take a step closer.

“Busy avoiding me, I think,” I say, the words gentle, a little sad. “When I was under the impression that you and I were friends.”

Our eyes meet for a long moment, and there’s such heat in his gaze I almost falter.

“Friends,” he bites out finally with a hard laugh.

I lift my eyebrows in challenge, take another step closer, playing with fire. “What would you call it?” I ask the question softly, reach out, my hand hovering for an instant of indecision before I place my fingertips on his arm. It’s a light touch, but I can feel the heat of his body, even through the sleeve of his coat, through my gloves. He hesitates and looks down with a frown. Then, just as I’m about to pull away, embarrassed, he covers my fingers with his for a second of desperate contact, before he moves away. My own hand drops to my side, and I continue walking, my heartbeat erratic.

“Friends,” he says again with an ironic curl of his lips, while struggling to hide how affected he is. “I suppose so.”

“In that case,” I reply with an easiness I don’t feel, as we continue to walk, “you won’t mind when I beat you at cards later.”

This time his laugh is real, drawn out of him by surprise. “You mean I won’t mind when you try to cheat me at cards later.”

His smile transforms his face. I blink—dazzled.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” I manage finally, schooling my expression into one of innocence.

The two of us continue to walk and to tease one another, and I try to pretend that the pleasure I take in this simple exchange is ordinary, that it doesn’t feel like snatching something precious.

When a voice finally shouts, “Cut!” I flinch.

The world rushes in, and I find to my surprise that I’m shaking.

Jack looks at me like I’ve just sprouted an extra head.

“That was—” he starts, but he’s cut off by Jasmine and Logan bustling over.

“Great, Jack. Great!” Logan enthuses, clapping Jack on the arm.

My eyes go to Jasmine, whose face gives nothing away. “A good start,” she purses her lips. “I think we need to pick up the pace on those last few lines. We might need to tweak something there… The end of the scene felt flat.”

I nod. “I think…” I hesitate, but Jasmine inclines her head, and I remember her saying I should speak up. “I think maybe we need to keep walking a bit farther. It felt like the momentum in the movement was off.” I sound tentative.

“Mmmm,” Jasmine murmurs thoughtfully.

I’m on the brink of telling her to ignore me, that I don’t know what I’m talking about, when Logan turns to Jack. “What do you think about that, Jack?”

Jack glances over at me and frowns. “I was going to say the same thing,” he says finally, and it sounds like he’s confessing to a crime.

“Okay, good.” Logan nods. “Let me just have a chat with Mark.” He looks up at the sky. “I think the cloud cover is steady for now, so we’ll go again asap.”

“Oh, and Cynthie,” Jasmine says, “I know it wasn’t scripted, but the arm touch was good. Keep that in.”

She walks away to talk to Marion and I laugh, delighted. Adrenaline is thrashing so wildly through my body, I feel like there are fireworks going off inside me.

Jack looks like he’s just found half a worm in his apple.

“Right, everyone,” Marion shouts, clapping her hands together. “Back to firsts.”

“Did you have anything you wanted to say to me?” I ask Jack sweetly, as we climb back up the hill.

“I have to admit I’m impressed,” he replies, his tone matching mine. “I had no idea you could say your lines and walk in a straight line at the same time. Better get ready for that Oscar nomination.”

I only have time to growl before Liam is there, powdering my face again.