Page 84 of Let’s Make a Scene

I’m about to push a bit further when we’re interrupted by a chipper voice.

“Cynthie? Jack?”

I turn and find myself facing a young Asian woman dressed all in black.

“Hi!” She grins, her eyes wide underneath the blunt cut of her fringe. “I’m Brooke. I’m so excited to meet you.”

She smiles sunnily, and I’m surprised by how young she looks—she can’t be much over twenty.

“Hi.” Cynthie recovers first, holding out her hand to shake Brooke’s. “We were just talking about you. We knew you were supposed to be about somewhere, but it’s a big place.”

“Oh, yeah, we’ve been shooting around a bit. It’s a great venue.” She gestures over her shoulder, and a lanky guy around her age moves forward with a video camera in his hands. “This is Declan, our videographer. We’re a pretty small operation. You’ll meet the rest of the team when we’re in the UK, but it’s just us tonight.”

There’s another round of introductions, and my brain latches on to something she said.

“Sorry, Brooke,” I cut in, “did you say you’ve already been doing some filming?”

“Absolutely.” Brooke beams. “You knew we were covering the event, right?”

Cynthie and I exchange a quick look as I remember the moment we shared after being photographed. I’m fairly sure Cynthie is thinking the same thing.

“Yes, of course,” I say. “We just hadn’t realized—”

“I was hoping you could do me a solid and ask Theo Eliott and his wife if they’d be willing to sign waivers for us?” Brooke interrupts, and her face is the picture of innocence.

“I’m sure I can ask,” Cynthie says faintly.

“Cool,” Brooke nods. “Well, now that we’ve introduced ourselves, we’ll get out of your faces. Really excited to be working with you both, and looking forward to sitting down with you on set, soon!” With that, Brooke gives us a jaunty wave and hares off into the crowd. Declan treats us to a nod before loping along after her.

“Oh god.” Cynthie sighs. “Do you think they saw…?”

“No,” I reply firmly.

“Really?” She looks up at me.

“Actually, I have no idea, but they didn’t say anything… and I guess nothing really happened, did it? What would they have seen? Us standing behind a plant.”

“Right.” Cynthie nods, but her hand lifts to the base of her throat, her thumb rubbing across her collarbone, and I swallow.

“So,” I say finally. “Shall we dance? I mean… do you still want to?”

I can’t help the feeling of relief that I experience when Cynthie smiles.

“Sure.”

Chapter 27 CYNTHIE

As we move across the dance floor, I try not to think about the fact that Brooke and her cameraman might be filming us. I mean, she didn’t actually say that they were leaving, did she?

“You’re still worried about Brooke?” Jack asks, reading my mind. He’s holding me close, one hand round my waist, the other cradling my own.

I grimace, pulling back to gauge his expression. “I know it shouldn’t make any difference. This whole thing has been about getting cameras on us… It just feels different.”

“Yeah.” Jack sighs. “I know what you mean. She seemed sweet though, right? Harmless.”

He guides me around the floor, and I try to put Brooke out of my mind. Instead, I concentrate on Jack like he’s a meditation exercise. Rather than focusing on the different parts of my body that I want to relax, I dwell on all the places we touch: his fingertips splayed across my back, each one a separate point of heat against my skin; my hand curved over his shoulder, the muscle there under the fabric of his tuxedo; my chest pressed to his, our hearts beating in sync; my temple so close to the side of his jaw that he stires my hair with his breath when he sighs.

“Hey.” My words come dreamily. “You’re a very good dancer.”