Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Her eyes widened at my words, and I grinned. “Your man, for now,” I amended, somehow hating those words.
“Are there, ah, any scenes I don’t want to see?”
“No. I have a scene with Carl and one with him and Sheri we’re doing, as long as she cooperates.” I paused. “Stay away from her. She’s… Just stay away.”
“Okay.”
I quickly freshened up at the kitchen sink while she used the tiny washroom. Outside, I linked our fingers together, not caring. The crew and Davis had seen me kissing her earlier. The way the gossip mill worked on a movie set, everyone knew by now Kassie was with me. There was no point in pretending otherwise. I would just keep Sheri away from her. She wouldn’t show up until she had to be on camera anyway.
Except when we arrived at the barn, she was there. Sitting in her chair, her legs crossed, foot swinging, looking displeased. Luckily, my chair was on the other side of the barn, and I directed Kassie that way, waiting until she sat down. “Stay where I can see you,” I instructed. “And don’t let the brunette with the constant frown get near you.”
“What should I do? Spray her with water?” she teased.
“Ignore her. She hates that.”
I walked to the set, where hair and makeup fussed over me a little. Davis walked on, the script tucked under his arm. “Listen up.”
I shut my eyes and shook my arms as I turned off Oliver and became Colton. Kassie was close and she was okay. I had to concentrate.
Kassie
It was fascinating to watch Oliver work. He transformed from the man who had just wolfed down a pie then fucked me quickly to a stern, unflappable cowboy right in front of me. His posture changed, his voice deepened a little. His gait was longer, his body language tenser. He exuded an aloof sexiness that worked for his character.
He became Colton.
I sat transfixed, seeing how a scene was pieced together. The marks for the actors, the lighting. All the testing. How each actor added to the scene. Despite his dislike of Sheri, Oliver told me she was a good actress, and she certainly played the part of a woman torn between her lover and the life she had fought to create for herself. I noticed the extra attention she got from Davis, his coaxing and praise making her drive herself higher each attempt. I was breathless and exhausted by the time he was satisfied with the takes. It was one after another as he added, changed, pushed the actors, finally getting the performances he wanted out of all of them. I couldn’t help but notice Oliver got the least amount of direction. He had his character in hand and needed little prompting. Davis offered a few suggestions for arm placement or how he shifted, but other than that, his concentration was mostly on Carl and Sheri.
“Take five,” Davis yelled. “I need to look this over.”
Oliver approached me, shedding his other persona as he got closer. His expression lightened as he joined me, dropping a quick kiss to my mouth. “Having fun?”
“It’s so interesting. I had no idea how many different angles it took to create one scene.”
He nodded, guzzling a bottle of water. “Yep. The wide master shots, then the medium ones, the close-ups, plus so many other additions. Retakes.”
“I always just thought it was filmed in the order you saw the movie in.”
“Nope. Editing magic. They splice it all together so it’s seamless.”
“No wonder it takes so long to film a two-hour movie.”
He chuckled. “There are a lot of moving pieces to each film. Before we shoot, there’s blocking, lighting, technical, rehearsals.”
“Wow. So do you go on to the next scene in the script?”
“Yes. It’s not always that way, but today, Davis wants to wrap this part up.”
“You were incredible.”
He grinned. “Thanks, lovely.”
“I can’t stay much longer. I only came to drop off the pie and chicken.”
He traced my cheek with his finger, his touch soft. “Thank you.”
I caught his hand and kissed it, somehow the busy set fading into the background and only him and his touch relevant. “You’re welcome.”
For a moment, there was only him and me. Our gazes locked, no one else around. I released his hand. “I should go,” I murmured, some strange emotion making my voice tight.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” he offered, just as his name was called. He grimaced. “Or maybe not.”
“It’s fine. I know my way.” I slid from the director’s chair with his name on it. “I’ll see you later. Go and be brilliant.”
“I love—” He stopped and swallowed. “I love that you came to see me. It made my day.”
I smiled. “Good.”
He turned and walked away, once again effortlessly slipping into character. He took his mark with Carl, both of them listening to Davis intently. I made my way off the set, slipping out back and walking to my car. My mind kept wandering to those words Oliver uttered. “I love—” He had stopped himself and finished the sentence a moment later, but I couldn’t keep myself from thinking he meant to say something else. It couldn’t be what I thought it might be, could it?