“Oh, fuck me.” Dante stood and began to pace the trailer. “I’m so fucked. I’ll never work again. This is bad. This is so goddamn bad. Did Sebastian tell you to ask?”
One of the lawyers jumped up and went to him while the others stayed seated.
“No!” I swore. “I just…” I drifted off as my face began to flush. How could I tell them that I’d been just as eager to remove my tape on that set?
“Well, Ms. Reyes, unsimulated sex scenes come with a lot more restrictions and rules, and that would—”
“We’d get an NC-17 rating for starters. Then I’d have to worry about one of you revoking consent at any moment, which would cause a myriad of issues. They’ll call me the fucking porn king. You can’t really be thinking about this, Evie. What the hell.”
I lifted my shoulders. “I don’t know, Sebastian just—”
“Please don’t say he convinced you of this.” The lawyers looked at each other. I could practically hear the collective scream—if I said Sebastian had told me to say this, they could be sued out the ass.
“No. I just... I don’t know. You wanted the movie to look real.”
“Oh, I think it looks pretty fucking real, Evie.” Dante sighed. “It’s only been a few hours, and already we’re getting phone calls.”
“Phone calls?”
“Yeah, whoever leaked what happened on set is getting fired,” Dante muttered. “This is so bad.”
I stood slowly to keep from making myself dizzy. “I’m so sorry. I—”
There was a knock on the door, and when I called for them to come in, Stacey, the woman from the PR company, came into the trailer. Suddenly, I felt overwhelmed by so many people in my private space.
“Hey, Evie, how are you feeling? We heard you had a little spill.”
“I’m fine.” I crossed my arms. “What are you doing here?” Whenever she and her team showed up, it wasn’t great. She always had a new scheme.
“Well, word is slowly spreading about the little moment on set, and we wanted to discuss our angle for this. Is legal action being taken?” She directed the question to the lawyers. They shook their heads, and she sighed in relief. “Oh good. So, we’ll get contracts stating this, then?”
They nodded, and one of them opened a briefcase and pulled out a standard NDA. I wasn’t enthused about not having a lawyer to consult, but I’d signed more than one of these, and it didn’t look like anything scary. I signed it quickly, and they left, thanking me as they went. Dante stayed behind and sat beside Stacey as she turned to me.
I was so sick of this fake relationship. I had to be “on” at all times, and I was ready to be “off.” It was exactly why I planned on letting go ofThe Body Count Bimbochannel. I wanted to live a real life.
If I never saw Stacey or her team again, it’d be too soon.
“So, let’s figure this out, shall we?” She smiled tightly. “Sebastian is still talking with his legal counsel, right?” She looked to Dante.
“I think so, yeah.”
“Can we bring him in on this?”
“Probably not.” Dante shook his head. “They aren’t going to want him anywhere near Evie.”
“Fair. Okay, let’s sort out details and then get with him.”
“Details?”
I was beginning to wonder if I’d gotten a concussion when I collapsed, because none of this made any sense. Who was in trouble and why? Maybe I needed to get the medic back in here.
Stacey leaned over and put her hand gently on my knee. “Evie, sweetie, we have the story that is going to make this movie a whole lot of money, so long as we spin it right. This evening, the media is going to hear about Sebastian removing your modesty patch during filming today, and we are going to tell them that not only is it true, but you two can’t keep your hands off each other. The world is going to love you.”
Chapter 51
Evie
The Prop Run
