“We’d like to keep the momentum going. And if we can make it go faster, even better.”
I glance over at Luke and catch him doing the same to me. I know without saying it that he’s thinking the same thing I am: She wants more? Already?
I get it—strike while the iron’s hot. If you don’t feed it, the narrative gets taken over by someone else. The show starts filmingtomorrow, which means even more money will be going out the door.
It always comes back to money.
Luke starts to raise his hand but lowers it when I give him a quick shake of my head.
“What kind of content do you want from us?” he asks.
She looks at him like he’s stupid. “The same things you’ve been doing, Mr. Wilder.”
“With all due respect, we’re running out of content to work with,” Luke says.
Paul leans over and whispers something in her ear, and she nods.
“You can use clips from media day, and filming starts tomorrow. I’ll expect you both on set.”
I start to raise my hand, and Luke gives me wide eyes. Right. Dang it. Didn’t I just do the same to him? It’s so hard not to when this does actually feel like a schoolroom, Victoria our stern teacher.
“How often will we be needed on set?” I ask.
She gives me a flat stare. “However long it takes to get content.”
So, all the time. Should I bring my sleeping bag and toiletries? Find a spot in the corner to hunker down in? She’d probably say yes.
The meeting is adjourned, and everyone leaves except for Luke and me, still sitting in our seats at the table.
“Well,” he says. “I guess we better get to work.”
Work looks like getting media day footage from the studio—six freaking hours of it—and going back to my office where Luke, Tessa, and I start combing through it.
“This is a good one,” Tessa says, turning her laptop screen toward us. She’s sitting on the other side of my desk, while Luke and I are sitting together on my side.
She plays a quick clip of River animatedly telling the interviewer about Bailey’s first day on set for season one and how nervous she was. His impression of her is funny, but mostly adorable.
“That’s perfect,” I tell her.
“Good catch,” Luke says.
Tessa’s cheeks turn the lightest shade of pink as she gives him a small shy-looking smile, and I notice it immediately. A couple of weeks ago, I probably would’ve rolled my eyes at it. Now it’s more like—Yeah. Same.
Especially with his proximity—working next to me on his laptop, jacket off, shirt sleeves rolled up, that spicy cologne lingering in the air, our legs brushing under the desk.
Get yourself together, Claire.
“Did you notice how much more touchy they were yesterday?” Luke asks after a while of quietly searching, Tessa back at her desk to work on something for another client.
“Yeah, I caught that,” I say.
“What was that about?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. But I know Bailey wouldn’t fake that for cameras.”
“Man, if they got back together, that would solve so many things.”
I chuckle. “It really would.”
