Page 72 of Cast to be Mine

And then Jack entered the frame.

“Elena.”

Grace’s head snapped up. The transformation was instant—her whole body tensed, her expression shifting from peaceful to guarded in the span of a heartbeat.

“What are you doing here?” Her voice was sharp and filled with authentic irritation.

They faced off, and I watched the magic happen on the monitor. Grace was drawing on something real. I could see it in her eyes. All her frustration with Jack, all her annoyance at his diva behavior, channeled into Elena’s contempt for her ex.

It was gold.

The last line wasn’t even in the script. She’d improvised it, and it was perfect.

“Cut!” I called out. “That was incredible. Grace, that last line—we’re keeping it. Let’s go again.”

We ran the scene four more times, each take better than the last. Grace was on fire, her performance crackling with barely contained rage. Jack, to his credit, was actually rising to meet her energy. Having something real to play against seemed to bring out his better instincts.

But I noticed something else too.

Jack’s eyes kept drifting.

During the second take, when Grace was delivering her monologue about why she’d left him, Jack’s gaze dropped to her boobs for a split second before snapping back up. During the fourth take, when they were circling each other, his eyes tracked down her body before he caught himself.

I couldn’t blame him. I was fighting the same battle. Every time Grace moved, I had to physically stop myself from watching the way her body shifted in that bikini.

Professional. I was a professional.

Thank God I’d worn loose khakis because my dick was about to prove me very wrong about being a professional.

“One more,” I called out after we’d adjusted camera angles.

Grace reset to her mark. She caught my eye across the beach and gave me a small smile—private, just for me.

Dammit. I couldn’t stop my thoughts from running right back to her last night on her knees in front of me.

“Action!”

The final take was flawless. Grace delivered every line with so much passion, it left everyone on set holding their breath. When she finally stormed away from Jack, leaving him alone on the beach, there was a moment of stunned silence before someone started clapping.

“That’s a wrap on this setup!” I called out, pulling off my headset. “Let’s break for lunch. Back in ninety minutes.”

The crew scattered immediately, gravitating toward the catering tent that had been set up under a cluster of palm trees. The smell of grilled fish and fresh pineapple drifted across the beach.

I should have gone straight to my production tent to review the footage. I told myself to grab a plate and eat alone while making notes for the afternoon’s setups. Instead, I found myself drifting toward where Grace pulled her robe back on, chatting with one of the makeup artists who was touching up her sunscreen.

“Hey,” I said, trying to sound casual. “Good work out there.”

She smiled. “Thanks. It felt good. Jack was actually giving me something to work with for once.”

“I noticed. Whatever you’re channeling, keep doing it.”

The makeup artist finished and wandered off toward the food. Grace cinched her robe tighter and fell into step beside me as we walked toward the catering area.

“I’m starving,” she said. “Worked up an appetite with all that hollering. I feel like I could eat everything on that buffet.”

“You’ve been running on adrenaline for the past three hours. You definitely deserve a big meal.”

We loaded up our plates with grilled mahi-mahi, coconut rice, and a tropical fruit salad that looked incredible. I steered us toward a quieter corner of the tent, away from the main cluster of crew members. Not hiding, exactly. Just not trying to be the center of attention.