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I scurry over, anxious to make a good impression. The new, improved, totally employable Ivy.
“What’s up?”
“Listen—I know you have a lot of, ahem….” He drops his voice low, leaning in so close to me I can count each individual facial hair on his cheek. “Personal turmoil going on right now. And I appreciate that. Gawd, that must be so hard for you. Luca’s such a huge star now, and the media’s blasting your divorce all over the place. I saw a piece on three different networks this morning.”
Axl shakes his head, golden hair flopping over his eyes, and I focus on that to keep the tears pricking at my eyes from falling.
“But I hope we can keep the focus on the movie. All be professional and really show up, you know?” He cocks his head to the side like a confused Goldendoodle and I’m shook.
Like, seriously, what the fuck? This guy’s bringing up my divorce andI’mthe one who needs to be professional?
Swallowing down the acid rising in my throat, I nod. “Absolutely. I’m one-thousand percent focused and committed to making this movie the best it can possibly be. Thanks for the opportunity.”
“Wonderful. See you at the beach.” Axl’s lips press together in a tight smile and then he whirls away and joins his crowd of lackeys over in the corner. They immediately swarm him, like the dutiful worker bees they are, and then they spill out of the inn and the lobby’s empty.
I sink down onto the gold brocade couch, clasping my hands together to stop them from shaking.
I’ve had a lot of low points throughout my acting career, but this morning may take the cake.
If I had it my way, I’d jet off this key faster than Santa and his reindeer. But I can’t do that, no matter how badly I want to.
I need to make this movie.
Not just make it, but deliver the most magnificent performance of my entire damn career. No matter what craptastic stuff’s going on in my own love life.
Otherwise, I’m done.
And that’s not a risk I can afford to take.
6
MADDOX
One of theperks of me helping Scott lock Candy Cane Key down for the movie location is being fully involved.
“Not a perk, Mads. You know how much charter business we’re gonna lose in the next month because of the circus? Besides the fact the network’s using you and your boat, those Hollywood clowns will probably scare away all the fish. The charter reviews are gonna suck. We’ll probably get our first one star.” Levi scrubs a hand over the back of his neck, staring at the wallpaper of spreadsheets laid out on his computer screen.
“Good thing they’re paying us a boatload of money to use the charter and my captain services.” I clap him on the back, trying to reassure him. Levi’s always been the worrier.
“I can’t wait for them to leave.” He taps a pencil on the desk, and I vaguely wonder how many cups of coffee he’s consumed this morning.
“They just got here.”
“August can’t come soon enough. And then the Christmas in July festival will be over too, and we can get back to regularly scheduled programming.”
“Bor-ing,” I sing-song, snagging my boat captain’s hat from the hook on the wall, along with the boat keys. “I’m off. Meeting the crew over at the beach for blocking.”
“What the hell’s that?”
“You know—when the director tells you what the scene’s supposed to look like and where everyone’s supposed to be. Kinda like a walk-through.”
“Hmmm.” Levi presses his lips into a thin line, unimpressed. “Have fun, I guess. If that’s your thing.”
A mental snapshot of Ivy pops into my head, her dark hair blowing in the ocean breeze, her curves accentuated in a clingy beach cover-up.
“Oh, I definitely will. See ya.” I shoot my brother a wave and practically skip out of the bait shop, heading to the dock.
It’s been a while since I felt this excited about a woman. At least a year or two.
