Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“That’s him. He and Ani became friends, and she offered him this job,” I explain with a long sigh as I think about what I should have been thinking about a few minutes before. “So he’s got his reasons for being uncomfortable about what happened. I need to go apologize.”
“What did happen?” Jeremiah asks.
I don’t even know. “He pushes my buttons. He claims I push his.”
“My brother is always calm. He’s a freaking oasis of calm. I’ve seen him face tragedies and accidents and not once lose his cool, but you walk in a room and he loses his damn mind.” Jeremiah looks me up and down. “I’m not sure if this is a good development or a bad one.”
“It’s no development at all. We don’t mix well. It’s like that with some people.” I start moving toward Patrick.
“Not with my brother,” Jeremiah calls out. “He gets along with everyone. Everyone except you. I wonder why.”
“Just lucky I guess,” I retort and move to stand in front of Patrick. “I am very sorry.”
He glances up from his clipboard. “For?”
“That whole scene back there. I’m sorry. It was juvenile of us, and it won’t happen again.”
“Hopefully the you talking like an actual person on camera will happen again.” Patrick checks something off, proving he can multitask. He can work and make me feel like crap at the same time.
“Okay. I’ll figure it out.” I’m about to turn around and do what I should have done the first time. Get to work.
“Harper,” Patrick calls out with a long-suffering sigh. He’s good at those. “He was doing it to help you.”
“Doing what? Insulting me?”
“He was trying to turn it into a challenge. You can’t resist those, and the man knows it. I don’t care about the inappropriate remarks. Trust me. I know when someone is being inappropriate. You two are fighting a big attraction, and I salute you for it. I mean it. Keep it up. Do not fall into bed with that man.”
“I have no intention of sleeping with him.”
“Good.” Patrick gets back to work. “Because the last thing we need is big drama on set. But he wasn’t trying to be an asshole. I watched him watching you, and he was worried. He didn’t jump in to harass you. He thought he could help, and he did. You’ll be better next time because you got through this time.”
Because Reid pushed me, and when he walks into my space, nothing matters except him. “I should get going on the demo. Is the other unit thingee ready?”
“The other unit thingee is Bill with a handheld. So yes, he’s probably ready,” Patrick agrees. “Think about what I said and maybe go easier on Reid.”
“I’m not the only one with a Dorsey brother problem,” I point out. “You and Jeremiah seem to be hitting it off.”
Now the clipboard lowers. “Oh, that’s not happening. That man is hiding something. I’m not sure what it is, but he’s wound tight. We went to dinner a couple of times, but I can’t shake the feeling that something’s off in his life. I’ll admit he’s exactly my type, but I’m going to keep it professional.”
I was unaware they went out. “He asked me about you. I was surprised he didn’t know how you and Anika met.”
“I don’t talk about that time in my life often, and I certainly don’t lead with the fact that I put a Hollywood director in jail with help from a European king.”
“Okay, then I have something else to apologize for,” I admit.
He waves me off. “It’s not a problem. We’re a crew. I assure you he would have found out sooner or later. It’s hard to hide when you’re working together twelve hours a day. Like I know your mother is giving you hell for not using your ovaries properly.”
“Jeremiah,” I huff. “Now I wish I knew something about him.”
Patrick smiles for the first time. “If you figure out what he’s hiding, give me a heads-up. And again, think about not loathing Reid for what happened today. What I saw was a man who was trying to help someone out the only way he could think of.”
“He should have thought of another way.”
Patrick shrugs. “It worked. You looked good on camera. You were energetic and gave us some good stuff. And you didn’t do it until he pulled it out of you. Think about that. Now go and take it out on that wall. And don’t sleep with Reid Dorsey.”
That is a promise I am happy to make.
Chapter Thirteen
I manage to avoid Reid for almost a week. Not entirely, of course. I see him coming and going. I see him sitting in the space they’ve turned into something of a Green Room. He’s got a chair like the rest of us, and he sits and knits. I’m oddly fascinated with him when he’s got his head down, fingers moving. I’ve started to notice he stretches his hands from time to time, and it looks like he’s in pain.