Her Naughty Holiday by Tiffany Reisz
“No,” he said quickly. “No. No way. Not me.”
“You can’t be camera shy.”
He laughed. “Thanks anyway.”
Lila jumped when someone touched her shoulder. She instinctively recoiled when she saw it was Baxter, but then put on a neutral smile. Some actress she was.
“I need to talk to Mr. Landers,” he said with an obvious lack of enthusiasm.
She looked at Erin who now stood alone, motioning with her head for Lila to join her.
Glancing back at Clint, it was all Lila could do not to sigh. “Well, nice meeting you,” she said and realized she’d already mentioned something to that effect.
They exchanged smiles, and he politely touched the brim of his hat. But it was the dark penetrating look in his eyes that had her heart pounding as she turned and hurried the short distance to Erin.
“Come on,” Erin said with a little smile and started walking toward the trailers that were lined up out of camera range.
“What does Baxter want with him, and where are we going?”
“You’re wearing a T-shirt? Seriously?”
Lila looked at her, and Erin burst out laughing.
“Shut up.” Lila shook her head and then laughed, too.
“On a shitty note, Penelope is on the warpath.”
“Oh. Right. I forgot about her.” God, Lila was tempted to look back at him.
“No. Hell, no.” Clint’s voice had raised some.
Lila and Erin looked at each other, and then they both turned to see him walking away from Baxter, who stared daggers after him. Whatever it was the creep wanted, Lila doubted it was a face full of dust kicked up by Clint’s boots as he strode toward his horse trailer.
“What was that about?” Lila asked.
“Jason wants to use Clint in his next scene and said he wouldn’t take no for an answer,” she said absently.
As Erin continued to stare at Baxter, Lila could almost see the wheels turning in her friend’s head. She and Jason’s new flunky hadn’t gotten along from day one. Baxter was green and unfamiliar with the film industry, while Erin knew just about everything there was to know.
Since college she’d worked nearly every job there was behind the camera. She was supposed to be showing Baxter the ropes, which was probably why she’d been so grumpy lately.
This project was important for their future in the industry. Just like Lila, Erin’s big chance was coming up with the sequel. She’d been promised the first assistant director’s job.
“I know you,” Lila said. “You’re planning something evil.”
Erin smiled. “Who was it that said ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’?”
Lila’s gaze went to Clint, his back to them as he pulled on a long-sleeve shirt. “Friend? Oh, I want him for so much more than that.”