by Tasha Black
“Great,” Lucy smiled.
Adrian knew her well enough to know she wasn’t pleased.
“We’re good here, Miss Wren,” the hipster PA announced.
“Great,” Lucy said. “Can you send in Rod Bilworth, please?”
Smart, Adrian thought to himself. Bilworth was such a worrywart that he’d psych himself out if he was left in the waiting room for long. Bringing him in first was a good move.
Bilworth entered the room looking like a deer caught in headlights.
“Thanks for coming in, Rod,” Adrian said, hoping to put the kid at ease.
“Thank you so much for having me,” Rod said, the words tumbling out of his mouth way too fast.
“Rod, Mr. Hall from Horizon couldn’t make it today, so you’ll just be reading for us again,” Lucy said warmly.
Jeremy opened his mouth, but Lucy placed a silencing hand on his arm and he closed it again.
“Okay,” Rod said, looking a little disappointed but decidedly more relaxed.
“Ready, kid?” the PA asked. “Say your name for the camera, please.”
“Rod Bilworth,” Rod said, suddenly robotic.
“I’m worried about Dad,” Lucy read from the script.
“He’s going to be fine, I’m worried about you,” Rod said in an over-the-top annoying whine.
“Cut please,” Adrian said, aggravated beyond belief. Lucy had told him what to do two seconds ago and he’d read it fine in Glacier City.
“Hey, Rod,” Lucy said gently, before Adrian could jump in.
“Yeah,” he said, looking like he was about to cry.
“I think the way you read this in Glacier City was perfect,” she said. “I know the script has that note about the brother, but that’s not really what we want from you. Just be yourself - you’re enough.”
She winked and his shoulders went down a little.
“Again,” she said softly.
“Rod Bilworth,” he said, looking right into her eyes.
“I’m worried about Dad,” Lucy read again.
“He’s going to be fine, I’m worried about you,” Rod said as sweetly as he knew how. It was still at least eighty-five percent as annoying as before, but somehow also totally believable this time.
They read it a few more times, then Adrian thanked Rod and they sent him on his way.
The day continued, with one actor after another stepping on to read. They had brought in a great group and Adrian was proud to see them all making William Howard Casting look good.
Of course, it helped that Lucy was there, her quiet words ensuring that each of them delivered their best work.
By the time they were ready for the final actress, the sun was setting in the large windows at the back of the room.
“Can you send Adelaide Collins in for me, please?” Lucy asked. Her voice was calm, but Adrian could sense her excitement.
The PA dutifully darted into the hallway.
Adelaide strode in. She was tall and full-figured, and her posture didn’t apologize for taking up the extra space. She carried herself like a goddess.
Adrian felt himself sitting up a little straighter in her presence, as if somehow her happy confidence was catching.
“Thanks so much for coming out, Adelaide,” Lucy said.
“This was a wonderful adventure,” Adelaide replied with a smile.
“Shall we read?” Lucy asked.
“Absolutely.”
The PA nodded.
“Adelaide Collins,” Adelaide said to the camera, and somehow, though she said it simply, it was as if she and the camera had a secret. Adrian knew it would play well.
“I’m worried about Dad,” Adelaide said.
They had heard the words repeated by nine other actresses that day. And Adelaide spoke them simply.
But everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath at the honesty of the statement.
“I’m worried about you,” Lucy read back to her softly.
The rest of the scene played out so that Adrian was swallowing hard at the end.
When it was done, it was incredible to hear Adelaide calmly repeat her name again for the camera to signify the end of the audition.
“Thank you for coming in, Adelaide,” Adrian told her.
‘Thanks for having me,” she smiled and left the room.
“Wow,” Lucy breathed when she was gone.
Adrian was about to congratulate her on her choice, when Jeremy started laughing.
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph,” he chuckled. “We said all-American. You brought us Aunt Jemima. She looks like she just ate the actress we wanted.”
Adrian was out of his seat before he knew what was happening, pens and tablets flying through the air.
“Adrian,” Lucy said softly, as if to calm him.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” he shouted at Hall, his thunderous voice echoing back off the windows.
“Please, Adrian,” Lucy said.
Jeremy’s face had gone pale and he cringed away from Adrian.
Control yourself, Harkness.
He leaned over the table, and tried to use his words.
“You may not agree with all of our casting choices, and that’s fine, that’s why we’re here,” Adrian said calmly, his hands still grasping the edge of the table in front of Jeremy, white knuckled and shaking with the effort not to rip the guy out of his chair and punch him in the face. “But you will not speak about the talent that way, ever again. Am I clear?”
“Sure, man,” Jeremy agreed quickly. “Whatever you say.”
“Thank you,” Adrian said, releasing the table with effort. “Let’s call it a night.”
Jeremy Hall nodded and darted out of the room.
Lucy was looking pointedly down at her notes. Adrian could see that she was trying to keep a straight face, but she couldn’t hide the hint of color on her cheeks.
She was pleased with him.
The stress of the confrontation began to melt away, replaced with something… lighter.
Though shouting at the client was unprofessional, and they would probably get a call tonight telling them they had lost the gig - some behaviors couldn’t be tolerated, no matter the price.
And he was glad, so glad, that she clearly agreed.
9
Jeremy
Jeremy left the casting session steaming.
Who the hell does that guy think he is?
No one talked to Jeremy Hall that way, no one.
He was the grandson of the Horizon Card empire and he was smart and savvy.
But as he drove away, instead of thinking about Adrian Harkness’s stupid outburst, he found himself replaying Lucy’s response, and the way her plump cheeks went pink as she begged Harkness not to talk to Jeremy that way.
The whole thing made his dick hard. He was a powerful man and he liked people to cower before him. Lucy’s cowering was so… appealing. He felt like he could have grabbed her soft apologetic form, flung her to the floor, and made her wrap that sorrowful mouth around his cock.
A shiver of pleasure went down his spine.
Unfortunately, he would be telling his grandfather to get rid of William Howard Casting right away, so he wouldn’t be seeing her again. He liked her, but not enough to spare Harkness any punishment.
Unless…
A plan occurred to him. It was smart. It would allow him to get what he wanted in the short term AND the long term.
Jeremy Hall smiled at yet another piece of evidence that he was, indeed, a prodigy.
He slipped his phone out of his pocket and shot a text to Lucy, glancing up at the road here and there to make sure he didn’t fuck anything up.
10
Adrian
Adrian pulled up in front of the little cottage on the sandy road. Lucy had been uncharacteristically quiet in the car on the way back. Although he was pleased to see that her cell phone wasn’t in her hands.
He hoped she wasn’t wondering if he had lost his mind.
&
nbsp; The moon hovered near the horizon, swollen and yellow. The haze from the humidity of the Carolina night made the orb seem to throb and hum with seductive energy.
The panther trembled in his chest, eager to emerge after decades in hiding.
Between the twin pulls of the moon out the window and the woman beside him, he hadn’t managed much sleep last night.
Tonight, he would go into the trees and meet the panther that was his other half.
“I’m going for a run,” he told Lucy as they pulled onto the sand–filled parking lot.
“Oh,” she said. “Okay.”
He couldn’t tell if she was relieved or disappointed.
In any case, her phone buzzed a moment later and she slipped it out and lost herself in reading and messaging back with expert movements of her thumbs.
They went inside and he headed to the bathroom to change into something he could ostensibly jog in.
When he came out, she was perched on the chair, still holding her phone, a worried look taking the place of her usual tranquil expression.
“Everything okay?” He hoped the answer was yes, the panther was tugging at him as if he were on a chain.
“Yes, yeah,” she stammered. “Sorry, everything’s fine. Go ahead, enjoy your run.”
He felt a pang of guilt, but Lucy was an adult and could keep her own counsel. Besides, if he didn’t get out of the cabin soon, he wasn’t sure what would happen.
He let himself out and headed into the trees. When they were close enough to block out the moonlight, he slipped out of his clothes.
The night air felt good on his bare skin, in spite of the odd feeling of being naked in what was essentially a public place, even if it seemed like there was no one for miles.
He tucked his clothes into the crook of a tree, glad that his panther’s nose would lead him back to them when he needed them.
Taking a deep breath, he looked around one last time. There truly was no one. The woods were quiet, the cries of night birds and the breeze through the trees the only noises to reach his ears. He sniffed the air, picking up only the natural fragrance of pine needles and small animals.
He closed his eyes, reaching for the panther, expecting pain and difficulty - the breaking of bones, the sprouting of whiskers.
Instead, he tumbled into the form of the creature effortlessly, like diving into a pool of warm water.
The woods brightened before his new eyes, and his senses expanded exponentially. He could smell the soap from his shower all the way back at the cottage, and the birds at the tops of the trees, snug in their nests. He even caught a pleasant hint of salt water on the breeze, as if he were smelling the sea, which was a forty minute drive away.
The soil was soft, the sandy grains slithering between his toes. He padded further into the woods, his massive paws untroubled by broken twigs and stones in his path.
Without warning, a strange sound assaulted his ears, and suddenly he was flying through the air.
He realized a moment after he landed that the sound must be a nearby owl, its cries more intricate to his sensitive panther ears.
Which meant the flying…
Could it really have been merely a jump?
He crouched, bunching up his muscles to try again.
When he let go he sailed unexpectedly far and landed, un-catlike, in a shrub.
Instinctively he threw himself sideways and touched down in a crouch.
Exhilarated beyond belief, he coiled himself again on his spring-like legs and bounded off into the trees.
The stretch and burn of his muscles made him ecstatic. He wished that he could see himself in this form. But of course he likely never would.
Adrian ran on.
After a time he felt hungry. Chagrined, he realized that crashing around in the woods he was scaring away all the small prey.
He nosed around and found what he wanted, a large fallen log, rich with the scent of the many animals who had slept in its shelter, hidden behind it, or pawed worms out from under it.
Here his scent might be masked, at least partially.
He stretched himself out on the thing, rubbing an ear against the knobby bark for a moment.
He had just settled in to wait, content, whether it took a moment or an eternity, when he heard it.
He was far away, but Lucy’s voice would be unmistakable to him anywhere. And there was a note of fear in her tone.
A thunderous snarl filled the air. Adrian was already launching himself from the trunk when he realized it was his.
He exploded through the trees toward his mate.
11
Jeremy
Jeremy was delighted that Lucy had responded to his text in just the way he hoped she would.
Half an hour later he was pulling up at the cottages.
He walked around to the back of Lucy’s cabin. She was standing on the little back porch, as she had promised. And Adrian was nowhere to be found, just as she’d said.
He had a little chuckle thinking about Harkness having to go for a fucking jog he was so nervous about what he’d done.
And well he should be. Jeremy was going to ruin the loser’s career if he could.
“Hi,” Lucy said with a nervous smile and a cute little half wave.
“Lucy,” Jeremy replied coolly. God, he loved to watch her squirm.
“I want to apologize for Adrian’s behavior,” she said in a contrite way.
“Good,” Jeremy allowed.
“I think Adrian would like a chance to apologize for himself,” she added.
“Let’s walk and talk,” Jeremy offered, gesturing to the path.
She looked a bit confused, but she followed him quickly enough. Good girl.
They walked around behind the next cabin, following the line of trees that led into the darkening woods.
“The Horizon account is a big deal,” Jeremy said.
She nodded.
He smiled. She got extra points for not saying that William Howard Casting was a big deal too.
“We appreciate the opportunity,” she said.
“Good,” he replied. “Unfortunately, after Harkness’s outburst today you can see why we would have a hard time not kicking you guys to the curb.”
“The way Adrian spoke to you was very unprofessional,” she agreed.
She said it in just the right tone. But something was off in the words she used. She was apologizing for tone, but not for content. Clever girl. Too bad he didn’t like them clever.
“Yes,” he agreed. “The way he spoke to me was unprofessional, and so were the things he said.”
She walked on with him quietly.
“Do you agree?” He wasn’t going to let her off the hook.
She bit her lip very fetchingly.
“You’re the client, so final casting decisions are yours to make. The language you used was offensive. But Adrian could have handled it better.”
She stopped there. Just short of saying that Jeremy’s language had been more offensive than Adrian’s outburst.
He stole a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. Whatever else she might have wanted to say, she hadn’t said it. She’d held her tongue like a good little piggy. And the stupid little bitch looked fucking miserable.
Yeah, he still wanted to fuck her sad mouth. But first he needed to get them into the woods.
“So, if you were in my position, what would you do?” He headed into the trees a bit, relying on the idea that she would follow.
A moment later, he heard her footsteps in the pine needles.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “But I would probably talk with Adrian directly. Allow him to apologize. Or if I wasn’t comfortable with that, I might have William Howard send another casting director.”
Jeremy sped up. They were just about out of range of the last cabin.
“So you think William Howard deserves another shot?” He knew how she would answer.
“I think Horizon is too big a brand to be satisfied with the
second best name in casting,” she said, surprising him with the burst of confidence disguised as a compliment.
“But if Adrian Harkness is the best you have, then sending him back means I’d be working with the second best anyway,” he retorted. “Right?”
Oh god, the defeated look on her face was priceless. He almost hated to end the game. But it was so easy it wasn’t even fun.
“Look, Lucy,” he said as kindly as he knew how. “I’ve got another idea. How would you like to help your firm keep the Horizon account?”
“I’d be glad to do anything I can to make things right between you and Adrian,” she said, her expression lightening.
“Excellent,” Jeremy said. “All you have to do is sleep with me.”
She got the oddest expression on her face. Then she tilted her head slightly to the side.
“What?”
“Sleep with me,” he repeated slowly. “And we pretend this afternoon didn’t happen.”
“That- that doesn’t make sense,” she stammered, her voice pitched slightly upward.
“Sure it does,” he said. “Look, Harkness hurt my feelings. And now you can make me feel better again. I’m still not casting your diversity chick in my commercial, but I’ll forget about his hissy fit.”
12
Lucy
Lucy stood her ground, her cheeks on fire.
Jeremy Hall had texted and asked her to go for a walk with him and talk about how William Howard could hold onto their account with Horizon Card Company.
She had expected she would need to apologize for Adrian losing his temper, and she had.
She also prepared herself for the idea Adrian might have to make a written apology, or go back to Glacier City and bring in another director in his stead. She knew he would be willing to do those things, no matter how disappointed the thought of staying there without him seemed.
But she definitely hadn’t expected the outrageous suggestion that Hall made.
She gaped at him in disbelief, half expecting him to say it was a joke.