Once Upon A Setup (Meet Cute Romance)

by Kait Nolan

  Piper thanked her and sat. Myles moved beyond the glass, pacing around his desk with some kind of headset on, a Slinky rolling from hand to hand as he talked. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected the office of a newspaper editor to look like, but his wasn’t it. A variety of toys sat around the room. More things like the Slinky that he could play with while he thought. Framed posters of comic book women lined one wall. Not the over-sexed, busty kind she’d seen in her cousin’s comic books, but sharp, smart-looking women. She wondered who they were.

  Myles himself was a strange contradiction, in an untucked, French-cuffed button down and jeans. Deliberate or the product of a failure to do laundry? God, he was adorkable. He put her in mind of a much younger, much sexier Perry White. Not that she needed to find her costar sexy. Sexy absolutely wasn’t the name of the game with Betty and Bob. They were wholesome. But as she watched, he leaned over to look at something on a computer screen, slipping a pair of horn-rimmed reading glasses on. Piper’s mouth watered. Oh, she had a real soft spot for the sexy geek look. Very Jude law from The Holiday.

  Myles finished his call and removed the headset and glasses, tossing both in the midst of the piles of paper on his desk and running a hand through his thick, dark hair. Catching sight of her, his serious expression shifted to a smile, and he crossed to open the door. “Well this is a pleasant surprise. Come on in.”

  “Thanks. I read your article in the paper this morning. The interview with Barbara Monahan. It was really poignant.”

  “I’m working on a series of interviews with various members of the cast. I want to really bring home to the community how much the Madrigal means to people.”

  “I think it’s a great idea.” She dropped into a chair opposite his desk as he leaned back against the front of it. “I really appreciate what you’re trying to do here. Especially since you’re new to Wishful.”

  “Good journalism is about people, about community, and I took over the paper here because I wanted to be at the heart of a good one.”

  Dozens of questions rolled through her brain. Personal stuff better suited to a date than a business meeting. But she wasn’t quite ready to get down to business. Instead she smiled and jerked her head toward the posters on the wall. “Who are they?”

  “My inspirations. That’s Lois Lane, Brenda Starr, and Vicki Vale.”

  “Okay, Lois Lane I know. Who are the other two?”

  “They’re all kick ass female reporters from the comic world. Lois from Superman, obviously. Brenda had her own comic series, and Vicki is from Batman.”

  Piper angled her head. “Why them instead of, say, Perry White or that editor guy from Spiderman? The one with the mustache?”

  Myles grinned. Damn but he had a great smile. “J. Jonah Jameson. Well, for one, the ladies are more fun to look at. And for another, they were the ones who put their butts on the line to get out there and report the truth. I find that more appealing than just sitting behind a desk.”

  “And is getting out from behind the desk why you decided to audition? Nate said you had come that night just for a story.” That was edging into the personal again, but she couldn’t help herself.

  “Well, partly. I did decide that telling the story from the perspective of one of the performers would be another way to engage people. But honestly? I wanted to meet you.”

  Piper blinked, surprise and pleasure diffusing her cheeks with warmth. “That’s...flattering.”

  “I don’t want to overstep any boundaries or make something weird. Are you seeing anybody?”

  She wasn’t quite sure what to think about his candor. “No, I’m not. But you should know, I have a rule.”

  “A rule?”

  “I don’t date my costars.”

  He didn’t look perturbed. “Why’s that?”

  “A couple reasons. For one, the show comes first. If you start dating your romantic lead and everything goes south, it’s a lot harder to sell the part. I’m not going to do anything to endanger the quality of this show.”

  “Fair point. And the other reason?”

  “Acting as romantic leads tends to engender a false sense of intimacy. The nature of the roles often mean you fall into feelings of a relationship without going through the right order of things. So, you may start seeing each other during the show, keep seeing each other after, and then find out that what you thought was real attraction ends up being just a part you played that became familiar.”

  “That sounds like the voice of experience.”

  “Oh, it is. I have been burned before. So, while I’m incredibly flattered and not a little intrigued by your interest, I’m not going to pursue it while we’re acting together.” It was as direct and soft a put down as she could manage.

  She expected a flicker of irritation or something. Instead he asked, “Do you have a waiting period?”

  “A waiting period?”

  “Sure. If you think there’s false intimacy or whatever, do you have some standard waiting period for after the show is over to let it wear off? Because, if you do, I’d like to mark it on my calendar.”

  “Seriously?” she laughed.

  “I’m nothing if not dogged in pursuit of the things that interest me.”

  “I can see that.” The frank interest combined with the easy way he respected her boundaries made him all kinds of appealing. And that had her wanting to break her own rules. Before she could go down that path, she said, “Three months.”

  “So, three months after the show closes, you’d entertain the idea of going out with me?”

  “Sure.”

  He picked up his phone. “Siri, remind me three months from December 20th to call Piper up for a date.”

  “Okay, I’ll remind you.”

  Piper couldn’t hold back the grin. “You’re incorrigible. I shouldn’t find that appealing.”

  “I’m just gonna put it out there that if you change your mind, I have no such rules.”

  “Noted.”

  He pushed away from the desk and circled around behind it. “So, since you obviously didn’t come here for purposes of charm or seduction, what can I do for you?”

  Piper pushed the flirt aside and pulled out the ad copy for the show. Time to get down to business.

  ~*~

  “What’ll you have?” Myles asked.

  “Anything,” Piper replied.

  “Well, tell me what you want to dream about, and I’ll know what to give you.”

  The pause stretched out as Myles waited for her to return the line. “Oh, what’s that?” she asked.

  His Betty’s brain was not at all on the task at hand. She kept glancing out at the loading dock, where Tucker and Brody were horsing around, fencing with PVC pipe and egging each other on in assorted accents. Did she have a thing for Tucker? Maybe he was the reason she had that rule about not dating your costars. Certainly he’d been around the theater almost as long as she had. But Myles simply hadn’t gotten that vibe between them.

  “I got a whole big theory about it. Different kind of food makes for different kind of dreams. Now, if you have a ham and cheese on rye, you’ll dream about a tall, cool blonde. Peanut butter and jelly, you get a nice comfortable, average Joe. And a turkey on wheat with barbeque potato chips sandwiched in will get you a shape-shifting marmoset from Pluto.”

  Not even a flicker of response.

  “It’s a little chilly in here, isn’t it?” she returned.

  Yep, that confirmed it. Head totally not in the game.

  As Myles started to speak, he caught a flash of Tucker leaping off the loading dock in some kind of spin kick.

  “Tucker!” Piper screamed and raced to where he now lay, curled in a ball, arms wrapped protectively around his leg, swearing a blue streak.

  Myles was right behind.

  Piper crouched down, voice brisk and efficient. “Let me see.”

  Red-faced and faintly breathless, Tucker didn’t want to unbend. “It hurts. Christ, it hurts.”

  “
What happened?” Nate demanded, coming out from the stage doors.

  “We were just fooling around,” Tucker groaned. “Doing spin kicks off the back of the truck.”

  Tyler crouched on his other side, rubbing his back in a soothing gesture. “You are aware you aren’t twenty-one anymore?”

  “Brody can still do it.”

  Over Tucker’s head, Tyler fixed Brody with a glare that placed all the blame squarely on him.

  He held his hands up in a How could I have known? gesture.

  “It’s broken,” Piper announced. “I can feel the bump in the bone.”

  “It can’t be broken,” Tucker argued. “I have to dance.” He tried to stand, using Brody and Piper to lever himself up. But the moment he put weight on it, the leg buckled and he howled.

  “Get him in my back seat,” Piper ordered. “I’ll take him to the emergency room.”

  “I don’t wanna to go the ER.”

  “Then you shouldn’t have broken your leg on a Saturday,” she said practically.

  Tucker looked miserably at Nate. “Sorry. I would never have tried it if I didn’t think I could pull it off.”

  Nate scrubbed both hands over his red and gray beard, as if he could somehow rewind the last few minutes. “It’s all right. You just get yourself taken care of. This is why we have understudies.”

  Tyler went pale at that.

  “Somebody take him. I’ll go get my car.”

  Myles stepped in. “Here, let me.” He swapped positions with Piper, taking Tucker’s weight.

  She scurried down the alley.

  “You want to sit down?” Brody asked.

  “If I go down, you’ll just have to haul me back up. It’s not so bad as long as I’m not putting pressure on it.”

  “You can thank the adrenaline for that,” Myles told him. “It’ll hurt like a sonofabitch later.”

  “Personal experience?” Tucker asked.

  Piper backed her car down the alley.

  “Ski accident back in college. High point was the ski bunnies who felt compelled to entertain me the rest of the week since I was lodge-bound.”

  Tucker laughed. “Perhaps some of our cast members will take pity.”

  “It won’t be me,” Piper told him, opening the door to the back seat. “Idiots don’t get special caretaking.”

  But her hands were careful as she, along with Myles and Brody, managed to get him into the seat.

  “We’ll all sign your cast, man,” Brody told him.

  “No profane drawings,” Tucker ordered. “I’m an attorney. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”

  “Aw, where’s the fun in that?” Brody teased.

  Regret and concern flickered over Piper’s face as she glanced over at Tyler. “We’ll keep you posted.”

  “Just take care of him,” Tyler said.

  As soon as the alley was clear, Nate hollered, “Let’s get this truck unloaded.”

  The rest of the cast members, who’d been hanging around the loading dock watching the drama unfold, sprang into motion again.

  “Thank God it happened early so we’re not having to pull a substitution right before opening night,” said Nate, heading back inside.

  Myles could see the indecision on Tyler’s face. She wanted to quit. And, really, Myles kinda couldn’t blame her. Piper had been right about the intimacy engendered by playing love interests in a show. To do that with someone who used to be an actual love interest had to be tough.

  Her shoulders squared up, her eyes hardening. Decision made then.

  Good for you, Myles thought.

  Brody crossed over to her on the loading dock. “I’ve never seen him miss the landing before.”

  “A lot’s changed in the last eight years,” she said. “Tucker’s not quite as spry as he used to be.”

  She wasn’t talking about Tucker. Brody obviously knew it and was wise enough not to comment.

  “Truck’s empty,” said Nate. “Let’s get to rehearsal.”

  Brody gestured toward the stairs, a sweeping, courteous motion. “After you, Miss Haynes.”

  So it was to be a show in a show after all. Bringing up the rear, Myles hesitated at the threshold, thinking back to Tucker’s fall. Piper had screamed before he ever hit the ground, almost as if she knew he was going to get hurt.

  ~*~

  “—unless I was to get myself engaged or something real fast,” Tyler said.

  “Yeah but where you gonna find somebody way out here?” Brody asked.

  The lines were right but the body language for the scene was all wrong. Instead of snuggling up next to him as she tried to convince her “Phil” that he was the best candidate, Tyler looked like she wished she was on Mars.

  “Cut!” shouted Nate.

  Obviously Piper wasn’t the only one noting the problem. She gnawed her lip wondering if this would get better or if she’d made a huge miscalculation.

  “Piper.”

  She turned toward Myles and realized it wasn’t the first time he’d said her name. They were supposed to be running lines in the wings and she was falling down on her part in a spectacular fashion. She turned her back to the stage and put her attention fully on her co-star. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

  “You’ve been awfully distracted the past week.”

  “I know. I suck. I’ll be better, I promise.”

  Instead of exasperation, he offered her a smirk. “You know, you might have a better time running your lines if you weren’t busy plotting interference with your best friend’s love life.”

  She froze, her heart giving a panicked lurch. Only years of training to speak calmly despite nerves kept her voice from shaking. “What?”

  He crossed his arms and gave her a busted look. “I know what you and Tucker did.”

  Casting a fast look around to see that they were alone, Piper yanked him into a prop closet and shut the door. Of course, that closed them in to blackness. “Dammit, where’s the light?”

  She began to pat the walls around the door, aware of Myles shifting against who knew what behind her. She heard the sound of metal scraping ceramic as he found the pull chain and turned on the anemic bulb above them.

  He should’ve looked ridiculous, standing there with a fake palm tree at his back and the tentacles from a purple foam octopus dangling above his head. Instead he looked just a little bit dangerous with that oh you’re in trouble now expression.

  “Why would you think Tucker and I did anything?” she demanded.

  “Well, the fact that you dragged me in here for something other than making out like teenagers kinds of screams guilt. I was guessing before, but you just confirmed my suspicions.”

  Piper cursed her impulsivity. But maybe this was still salvageable. “What is it you think we did?”

  “You’re pulling a Phil and Judy on Phil and Judy. Handy that you’re a nurse. Did you bring anybody else in on things or did you put the cast on yourself?”

  Oh God. Oh God, he really had figured it out. “But...how did you…?”

  “I’m an investigative reporter by training, sweetheart. And as good an actress as you are on stage, subterfuge isn’t your forte.”

  Oh no. Did Tyler suspect? No, surely not. She wouldn’t hesitate to come kick Piper’s ass into the next county if she knew. Another spurt of panic kicked her into motion. She flew at Myles, pressing him back against the palm tree. “You can’t tell a soul. This is too important.”

  “Is it important for the show or important for your friend?”

  Frustration bubbled. “Both.” He didn’t know the history, couldn’t understand what this was really about.

  “And exactly how does that fit in with that personal code of yours? You told me you wouldn’t do anything to endanger the show. And I’m thinking this setup is a ticking time bomb of potential nasty.”

  He wasn’t wrong. Watching for signs of disaster was why she’d been absolute crap with learning her part. “You don’t understand,” she insisted.
r />   “You’re right. I don’t. But I’ll give you a chance to plead your case over dinner.”

  Surely she hadn’t heard him right. “Dinner?”

  “At my place,” he continued, “so we won’t risk being overheard since that’s a concern for you.”

  “You’re blackmailing me?”

  “Technically this is extortion.” The bastard had the nerve to offer a cheeky grin. “So what’s it going to be? Dinner or do I blow this whole thing sky high?”

  “You’d seriously march out there right now and tell them?”

  “What do you think?”

  Piper stared at him. That was the thing. She didn’t know whether he’d do it or not because she didn’t know him. Not really. She’d very carefully kept her distance since that day in his office, to try to limit her own temptation. She wanted to think he wasn’t monster enough to expose her treachery—and Tyler would see it as treachery, no question—but she wasn’t willing to call his bluff to find out. He had a helluva poker face. “Oh for God’s sake. Dinner. Then at least I’ll get the chance to explain.”

  “Okay then. Tomorrow night? After the afternoon rehearsal?”

  “Fine.” She’d just chew her nails down to nubs in the meantime.

  “I’ll cook,” he said.

  Could he cook? Piper decided it didn’t matter either way. It wasn’t likely she’d feel much like eating once she got through telling the tale.

  “Deal.” She meant to offer her hand to shake on it but realized that it was pressed to his chest. Apparently had been since she’d shoved him back against the palm tree. She started to jerk it back, but he covered her hand with his, holding it in place.

  “Deal.”

  Jesus Christ, this closet was really freaking tiny, and they were really freaking close. Was he radiating all that heat or was it her?

  Myles’ lips curved into a devilish smile. “You wanna keep running lines from in here?”

  “What?” Dammit, her voice was breathless.

  “I mean, it’s nice and cozy and all, but I expect we’ll be missed before long. Unless you’re into the making out like teenagers part. I’m completely amenable to that, show be damned.”

  Piper snatched her hand away and stumbled back. “You’re impossible.” But she was forced to admit, as she snuck back out of the closet, he was also very, very tempting.

  ~*~

  Back ramrod straight Piper marched past Myles into his living room and tossed her purse in a chair. “Let’s get this over with.”