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And what did Bennet do? He laughed! Until he caught my death-glare backstage. Then he apologized, but he could barely get it out with a straight face, while I was standing there with tissue trying to wipe the glitter off my black costume and teeny-tiny cleavage. I told him he could shove his apology where the sun don’t shine.
Fortunately, he’d just graduated high school and went off to college out of state at the end of the summer. He was a senior when I was a freshman at Beauville High School. So the rest of my summer plays at BPAL were Bennett-free. After I’d gone to college at LSU, I heard he’d returned home and was doing plays again. Mom had even dragged me to see him in an annoyingly flawless performance as Billy Flynn inChicago the Musicallast fall.
“Are you ready, Betty?” asked Peter, dragging me back to where I was…onstage again with the bane of my existence.
“Yep.” I cleared my throat, looking down at the script pages. “Ready.”
We launched into the scene, and I didn’t let Mandy’s performance sway my decision on how I’d interpret Corie’s character. I allowed some sarcasm to seep into the lines when she defended their new home to her grouchy husband. I’d sassed back with a less obsequious air toward my new husband while also giving him an affectionate smile here and there.
I felt good about sticking to my guns when Peter chuckled after one of my lines.
Then we went right into the dinner party scene, one of the funniest ones in the whole play. That time, we had more than Peter chuckling in the audience. Even though we were reading from the script and pantomiming parts of the scene like “popping” the knichi—some unknown eel-based delicacy Mr. Velasco brings over—the stage chemistry was totally there.
“Terrific,” said Peter. “Frank and Meredith, you can come down. Nice job, thank you. Now, Betty and Bennett, can you go to”—he flipped through his script much farther ahead—“page fifty-two? This is a fight scene between the couple. I want to see how that works with you two together.”
Without glancing at my scene partner, I flipped to the right page. “Ready?” I asked him.
“Whenever you are.” His smooth rumble irritated me. It was a deep, pleasant sound. He shouldn’t have a delicious voice on top of everything else. It simply wasn’t fair.
I jumped into the scene, my character letting his have it. I even turned to face him and screamed the lines, layered with an extra dose of sarcasm and perhaps over-the-top anger.
Maybe I was letting my true feelings out, my annoyance with Mr. Perfect and how he was partly responsible for ruining my Monday, and then had the audacity to flirt with me on top of that.
The thing was, he gave it right back to me, delivering the lines with impeccable emphasis and timing that had everyone in the audience outright laughing, except for Mandy.
I couldn’tnotbe impressed by him. He was impressive, okay?
“Good, good!” Peter cut us off after Corie’s character stormed into a different room.
Someone actually clapped. I let out a breath of laughter, peering over at Bennett.
And wished I hadn’t.
Those hazel eyes were fixed on me with undisguised admiration shining in the pretty depths. He wasn’t chewing his gum, but his jaw clenched three times before breaking away from flat-out staring at me.
I stopped at the edge of the stage, thinking Peter might have a few comments. But then he waved us down and leaned in to talk to Trish. I glanced over my shoulder.
Bennett’s head was down, that amusing smile quirking his lips, as he murmured, “Nice job, Mouton.”
Then he tapped my leg with his script as he passed me by, leaving me in a wake of mint and masculine soap and rattled nerves.
Let’s be more precise. He tapped me on the side of my upper thigh, extremely close to an ass-tap, which also felt…flirty? Deliciously so.
Then again, he probably flirted with everyone.
What was I thinking? He most definitely did. That was how he charmed and enchanted his flock to do his bidding.
Never mind. I pushed those vexing thoughts away as I headed for the steps, wondering, hoping I did well enough to out-act the glorious Mandy Harper.
When Trish gave me a subtle wink before turning and collecting all the scripts, I exhaled a happy breath.I think I got the lead.
Oh, fuck.
I think I got the lead.
Chapter Three
~BENNETT~
