Page 40 of Hate To Be Mine

“Trust me, baby, that’s a reward any woman would want.”

She snorted and walked away. “I’ll be back!”

Elizabeth looked at me, a smile playing at her lips. “You’re into her.”

“I’m not.”

“You absolutely are. And you just promised to kiss her.”

“It was a joke.”

“Was it?” She patted my arm. “Come on. Let’s go set up rain-day camp before someone decides to organize a wet T-shirt contest.”

I was into Bernadette, and that was dangerous and stupid. It was a bad idea, but that didn’t seem to stop me from wanting her. Maybe that’s why I wanted her. The forbidden fruit. She was the one woman I couldn’t have and that just naturally made her more desirable.

By mid-morning, the resort’s main common area had transformed into something between a community center and a particularly chill party.

Elizabeth and I had set up a few card tables with board games—nothing too serious, just things to pass the time. Mary Jo and her team had commandeered one corner and were giving makeup tutorials to anyone interested, which turned out to be more people than I’d expected. Several crew members were learning contouring techniques with talk about going to the clubs when we got back home.

The models had taken over another area with a ring light and were filming TikToks, teaching each other dances, and generally being the kind of beautiful chaos that models excelled at. They were stunning and people loved to watch them being normal. Like they couldn’t believe beautiful people got bored on a rainy day.

Some of the crew were actually working—reviewing shots from yesterday, organizing equipment, and making schedules. But most people were just hanging out. Everyone was making the best of a day that could have been a disaster.

I hadn’t seen Bernadette in a while and assumed she decided to hole up in her room doing whatever hall monitors did.

And then suddenly she was there like a ray of sunshine and a ball of excitement. She carried a stack of papers, some markers, and what looked like a bag of candy.

“Everyone!” she called out, her voice cutting through the ambient noise. “Can I have your attention for a few minutes?”

The room quieted, people turning to look at her with expressions ranging from curious to wary. I didn’t blame them. Bernadette had been about as much fun as a cactus thus far.

“I know safety briefings are boring,” she started. “But I spent the morning creating something I think you’ll enjoy. It’s called Safety Bingo.”

She held up one of the papers. Apparently, they were bingo cards, but instead of numbers, each square contained a safety fact or protocol.

“Here’s how it works,” she continued, and I could hear the enthusiasm in her voice. She was genuinely excited about this. “I’m going to call out scenarios or ask questions about the locations we’ll be shooting. If you have the relevant safety protocol on your card, you mark it. First person to get five in a row wins.”

“Wins what?” someone asked.

She held up the bag of candy. “This, and bragging rights.”

“What kind of candy?” Tempest wanted to know.

“The good kind.”

That got a laugh.

“Alright,” I said, standing up. “Let’s try it. Everyone grab a card.”

People approached Bernadette table with varying degrees of enthusiasm, but they all took cards. Even the cynical photographers. Even the models who’d been giving her death stares yesterday.

It should have been boring. It should have been like sitting through a lecture. But somehow, Bernadette had figured out how to make it engaging. She asked questions that made people think. She shared stories about actual accidents that had happened on other productions. She made jokes that landed better than I would have expected.

And people were eating it up. Hell, even I was learning something.

When someone finally got bingo, everyone applauded.

Bernadette handed over the candy with a grin. “Anyone want to play another round?”