Page 36 of Cast to be Mine

The crew was solid. That was going to be my saving grace. They knew all there was to know about making movies. I didn’t expect to have to micromanage.

I found my set manager first. “We ready?” I asked.

I’d checked last night and the set crew was going to be pulling an all-nighter to get things done.

“All good. Tested, inspected, and cleared. Ready to rock.”

“Great. Thanks.”

I did my rounds. That was the ritual. Walk the floor before anyone needed me, check in with every department, and hopefully put out any fires before they could make a mess of my whole day.

The ship looked incredible in the work lights. The lighting director had sent me test shots with every lighting scheme. I checked in with sound and photography. Toby was like a little bee, humming along and flitting from one place to the next.

“No more coffee,” I warned him.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” he said. “This is wild. We’re making a movie!”

“That’s the goal. Are we good?” I asked. I needed him focused. The guy looked like a spinning top.

“We’re good,” Toby said, his head bobbing up and down.

It was my turn to freak out. I did another slow turn, mentally ticking off every element of the shoot. There were a lot of moving parts. A hundred-piece orchestra with me conducting every tiny note.

Sound was ready. Wardrobe was humming. Hair and makeup had been in since five. Craft services had a great spread. The set looked incredible. There’d be some post effects, but the magic would be happening right here on this stage.

Everybody was ready. The machine was built. All it needed was the fuel. The actors.

Buzz and Lisa walked in with little fanfare. They were old hands. They greeted the crew they knew, checked out the set. And then Grace walked onto my set.

I was mid-sentence with Toby when I saw her. Patty was leading her across the floor. She was in full wardrobe. The distressed cargo jacket, the boots, hair falling out of a hasty ponytail like Elena had been fighting for her life for three days.

I completely lost the second half of my sentence.

“Micah?” Toby asked.

“Yeah. The—yeah. That. What you said.”

Toby followed my eyeline, then looked back at me with the faintest smirk. I ignored him.

She looked beautiful. For ten days I’d been the model of professional distance. It had taken everything I had and now we were going to be spending long nights and days together. I’d been on shoots before. Emotions ran high. There’d be frustration and excitement. Downtime. Breaks and the inevitable coaching that would put me in her personal space.

Time is money, Blackwell.

Every minute I spent staring at Grace Stone cost the production a small fortune. I had a hundred people on the clock. I did not have the luxury of standing there like a drooling idiot.

The proper, professional thing to do was greet her. Make sure she had what she needed. I crossed the floor, reminding myself with every step that I was the director, not some lovesick idiot. She stopped a few feet away. The words lined up in my head. Professional greeting, quick check-in, move on. Instead I opened my mouth and said, “You look… ready. I mean, you are ready, right? Not that you don’t look ready. You look great. Professionally. Obviously.”

Grace’s lips twitched like she was fighting a smile. “I’m ready.”

“Good. Great.” I cleared my throat and tried again. “The first scene we’re shooting today is with all four of you. Jack, Buzz, Lisa, you.”

She nodded, calm and focused. “I’ve got it. I can run lines with anyone if we need to before we’re rolling.”

“Perfect.”

Toby chose that exact moment to appear at my elbow. “Micah, the crane’s ready, but Jack’s still in his trailer doing whatever it is he does with his abs. Should I go find him?”

“Tell him we’re starting without him,” I said, grateful for the interruption. I took one last look at Grace. “You good?”