Accidental Action Star (11 page)

The box was from the Art Department alright. But it wasn’t from me. It was from Justin to Lorene. Not that Justin had the guts to deliver it. So it had to be from Archie. Archie. Oh no.

I snatched the card from Roberto, who at this point was staring at my chest. I scanned the writing. Archie’s. I’d processed enough of his paperwork to recognize it. A delivery from Archie meant an imminent prank. I checked the inside of the box.

One thing remained—a brown paper bag, the kind specialty paint brushes came in.

I drummed my fingertips on my knee, having no idea how to play this. We did
not
want to find out what was in the bag while the camera was rolling. What
was
in the bag? Jewelry? A nighty? Panties?

A worse thought hit me. Justin had spent several lunches making a cartoon video of his and Lorene’s imaginary future baby. It had crawled around his screen like a pet until I’d told him how über creepy it was. Maybe Archie had thrown it on a thumb drive. Maybe he’d made one for Max and me. Heat burned my face. I could imagine Roberto popping the thumb drive into his laptop and showing the video on national television.

Lorene lifted the bag from the delivery box.

I grabbed the other end. “No.”

Her mouth tightened, and she gripped the bag harder, keeping the cameras and everyone’s focus on her.

I yanked. “It’s mine.”

Max sat back. “Technically, it’s mine.”

We both ignored him. Lorene pulled. I dug my nails in.

The bag ripped and a white oblong box fell out, plopping down on the table.

Oh.

Neither Lorene nor I touched it.

The camera guy leapt forward and focused on the box.

The label read,
Pregnancy Kit – For When It’s Time To Know.

Ew. Archie! Grr. Frustration twisted through me. Dragging Max into his prank took Archie to a new low.

Roberto scooted back. His eyes moved from my chest to my waist, checking for a baby bump, making me wish for the first time that I had worn the cat suit. I had nothing to hide. Roberto’s gaze lifted, and he smirked. “Looks like Sara’s not the only one with a bun in the oven.”

Mom was going to kill me. I lunged.

Max wrapped his arms around my waist, and he pulled me onto his lap. “Babe.”

Really? Babe?  I glared at him.

His hard arms tightened, restraining me. “Roberto, you may not know this, but Hannah’s also an artist and the Art Department is full of pranksters.”

My fury eased at his logical explanation. I relaxed, settling against him. “Exactly. The box is a prank. Though not the bra.” I eyed the expensive gold lingerie draped on Lorene’s lap. “That’s a gift from Justin to Lorene. He adores her.”

“My fans are the best.” Lorene smiled and blew a kiss to the camera. “Kisses.”

Roberto signaled to his cameraman. “That’s a wrap.” He rose and shook Lorene’s hand, then Max’s. He shook my hand last and didn’t let go. He used the maneuver to help me up. “So, Hannah, you’re not pregnant?”

“No. Thanks for that though.”

“Hey, I didn’t deliver the package. And it’s not the first time an actress stirred up drama for more air time.”

An actress. Weird. “Not me.”

“Sorry then. I also guess you get asked to cook for people a lot?”

Every freaking day. “Sometimes.”

Roberto smiled. “Let me make it up to you. Dinner with me. Tonight.”

Max stood up and put his hand on the back of my waist. “She can’t. She has plans with me.”

I tilted my head back to look at him, trying to figure him out. “Thanks, Max, but I already had coffee today.”

“It’ll be better than coffee.”

His low voice made me shiver. I couldn’t figure him out. I just knew I liked him. “Swear?”

He nodded.

I turned back to Roberto with a sincere smile. “Thanks, Roberto, but I already have plans.”

Roberto glanced at Max and passed me his card. “No problem. If you change your mind, give me a call.” He waved for his crew and they packed up and headed out.

I had a date with Max. Remembering the last date, I tried not to get my hopes too high. But I didn’t succeed. I kept my eyes averted so Max wouldn’t see the extent of my excitement. “I’ll text you my address.”

***

Max took me to the Huntington Museum, where I saw the Pinky and Blue Boy paintings for the first time. It was surreal. To see something you’d seen your whole life in prints, but to see the huge, real canvases in person. Art. Wow. Max really put thought into this date. And now he was suffering for it. Taking an artist to an art museum could only lead to suffering for the non-artist. “Please a little longer?” I’d said that several times today.

“No.” Max had had to say that several times too. He grinned and pulled me out of the gallery. “Let’s check out the gardens.”

The gardens were equally freaking cool, which was saying something. He held my hand and we walked the pathways between the exotic plants. The cacti were the coolest. We had killer cacti in Austin, but these were beyond anything I’d ever seen. This place held another world. I lifted Max’s hand and spun around until he drew me to his side.

“People haven’t bothered you at all—other than those autographs in the little café.”

“Most people see a normal guy. If we were at a premiere, they’d expect to see actors so they’d see actors. Here, we’re just one more couple out to enjoy the sunshine.”

Max was too modest. He received a lot more double-takes than a
normal
guy got, even a guy as handsome as him. But these pathways had their steep points, fans would have to be determined to try and catch him here. I peered at my hiking shoes, grateful for the heads up he’d given me regarding footwear. Shorts and a tank were perfect for this date.

“Tell me what you like about
Dragon Night
. The animé? The live action. How’d you get involved?”

Max led me over to a secluded bench by the pond. “I know the artist. I bought in, signed on, and brought the studio on board.” He rolled his head and gave me a hot questioning look. “Do you really want to talk about the Art Department and those drawings?”

No. Maybe. “Just know that Justin’s working on those touchups. You should see changes early next week. I’ll go pick the drawings up myself.”

Max nodded and checked the pond. “Frankly, the Art Department has a different vision from me. And, next week, if the drawings aren’t better, I’m activating the Rights Reversion clause.”

“I have no clue what that is.”

He drummed his fingers on the back of my hand, a casual and intimate gesture all at once. “Basically, the movie studio has a time limit to present acceptable artwork. Next week, time’s up and I shop the script to other studios.”

I tucked my feet onto the bench and wrapped my arms around my legs. Disappointment settled in my stomach. I’d dreamed of working with him on the project in the fall. “And Archie knows this?”

“I’m sure he does.”

“Well. We’ll see what Justin can come up with. He might surprise you. He’s really talented.”

Max twisted his lips in a doubting expression.

A family of four trudged by, parents with two strollers. They eyed our bench. So Max pulled me up and we moved on. We hiked through all the public gardens and the day kept me fascinated. The day and Max. He didn’t text once and we talked about acting, martial arts, and school.

By the time he drove me back to the dorm, I’d learned more about him, but it was a fraction of what I wanted to know. I wanted to know everything.

He parked in the guest lot and came around to get my door. “Why do you want a job with the Art Department so badly? Why not be a full-time student?”

“My parents think it’s practical to work part time. For the resume. And if I have to choose between
Scoop Out
and the Art Department or minimum wage in town, it’d be the Art Department every time.”

Max entwined our fingers and walked with me toward my dorm. I pointed out campus trivia as we walked. “And I do want to pay my own way. It’s not so noble.” I smiled and leaned up and kissed him, a brief press. “The Art Department’s my dream.” I pressed my lips to his again, another light kiss. “’Night Max.”

I typed in the entry code. Max covered my hand with his and I turned. He leaned into me. He felt wonderful. Satisfying. I slid my arms around his neck and pressed up, wanting to be closer. Mmm. “Max.”

“Come back with me?” His golden eyes stared intently into mine. “Stay with me tonight.”

My reaction to his words was instantaneous. My heart raced. My skin flushed. His voice tempted me. He tempted me.

Max trailed his fingertips from my bare shoulder to my hand. He entwined our fingers and rubbed his thumb over my palm, making it hard to think.

“We’ve only gone out twice and I’m…” I trailed off as I thought of the right way to tell him what I was feeling. What I wanted. But what I wasn’t going to do. Not tonight. Not on a second date. Not with a guy who wasn’t my boyfriend. “I’m…”

Max bit his lip and nodded. His fingertips touched my cheek. “You’re nice. Yeah. I know.”

This time when I typed in the door code, he let me go.

I floated into the common area. Eva sat at the piano, running drills. “Max Stone dropped me off. You just missed him.”

“Sure, Hannah.”

“We were on a date. He kissed me. It was amazing.”

“Uh huh.”

“I got a part in his film. Before I kissed him, of course.”

“You’re such a liar.” She laughed and held out her arm. “Check out my new burn from the popcorn kettle.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah.”

I put my bag and keys on my temporary desk and eased over to Justin’s table. He didn’t look up.

“Hey.”

Justin didn’t greet me back. He had his chin on his knuckles and worked the mouse with his free hand. He rotated the cursor to a file and clicked. An image of Lorene appeared. She blew a kiss toward the camera. The image replayed on a loop.

He clicked another file and my face appeared on screen. It was a clip from the interview. The video of me kicked on. “That’s a gift from Justin to Lorene. He adores her.” My on-screen image repeated the line from the
Time Kick
interview over and over.

Guilt stilled my insides. I hit the power button on the monitor and removed the image. “Justin. You know I didn’t send that lingerie box to the interview. That had to have been Archie.” I glanced around the room but didn’t see the prankster.

“That bra was meant to be a gift for Lorene after we’d been dating a while.” His face turned dark red. “After. Like on a holiday. Now she must think I’m a crazy stalker fan.”

He was.
“No. She liked it. You saw her face.”

Justin stretched across his desk and put the monitor back on. He replayed the loop of Lorene blowing him a kiss. “She’s being a good sport. That’s who she is.”

Not really. Not at all
. “I’ll talk to her.”

“No!” His voice came out strangled. “You’ve done enough. Stay out of it.”

I wanted to make him feel better, I did, but I had another priority today. Max had said if he didn’t get approvable character images, he’d take the
Dragon Night
project away from the Art Department.

Max needed to see the new artwork—the sooner the better.  And I’d already eaten a large portion of the morning by taking extra time to get ready. I wore a new small white workout T-shirt, too cute, along with fitted black yoga pants. I’d taken extra care with my makeup so it would look perfect, but like I barely had any on. Then, I’d lined my eyes with silver eyeliner so they popped. And I’d twisted product into the ends of my hair like Powder had shown me.

I glanced at the clock. Max would be on set by now.

I wanted him to see the revisions.  I wanted to see the revisions. I’d worked hours and hours on the characters. To see my suggestions brought to life by a professional artist like Justin would be amazing. I took the thin character binder and flipped through the page-protectors that held the artwork. The drawings inside were mine. Justin’s changes weren’t there.

“Where’s the new stuff?”

Justin didn’t answer.

I held up the binder, but Justin remained glued to the monitor. “I want to talk to you about that interview. I do. Really. But I have to get the new sketches over to Warehouse 47. The new artwork’s due today. And there’s a Right’s Reversion clause in the contract.” I waved my hand in front of him. “Did you know that? Max can end the project if we don’t get him approvable sketches in a timely manner? Like today.”

Justin shoved my hand away. “I understand time.” He clicked so my image reappeared, swamping the screen and spilling his secrets to the nation. “But I hope you can understand why I didn’t want to work on something all weekend just to make
your
job easier.”

He wasn’t budging.

Frustration, guilt, and determination battled inside me, and I decided to do something that went against all my training. Something that might cost me a future job with the Art Department. Something I believed in fully.

I put my own drawings in a delivery envelope and left.

If Max said more work was needed, no harm, no foul. If Max approved the drawings, the Art Department would be so happy they’d forgive any confusion over why he approved rough drafts.  I didn’t let myself think about the possibility that Max might hate them. Max had superior taste.

I cleared the entrance into Warehouse 47, nodded at the guard’s usual joke about not getting any food and that I’d better “Scoop on in there.”

Inside Warehouse 47, I gave the delivery to a PA. I didn’t want Max to suspect the work was mine, and if I was the one who handed it to him, I’d probably give that fact away with my eagerness and anxiety. I didn’t want the credit. I simply wanted the Art Department to get it right. And, maybe, to get a little validation that I’d interpreted the script correctly and that my art had a future. I knew my artwork wasn’t as polished as Justin’s, but if I got the vision right—Max might sign off.

Max wasn’t in the workout area when I got there. I paced and as the minutes passed my nerves peaked, making me doubt my decision. I could confess. No. Yes. No. I moved over to the punching bag and jabbed twice into the hard fabric, hurting my unwrapped knuckles. A phrase Max had used in his last film role filtered through my mind.
Put up or shut up.