“Drew, we’re ready for you,” the AD called out, waving him over.
Relief splashed through Drew. He got up, adjusting his Victorian costume and smoothing a hand along his awful hairstyle, and walked over to take his place in front of the camera.
That relief was temporary. He could only step out of his own way to play the character for so long. Not that he didn’t have a blast embodying an amateur Victorian detective. His scene partners, Gemma Thorne and Sawyer Kingston, were amazing actors who he got along with. But as with all filming, an hour of preparation meant maybe thirty minutes of shooting, theneveryone sitting down again so they could set up different takes from different angles.
Drew needed something to distract himself and keep him from obsessively scrolling, so he took a page out of Abby’s book and, well, downloaded one of Abby’s favorite books to read.
A book by Lee.
A sexy dragon book by Lee.
Lee didn’t pull punches at all. Drew’d had no idea books like that existed. He’d read the usual Tolkien and stuff as a kid, but Tolkien didn’t start off right away with a nubile young farmer’s son being sacrificed to a ripped and dominant guy who could turn into a dragon who got right down to using him for kinky-as-shit sex.
“What the hell, Lee?” he mumbled, eyes growing wide as he read through the smut on his phone.
He had to adjust the way he was sitting. He really, really had to adjust the way he was sitting.
“What are you reading that’s making you blush like that?” Gemma asked as she settled into the chair next to him, adjusting her fancy dress so that the bustle didn’t get in her way.
Drew slammed his phone down on his thigh and jerked to look at his costar with wide eyes. “Um, just a book,” he said, his sheepishness quickly flashing into giddiness that made him laugh.
“That’s got to be some book,” Gemma said with a smirk.
“It’s a hot romance novel,” Drew confessed. “Written by a friend of mine.”
“Lee Cresswell?” Gemma asked, sending him a knowing look.
A swooping feeling of wariness consumed Drew. “Yeah. He’s really good, although this is not what I’m used to reading at all.”
Gemma continued to watch him for a bit before saying, “Uh huh. You two are…close?”
The last thing Drew expected was for the whole fake dating thing to stare him in the face right there on set. “Yeah,” he said, smiling broadly. Which was an act. Maybe. He couldn’t not smile when he thought about Lee. Which was either the point or a huge problem.
“It’s okay, I saw the pics this morning,” Gemma said, leaning close to them like they were sharing a secret. “I mean, I was convinced that Jessica was your girlfriend and everyone got the whole gay thing wrong, but you can’t fake chemistry like that.”
It was clear she was referring to the kissing pics.
“It’s, um, yeah. Something I don’t like to talk about too much,” Drew scrambled to say. “I like to keep my private life private and my professional life separate.”
“Don’t we all,” Gemma laughed wryly.
Thankfully, the awkward conversation was cut short as Drew received a text.
Except the text was from Lee, and just seeing the man’s name had the blush flaring on his face again. Gemma noticed and grinned as she pulled her phone out of a pocket deep in her costume and gave her attention to that.
Drew focused on his own conversation.
“Hey, how are you doing today?”
He couldn’t help but smile over Lee’s concern. It felt nice to have someone care that way.
He typed back.
“I’m fine. Small headache earlier, but it’s gone now. How about you?”
“My headache is still lingering. I don’t usually drink that much.”
Those words sent an arrow of worry straight into Drew’s gut. Had Lee just been drunk when they kissed? Would he have let it happen if they’d been completely sober?