7. Seven

7

SEVEN

I spent the afternoon drinking coffee on Essex Street and people watching. I could’ve hung out in the bar with the other actors and “bonded”—which was the goal apparently—but I wasn’t in the mood to drink. The bulk of the cast was in there—Ed and Sylvia holding court and telling a series of stories I knew couldn’t possibly be true. It just wasn’t appealing.

Instead, I researched Salem’s history on my phone. It was going to play into the show heavily according to the notes I’d received. It was modern witches interacting with vampires who had been present for the witch trials before leaving. Now they were back and wanted to reclaim their territory. Love, of course, would get in the way. That was the sort of script that appealed to me. Obviously, it didn’t appeal to everybody, though.

My main goal when getting away from the others was to not think about Leo. That worked for about three minutes of every five-minute chunk. My busy brain kept circling back to him, though, and I couldn’t help wondering why he was the way he was.

He was a jerk—and made no bones about it—but there was something else underneath. I’d caught glimpses of it during our tour, like when I’d accidentally tripped over the curb because I’d been so focused on something Daisy was telling us and he’d automatically caught my elbow so I didn’t go tumbling on the pavement and scrape myself up.

Now, it wasn’t as if I believed doing the bare minimum—not allowing my face to get banged up—made Leo a good guy. He wasn’t everything he put out to the universe, though. There was a different person underneath. It was impossible to miss.

I’d noticed it most when he put his arm around me during Lux’s rant. It had been instinctive for him. Lux would never have hurt me—at least I hoped that was true—but Leo wasn’t taking any chances. He didn’t think before he acted. Why, though? He didn’t like me. That much was obvious. There was a decent human being lurking under that dark countenance, though. Why didn’t he want to let that person out to play? People would like him more if he did.

Since fall was right around the corner, the days were starting to diminish earlier now. It was almost five o’clock before I realized the shadows had started creeping over the sidewalks. I still had two hours of daylight, but the sun was no longer as bright and the temperature wasn’t as robust.

I picked up a sandwich on my way back to the hotel. There was no big cast dinner tonight, although they were encouraging everybody to hang out. My plan was to get in my pajamas, eat in my room, and keep up on the research. If I happened to start digging a bit on Leo’s bad history—there were plenty of articles out there to peruse—there was no harm in it. I was just a curious co-star.

At least that’s what I told myself.

I was humming to myself when I walked into the lobby but pulled up short when I found Daisy standing in the middle of things with her fiancé. She did a double take when she saw me.

“I’ve been looking for you.” Daisy’s smile was wide. “Lux is actually having contractions. The hospital says it’s too early for her to go in, but in the next two days or so … we’re going to have a baby.”

I was amused despite myself at her excitement. “That’s good.” It really was. “I think if anybody deserves a chance to get their body back, it’s her.”

“She does kind of look like a giraffe that swallowed a basketball,” Daisy agreed. “That’s not why I was looking for you, though. I was being serious earlier when I told you about the pickle martinis. They’re the best thing this town has to offer. We’re heading over to Finz at seven o’clock.”

“Oh, well…” I looked down at my sad little sandwich.

Daisy made a face. “You’re not eating that.” She was firm, apparently not caring that she came across as bossy. “I mean, it’s fine for a snack. That’s not your dinner, though. Finz has stuffed lobster and it’s to die for.”

“Stuffed lobster and pickle martinis?” I couldn’t help being dubious. That was the sort of combination that would give me nightmares. Or, more likely, indigestion.

“You’re coming,” Daisy insisted. “It will give you a chance to cut loose away from your co-stars. Plus, I want the gossip on all of them. It will be just us and a small group of friends. Levi will be there. His boyfriend Corey too. Lux and Jesse will not be there.”

“Which is a great relief to us all,” Jax commented.

Daisy gave him a dark look. “She’s bringing forth human life. Is this the way you’re going to be when it’s my turn?”

“Are you going to be as evil as Lux?” Jax asked.

“I have no idea. Are you going to stop loving me if I am?”

A small smile played across Jax’s mouth as he brushed a stray strand of her auburn hair away from her face. “Nothing will ever make me stop loving you.”

It was a corny line, straight out of a soap opera. It made my heart ache, though. Nobody had ever looked at me the way Jax was looking at Daisy. It was something I’d never worried about before—I was focused on my career after all—but now it made me yearn for something different.

And just where the hell had that feeling come from?

Daisy gave her fiancé a flirty look before turning back to me. “Six forty-five,” she instructed. “Be down here. Dress is casual. We’ll walk over together.”

She wasn’t giving me a choice in the matter. Truthfully, the idea of hanging out with people when there would be no expectations and I didn’t have to be on my best behavior was appealing. “I’ll be here,” I said. “Now you’ve put the idea of stuffed lobster in my head. Where else would I be?”

“Awesome.” She shot me a thumbs-up. “I can’t wait to grill you on those idiot actors you’re going to be with for the next six weeks. I especially have questions about Leo.”

Oh, well, wouldn’t that be fun?

I WAS NEVER LATE. NOT EVER. THAT meant I was down in the lobby a full five minutes before I had to be. I’d opted for simple black capris and an oversized mesh sweater that offset the sequined tank top I was wearing underneath. It was bright, fun, and not too serious.

“Nice,” Daisy said when she met me in front of the door.

I grinned at her. She was in similar capris, but she was wearing an off-the-shoulder shirt that featured a big pair of kissing lips. “You look nice, too.”

“Oh, Levi hates this shirt,” she explained to me. “Like … hates it with a fiery passion. I’m wearing it for him.”

“You and Levi have been friends for a long time.” It wasn’t a question.

“As long as I can remember,” she agreed. “He’s my brother from another mother. Heck, my moms practically adopted him when we were teenagers.”

“Moms?” The question was out before I could think better of it. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” I said hurriedly.

She laughed. “It’s fine.” She gestured toward the door. “I’ll tell you about it on our way to Finz.”

I looked back at the elevators. “What about Jax?”

“He’s going to meet us there.” Daisy’s expression fell. “His father is disputing the fact that he was cut out of Jax’s grandfather’s will. Jax essentially got everything, including the hotel. His family isn’t taking it well, but the will is ironclad. It’s going to hold. Jax won’t be more than ten minutes behind us.”

“Okay.” I had a lot of questions about why everybody else had been cut out of the will, but it wasn’t my business. Besides, I was actually more interested in the mother situation. “Tell me about your moms.”

“Well, I have two moms and one dad,” she replied. “My mother realized she was a lesbian when I was a kid and yet she and my dad are still family. We have dinner together—all of us—once a week.”

“That is fascinating.”

She laughed. “It’s not nearly as entertaining as it sounds.”

FINZ WAS LOCATED ON THE WATER. IT had a massive sushi bar inside. Unfortunately for me, I’d never been able to jump on the sushi train. I didn’t even like cooked fish—although I loved seafood, something I couldn’t explain—so raw fish was out.

Daisy seemed to recognize a lot of faces. She waved but didn’t stop as she led me toward the patio. There, I found Levi sitting with another man, both of them perusing their menus.

“You’re late,” Levi complained when Daisy sat down in one of the chairs.

I made sure to sit across from her so Jax would be able to sit next to her. I figured—since they were so mushy—that they wouldn’t want to be separated.

“Oh, we’re like three minutes late,” Daisy fired back. “Jax got a call from his lawyer when he was leaving.”

Levi lowered his menu. “Anything to be concerned about?”

“No.” Daisy shook her head. “They’re filing paperwork that warns Jax’s dad that they will be going after court costs if he persists. He has to know he can’t win. If he thinks he might lose even more, he might back off.”

“That guy is a tool.” Levi moved his eyes to me and grinned. “I’m glad you joined us. Daisy and I have a lot of questions about how this whole filming thing is going to work. Before we get started, though, this is my boyfriend, Corey. He’s intolerable fifty percent of the time.”

My eyes went wide at the introduction. Corey, however, didn’t seem bothered by the statement. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said to me. “I too have a lot of questions about this show. You’re going to have to fill us all in. We’re not letting you leave until you do.”

“Daisy already told me,” I replied. “I’m not sure hearing about the show is going to be as entertaining as you think it is. I’ll do my best to fill you in, though. This place is great by the way. The view is … just wow.”

“The view is nice this time of year,” Daisy agreed. “Once it gets cold, we don’t get to enjoy the patio much. It’s a bummer.”

Before I could respond, the server walked up to take our drink orders.

“You have to at least try the pickle martini,” Daisy insisted.

I hesitated. “That doesn’t even sound good to me,” I admitted.

“You still have to try it.” Daisy was adamant.

“It’s way better than it probably sounds in your head,” Levi offered. “Just try it. If you don’t like it, one of us will drink it and you can get something else.”

“Okay. I guess I’ll get the pickle martini.”

The next ten minutes were spent talking about the menu. Jax was in a good mood when he arrived. He dropped a kiss on top of Daisy’s head and settled in his chair. Daisy had ordered a cocktail for him. “Pickle martini?” He made a face.

“You know that’s why we come here,” Daisy replied.

“Yes, but I don’t need ten of them a week. I was thinking of sticking to beer tonight.”

“I’ll take it.” Corey scooped up the pickle martini before Jax could mount an argument. “I’m hoping to get drunk so I’ll sleep through Lux’s three o’clock call.”

“She calls you at three in the morning?” I asked. As promised, the pickle martini was delightful. I was certain I’d found my signature drink while in Salem. Well, at least one of them.

“Lux is Corey’s best friend,” Levi explained. “We’re kind of an incestuous little group.”

“It’s because the town is much smaller than it seems,” Daisy explained. “We all grew up together, graduated within a few years together. So even if you don’t like people, you’re still forced to interact with them.”

“Huh.” I had never really given it a lot of thought. “I can go for days without seeing a single other soul I know in LA. It’s lonely despite being surrounded by millions of people. You guys don’t have that here, though.”

“We don’t,” Daisy agreed. “It’s both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing for us because we like each other. When Lux sees Nevaeh—that’s her arch nemesis if you’re wondering—it’s more of a curse.”

I had to laugh. “I would not want to be on her bad side.”

“She’s actually a good person,” Corey insisted, rushing to her defense. “She’s just dealing with endless back pain. She can’t get comfortable. It will be better when the baby is here.”

“Yes, because getting no sleep will make Lux easier to deal with,” Jax deadpanned.

“Ah, but she has help,” Daisy argued. “My moms have already volunteered to act as night nurses a couple times a week so Jesse and Lux don’t run into trouble during the busy season.”

She turned to me. “The baby is a gift, but it would’ve been more of a gift if he came in January so they had time to bond with him. We’re going into our busiest season, and they have a restaurant and multiple food trucks to run.”

I understood what she wasn’t saying. “They can’t afford to take time off following the birth of the baby.” That sounded like a nightmare.

“Nope.” Daisy shook her head. “The other good thing about knowing everybody is that you have help. Lux has a mentor who is going to babysit in her store some. My moms are going to help. Corey is going to help.”

“Except I’m afraid of babies,” Corey complained. “How am I supposed to help when I’m afraid I’m going to break him?”

“You’re helping.” Daisy was having none of it. “Enough about us, though. We’re boring until Lux pushes out that baby and stops being a demon. Tell us all about the production. There is no detail that’s too trivial.”

“We really do want to know all of it,” Corey agreed. “This is a big deal for us. Make sure you don’t leave anything out.”

I TOLD THEM WHAT THEY WANTED TO KNOW. It was boring to me, but they hung on every word. Explaining how things would work was difficult because I hadn’t even seen the call sheets yet. I knew they would be utilizing multiple crews to film various scenes at the same time—different players in each scene—but I had no idea how many scenes we would be doing a day or how we were going to handle the outdoors stuff.

Dinner, as promised, had been delicious. I was stuffed full of lobster when I excused myself to hit the bathroom. When I exited, I almost tripped over my feet—again—but a strong set of hands stopped me from falling. Again. When I looked up, I found Leo staring down at me with unreadable eyes.

“What are you doing here?” I blurted.

He chuckled. “It’s so nice to see you, too,” he said blandly.

I wrinkled my nose as I collected myself. “I just didn’t realize you were going to be here. Did Daisy invite you?”

“Technically, I believe I was there for the invitation,” he replied, his gaze roaming my outfit. “I didn’t really feel as if she was including me, though.”

“Oh.” I didn’t know how to respond. Making people feel unwelcome wasn’t in my wheelhouse. “We’re on the patio.” I started in that direction. “We already ate, though.”

“I’m not here to eat with you,” Leo said.

“What?” I stopped and stared.

He gestured toward the bar, to where two figures I recognized were sitting. Dexter and Chad. Obviously, they’d come from the hotel together. “We just came for a drink. I didn’t come here to hang out with you guys.”

I felt like an idiot. Of course he wasn’t here to hang out with me. Why did I even think that? “Sorry. I just… I’m a moron.”

His forehead wrinkled. “I can see why you thought I was here to hang out with you.”

“No.” I fervently shook my head. “It’s no big deal.”

“I just think it’s better if we stick to what you said this afternoon,” he said in a low voice. “We have nothing in common and can’t be friends outside of work. That doesn’t mean we can’t respect each other on the set.”

“Absolutely.” I felt like a bobble head I was moving my head back and forth so much. “That sounds like a plan.” I was desperate to get away from him. “We’re co-stars. We’ll be pleasant but not too friendly. We don’t even have to know each other off the set. We can be strangers. We don’t even have to wave if we see each other.”

His eyes darkened. “I don’t think that’s exactly what I meant.”

I could not get away from him fast enough. This conversation was making me itchy. “It’s fine. You don’t want to know me. I don’t want to know you. We’ll just read the script, do the occasional walk through town for photos like Miles wants, and that will be it. It’s no big deal.”

I turned my back to him and strolled—or perhaps I jogged—toward the patio.

“Sam, wait,” Leo called out to my back.

I couldn’t turn around. I just needed to escape. “See you tomorrow.” With that, I put a wall down between us. If he didn’t want to know me, that was fine. I certainly didn’t want to know him either.

That would work out perfectly for both of us.

Right?