Chapter 52
Fifty-Two
S ybil
The dim bluish light casts a glow across the cramped screening room.
It smells like stale popcorn and sweat in here, byproducts of late-nights and rushed decisions.
Cooper sits next to me on the long couch that’s pushed up against the window, Perry on my other side.
Everyone else is gone for the evening, but we’re reviewing some footage from Nantucket.
Perry crosses his arm and leans back, clearing his throat.
“What is it?” Cooper asks. “You gonna lecture us again about PDA?”
As soon as we decided to give this thing a go, Perry was the first person we told. He took it better than expected, claiming he was happy for us but also asking us to keep PDA to a minimum.
“About that,” Perry releases a long-suffering sigh, voice tinged with forced optimism. “This is… delicate.”
Damn. I thought he was going to complain about the audio glitches from yesterday that made us lose half a day of content. Apparently, this is about me and Cooper. I sit forward and Cooper removes his arm from my shoulder, opting for my knee instead.
“There’s been an anonymous complaint,” Perry continues. “About you two.”
My stomach lurches. “Us?”
Cooper’s voice hardens. “What kind of complaint?”
Perry clasps his hands together like he’s about to deliver a sermon. “The complainant suggested your relationship is interfering with your professional judgment.”
“Are you kidding me?” I stand quickly, needing to move, pace the room or something. I’ve never had a complaint lodged against me in my entire career.
“We may not have made the best decisions on Nantucket,” Cooper says. “But we’ve been professional since we made things official.”
“Someone obviously feels differently,” Perry counters.
Cooper’s jaw tightens. “Who filed it?”
Perry sighs. “The network has an anonymous complaint submission form for cast and crew to use without fear of retaliation.”
“The network?” Coop tsks. “I am the network.”
“Then maybe you should know about this,” Perry points out. “As much as I’d love to sweep this under the rug, we have to take it seriously. Last thing we need is negative attention before we launch.”
“What do you suggest?” I ask.
“Fact is, you’ve gone public, and that’s not changing.”
“Fucking right,” Cooper mutters.
Perry holds up his hands. “While I’m happy for my friends, I’m also invested in my career. We need to control the optics. Call me the bad guy, but we only have a few choices to handle this properly.”
I tilt my head. “What do you have in mind?”
“One, you guys don’t come to set at the same time. If you’re not seen together while you’re here, there’s no room for anyone to claim anything unprofessional is happening.”
I press my lips together. It’s not a terrible idea. Doesn’t mean I like it.
“Nope. Not doing that,” Cooper growls. “What’s option two?”
“Glad you’re keeping your sense of humor about this, Coop,” Perry jokes.
Cooper doesn’t laugh, but I crack a smile.
“The network has offered to hire an ethics consultant.”
“A what?” I question.
“An ethics consultant,” Perry repeats, leaning casually against the couch. “Someone to come in, observe you two, and ensure everything is above board.”
“I’m sure this was my father’s idea,” Cooper chides.
“You mean spy on us?” I ask, my voice flat and unsurprised.
“ Spy is an ugly word,” Perry says, but doesn’t refute that’s exactly what’s happening. “I can’t say if your father is behind this, Cooper, but I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“I don’t think we have a choice.” I look eyes with Cooper. “We have to do the professional thing and agree.”
“Fine, bring in the consultant,” Cooper relents. “I guess a spy is a necessary evil. I’m not willing to avoid my girlfriend at work.”
“Are you sure?” I ask.
He gives me a weak smile. “Think you can keep your hands off me?”
Perry rolls his eyes and fakes a gag.
I can keep my hands off Cooper at work, and it’s fair someone could be uncomfortable with us, but we’ve been really good about keeping things professional since we returned to the city.
This whole thing is annoying.
“I’m renting a third apartment,” Cooper announces. “Whatever is vacant in the building. I don’t care. This show has taken all my personal spaces, and I’m over it.”
“There’s only a handful of weeks left of filming.”
“Don’t care. I want privacy for me and Syb.”
“Well, I know what your trust fund looks like.” Perry gives him a knowing look. “You should’ve done this from day one.”
Cooper smirks. “Yeah, well, I was invested in being here when a certain someone came to set.”
The look he gives me is so hot that my insides practically burn up. Suddenly, I understand why someone might be uncomfortable. I want to rip his clothing off, and considering his bedroom is steps away, I plan to do that once everyone leaves.
“Rent something. Buy something. Whatever. But figure your shit out.” Perry grabs his things. “I’m going to go check on my sister.”
Madeline’s been home recovering, improving little by little each day. I’m sure having her family check on her often helps.
One minute later, and it’s just me and Cooper.
“Don’t give me that look.” I laugh. “This is your fault.”
He jumps up and wraps me in a hug, pulling me flush against his body. Dropping his mouth to the shell of my ear, he whispers. “How is this my fault?”
“You started it.” My voice is husky and untamed. Cooper’s body reacts, growing hard between us.
“Are you talking about eating you out on Nantucket?” he asks boldly. “As I recall, we were in a locked bedroom when that happened.”
Locked bedroom on location.
“Or maybe it was fucking on the beach that did it?” I ask, teasing him.
“My beach,” he growls. “My house. My woman. What’s wrong with that? If people want to complain, they can complain to my face, not some fucking anonymous form.”
I chuckle. “I’m sorry, baby, but who is going to do that? You’re the boss. That’s kind of intimidating.”
“Do I intimidate you?”
Yes.
“No.” I sigh. “But we are at crew headquarters right now and probably shouldn’t be touching.”
He doesn’t like that.