Chapter 19 Joanie
Joanie
“Any questions before we start rolling?” Elena gave me a pointed look.
Only one. Please can I go home?
I’d read the script so many times it had turned into a compulsive behavior.
Anything to stop myself from screwing this up.
I adjusted my football socks and lifted my hair to fan the back of my neck with my hand.
My jersey clung to my sweaty body and sand itched under my long socks.
Come back cheese-wire bikini. All is forgiven.
Kieran flashed a glance at his watch. “No questions.”
Elena speared me with her penetrating gaze. “You understand the script? You are friends who meet on the beach. You walk. You drink. You say the line. The vibe is sunny, relaxed beach day. All good?”
Fine. I understood the script. It wasn’t Shakespeare. There wasn’t much subtext in the world of Fizzz. I tried on a smile to reassure her that I knew what I was doing, but my lips betrayed me and trembled.
Kieran studied my face and frowned. “Do you need more time?”
No. That would be worse. We just had to get it done. I took a breath. “I’m ready.”
Elena stretched her syrupy smile. “Positions, please.”
Kieran watched her bounce away over the sand and lowered his voice to a murmur. “This is going to be over soon. Focus on me and forget about the cameras. I’ve got you.”
No problem. All I ever did lately was focus on him. “Thank you.”
He gave me a reassuring nod, and marched across the sand to take his position.
My heart thudded against my rib cage. This was fine.
I just had to act calm and look like this wasn’t excruciating to me on every level.
The worst part was trying to act natural with Kieran on camera.
The tension between us had ratcheted to unbearable levels after our encounter last night.
I took a breath and straightened my hair. Dad and Ollie were naturals on stage. There had to be some of that stardust somewhere in my DNA.
“Action,” Elena yelled.
Kieran strode toward me with his head held high, his shoulders back, and a can of Fizzz in his hand.
He walked with his usual confidence and self-assuredness, which was impressive because it wasn’t easy to swagger with sex appeal on a surface with so much give.
I was moving toward him over the sand, but I had no idea how because my legs felt like they belonged to someone else.
Kieran’s eyes locked with mine and he gave me the hint of a nod. Everything was too sharp and too bright. The waves screamed in my ear. Heat seared over me. Sweat gathered above my top lip. I had to fight not to turn to check where the cameras were.
We were supposed to be friends, greeting on the beach.
Awkwardness held me frozen. A reckless impulse seized me and I leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.
His stubble grazed my lips, and his manly scent enveloped me.
My breath moved sharply in my lungs at the contact.
Kieran turned his face and swooped in to kiss my other cheek at the same moment as I was pulling away.
My glasses bumped his nose. His eyebrows flew up in surprise and he took a step back.
“Cut!” Elena’s yell jarred me.
Kieran frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. I thought we were going for two kisses? When in Spain . . .”
My cheeks burned with embarrassment. “No. It’s me. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have even kissed you at all. That was weird.”
He reached for my hand. “It wasn’t. It’s fine. Don’t worry.”
My fingers sparked with warmth where he gripped my fingers.
Elena marched toward us. “Can we try that again?”
I tore my hand from Kieran’s grip, and kept my gaze on Elena’s expression of barely concealed irritation.
Elena flapped the clipboard in my direction. “You are friends, yes? You meet on the beach. You greet each other, and then you drink the Fizzz. What is the problem here? This looks . . . awkward.”
The problem was that I couldn’t act natural around Kieran.
Seeing him in that towel last night had rewired my brain.
I’d spent last night fantasizing that I’d had the nerve to knock on his door.
At least I had one item I could tick off Lana’s list: multiple orgasms. That’s if the ones you gave yourself counted.
Get it together. I could do this. I had to take a sip of Fizzz without holding my nose, say my nonsensical line, and walk along a beach. How hard could it be? The sooner I got it done, the sooner it could be over.
I rolled my shoulders back. “I’m sorry. I’m ready now. Let’s go again.”
Six takes, and Elena still wasn’t satisfied.
That was six sips of Fizzz that my esophagus would never recover from.
At least we’d agreed on a less awkward greeting.
No cheek kisses. It worked better between us with no touching at all.
Even a brush of fingers when Kieran passed me the can made me tremble.
Kieran’s face was stonier than ever. “We’re doing our best. We’re not actors.”
Elena clicked her fingers in the air, and a man shot out of nowhere to fiddle with my hair. “We need more energy from you.” She clapped her hands too close to my face. “More relaxed. More pep. More Fizzz.”
Kieran frowned. “You want us to have more energy or be more relaxed? We can’t be both.”
My teeth itched with embarrassment. None of this was Kieran’s fault. It was me. I couldn’t help it. Not all of us had our innate good looks and world fame to fall back on. It wasn’t news to me that I wasn’t a natural in front of the camera.
Elena pointed at Kieran and swept her fingers over her mouth, imitating a smile. “You need to smile. You’re speaking the dialogue as though you’re being forced at gunpoint.”
Kieran weighed her with a critical squint. “Maybe if this stuff didn’t taste like shit then we’d be able to pull it off.”
I smothered my laugh. Kieran was so dry and brutal sometimes. I should have been more professional, but I couldn’t help that he made me giggle even when he wasn’t trying to.
Elena’s eyes snapped to me and she waggled her finger at me. “Yes. There we go. Like that. Do that. Look at this can of Fizzz the way you are swooning over him and we won’t have any problems.”
Heat rose in my cheeks.
Kieran’s eyes flashed with anger. “Don’t talk to Joanie like that. You don’t have to be rude.”
“Explore the Fizzz. It’s one line.” Elena smile stretched. “It shouldn’t be this difficult.”
Elena plowed off over the sand to harass some other poor member of the production staff.
I fanned my face with my hand, which only made me feel hotter with the effort. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”
Kieran’s usually stern expression softened. “You’re not doing anything wrong.”
Having to redo this repeatedly wasn’t exactly making my performance any better.
In the last take, I’d got so distracted by watching Kieran’s throat bob as he swallowed the drink that I’d forgotten my line.
Kieran’s smile was nonexistent, and mine looked overbright and ridiculous.
It was getting painful. They really couldn’t have picked a worse pair for this.
A wave of amusement went through me. It was so ludicrous it was actually funny.
Kieran’s voice was low and reassuring. “One last time. We’ve got this. This is going to be the one, I know it. We’ve done this six times now. They can’t expect much more. The Calverdale insurance doesn’t cover us drinking a full can.”
A laugh escaped me. At least I wasn’t alone in this. This would have been even worse without Kieran.
I turned my face to the sea and watched the waves rolling in, willing the gentle lull to soothe me. “Let’s get it done. If we get it wrapped up today, we could be on a plane this evening.”
He dropped and picked up a handful of sand, watching as it slipped through his fingers. “I was thinking about that. What if we stayed?”
“I’m sorry?”
“I spoke to Carlos this morning. He’s had to fly to Madrid for a few days on emergency business, but he’s disappointed we won’t get to have dinner together. He really enjoyed meeting you. He wants to talk more about the brand endorsement.”
“He does?”
Kieran spread his fingers and let sand cascade from one palm to the other.
“I haven’t had a holiday in years. I’m going to stay on until the end of the week at least. Why don’t you stay too?
Have a proper holiday. Carlos would love it.
” He let the sand run out of his hand and stared at his empty palm.
“Unless you have other things you should be doing . . .”
My heart pounded, but I tried to smooth my expression.
Kieran wanted me to stay here with him? That was out of the question, wasn’t it?
I had things to do at home. Although, not really.
Training didn’t start officially for another couple of weeks.
It had been so long since I’d had a holiday, too, and a chance to have dinner with Carlos Ramirez?
That was a dream come true, let alone the idea of a brand collaboration. But it was so spontaneous. So not me.
Elena planted herself in front of me. “We’re ready to go again.”
Kieran brushed himself down and stood. “Fine, but this is the last time.”
“We want it to be perfect.” Elena held her speakerphone to her lips and her voice boomed out. “Female player first. Action.”
I tried to adjust my expression into a camera-ready smile.
My body thrummed with excitement. Could I stay longer?
I couldn’t seriously be contemplating it.
But maybe it would be a good idea. Kieran was so much more fun than I could have expected.
I was supposed to be seizing the day, or at least reaching for it carefully.
Making the commercial with Ramirez was on my list. Maybe this was an opportunity.
More time with Carlos Ramirez. More time with Kieran.
A proposition that made my stomach flutter.
We walked ten paces, and I took a sip of the drink and tried not to grimace. I pasted a smile onto my face and looked down the camera lens. “Explore the Fizzz.”
“Cut,” Elena shouted.
She gave a slow clap and nodded. “Better. You had a sparkle in your eyes that time. That’s the best one yet. Why don’t we try one more?”
Kieran folded his arms. His expression was cold and unfeeling. “No. That’s it. We’ve explored the Fizzz more than anyone could be expected to. You’ll have to use what you’ve got. If you have a problem with that, then you can speak to my agent.”
I cringed at Kieran’s bluntness and shot him a look.
Rob had warned him about his attitude, but it had gone in one ear and out the other.
He really couldn’t care less what people thought about him.
It was easy to see why he’d got a reputation for being combative, but really that wasn’t fair.
He spoke his mind, and he didn’t shy away from conflict.
It wasn’t aggressive. It was assertive. Not a terrible quality.
A good one, in fact, if he channeled it in the right way.
Elena narrowed her eyes, then nodded. “Fine. We’ve got enough here to work with.”
She stepped back, and a wave of relief went through me. Thank goodness it was over. Was that it? All that worry and buildup, and I’d earned my release from Fizzz prison.
Kieran whispered in my ear. “Well? Are you in? Are we staying?”
“What about our flights?”
He wrinkled his nose as if it wasn’t a consideration. “Easy to rearrange. No big deal. We’d just be a couple of friends, enjoying a few extra days on holiday. What do you say?”
He thrust his hands into his pockets. His expression was casual, but the slight twitch of his lips betrayed something inscrutable.
What was that? Hopefulness? Uncertainty?
It was crazy and reckless and completely unlike me, but I was supposed to be banging a different rhythm on my drum.
What better way to start? If I stayed, I could have some fun.
Maybe I could work through some things on my list, and I could have dinner with my football hero.
It was also more time with Kieran. Not something I should be craving, but I couldn’t help myself.
“OK.” My cheeks warmed at my eagerness. “A couple of friends on holiday.”