Reluctantly Romanced (The Barrington Billionaires, Book 10) by Ruth Cardello

Author:Ruth Cardello [Cardello, Ruth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-03-15T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

The next morning on a closed-off street in a tiny town that sat on the edge of a fjord, Dylan went over the mechanics of the fight scene they were reshooting that day. The lack of warmth he’d received when greeting the man playing his opponent was disappointing, but not unexpected. Dylan had heard he’d auditioned for the lead and his ego was still dented from being offered a much smaller role—only one scene in the whole movie.

In the background, Dylan heard the director calling out instructions. Dylan needed to slide across the hood of a car at a speed that implied he was out of control, fall, tuck and roll, and come to a stop right in front of the other actor—where he was instructed to rise to his feet and deliver a pulled punch that would lead into the choreographed fight scene.

Somewhere in the back of his head he was aware that his friends and family were watching, but years of playing football had taught him how to block out the noise. He refused to allow himself to look around to see if Aly was there. Just like game day, nothing belonged in his head but his immediate goal. Everything else could wait until the director called, “Cut.”

Dylan practiced punching at but not connecting with the side of the car. This time there would be no mistakes. He’d come early to the set and worked with his fight trainer on timing and sequencing. I’ve got this.

On the director’s cue, he walked away from the car and started toward it in a flat-out run. Up and over, tuck and roll, he planted his feet and rose to his full height. Before he had a chance to complete the next step, the other actor punched him square in the jaw.

Now some men, men who hadn’t spent their lives in bar fights and punching matches with his mountain of a brother, might have been thrown off by the sneak attack. Dylan burst out laughing. I mean, hell, I deserved it.

The director called cut and a member of the crew ran over to speak to the other actor. When the man seemed calm enough, Dylan walked over and offered his hand. “Hey, I totally get it. I’m still sorry about your nose. We’re even now. Truce?”

“You think this is a joke?” the other man snarled.

Dylan raised both of his hands in surrender. “I shouldn’t have laughed. I’m sorry. You took me by surprise.”

With a sprinkle of profanity, the other actor went on and on about how the movie would fail because they hired a pretty boy instead of a real actor. He might have also gone on about Dylan having the fight scene skills of a toddler. Possibly. Dylan stopped listening midway and stood there, waiting for him to calm. Actors were notoriously high-strung and Dylan had given up trying to reason with them. Sometimes it was better to just let them vent.

When the man had finally spent his fury, Dylan asked, “So we’re good now?”

Bad choice.

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