Page 166 of My Five Daddies

“Look, it’s not bad. He just cut some minorcharacters.”

Laney groans. “Let me see thescript.”

“I can’t, you knowthat.”

She makes a face but doesn’t push the point. I’m not supposed to let the master copy out of my sight, not even to show thewriter.

At this point, Laney doesn’t have much to do with the film. She sold her script and that’s pretty much it. She’s allowed on set because it’s customary to let the writer watch, but they’re not allowed to get involved with the filming at all. If the director makes changes, the writer is expected to basically shut up and deal withit.

Laney hates that. I can already tell that she’s itching to yell at Lionel, but I won’t let that happen. I don’t want her to ruin her good reputation just on some minor script points, and besides, Lionel is doing a good job. Although he’s a little odd, he’s a gooddirector.

“How’s that hunk of a lead actor, by the way?” she asks, lookingaround.

“He’s not bad,” I admit. “Doing a good job actually. He can kind ofact.”

“Kind of?” She snorts. “I saw his movie. He’s actuallytalented.”

“Yeah, well, he’s just okay.” I look away from her. I can feel her studying me right now, trying to figure out what I meant by that, but I’m not going to give her thesatisfaction.

“Well, you be careful around him, at anyrate.”

I hesitate. “Why?” I ask, not sure I want to know theanswer.

“He has a bad reputation,” she says slowly. “You haven’theard?”

I shake my head, a knot in my stomach. “I try not to read that stuff before filming. I have to work with these people, youknow?”

“Well, I don’t have any problem combing through the rags,” she says, grinning at me. We start walking slowly through the scenery as we walk. “Word is, Jackson Hendricks is quite the ladies’man.”

I frown but stare down at the ground. It doesn’t surprise me at all, considering the way he looks now. He’s so big, so charming, and so handsome. I’m sure he can have anyone on this set right now if hewanted.

Anyone exceptme.

“He’s been good here,” I say, trying to keep it casual. I don’t want her to know how much I care aboutthis.

“Maybe he is, and hey, this is all just rumor. So you know how it can be. But word is, he slept with literally every woman that worked on his last movie.” She elbows me softly. “Maybe you’ll get lucky and he’ll go through this one,too.”

I stumble over a piece of rubble and kick it away. The rock smashes up against a fallen steel beam, or a piece of cardboard painted to look like one at least. Everything around here is fake, everything is phony, including, apparently, thepeople.

“I don’t think so,” Isay.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. He’s working with Holly Hart. Could you look at anyone else if you had to work with her?” Laney grins at me. “Hell, I think I’d give her atry.”

I roll my eyes at her. “Okay, enough. I have to work with these people,remember?”

“Sure, sure,” she says and laughs. “Come on, kiddo. Why the long face? This movie is going to kick ass and make a billion dollars. We’re goingplaces.”

“Yeah,” I agree softly. “We’re definitely goingplaces.

Before she can say more, Lionel calls through the megaphone. “Back to places,people!”

“Better hurry,” I say to Laney. “Wouldn’t want him to start screaming inGerman.”

“I wouldn’t? I bet that’d beawesome.”

We laugh and hustle back to the front of the set. Laney heads off to sit in the chairs reserved for observers, and I take my place next to Lionel. He briefs me on the scene as Holly and Jackson take their places. The crew assembles, the lighting director makes sure everything is set up, and we getmoving.

The scene’s pretty straightforward. The main characters Helga and Brock just finished fighting off an Illuminati-controlled army using their advanced weaponry that they stole from the CIA. It briefly occurs to me that this movie makes no sense, and has nothing to do with the sequel that Laney is supposedly writing, but it doesn’t matter. She’ll probably rewrite it ten times, and anyway, it’s all crazy stuff. If you buy them, you’ll buyanything.

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