Page 5 of Three Little Wishes

Camilla worked to keep the smile on her face and the panic from her voice. “I see. I didn’t realize you were auditioning other actresses for the role.”Chin up, tits out, she told herself as she rose from the chair. When her nose itched and her throat clogged, she silently repeated the advice her mother had given her decades before.Don’t ever let them see you cry.

Hugh rubbed the back of his neck as he came to his feet. “Look, Cami. I—”

Once again, his assistant rolled her eyes, and Camilla clenched the script in her hand. She wanted to throw it at the condescending little twit.

“You passed them on your way in,” Pinky said with a smirk.

“I couldn’t have. The actresses waiting in the hall are all auditioning for Rachel’s daughter.” They had to be. None of them looked a day over nineteen, and Camilla didn’t recognize any of them. Were they beautiful? Yes. Actresses of her caliber and experience? Definitely not.

Camilla walked to Hugh with sensuous grace, ensuring that she had his undivided attention.

His assistant snorted. Hugh shot her a look that had her bending her head over her screen.

“We’ve already filled the role of Rachel’s daughter,” Hugh said. “We gave the part to Lilianna Rose.”

“Lilianna Rose? Hugh, she’s a tween.”

“I know, but she nailed the audition, Cami. The kid’s a natural.”

“So the actresses in the hall, they really are auditioning for the role of Rachel?”

He nodded, pulling his phone from his pocket. He glanced at it as he said, “They are.”

There was so much wrong with that that she wanted to spit. She’d been coming up against ageism more and more as each year passed. Just like every other actress, she knew the score. Once a woman hit forty, the roles began drying up. Of course it wasn’t the same for their male counterparts. At least fifty percent of the leading male roles in the movies went to actors in their forties.

Hugh’s gaze met hers, and a muscle in his chiseled jaw bunched. He knew exactly what she was thinking. How could he not? They’d had this conversation before.

He rubbed his hand over his wavy auburn hair. “Are you going to be in town for a few days?”

“I can be. Why?”

“I’d like you to do a read-through with Clive.”

She didn’t have to askClive who?Hugh had directed the majority of Clive’s movies, earning them both shelffuls of awards.

“Oh, so Clive’s playing Rachel’s husband?” she asked, holding his gaze to make her point. Clive was fifty-seven while Rachel’s husband in the movie adaptation was forty.

Camilla had every right to be upset but it wouldn’t get her the job. Instead of calling Hugh out on the double standard, she smiled winningly. “I’d love to do a read-through with Clive. It’ll be great to catch up. We’ve always had amazing chemistry on camera.” They had when they’d worked together in the past but she’d been much younger then.

Hugh’s broad shoulders relaxed as if he’d been expecting her to call him out for the hypocrisy. “Great. Emily will be in touch with a day and a time once she’s spoken to Clive.”

The name didn’t suit the young woman with the perpetual sneer. Her parents should’ve named her Wednesday. Other than her hair color, she had the same look and demeanor as Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series. And no way was Camilla leaving her future in Pinky’s hands. She didn’t put it past her to give her the wrong day and time.

Trying to come up with a work-around, she leaned in to kiss Hugh’s cheek, lingering longer than was necessary. Long enough to discover that he smelled as delicious as she remembered. “Perfect,” she said, her voice husky and low.

He leaned around her to open the door, looking a little flushed. “It was good seeing you, Cami.” His low baritone was even deeper, huskier too.

She dipped her head, hiding her grin. They didn’t call her a heartbreaker for nothing. At least in Sunshine Bay they had. She briefly closed her eyes. What was up with her? That was the second time today she’d thought about her hometown and her family. She locked thoughts of both away. Nothing good ever came of thinking about Sunshine Bay and her family.

She needed to focus. Smoothing her hands over her hips as if straightening her dress instead of highlighting her curves, she said, “It was great seeing you, Hugh. It’s been too long.”

Then she rested a finger on her chin, bringing his attention to her pouty, kissable lips.Thank you, Dr. Vaughan.“You know, since I’m going to be in town, why don’t we go out and have a drink together?”

It was the perfect solution to the Pinky problem. Hugh could confirm the day and time of her reading with Clive, and Camilla would have the opportunity to point out that the lead actresses in the previous movie adaptations of Liane’s books had all been in their forties.

She’d also remind him how well they’d done and what the entertainment industry seemed to forget: it was people over fifty who controlled seventy percent of the disposable income.

At the sound of whispering coming from her right, she cringed. What had she been thinking, asking him out as she stepped into the hall? She prayed the other actresses hadn’t heard her or, if they had, that Hugh agreed to meet for drinks.

---