Page 21 of Now or Never

“What the hell is that?” Lilian asked. Her mouth kept moving, but the deafening sound of the truck passing drowned her words out.

Two more flatbeds with enormous pieces of equipment rolled past before a big, rusty white truck came up behind them with Adam behind the wheel. He came to a stop next to them and hopped out of the truck, absently slamming the door behind him as he strode in their direction, all worn jeans, white T-shirt, and steel-toed boots.

Chelsea had to force her face into neutral when his sharp, playful green eyes met hers.

“Hey, Chelsea,” he said.

Thank God the lollipop wasn’t still in her hair.

“Hi, Adam,” she said, turning toward Lilian and Vincent. “This is—”

“Hartley?” Lilian asked, voice unnaturally high pitched. “Mr. Hartley, wow. I’m— I mean, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m pleased to meet you.” She took his hand and shook, not letting go. Much the way Chelsea had done to Vincent.

Adam cleared his throat. “I go by Vale, but I much prefer Adam,” he said with a charming smile. “Ms . . .”

“Walsh,” she said, giving her head a shake. “Lilian Walsh, executive producer. I’ve met David a few times. He must be your . . . uncle?”

Adam nodded.

She looked around and raised a brow at his beat-down, rusty old truck and construction equipment. “Do you work . . . here?”

Another nod.

Lilian seemed to remember something, then gave a small nod.

Adam cleared his throat. “It seems we have a bit of a scheduling conflict. I hear you’re going to be filming here on Chelsea’s property.”

“Well,” she said with hesitation. “We’re undecided,” she said, earning an eyebrow raise from Vincent.

“I see,” Adam said. “Well, my company is going to be building a house over the next few months, right over there,” he said with a jerk of his thumb. “It’s for a close family friend.”

Lilian nodded. “Of course. Not a problem at all. We can find somewhere else—”

“No. That won’t be necessary,” he said, cutting her off. “I’m sure we can plan out a schedule. Can I take you out for lunch this afternoon? We can work out all the details?”

Lilian beamed.

Literally beamed.

“Of course,” she said. “It would be my pleasure.”

“Great. It’s settled, then,” Adam said with a wink at Chelsea.

What the fuckity-fuck was that?

They discussed the details of lunch while Chelsea stared on, absolutely dumbfounded, until everyone turned to leave and she remembered she was going to convince them to give her a job.

“Um,” she said. Less than a stellar opening, but it did the trick. Everyone looked at her. “I was wondering if there are any vacant positions on set that I can apply for.”

Vincent smiled, but Lilian hesitated.

“I have some experience. I currently work as a scriptwriter, and I do a lot of editing work on the side. I’ve also written and directed several shorts.”

“Sorry,” Lilian said. “We’ve been filming in the studio for weeks now. We just need the outdoor scenes. All the positions are filled.”

Chelsea’s heart sank. But she wasn’t about to give up that easily.

“What about volunteer positions?” she asked, shifting around the schedule in her mind to see whether it would be possible. She was dying to get some real experience for her resume.

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