Page 62 of Banter & Blushes

I sigh and follow her to the trailer.

“I need to get your night look down before tomorrow.”

“Why will I need makeup if it’s dark?”

She puts tan-colored goop on her fingertips and dabs at my nose. “Because, in some of the shots, we’ll have lights on you for close-ups. You’re the star whether you want to be or not.”

I sigh. She leans back and frowns at me. “You do want to be a star, right?”

“For the sake of getting to sing my own songs for a living, yes. For the sake of being famous, no.”

She laughs. “Soon as I get done with you, everybody’s gonna want a piece of Colt Stallion.” She says my name dramatically, especially the last name.

I wince. It was a split-second decision to not use my real name. Even though my first name is the same, I didn’t want people googling me all the time. Internet trolls have a way of finding all the embarrassing kid photos when they get too much information.

Colt Stallion doesn’t have a past. He didn’t exist until a few months ago.

“There.” She swipes a brush across my face, tickling my nose.

“I’m done?”

“Yeah, cowboy. Go make magic.” She pats my back and sends me out the door.

I catch a glimpse of Tiffany inside her truck on my way to the beach. Her back is to me. I want to be on time. Otherwise, I’d rush over and thank her for the food.

“Hey, Colt,” Mackenzie, the director, greets me.

She’s dating, or maybe engaged, to a guy from my home county, which iscool. It helps to have someone familiar with the stuff I sing about. She tells me to back toward the ocean until I’m standing where the water breaks.

I hope they know these are actually my boots, not from the costume people. Not that they’re super expensive, but they are unique. My mom found them for me at the general store in my hometown. The owner has a knack for finding unusual items.

“Can you make smoldering faces?”

“Huh?” I stare at Mackenzie in total confusion.

“Flirt with the camera.”

I almost bite my tongue off, trying not to laugh, when she narrows her eyes and cocks her head toward the camera. When she’s finished demonstrating and I’ve controlled my almost-laughter, she asks me to try. I tilt my head and do what I think is a sexy smirk toward the camera.

Thenshelaughs atme.

“Was it that bad?”

She laughs some more. “So sorry, but you look constipated.”

Whatever face I thought I was making goes to a frown. She sighs and glances at the camera. “How about this. Pretend the camera is some hot girl you want to hit on.”

I step back closer to the water and look into the camera. In the distance, I spot Tiffany in the parking lot. Perfect. I look in the direction of the camera, but focus on her in the background. Then I imagine all the things I want to say to her.

Before I know it, Mackenzie calls, “Cut! Wow, that worked. Do that same thing tomorrow when the actress is here.”

I half nod. For a second, I’d forgotten they hired a woman to be in the video.

“That’s all we need from you tonight. I’m going to get some B-roll of the beach.”

“So I’m done today?”

She nods.

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