Page 43 of Romance Is Dead

“The damnedest thing,” he muttered. “Who the hell would do that?” He was talking to himself, still in shock.

“Who did what?” Natasha snarled. “That was thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment!”

The crew member looked back to the boat, as though convincing himself this was really happening. “There was a brick on the foot throttle.” He shook his head. “Someone had to have put it there.”

My blood chilled. Someone had sabotaged the boat—someone who had likely known Teddy and I would be huddled underneath the dock when the boat yanked away one of its supports.

“Fuck.” Natasha kicked a nearby duffle bag. “There’s another shoot we’ll be behind schedule with.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Teddy muttered. He wrapped an arm around my waist, starting to steer me away from the boathouse. “It’s not safe.”

“We should at least look around, see if there are any clues.” I twisted, looking back toward the water. “There might be something on the boat.”

“No.” Teddy’s voice was firm. “We’re going.”

Before I could protest any further, he was pushing me toward the parking lot, a hand firm on my lower back.

Chapter Fourteen

“You’re banging him tonight, right?” Mara pulled down the passenger-side visor to check her lipstick in the mirror. “Like, should I be planning to find a different way home?”

I raised an eyebrow as I swung the car into a parking spot. “I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Thanks to the disastrous shoot the day before, we’d postponed our outing to The Bar. No one had felt much like partying after an evening of frigid temperatures and runaway boats. Teddy had split off for a phone call with his brother, while Mara and I had spent the rest of the night watching a new rom-com she’d been dying to see. Now, after another full day of shoots today, we were all very ready for a night out.

“Come on, you were wet in more ways than one filming that scene yesterday, if you know what I mean. And the way he got all protective after the dock collapsed? Please.”

“He’s a colleague, may I remind you? A coworker?” I shifted into park. “That would be inappropriate.”

“And that has stopped you when? I see the way you look at him.” Mara reached for the door handle. “I recognize horny eyes when I see them.”

“Those weren’t horny eyes. Those were I’m-freezing-and-might-die-of-hypothermia eyes.”

“If you say so,” she said in a sing-song voice as she pulled open the door to The Bar.

They’d definitely been horny eyes. But I’d made my peace with the fact that I was desperately, annoyingly lustful for Teddy but couldn’t do anything about it. And Mara should know better than anyone about my rule against dating actors—she’d been there when I’d come up with it over two years ago. Once this movie wrapped, I didn’t want anything reminding me of what I was giving up. So for now, I’d just have to cohabit with my horniness. Be one with the horniness.

Inside, the bar was exactly what I’d expect from rural Virginia. From the scuffed black-and-white checked linoleum to the neon sign behind the bar, the place had none of the pretension I’d come to associate with all the hot spots back in LA.

As someone who greatly preferred a dingy dive to a crowded club, I thought it was perfect.

The bar stretched along the left side of the room, with customers perched on tall stools and sipping frothy pints of beer. I quickly realized we weren’t the only ones from the production who’d had the idea to come out—members of the crew were dotted around the room, gathered at tables and shooting pool. Apparently, this place really was the only joint in town.

Mara and I made our way to the bar, and the bartender, a tiny brunette with painted red lips and heavily tattooed arms, made her way over. “Can I help you, ladies?” She eyed Mara, her lips curving into a smile. “How about we start with you, gorgeous?”

Mara immediately snapped to attention. She leaned over the bar top as she ordered, fiddling with her hair and murmuring something that made the bartender laugh. Typical. Mara always seemed to attract attention wherever she went, even if she wasn’t looking for it. And maybe a hookup with a hot bartender was exactly what Mara needed to get over Austin.

Minutes later, the door once again swung open and Brent, Chloe, and Teddy appeared. Trailing behind them, to my pleasant surprise, was Audrey. Maybe she was finally warming up to us.

Teddy’s eyes roamed the room as he stepped over the threshold. He paused when he spotted me, nodding in my direction as his mouth spread into a grin. Like I’d been the one he was looking for. My stomach swooped in pleasure, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling as I waved him over.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mara staring at me, lips pursed.

As the six of us grabbed our drinks and made our way to a table near the back, the topic of conversation immediately returned to what everyone had been gossiping about all day: who had sabotaged the boat?

“Was it definitely on purpose?” Chloe asked, grabbing one of the battered chairs. “Couldn’t it have been an accident?”

“I mean, a brick was weighing down the throttle.” Audrey’s British accent sounded extra posh against the country music playing in the background. “I’d say it had to be deliberate.”

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