Page 22 of Persuading Penny
We walked side by side as we returned to her car.
“If all goes well,” she went on, “we could maybe make up the difference if we shoot the scenes in four days instead of five.”
“I’ll take that into consideration.”
“Then again, knowing how capricious the weather can be, especially seaside, it could very well take six days instead of five.”
I raised a brow.
In the distance, Cliff made his way to his vehicle. No fancy sportscar for him. No, he got into a handsome, dark green Range Rover.
“See you tomorrow, Cliff,” Keely called out with an enthusiastic wave.
He nodded his salutation and completely ignored me.
She turned to me with a pleased grin. “That man most certainly knows what he’s doing. No wonder he’s won so many awards. And no wonder everyone is eager to work with him.”
I nodded but said nothing.
“He has such a great eye; the lighting, the composition, the perfect way to capture action. He sees things that I would have never considered. Take this last scene that we just shot. I wanted to do it first thing this morning, but he insisted the lighting would be better at the end of the day. And he was right.”
I nodded again, not trusting myself to say anything.
“If we continue to shoot scenes like this – so effectively – we might ultimately cut costs somewhere along the way.”
“Well, we are a little under budget so far,” I said. “Not much, but at this rate, yes, we will be well under budget. Perhaps the change in your trip to Southhampton won’t be any trouble at all.”
“Right. I hadn’t even considered that. Good news. All in all, things are rolling along quite well.”
We reached her car as Cliff drove by, waving at her.
She waved back and glanced curiously at me. “He seems to intimidate you, Penny. I’ve noticed how you tense up every time he’s around.”
“Have you?”I said with a nonchalant shrug. “No. I’m not intimidated by him in the slightest.”
“Then what is it? All the women are clamoring to get close to him and you scarcely look his way. I mean, he is going to make some woman very happy someday. He’s handsome, talented, and so, so sweet.”
“I’m sure he is. I guess he will, indeed, make a woman happy,” I said, barely able to get the last words out.
“I’ve no doubt, although I’ve already noticed his aversion to the flighty, flaky type. I think he would be better suited to a very sensible woman; smart, talented, capable. You, for example. I really think you two should hit it off. Come by early tomorrow. I’ll make sure you two have a chance to chat.”
