Page 8 of Ghost of a Chance
Bri O’Brien had started acting at age seven and transitioned into a popular talk show host thanks to her down-to-earth tone.The books featured on the show usually hit all the lists and most got optioned for film or TV.
They featured a book segment weekly, and the third week of every month featured mysteries.Bri’s viewership was huge, and this was the first time that Kirsty’s publisher had been able to get her on.
She was nervous.Though no one had explicitly said it, she knew better than to screw this up.Every author that had been on Bri O’Brien’s show and had a successful interview skyrocketed.
The few who stumbled or screwed it up were destined, at best, to being bad internet memes.That meant she needed to be funny, smart and give the audience something that would make them want to see her again.
“Damn.No matter how many times I do this I start to freak out.”
“You got this.If you start to lose it maybe you can pretend there’s a spirit in the studio.Really ham it up?”
“Thanks.But I really don’t want to do that on national TV.”
“You might go viral again.”
Ugh.
“I want my books to be viral, not me.”
Gia squeezed her hand before heading out the door.“Youareyour books.”
A PA refilled her water bottle and Kirsty downed two more headache tablets.For a minute she couldn’t even remember the title of her book.So she put her head in her hands and took a few deep breaths.
Smart.
Check.She’d always been an A student and liked to learn, so that was an easy one.Talking about the research for her books always seemed to get some interest.
Funny.
If she died of embarrassment that would bring notoriety…
Sell my book.
Girl could write.Making up stories was the one area where her confidence was strong.
She could do this.
The door opened and she looked up, hoping for Gia and her infectious optimism.
But instead it was the dude from last night.Jasper.Standing in the open doorway.He didn’t have eyeliner on today and his hair, which had been spiky and styled last night, was combed back neatly.He wore a button-down shirt and a pair of khakis.There was hardly a trace of the person she connected with.
Looks like I’m not the only one wearing a mask.
“Five minutes until you’re needed on set, Ms.Henson.If you have a moment I’d like to talk to you…”
If Jasper had dressed like this at Zombies, she probably wouldn’t have flirted with him.She would have pegged him as boring.
Judgy, much?
“What are you doing here?”she asked.“Did you recognize me last night?”
“Uh, Kirsty?Wait…are you K.L.Henson?”
She wasn’t about to answer that since it was freaking obvious who she was.The TV this morning was the giveaway.There was no way he’d just randomly create that scenario, unless he was familiar with her work and wanted to mess with her.
“You need to leave.I’m not even sure how you got in here.”She pointed at the door to underscore her order.
“I work here.I’m a segment producer.I told you that last night.”
