Page 114 of Witch You Would
Penelope got back with all our stuff, and we went through our checks. Everything seemed okay, thankfully.
“Cover me while I make the other thing,” she said. “Go full Presto.”
“As you wish, m’lady.” Resisting the urge to kiss her hand was not easy.
I made a production of setting up our actual spell, pretending to fumble bottles and catching them at the last second, spinningknives and juggling pieces of chalk. Syd came by, and I made random small objects appear from their ears and nose, much toNate’s delight from behind the camera.
Felicia and Charlotte seemed totally into whatever they were doing, though I couldn’t identify their reagents from a distance.They had at least two pots boiling and a trio of connected spell circles, which meant some kind of cascading enchantment...Interesting.
“All done,” Penelope whispered.
Unless I’d been looking for the knotted pieces of twine strategically arranged around our equipment, I probably wouldn’t havenoticed them. Nice.
Five and a half hours left. Damn, time went fast. We had to hustle.
Even though our station was now booby-trapped, I still kept an eye on anyone who wandered close. Syd again, with Nate; Tori,who positioned us for a few specific shots from the dolly camera; and finally, the judges, who did their usual interrogationand commentary. Slightly nicer this time, because I guess finalists got special treatment. Even Felicia and Charlotte seemedgenuinely friendly instead of like a pair of ice queens trying to figure out how to talk to peasants.
The hours passed, and nothing weird happened. Smooth casting all the way. When we wrapped, Penelope added more twine to our fridge and other equipment just in case, and back to the hotel we went.
Alina smiled at Penelope as we walked to the elevator. “You’re looking better.”
Penelope blushed and gave her a shy smile back. “Yeah. I am. Thanks.”
Little Manny leaned on Alina’s desk. “You should have seen it. We were all minding our own business, doing our jobs, and—”
“Bro,” Big Manny said, wrapping a beefy forearm around Little Manny’s mouth. “NDA. What happens on set, stays on set.” Hewinked at me, and I grinned.
Then it hit me. Everyone in the production knew about Penelope and me now. They’d seen me without my safety glasses. We didn’thave to hide or pretend anymore, not here. Our secret was out.
“Hey,” I said to Penelope. “We should make sure our plans for tomorrow are solid. My room later?”
Penelope’s eyes got big. “I thought we were going to, you know,” she whispered.
“That was before I told you I loved you in front of almost every single person in this hotel.” I waggled my eyebrows at herand she snorted a laugh.
“Tomorrow is a big day,” she said. “We need to rest.”
I could probably say something about sleeping better with her in my bed, but I didn’t want to push. “Okay. Let’s get food,then.”
Up we went, to the pool deck and the dinner buffet awaiting us. I was so hungry, I could eat ten steaks. As soon as we walked out into the warm night, though, the whistling and applause startedagain, because we were the current hot goss and nobody here had any chill.
Quentin practically tackled me. “I knew it! I knew the two of you had a thing.”
Amy smiled and took Penelope’s hands. “I’m so happy for you. You’re both so sweet and nice.”
“It hasn’t even been two weeks,” Dylan said, folding his arms and giving me a dad look. “You really serious about our girl?”
“Totally serious,” I said solemnly. Then, because I couldn’t help it, I added, “Meow and forever.”
“Yeah,” Penelope said. “It was kitten in the stars.”
If the smile on my face got any bigger, my cheeks would break.
Quentin groaned. “You dorks definitely deserve each other.”
I certainly hoped so.
Morning came too soon and not soon enough. I hadn’t wanted something to be over this badly since I’d defended my dissertation.
