Page 51 of Love like the (Real) Reel Thing
The media was interested though! Although, despite the rumours and speculation, it made no sense that someone was using the tunnels to break in. Not when they could only be opened frominsidethe castle. Even the camera lens cover she’d found probably only proved that one of the camera crew had been checking out the tunnels and had simply dropped it.
“… really needs a win with this,” Lisa was saying.
When Jess looked at her blankly, she arched an eyebrow.
“Spencer? He needs this one to be a success.”
“Right, so I heard,” Jess said. “His last movie –”
Lisa waved a hand. “If it was one movie, his agent and the studio wouldn’t be worried. Look, the guy might be hot, but he’s been off the boil for a while. There’s no chemistry with his co-stars.” She shook her head. “You probably think you know how cut-throat this industry is, but you don’t. So when I see stories like this being leaked to TMZ, I want to go tape Spencer and Afric’s mouths so they don’t speak unless they’re in front of the fucking camera!”
“Right.” Jess frowned. “He’s not gay, is he?”
“I’ve never heard of him being with a guy. Plus, he’s been dating Megan Wilson for nearly a year now, and they’ve even managed long-distance. We just asked him to play down their relationship for the sake of the movie.”
Jess’s stomach rumbled loudly, and she got to her feet. “I’ll leave you to work.” Gathering up her things, she moved to a table a bit further away, tucking herself in behind some large potted plants, and hoped her hay-fever wouldn’t flare up.
She scanned her social media as she finished her pastry, searching for anything about the movie or the hotel. Any mention of the Linford Curse was perfect click-bait.
Linford Castle had started to trend, and Jess read quickly through the comments, looking for links to articles. Most of it related to the TMZ piece, but there were a couple of posts about the curse. Which was ridiculous, not to mention annoying. The Linford Curse had only ever been associated with weddings, but it seemed that the media wasn’t too worried about accuracy.
With a mental shrug, she opened her laptop and signed in, determined not to overthink it.
Emily texted Jess at lunchtime to say that Dermot had asked her if she’d like to get some lunch with him at the food trucks.
Smiling, Jess replied with food and drink emojis and a love heart.
Once or twice, Jess had asked Robert if he’d like to join them when she and Emily ate lunch together or got a takeout after work, but he’d always politely declined. She tried to suppress the feeling that he didn’t like Emily, telling herself it was more likely that he didn’t want to muscle in on their girl time. Still, given that he was local, and worked in Linford Castle from time to time, she’d already decided to invite him to Emily’s housewarming.
She’d also decided that it was the perfect day to enjoy her lunch in the woods by the River Rathon, a short section of which flowed through the castle grounds and down into Linford Wood.
She slipped on her sunglasses and walked down the driveway and out of the castle grounds, bracing herself for the usual barrage of questions from the media camped outside. There was a mic thrust into her face.
“Jonathon White from Celebrity Hour. Are Afric Brooks’ accusations against Spencer Torres true?”
“No.” Jess tried to step around the reporter but he sidestepped into her path.
“Can you just tell me if –”
“The lady said no.”
Jess looked up to see Robert glaring at the reporter.
“Hey!” She excused herself politely and walked over to where he was standing. “Are you heading up to the hotel?”
He shook his head and took her elbow, steering her away from the reporters.
“I was passing and I saw you coming out. I figured you might get a bit of hassle.”
“Oh, thanks.” Jess smiled. “I was planning on a river walk – it’s such a gorgeous day.”
“Mind if I tag along? Unless you’d prefer to be by yourself?”
She hesitated. The truth was, she’d been looking forward to some time by herself at the river. But she didn’t want to hurt his feelings about something so unimportant. “Sure, let me grab a sandwich at Ted’s. Do you want something?”
He shook his head. “I’m not hungry, but I’ll come with you if that’s okay.”
They walked to the village where Jess headed into the store, collected a BLT roll and a small bottle of water from the fridge, and brought them up to the register.
