Page 19 of Evading the Enforcer

“The female anatomy doesn’t count,” she quips.

My eyes bounce between them, and I can’t keep my smile from stretching wider. “I’m so fucking happy to see you both.”

“Me too,” Maeve says.

“Me three,” Rogan adds like always.

“Maeve, I’ll leave you to unpack or whatever you want to do. Ro, come with me,” I say, leading him toward the main bedroom. “You can have this room.”

Rogan glances around and shakes his head. “No, I’m not taking your bed.”

“What makes you think this is my room?” The dresser top is empty, as are the nightstands. There’s no sign I’ve been sleeping here.

“It reeks of your cologne,” he says.

“Really?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “But this house is small, so I know there can’t be more than two bedrooms.”

“Good observation,” I say.

“I’ll take your couch.”

“Shut up and unpack,” I instruct.

“Niall, I’m serious. I’m on vacation, and I’ll be staying up late. I like midnight snacks. If you sleep on the couch, I’ll end up waking you.” Rogan walks from the room without another word. I follow him into the living room, where he drops his bag on the floor. He falls backward onto the couch, kicking his sneakered feet on the coffee table. “Ahh, this will work just fine.”

I shake my head. “Stubborn Irish.”

He winks. “Takes one to know one.”

CHAPTER 6

LUCY

“With the New Year approaching,I want to brainstorm some ideas that could help us gain more viewers. I’ve been open with you about my goal to getBigfoot’s Hairy Talepicked up by a national network by the end of this year.” I glance at my computer screen, where my crew’s interested faces are displayed back at me. “Eighty percent of our viewers are men between the ages of thirty and fifty-five. That means we’ve got to find ways to tap into the twenty-something age group we’re not reaching. You know who else isn’t watching our show as much as they could be?” I see a lot of heads shaking on my screen before I answer. “Women. How can we entice the female viewership to give the show a try? Are there things we can implement that would draw both of those demographics in simultaneously?”

“What if we brought in celebrity guests?” Tina, our production manager, suggests.

Nodding, I write her idea down in my notebook. “Are you thinking actors and actresses?”

“Ideally, yes. We might have to settle for some lesser-known people to start,” she says.

“Maybe we can begin by asking actors and actresses from South Carolina to appear on the show. They might be more aptto accept since they already have a tie to the area,” I say. “Anyone else want to make a suggestion?” Holding my pen between my thumb and index finger, I tap the end on my desk while I wait for someone to speak up, but the silence lingers. Blank faces stare back at me. “What would hold the attention of both women and young men?” I prod.

After a few seconds, Carl, our location manager, straightens up in his chair. “What if we brought in some professional athletes? It seems like that would tap into both areas at the same time. Men of all ages want to watch their sports heroes.”

“And women appreciate the eye candy,” I add, scrawling the idea across the page. “This could work. The biggest issue is getting athletes to agree to be on the show. And who should we ask?”

“We could start off asking some of the Charleston Pirates or some of the Charleston Coyotes,” Barry, our producer, suggests.

I’ve never shared details of my private life with my crew beyond where I live and that I’m an only child. The group of us work well together, but when we’re not on the clock, we go our separate ways. They have no idea my best friend lives with one of the Coyotes players or that I’ve met a good portion of the team. And I don’t plan to tell them. Calling in favors from friends isn’t something I’m comfortable with, even though Calista wouldn’t hesitate to offer Ryder up for an episode.

“Why don’t we start with the Pirates since football season will be over soon,” I suggest. “Barry, are you good with that?”

He nods. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Since we’re not filming this week because of Christmas, let’s plan to have another VROOM meeting next Monday at the same time.”

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