Dirty Sexy Alphas (Twenty Book Box Set) - Hannah Ford Page 0,200

to tug up the plunging neckline of the yellow dress Kait had chosen for me but it wouldn’t budge. The girls were definitely out today.

“Don’t blow it,” Kait had said before I left, and I wondered if she meant the acting or the story.

I walked into the offices where the auditions were being held. I handed over the paperwork Kait and her crew had created for me and waited my turn in a hallway full of women—all of whom looked like they could easily be models and actresses which, I supposed, they were. I hadn’t lived in Los Angeles for long, but I was quickly learning that the world was full of beautiful people, and most of them lived here. No way would I stand out to someone like Leo Armstrong. I decided to just try my best, and see what happened.

I tried to study my lines but my hands shook and the chill of the hallway made me shiver. Or maybe it was just my nerves.

“Sophie Adams! You’re up.”

I stood on teetering heels and followed a woman in baggy black pants and Chuck Taylors through to another room. There was long table at the back where three people sat closely talking—two men and a woman. A camera on a tripod was positioned on the side and a man in a blue workman’s overall sat eating a sandwich in the corner.

“Here’s your mark,” said the woman. I stood where she pointed and tried to take a deep breath.

“This is Sophie Adams,” the woman announced to the three at the table. “Basically no experience.” She handed them my one-sheet.

“Another virgin,” muttered the man at the center. “Let’s get this over with.”

“You done any work at all, taken any classes?” the woman at the table asked. “The Groundlings maybe?”

“Sorry, the what?” I had no idea what she was talking about, but the deep sigh she gave me told me I should have.

“I’m going to read off you, sweetie,” said the woman who brought me in.

I was confused for a moment because the character in the scene was a man, but I took a deep breath and looked down at my lines. When I looked back up, the man in the center of the table looked up at me, and I froze. There sat Leo Armstrong, his clear blue eyes piercing me from across the room.

“When you’re ready.”

I fumbled with the script, a wrinkled mess in my sweaty hand. I began. “Puh-Please. Um…my boyfriend—husband is very…powerful.” I tugged on my dress, feeling as if the heat had been turned up in the room. I looked at the table before me and realized Leo Armstrong was watching me intently, the weight of his eyes practically physical from across the room. I tried to plow forward, woodenly reciting the lines. “I mean, a powerful man. My husband is a very powerful man. He will do what you need—want. Get you what you want. Um.”

“What I want is for your husband to realize the grave mistake he’s made by crossing me,” said the woman flatly, reading the lines against me.

Leo Armstrong’s eyes had me locked in place. He didn’t blink or look away, and I realized I couldn’t either. “You don’t want to do this,” I said, and realized I was still looking at him instead of my scene partner. I quickly looked toward the women. “Um, like, I beg you.” I cursed myself under my breath.

“Peggy,” Leo said, standing up from the table with one swift, graceful movement. “Let me take over. I’ll read with her. Maybe that’ll relax her.” Watching him move toward me, I felt like my legs would buckle beneath me. He strode across the floor in sure strides, never taking his eyes off me. If I was going to make it through this audition, I couldn't do it while looking at him. I wasn’t sure I could breathe while looking at him.

When he stood before me I looked down at the floor, seeing only his highly polished leather oxfords and dark slacks.

“Start from the top?” he asked, his voice deep and assured. I nodded yes. “When you’re ready,” he reminded me.

I cleared my throat and began again. “Please. My husband is a very manly power. Powerful man. Sorry. Um, a very powerful man he will get you whatever you want please.”

There was a pause before Leo said, “Begging won’t help.”

“I’ll beg or plead or do whatever just please let me go let me go please let me go.”

Even though I was