The Jaguar Star (Tales of the Were Jaguar Island #4) - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,7

this woman… This fragile human woman… She made him think things that he should not be thinking. Not about a human.

Ren felt relieved when the table read ended. He wanted to get away from his troubling thoughts and the even more perplexing woman seated at his side. He couldn’t just leave, however. He had to stick around for a few minutes to make small talk with the other actors. It was expected. Especially now, with his fame shadowing him like a malevolent beast, he had to make nice with the others, so they wouldn’t make assumptions.

Misunderstandings could become toxic on a close set like this. If some of the others, who didn’t know him as well as his Clanmates, got the wrong idea about him, it could cause untold friction. Worse, if the tabloids got hold of the story, they could do lots of damage to his reputation.

In the long run, it wouldn’t matter when he retired and left the spotlight, but for right now, he wanted the set to be comfortable and welcoming to all. He didn’t, however, have to make small talk with his co-star. He used the excuse of chatting with friends he hadn’t seen in a while to avoid her, for the most part.

She was a shy little thing, so that helped, as well. Kat showed she wasn’t the type to horn in on a conversation, so she mostly stayed in the background. She talked to Sonia, of course. Sonia, in turn, introduced her to some of the others, and they kept her busy enough. Though, why Ren noted all of this remained a mystery to him.

It was like he was hyper-aware of the woman. He didn’t understand why. What was it about this human—this fragile being—that made him want to make sure she was all right? Protective instincts he had managed to curtail while operating mostly in the human world began to reassert themselves.

Why now? Why her? What did it all mean?

Katrina felt really strange as the table read came to an end. She was getting all kinds of weird vibes from her co-star. Maybe it was just her imagination, because she still felt a bit overwhelmed at the idea of working with him. He was such a big star. For her first steps back on the acting stage, so to speak, to be with someone of his stature was definitely intimidating.

He was chatting with everyone, apparently having many old friends among the cast. He seemed friendly enough, but he hadn’t spoken much to her outside the very intimate lines of the script. She had to admit, when he’d turned toward her at one point and declared his love as Robin to her Marian, her little heart had gone pitter-pat.

He really was a good actor. Even at a table read, the richness of his voice and the tonality of his words impacted her. She couldn’t even think about how it would be when they were both in costume and on the set, ready for a real take. She’d probably stutter and mess everything up at least a dozen times.

Gah! She hoped not. She didn’t want to be the amateur among this group of professionals, but unfortunately, that’s exactly what she was. Sonia came to her rescue as Ren went to talk with his old friends. She brought some of the other women in the cast over to meet her, and Katrina spent a few minutes learning about the other women who had speaking roles in this movie.

Traditionally, the story of Robin Hood was more male-centric with the band of Merry Men and all the action and fight scenes, but this script created a few more opportunities for female roles than previous versions. Katrina was glad she wasn’t the only woman in the production with a serious part to play.

An older lady named Kara Taran was playing the tavern lady who helped hide the Merry Men when they went into town. Kara had been in several movies in the past few years that Katrina had seen. She knew the woman had proper acting chops, and even so, she made Katrina feel welcome. She had a motherly look about her, which was perfect for the role of the tavern lady.

A tall, gorgeous blonde named Adela Ariano was playing the role of a girl who worked at the tavern and was even in a couple of the fight scenes alongside the men. She was fit and pretty and looked like she could hold her own in a real