‘I’m so sorry,’ she wheezed. ‘I didn’t –’
She cut herself off with a gasp as Jackson turned to face her. Oh no.
She’d been wrong. It could have gone worse. It had gone worse. Much worse!
Because it wasn’t Jackson she had tackled, after all. She’d taken a total stranger to the ground!
‘I’m so sorry,’ she repeated faintly. She felt light-headed, and for once, it wasn’t the corset that was to blame.
The stranger’s hair was the same shade of blond as Jackson’s and cut in the same hairstyle. He was the same height as Jackson, and he wore Jackson’s costume . . . but he was definitely not Jackson.
‘I-I-I . . .’ Olivia stammered, scooting backwards. ‘I’m so sorry, but you look just like . . .’
The stranger smiled ruefully. ‘. . . Jackson Caulfield?’ he finished for her.
Olivia swallowed hard. ‘Yes,’ she admitted. ‘How did you know?’
‘Because I get that a lot.’ The boy’s smile turned into a grin. ‘I’m Will, Jackson’s body double.’
Olivia’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, of course! That explains it. But I didn’t know we were getting body doubles!’
He nodded. ‘You’re Olivia Abbott, aren’t you?’
‘I am,’ Olivia said. ‘It’s nice to meet you.’ She started to reach out for a handshake – then cringed as she suddenly realised that Will was still lying spread-eagled on the ground, where she’d left him. ‘I really am so sorry. I just lost my balance with this crazy dress!’
‘No worries.’ Will took her hand so they could help each other up. ‘It was kind of fun to stop being Jackson’s body double for a while, and be his stunt double!’
Olivia laughed with him as she smoothed down her skirt with her free hand. ‘I promise not to make you perform any more surprise stunts!’
Will grinned, leaning a little closer. ‘I don’t know. This one was kind of fun.’
A flutter of curtain movement caught Olivia’s eye. It was coming from a nearby trailer . . . Jackson’s trailer. And Jackson stood at the window, scowling. Oh no!
She lunged backwards, pulling free of Will’s hand. Jackson just saw me holding hands with another boy and laughing. What will he think?
Then she saw the look on Will’s face. He was staring down at her hand, which she had just yanked away from him with full force.
‘Sorry,’ he mumbled. ‘I didn’t mean to annoy you.’
‘Oh, you didn’t!’ Olivia bit her lip, cringing at her own clumsiness. Will had been so nice about being knocked over in her mistaken joke. The last thing she wanted to do now was make him feel bad.
‘I know I’m not one of the stars,’ he said. ‘If you felt like I was stepping out of line –’
‘No, that’s not it at all!’ Olivia bit back a groan. Why is this all so complicated? She was all too aware of Jackson watching. Everything in her wanted to get away before he leaped to any false conclusions.
But she certainly didn’t want Will to think she found him . . . well, whatever it was he thought! And honestly, only a blind girl would think he was anything but attractive. In fact, being a good double for Jackson meant he was probably the second cutest boy on the whole planet!
His hair flopped forwards in just the right way, he had broad shoulders and a gorgeous spattering of freckles across his nose – plus eyelashes that any girl would die for. She opened her mouth to tell him that . . . then caught herself just in time.
Stop now! she ordered herself, in her best imagined Ivy-voice. Don’t create even more confusion!
She gave another frustrated, side-long look at Jackson’s trailer, and then rolled her eyes at herself. This is ridiculous. Why should I be so embarrassed?
She hadn’t flirted with Will, she’d only been friendly. And even if she had been flirting, Jackson would have had no right to be angry. After all, they were not together.
And I can’t let myself forget that, Olivia told herself. It doesn’t matter how many scenes we shoot together of a couple in love. It’s just acting.
So she hadn’t done anything wrong . . . but that didn’t make her feel any better as she said goodbye to Will and walked to her trailer. It felt as though she was surrounded by an invisible storm cloud of gloom – a storm that she’d brought on.