Lauren grinned. “I just…wanted to. Oh, man. I’m going to regret that tomorrow, aren’t I?”
Carly backed up down the walk a few steps, her lips still pleasantly buzzing. “I think this is when we wait and find out.” She pointed at Lauren. “Drink some water. Pop a couple Advil, and I’ll see you at rehearsal.”
Chapter Four
What the hell had she done? That was the question of the day, and it played over and over in Lauren’s brain from the second she opened her eyes the next morning. Her head throbbed like someone was beating a bass drum inside her skull, but she couldn’t pay that any attention, because somehow she’d kissed Carly Daniel on the steps of her home, and if her memory served correctly, it had been really, really good.
“Lauren, are we going from act one, scene three, or are we starting at the top?”
She blinked, not at all thinking about a pair of full, kissable lips beneath hers that never should have been there. Trip was speaking to her. Had it been important? She had no clue because she was too busy reliving a kissing scene from a movie starring Carly Daniel, only it wasn’t a movie. It was her own life. “I’m sorry. What?”
“Rehearsal setup? We go in half an hour, and I was double-checking where Ethan wanted to begin. Did you chat with him?”
“Oh. Yes, top of the show. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. You in there? You need a Red Bull or twelve?” He touched her shoulder lightly as he passed.
She laughed ruefully. “I’ll take the twelve. Just a crazy weekend.”
“Oh, right. The Carly thing. Wow.”
She froze. How in the hell did Trip know about Carly? There was only one explanation, which of course she should have anticipated. Carly had told someone in the company, maybe multiple someones, forever tainting Lauren’s stellar reputation as a professional in the field. Stage managers didn’t engage with actors currently in their shows. That was just basic.
Trembling slightly, she turned around and faced Trip as he arranged the rehearsal furniture for the top of act 1 to simulate gate nineteen at the airport. “It was a passing moment. That’s all. I don’t even know how it got to…that. It never should have.”
“Oh, I know. But talk about attention, right? Otherworldly the way these things take off.”
Lauren chuckled along with Trip, because she had no idea what that meant but didn’t want to appear totally daft. But then, forget it, because she needed to know, and right the hell now, what he was referencing if she had any hope of squelching this thing early and fast. “What attention? I’m sorry. Slow today.” Her heart thudded as she awaited what would surely be a catastrophic reply.
“On Instagram. The post that rando put up got a lot of play.”
Lauren made a gesture as if to erase the board because she had an urgent need to understand what was happening, and it felt acutely like Trip had adopted another language entirely. “Can we start over? I think we’re talking about different things. At least, I hope we are, for the good of all things sacred.”
He squinted at her. “I’m talking about the Instagram post that went up Saturday night of you and Carly getting cozy over the pool table. The one where you were all up in her space, teaching her your break shot, looking like a total badass.”
Her mind stuttered to catch up. She remembered putting her arms around Carly to teach her to break properly. It had been a little intoxicating. “How is that online?”
He stared at her like she should know this. “Cell phones were everywhere that night. One of her adoring fans snapped it, and it got shared about a million times.”
“Right,” Lauren said, squeezing the spot between her eyes.
Trip continued to talk as he prepped the set. “She’s crazy famous, and people are clamoring to know who she’s dating. She stays tight-lipped in the press about it.”
“How do you know so much?”
“I collect gossip for a living, Lauren. You know me. Flip on an episode of Access Hollywood once in a while. TMZ can be fun.”
“Gotcha,” Lauren said, numbly. While learning that the ill-advised kiss wasn’t public information provided Lauren a small measure of relief, the photo wasn’t exactly fantastic news. That kind of cozy relationship with her lead actress wasn’t the image she wanted out there. Her cast would see that, not to mention the wider world. “Can I see it?” She had