Touching the Billionaire - Holly Jaymes Page 0,3

job at the end of the school year, went to auditions, and was now getting ready to film a movie. And not some low-budget or indie movie like I thought I might have to do to ease my way back into the industry. This was a Theo Wolfe production.

I should have known though that it wouldn’t be smooth sailing. When Corrine asked me to come in and read with Theo, I didn’t think too much of it. It made sense for us to meet and see how we were on camera. Once I was there, I realized that it wasn’t just a test. If I didn’t do well, I was out.

It made meeting him less exciting. Actually, the predatory look in his eyes as I made my way to his conference room also lessened my opinion of him. I knew of his reputation, and I also knew that the rag mags often embellished and sometimes outright lied. But the way his gaze slithered along my body, I knew he was the horndog he was depicted as.

Then again, hadn’t I worn this leather skirt and left a few blouse buttons undone to impress him? Not sexually, but to show up like Nicolette would. Sexy, badass, cover-your-balls type of woman. If I wasn’t mistaken, that was exactly what he wanted. So okay, bring it on.

We all piled into the elevator and headed down to a sound stage. There wasn’t a closet-type structure for the scene, so Corrine and Theo discussed the best options for the test. In the end, we just needed to be pressed closed together and acting like we were hiding, so we decided to use a corner of a fake room that had been constructed.

“Do you want to review the script?” asked Corrine.

“Yes, I just need a minute,” I said, pulling the script from my bag. As I reviewed the scene with the closet, Corrine and Theo set up a camera to film us.

I reviewed the scene, paying special attention to my character’s lines as well as interpreting her mood, her attitude, and how she would look or sound in the scene.

“Are you ready?” Theo asked, going to the corner we’d designated to act as a closet.

I shoved the script back into my bag and set it down on a chair near the door. “I’m ready.” I walked over to where Theo stood.

“Maybe we should start this like we’re being chased and hiding in the closet. It can put us in the mood,” Theo suggested.

I didn’t need to be put in the mood but maybe he did. “Whatever you want. You’re the boss.”

He smirked in amusement and then walked a few steps away from the wall. I joined him, and he put his arm behind my elbow, then made a motion like we were running and he was tugging me along.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Corrine called from behind the camera.

“Ready?” Theo asked me.

“I’m ready.” I prepared to be tugged and hurried into the corner a.k.a. closet.

I had just enough time to take a quick breath before Theo said in Jack Cole’s character, “Come on, let’s get in here.” He tugged me along, pushing me against the wall and then pressing his body close to mine as if we were in a tiny closet. In my experience, most closets had enough room that he didn’t have to crowd me using all of his body, but this was a movie with highly sensual elements so I understood what was going on in the scene. Along with pushing the plot about bad guys, it was designed to show the chemistry between the two characters.

“Don’t stand so close,” I hissed as my character Nicolette, and tried to push him back.

He pressed his finger over my lips and his eyes glared at me as he shook his head. He leaned in, bringing his lips next to my ear. “Be quiet. You’ll get us killed.”

The script called for us to wait a few minutes while bad guys ran around outside the closet. But that didn’t mean there was nothing going on in the scene between our characters. With his body pressed against mine, his breath in my ear, I knew I was supposed to be acting like I was affected by his nearness. And I was affected by his nearness but whereas Nicolette was supposed to have a sensual response, I was more annoyed. Annoyed that I had to do this test again, and irritated that Theo thoroughly expected me to not live up to Nicolette’s