Page 11 of Secrets in the Deep

This was the third movie she and Preston had shot together. He was okay. Kind of superficial. Carrying a bit of an inflated ego. That wasn’t unusual in this industry though. The media loved to snap them together and paint them as a real-life couple. Something she hadn’t corrected, because what was the point? The media said what they wanted to say, regardless of whether it was true or not.

Faye smiled. “Hey. This place is cute.”

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Preston’s nose wrinkled. “A bit too…weathered for me.”

A tap on her arm had her turning to see what looked like a young teenage girl with a high pony.

Darcy started toward her from where he stood with her mother, but she shook her head, a silent,It’s fine. She turned back to the girl, putting that picture-perfect smile back into place. “Hi.”

The girl’s cheeks turned pink. “Hi. I…oh…I’m so nervous. I was wondering if I could have a photo with you?”

“Of course.”

Preston stepped forward. “Hi, darlin’.”

The pink in the girl’s cheeks darkened. “Hi, Preston.”

“Would you like me in the photo?” His smile widened, his blindingly white teeth on full display.

The girl shuffled her feet. “Is that…I mean, if it’s okay.”

“I’m always happy to take a photo with a fan. It’s part of the job, honey.”

Cue internal eye roll.

Preston stood on one side of the girl while Emily stood on the other. He took the phone and snapped a selfie of the three of them, while Faye stood to the side.

The girl turned. “Could I get one of you two? You’re such a cute couple!”

Before Emily could answer, Preston’s arm curved around her waist, and he tugged her flush into his side. “Absolutely.”

Oh, brother.

As the girl snapped a photo, Preston kissed her cheek.

At that moment the door opened and Ryan stepped inside.

Fuck,Ryan was in a bad mood. And it had everything to do with that prick’s lips on Emily’s cheek an hour ago.

He stormed from his truck toward the trailers. He was late for the safety briefing. Would the director give him shit forthat too? He’d already spent the last three days on Ryan’s case, complaining about the team “interfering” with production.

Why the guy had to be such a pain in Ryan’s ass, he had no clue.

Zac already stood in front of the cast and crew and had started the briefing.

“The trails in this forest look simple, but they aren’t,” Zac explained, as Ryan stopped beside him. “When you leave the marked paths, it’s easy to get turned around. We’ve had experienced hikers lose their bearings out here.”

“Is this really necessary?”

Ryan’s eyes narrowed on the guy who’d kissed Emily that morning. Preston. “The reason we’re doing this is because a crew member was sent out to scout a replacement location atyourdirector’s request yesterday and didn’t come back for hours. Thenmyteam had to find him.”

The asshole rolled his eyes, and Ryan’s feet twitched to cross the distance between them and wipe that arrogant expression right off his face.

Zac cleared his throat. “Next…”

As Zac continued, Ryan shifted his gaze to Emily. Her hands were in the pockets of a large puffer jacket, and her gaze was on the ground in front of her. Her long blonde hair was pulled up into a messy knot on top of her head and, of course, her mother stood at her side. That woman had always been Emily’s shadow. Even five years ago, the woman had called Emily every day and shown up at her apartment unannounced so frequently that you basically expected her.