Page 70 of Play Room Actor

“Yes! This is your chance. She wants to meet you. Ludwig has already reminded her three times that you’re permanently employed at the theater. Come on! I’ll introduce you.”

Kilian rose from his chair, gave me a ridiculously charming smile, and left our table with Manuela.

“Who is Favre?” I asked the group, directing my question to Jacob.

“She’s the head of the art museum,” the carpenter answered. “Ever since the new building went up, Kilian’s been complaining about how terrible and amateurish the lighting is.”

My ears perked up. “And he wants to fix it?”

“He’d relight the entire city if they gave him permission.”

The whole table erupted in laughter, and I found myself falling even more for him.

20

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Kilian

It wasn’t my style to beat around the bush when it came to lighting design. Luckily, Tatjana Favre appreciated my directness. The fact that she’d already heard of me and had even coincidentally visited the gallery last week probably played a part in her willingness to give me a chance.

Not that I didn’t have other things to do, but I never would’ve let such an opportunity slip by.

Tatjana and I hung out at the bar as she told me about the next major exhibition. She was a woman in her fifties, with a bob haircut dyed black. Very museum-people. Despite appearing stern, she came across as surprisingly likable to me. When she laughed, small dimples emerged in her cheeks, and the way she casually placed her hand on my forearm several times suggested that she was totally into me.

When an older gentleman approached her from the other side, I let my gaze wander across the room. The dance floor was packed, and people were dancing wildly to a song by The Clash.

By now, Dominic, Vanja, Eliah, and Jacob had joined the crowd and were clearly having fun. As Vanja danced with a pink feather boa around her neck, Dominic plopped a top hat on Eliah. The three of them blended with the others, moving to the rhythm of the music.

Dominic’s movements were smooth and fluid. He radiated the kind of confidence that, much like on stage, I often found myself desperately searching for in everyday life.

I knew alcohol was involved. Jesus! Everyone on the dance floor had probably reached a blood alcohol level of at least 0.2 per mille! I wasn’t exempt from this, and I could feel myself heading toward the next high. Being the sensible person I was, I drank a cola instead.

When I saw Vanja dancing close to Dominic, I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. How dare she? Earlier, she had wanted to know what was going on between Dominic and me. I kept it vague since I didn’t know how openly Dominic wanted to talk about it. Plus, I wasn’t sure if he even felt anything for me, or if what we had was just fun and games.

I was falling more for the guy every day. He was just so adorable. I was taken aback to learn that he had grown up in foster care. Not that I had any idea what someone from foster care should be like, but when I glanced at Dominic, everything seemed just fine with him. Maybe that was why he had been a little off at first.

His mention of an erectile issue hadn’t made sense to me, but I was well aware that he hadn’t told me everything. After all, one doesn’t just become impotent out of nowhere.

In my view, he wasn’t impotent at all, since he’d been rock-hard in the playroom at Red. I convinced myself that I was the reason for that.

Or maybe he took Viagra …?

No. Impossible. I would have noticed.

He was at work.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Kilian,” Tatjana Favre said, turning back to face me.

I tore my gaze away from Dominic and turned toward her. “Yeah,” I made an effort to respond, though I’d much rather focus on Dominic. “It was a pleasure for me too.”

“I’ll get in touch with you in August. I’ve got your number now.”

Once she left with the older man, I shifted my focus back to Dominic.

As it turned out, he had rhythm in his blood. The way he moved to the music was sexy.

Damn, he’s our new Hamlet! Of course, he can dance!