Chapter l423

Chapter 0423

When Bridget opened the door to her rooms, the first person she saw was Nicholas. A brilliant smile blossomed across her face. But then, in the next moment, she opened the door wider and saw me standing there too. That perfect smile wavered.

“Piper,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“It seemed improper for me to be alone in your rooms,” Nicholas said. “For both our sakes, I thought it might be best to bring along a chaperone.”

“A chaperone?” Bridget scoffed. “Nicholas, what exactly do you think I intend to do?”

“It’s not like that, Bridget.”

“What is it like, then, Nicholas? Because it sounds a lot like you are accusing me of something.” She scrunches up her face like she’s offended. Like what Nicholas is doing is in the wrong, somehow questioning their friendship instead of trying to protect Bridget’s

reputation

“I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about us,” Nicholas said. “This is for your sake.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m an actress. People expect me to live a bit on the edge.”

“Well, I’d prefer if we both stayed away from the edge,” Nicholas added. “Too much of that going on lately.”

Bridget sighed but eventually relented. “Fine. Come in, you two.”

She stepped back from the door, and Nicholas and I entered. I was immediately floored by the sheer size and space of Bridget’s rooms. She had a much bigger set of rooms than I did, bigger than Susie’s too. Bigger than any other candidate’s I’ve seen.

The decorations were lavish too. Crystal chandeliers and golden adornments. She had a canopy bed with bunches of lavender hanging on the four posters.

It was beautiful and excessive, a room fit for a visiting foreign princess or Queen. Or an ultra -famous actress the royal family was trying desperately to impress.

I was starting to see that the favors for Bridget were not limited to event–selection and management. Who knew what other boons she was granted behind the scenes?

Bridget walked to the center of the room, where she had arranged two plush chairs. She carelessly dragged over a much less comfortable–looking wooden stool from the corner of

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the room and placed it nearby.

“You can sit here, Piper,” she said. “You should be able to see everything from here. I hope you don’t mind but I.intended to work on the love scenes with Nicholas tonight. We need to

get our chemistry in sync. You understand.”

Nicholas moved closer to one of the plush chairs. His eyes stayed on me. “That’s probably not necessary, Bridget.”

Bridget, I noticed, was also eying me, but was being far more subtle about it. “Piper being here might be a blessing actually, Nicholas. She can watch our scenes and see if our romance is believable.”

I would rather hurl myself into the fireplace, but I refrain, remembering my purpose. I must protect Nicholas’s reputation. As well as his person, if Bridget wanted to push too far. Nicholas was earnest, and he saw only the best in Bridget.

I was much less certain about her. So I would keep watching. Like a hawk

Bridget smirked at me a little, and I couldn’t help but feel like maybe she just wanted to flirt with Nicholas in front of me. Put me in my place?

No, I had to be overthinking this. Even if she had a lingering crush on Nicholas, why rub it in my face? She couldn’t possibly know that he and I were still harboring secret feelings for each other. We’d been pretty good at keeping a cap on that in public, I’d say. 3

Maybe she did though.

I shook my head, trying to clear away the circular thinking again. It was getting me nowhere

fast. 1

Bridget waved her arms around. “This open area can be the stage. Nicholas come here. Here. This is your spot. Now, let’s pick up from scene 17.”

I noticed that Bridget didn’t have a script. Nicholas did, however, and flipped through the

pages.

“You should learn your lines soon, Nicholas,” she chided lightly.

“There are so many of them,” Nicholas replied.

“I can teach you memorization methods,” Bridget said, a bit of hope in her voice. Was she angling for another private meeting?

“Another time perhaps,” Nicholas said, dismissing her without even looking up.

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Bridget continued to smile. “Ready?” she asked, and her voice was slightly tighter than before, the only indicator that Nicholas’s words had upset her.

“Okay,” Nicholas said and cleared his throat.

Bridget immediately switched into acting mode. One minute she was standing casually with a big smile, the next she was a wilting flower leaning into Nicholas, a bit of desperation in her gaze.

“Oh, darling,” Bridget said. “You shouldn’t be here. The guards will surely find you.” She placed the back of her hand to her forehead. “I couldn’t bear it if you were caught. If you were tortured!”

Nicholas cleared his throat again. “It would all be worth it, uh… to be with you.”

He stopped.

Bridget waited.

I blinked, confused. I hadn’t read this part.

Bridget whispered, “For one night.”

Nicholas immediately corrected. “Oh, yes. Uh, for one night. Tonight. Er, tonight, I will make you mine under the… uh… stars… Doesn’t that imply we’ll be making love outside?”

Bridget straightened. “That’s not in the script, Nicholas.‘

“I know, but then we move to the bed. It just doesn’t make sense,” Nicholas said.

Bridget took the script from Nicholas’s hands and cast it aside. “Let’s skip ahead then.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. Tilting her face up, she looked like a seductive beauty from an old black and white movie. “Kiss me, lover.”

Nicholas froze. “That’s not a good idea.”

Bridget pouted her bottom lip some. “No one will believe that we kiss all the time if our first kiss since my return is on the night of the show.”

A mixture of feelings flooded through me. Glad, that they hadn’t yet kissed since she’d been back. Not thrilled, that the distinction was necessary only because they had kissed in the past. And absolutely raging, that she wanted to kiss him right now in front of me and only

“It will be fine,” Nicholas said. He refused to as much as budge with her arms around him.

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“But, Nicholas,” Bridget began to insist.

But Nicholas stayed adamant. “No, Bridget.”

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Slowly, Bridget lowered her hands away from him. “Well. I guess it’s just like riding a bicycle, right? We had a lot of practice in the old days. I’m sure it will come back to us.”

Nicholas didn’t say anything, though his jaw was a hard line. I could only guess what he was thinking. I hoped to God he wasn’t fondly remembering the past.

“That was a long time ago,” he said at last.

“Not all that long,” she said smiling. “But, you know I was only pushing for this with the best interest of the play in mind right? I want a story to be believable.”

Nicholas sighed. “I know you are a perfectionist about your work.”

“That’s how I’ve been so successful.”

Nicholas turned toward me then. Whatever he saw in my face gave him pause.

I could imagine what he saw, because I could feel it coursing through my veins.

Fury.

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