“You got it.” Elle smiled. “We’re going to have the biggest love triangle this network has ever seen.”
Thumbing through the head shots of the actors who’d auditioned that week, Elle wasn’t convinced any of them could portray the new character of David. They were all attractive, that she could admit. She’d seen a few of them in commercials and sitcoms. But none of them were speaking to her as David, and none of them were good enough to read with Gina. Only the best of the best would reach that stage, and at this point none of them would. Not one had the appeal of someone like Nolan. He was difficult to top.
After seeing dozens of men that week, she’d been hopeful that morning.
Today’s the day, she’d said to herself. But the morning proved to be a bust.
The first actor of the day was gorgeous—seriously attractive. But when he read with Elle, his delivery was flat, seriously lacking any type of charisma. Elle and Whitney had shared a glance of agreement. He would need an acting coach to make himself convincing as David, and even then Elle was hesitant.
The next guy was average looking—attractive in all the typical ways, but nothing head-turning—nothing that made him stand out from any of the other secondary characters on the show. His delivery was fine. His voice was fine and his demeanor was (once again) fine. He wasn’t a definite “no,” but they would need to consult the makeup department to spruce up his overall appearance and he’d need several coaching sessions to improve his delivery. Elle didn’t want fine, she wanted fantastic.
By the time they’d tested seven more actors that day, they were feeling defeated. Elle didn’t want to settle and she knew Whitney was in complete agreement. They needed to find the perfect combination of devastatingly handsome and ridiculously talented. And if that meant they needed to see dozens more candidates, then that was fine. It was worth it to find the perfect fit.
When actor number seven left the room, Whitney followed him out to check in with her secretary. Actors were notorious for jumping in on auditions at the last minute and they were willing to stay late if needed.
“Add one more to the pile,” Whitney said after returning to the room, handing a head shot to Elle. “He’ll be here in a few.”
Elle’s breath caught as she looked at the eight-by-ten head shot of Luke Kingston. He was handsome, appealing, sexy. Wavy hair, square jaw, a perfectly shaped nose. His smug grin made adrenaline spike in her abdomen.
He was perfect.
But could he act?
Elle attempted to play it cool. “What has he done?” She flipped the shot, revealing the actor’s resume filled with commercials and a handful of pilots that had never aired. It was severely lacking compared to the other actors on the docket.
“Not much,” Whitney answered. “But there’s something about him, don’t you think?”
Elle flipped the resume over to stare, once again, at the strikingly handsome actor. “Yeah. Something.”
“Well, he’s on his way now. So we’ll see if he has that ‘something’ in person.”
“God, I hope so. The others have been so lackluster.”
“Yeah.” Whitney bit on the edge of her pen. “Let’s hope Mr. Gorgeous can act.”
Elle let out a chuckle while secretly hoping Mr. Gorgeous could, in fact, knock their socks off. No matter how handsome he might be, there was no way she’d hire him if his delivery was wooden or forced. The charisma he emanated in the photo needed to translate in his acting. There would be no compromise, as far as she was concerned.
A man cleared his throat and Elle turned her attention to the now-open door. “Excuse me, ladies. I’m here to audition for the role of David McKenzie.”
Elle swallowed hard, taking in the sensation of his voice: deep, soothing, smooth. She felt her cheeks warm as Whitney responded, urging him into the room.
“Yes, do you need a minute to prepare?”
Luke closed the door behind him and walked to the table where Elle and Whitney sat. He placed another head shot on the table before his lips pulled to one side. “No, I’m ready. I practiced all the way here.”
Whitney stood and extended her hand. “I’m Whitney Bartolina, casting director.”
Luke shook her hand. “Pleasure.”
Elle rose to her feet. “Nice to meet you, I’m—”
“Elle Riley, creator of the show,” Luke interrupted, meeting her eyes. “I know who you are.”
Elle felt her cheeks redden. Of course she knew he’d obviously done his research on the show. After all, her picture was on the network’s website; she’d walked the red carpet. She wasn’t exactly a household name, but many in the industry knew who she was.
Her brain knew her body should resist reacting to the actor’s gesture. But she couldn’t contain the excitement that stirred deep in her abdomen. Luke extended his hand to Elle and she reciprocated the gesture. But unlike his simple handshake with Whitney, he placed his left hand over hers as they moved their hands slowly up and down.
Luke shook his head. “Such a pleasure to meet you, you have no idea.”
“Thank you.”
Reluctantly, she pulled her hand away and returned to her seat. She avoided Whitney’s eyes, knowing her friend would see right through her act of normalcy. She was attracted to an actor . . . in the middle of an audition. She’d never hear the end of it.
“Elle will read through the scene with you.”
“Great.”
Luke stood a few feet from the table, ran his fingers through his wavy brown hair, and took a deep breath. And for just a brief moment, his nerves were obvious to Elle. He took one last glance at the script, then directed his gaze at her. Elle was startled by the color of his eyes. The black-and-white head shot didn’t do them justice. They were blue, bright sky blue. She wondered if they were real or colored contacts. It wouldn’t be the first time an actor had covered up his own eyes for dazzling baby blues.
“Now, keep in mind, this role is still in the creative stages. But David is the head of security for the hotel. He’s tough, obviously, but he’s also smart. Smart in a way Molly doesn’t expect. This character is going to surprise her at every turn.”
“Got it.” Luke’s confidence had returned. He stood up tall, a cocky grin on his face, dimples appearing on his cheeks. “I’m ready.”
As Elle and Luke read through the scene, it was clear to her they’d found the man for the part. He was sexy, charismatic, and his delivery of David’s lines was effortless.
“Thank you, Luke. We’ll be in touch.” Elle maintained her poker face, despite the sizzling nerves beneath her skin.
“It was an honor, ladies. Thank you.” Luke flashed Elle and Whitney a dazzling smile layered with confidence before shaking their hands. Just before his hand grasped the doorknob, he turned back to Elle and smiled one last time. It was a sweet and soft smile, a seemingly genuine expression from the handsome actor. Butterflies swarmed her belly.
“I think we found our David.”
Elle stared at the closed door before finally finding her voice. “Yep.” She cleared her throat, and forced her eyes away. “We’ll need to do a read-through with Gina, just to make sure there’s chemistry.”
“True. But Gina has chemistry with everyone.” Whitney laughed. When Elle didn’t join in, Whitney continued. “Are you okay?”
“Are you kidding, I’m thrilled.” Elle sorted the papers, tapping them gently on the desk, still avoiding the eyes of her friend.
“Liar. What’s going on?”
Elle was silent.
“Oh my God, you like him.”
Still, Elle was silent.
“Well, this should be interesting.”
“Shut up.” Elle nudged Whitney with her elbow. “He’s just . . . sexy as hell. Don’t you think? I mean, those eyes . . .”
Whitney nodded, making a face as if to say “duh.”