Ty considered that. He knew Jake could come through with some pretty spectacular stuff.
Jake went on. “Just tell her Josh knows who went on that date.”
Ty’s brows slammed together. “Josh? I thought you went out with her.”
“We switched places for the night,” Jake said. “Josh wanted to mess with this other girl.”
Ty shook his head at the two of them. “You guys are fucked up. I can’t believe you’re still pulling this twin shit.”
“Just pass along the message,” Jake barked. “I’ll straighten out the Josh thing once I talk to her again.”
“Fine.” Ty jabbed a finger at him. “But you owe me big time, and I will call it in.”
“Anything,” Jake said and meant it.
Ty grinned. “I could use a new Ducati. There’s this sweet honey of a bike.” That was a top-of-the-line motorcycle. At least that was probably what Ty wanted. The best.
“Done.”
Josh piped up. “So what do I get for making this all possible?”
“You get to tweak Hailey’s nose,” Jake replied. “It’s what you live for, isn’t it?”
Josh shoved Jake’s shoulder. Hard. He shoved him back.
“Later,” Ty said and jogged back to work.
“Tell me how it goes,” Jake called.
Ty raised a hand in acknowledgment and kept going.
Josh turned to him. “You really think you have a shot with Claire Jordan?”
She was so far out of his league it wasn’t even funny. But he did have hope because she obviously wanted a taste of something different than the usual Hollywood elite. And he could hold his own with the rich and famous. “Yeah, I do.”
Josh shook his head. “Damn, I wish I’d gone on that date.”
Jake palmed Josh’s face and shoved. “With this face?”
Josh slapped his hand away. “What was I thinking?” he said with a laugh.
“Besides, then you would’ve missed the chance to go out with Hailey.”
“I go out with her all the time.” He put on a bored expression that didn’t fool Jake for a minute. “Wedding after wedding after wedding. I wouldn’t go if she didn’t pay me.”
“Sure, sure.”
“Shut up.”
They headed toward the access road where Josh had parked.
“Don’t forget your business dinner with the lovely lady,” Jake said just to razz him. “Not just weddings.”
“I’m not into her,” Josh insisted. “I tolerate her. That’s all.”
Jake shot him a skeptical look.
Josh smirked. “Damn, I can’t believe you got Claire Jordan for a blind date. All I ever get is the walking wounded.”
“Your own fault.”
“You gonna stick around a while?”
“Hell yeah. I’m just getting started.”
Josh rubbed his hands together. “This is gonna be good.”
Chapter Nine
Claire returned to the set, trying to focus on what needed to be done for the next scene, but she was freaking out. She never expected to run into Josh here. Double shock he had an identical twin. It was so bizarre to see not one but two Joshs that she nearly yelped in surprise. Only the presence of the crew made her keep it together. She wasn’t sure if he recognized her. Both men had stared at her, but most men did the first time they met her. They either had a tough-girl Blue Haze bikini fantasy or a virginal Neighborly Attraction fantasy, neither of which was her. She blew out a breath. Back to work. She put on her headset and called for the key players to report to the dining room.
A short while later, everyone was in place, and she did a quick rundown of the dinner scene with Blake and the crew. The prop master, Diane, wasn’t happy with the look of the fruit bowl and they waited while she refreshed some fruit from the kitchen.
Blake turned to go. He preferred to lounge in his trailer if he wasn’t on camera.
“Stay close by,” she told Blake. “We need to get started as soon as props are in place.”
Blake crossed his arms and stared at the dining room, jaw tight.
“It won’t be long,” she assured him.
He made a sour face, but said nothing. He didn’t have to, he communicated enough nonverbally to let everyone know how he felt. Lately, he’d been giving her more attitude. She’d heard his own fledgling production company wasn’t doing well. He couldn’t get investors in the films he wanted to produce. It was a tricky thing to do, requiring finesse and marketing savvy. Claire had produced her first film out of pocket. The success of that had given investors confidence in backing her future films. Except the Fierce trilogy, she’d gone all in on that deal because she knew it could be big and she wanted it all to herself, answering to no one. She’d mentioned to Blake that he should consider investing his own money when they’d first talked about his new venture six months ago, but he’d refused to even consider investing in himself. He said his name should be enough for people to open their wallets.