“Do I make you nervous?” I ask, needing to know the answer.
“Yes, of course, you do,” she replies, nodding her head. Her hair tumbles, and the scent of apples hits my nose.
“Let’s go, people—daylight’s wasting. Over here,” Stella shouts. Our hands drop. I watch as she looks at hers and flexes her hand a few times like she’s trying to wake it up.
Feeling the same way, I make my way to the makeshift table that’s set up in the farthest corner of the space. I pull her chair out from the table and wait for her to sit.
“Welcome to the first table reading of Lust & Other Problems. After speaking with both Courtney’s and Rush’s managers, we determined full nudity was fine with both of you; we decided not to have an intimacy coordinator and be as authentic as possible. That means no flesh barriers. Well, as authentic as possible without shooting a porno. Now, we want everyone on set to be comfortable with this shoot but especially you two. Alana stuck very, very close to the book when she was adapting it, so if something feels off or you’re not comfortable in any way, let me know immediately. Any questions?”
No one says anything. Papers shuffle, and people open their scripts. There are some supporting characters, but not many. To my left, Courtney takes a sip from the giant hot pink water jug she brought out of her bag. God damn, have I ever envied a fucking straw before? Because I sure do now.
“Let’s begin. I’ll read the direction,” Alana, the screenwriter, says. “Opening scene, stuck ski lift, snowing.”
An hour later, we are finally ready to begin filming a scene. The call sheet has our first scene together as the ski lift. I like how they are trying to shoot in story order. It’s rare, but it just might work. The weather is cooperating, thankfully. Stella needs to know if we have chemistry. I’d bet my right arm that we do.
“We should rehearse the scene before we shoot it,” I tell her, practically dying to taste her lips. We are standing outside in the snow, waiting around for the crew to light the area.
“Umm, we should wait. You know, to be as authentic as possible.”
“Whatever you think is best,” I murmur, not really liking that.
“Places!” Stella calls. Courtney and I move into place and wait. “Action!”
Let’s fucking do this.
Chapter 2
Courtney South
Holy shit. I knew Rush Bennett was going to be in this film, but I had no idea he was even hotter in person than he was on the big screen. When my manager got the call yesterday, I was finishing up a shoot in Hawaii. The weather change is going to kill me, but it will be worth it. I read the book the movie is based on six months ago. I knew when they called what this role would entail. The last film I did was the last movie my mama had to be on set for, so I knew I wanted the next one to be a more grown-up role. I just turned eighteen last week. My mom, Debbie, was still with me and traveled with me here.
She’s been by my side for the last sixteen years as I pursued my dream. I knew what I wanted very early on. She quit her job as an architect to ensure that I was looked after on set. She could have hired someone to be my guardian but neither one of us wanted that. My dad, Tom, is an architect as well. He works in Saint Paul, but our home is in Moosehead. Minnesota can be brutally hot and brutally cold. My parents are still married, and my dad joins us whenever he can. My mom is actually afraid to go home because she thinks they don’t know each other anymore. She was utterly devastated that he might not love her anymore on top of that. It broke my heart, so I broke her confidence and told my dad what she said, and he damn near cried while assuring me nothing could be further from the truth. So, starting next week, I’m sending them to Fiji for a month. They need to get back to who they were before I ruined their dreams with my own. It never dawned on me that was what I was doing until my mom told me that, but that’s what I did, and I would never forgive myself if they got a divorce because of me. I dropped her off at the hotel with specific instructions to spend the day in the spa, getting ready for her trip. Of course, she doesn’t know about the trip, but she does know my dad is coming next week to spend a few days with us. He knows about the trip but promised not to tell her. Because mom was with me all the time, I never did anything crazy like other child stars, and I’m beyond thankful for that. She also taught me the value of a dollar and the value of my skills, but it’s time I branch out on my own. Sink or swim. This is going to be a good thing for all of us. This brings me back to accepting this role without so much as an audition. I am a huge fan of the writer of the book and the director of the film. Stella called me last night, several hours after I had gotten the script. We spoke for an hour or so and in that time, I felt comfortable shooting my own nude scenes and making them as real as possible without crossing into porn. No one has ever seen my completely naked body since I was a small child and needed help for everything. I am not ashamed to admit that I hit my workout extra hard last night. But I’m ready. I can do this.