Page 37 of Beyond the Spotlight Discreet Version

I salute him. “Sir, yes, sir.”

He narrows his eyes at me because hehateswhen I do that. His reaction only eggs me on because it’s packed with a promise of punishment. He takes his phone out of his pocket, then taps away at the screen. He’s already down the hallway and walking into the elevator when my phone vibrates next to me on the island’s countertop.

Hot British Guy

Brat

I smile at the screen, blushing because that word packs too much power behind it.

“Wow,” Eloise muses and I jerk my head up, already forgetting these two were here. Reynold makes me forget a lot of things when he’s around. “Cheesing at your phone like it’s the finest wine.”

What does that even mean?

“Are you two hooking up?” Kelly adds, which garners a slap on the shoulder from Eloise. “What? You want to know too. I’m just more forward than you are.”

I roll my eyes at them. I’m glad Adeline is at preschool right now, though she claims to ignore our adult conversations. We’re also careful not to flirt when she’s here.

“Aren’t y’all gonna be late for your flight?”

Eloise giggles. “That accent of yours gets thicker when you’re embarrassed.”

“My accent is thick, period.”

“Mhm,” Kelly hums.

“Okay, byeeeeeee you two.”

After that encounter with Reynold, I head to my room to take a cold shower.

IpickAdelineupfrom school at four, with Sarah and Henry trailing close behind. Reynold was right about them wearing street clothes. Both still have fancy earpieces, which makes me feel like I’m the president being protected by secret service members. Henry, who I swear is Jason Momoa’s doppelgänger, even has the sunglasses. Sarah looks like she could battle the Terminator and win.

Addy wants ice cream, so we stop at a place that has a buffet of sweet toppings. She piles sprinkles, marshmallows, gummy bears, and chocolate syrup on top of her chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. I keep mine simple and add strawberries and cheesecake chunks to my vanilla ice cream. Even Sarah and Henry indulge.

The four of us sit at a table, digging in. I snap a photo and send it to Reynold.

He responds immediately with a gif of Shaq, shimmying his shoulders and smiling with the text ‘yummy’ at the bottom.

Did he just send a gif? No way. His first ever gif? Why does that fill my body with tingles and make me want to giggle and kick my feet?

Naturally, I make a big deal about this.

Me

Congrats on sending your first gif!

I add a gif of Leonardo DiCaprio fromThe Great Gatsby, holding up a glass

He sends one back of Elle Woods inLegally Blondesaying, ‘What, like it’s hard?’

Two gifs in a row? He’s out of control!

Me

How’s work?

Hot British Guy

Exhausting. It’s an hour straight of action shots, then waiting while they reset the scene, then more action shots and... well, you get it