Page 31 of Men or Paws

Beth nodded, closing the script. “Hard pass on this one then?”

“I need much more than that to get me to sign on the dotted line,” I said.

“More what?” Beth said, immediately holding up her index finger. “And before you tell me in English or Italian that it’s a personal question, I was just curious what goes through an actor’s mind when you’re considering auditioning for parts.”

“I feel like I’m being interviewed byPeoplemagazine,” I said. “No comment.”

Beth huffed. “You’re no fun.”

I grinned. “You just need to get to know me.”

Whoops.

I didn’t like the way that came out.

Hopefully, Beth wouldn’t get the wrong idea and think I was flirting.

She placed her hands on her hips. “What was that?”

Crap.

She got the wrong idea.

Why would she think I would be interested in someone who looks like she always wants to kill me? That was just it, I wouldn’t be.

“It was an innocent comment—not flirting,” I said. “My point was, don’t judge me unless you know me, but it came out wrong. Things sometimes fly out of my mouth before I can stop them.”

“Uh-huh . . .” Beth thought about it. “So, you’re saying you don’t know how to think before you speak?”

I decided to give her the win, so we could change topics. “Yes, that’sexactlywhat I’m saying. There seems to be a hardware issue between my brain and my mouth, but my technical support team is working on it at this very moment.”

She laughed, which caught me completely off guard.

Beth Myers was actually laughing.

Would it be in poor taste if I took a picture of her teeth? Because they were such a rare sighting and someone really needed to document the momentous occasion.

Fortunately, I came to my senses and nixed the photo idea, opting to point to theSurf and Turfscript in her hands and continue the tour. “You can go ahead and toss that baby in the recycle pile over there in the corner.”

Beth glanced over at the two stacks of scripts on the floor. “Those are the scripts you don’t like?”

I nodded. “The reject pile. Twenty down and at least two hundred more to go.” I pointed to the printer. “Anyway, back to the tour, if you ever need to print anything, feel free to use this printer. It’s on the WiFi network, so you can print from the guesthouse and then just come over here and get it. The password is Houdini, all capital letters, no spaces.”

Beth walked around to the other side of the desk and placed the script on top of the reject pile. “I think the only thing I might need to print is maybe a recipe or two.”

“Well, it’s here, if you need it. Just be sure to guard whatever you print because Houdini acts like he has a fiber deficiency and will try to chew on it.”

“I’ll remember that. Thank you.” Beth glanced down at some of the other scripts, then saw the check that was sitting near the edge of the desk.

She did a double-take.

Her eyes grew wider as her gaze stopped on a check on my desk.

Crap.

The check was a donation that I promised I would drop off in person before lunch since I knew the director of the food bank the check was for.

It was a big check, and it certainly wasn’t my intention for her to see it.