Page 32 of Resisting Isaac

Isaac snickers. “Hopefully you still feel grateful after a week with Willow.”

I seriously need to meet this woman.

Nora greets us all warmly, reminding me so much of Laurel Logan that I can see exactly why she was cast in this role. She’s soft spoken but has a presence.

Kyle is young, younger than me, I think. The kind of guy who manages to be as adorable as he is appealing. He even has dimples.

He tells us he’s only been in commercials so far. Then with a sheepish grin, digs his hands into his pockets. “Pretty sure I only got this gig because I can play guitar.”

And judging from how he seems to struggle with staying focused on our conversation, I’m thinking he has ADHD. But I read the script, and he fits the part.

I glance at Isaac. If he feels strange knowing Kyle is playing a character inspired by him, he doesn’t show it.

He does frown at the kid’s Converse sneakers, though.

“Uh, Kyle was it?” Isaac asks. “You got some boots? Please tell me they told all of you that you’d need boots.”

It was in the contract. Proper attire was detailed.

Kyle’s cheeks pink and he stares at the ground. “Shit. Yeah. They did. I was kind of living paycheck to paycheck when I got this gig and not exactly?—”

“I’ve got extras,” Isaac breaks in. “What size do you need?”

I can’t help but smile at his thoughtful gesture. A weird sense of pride swells in my chest. Like my ovaries are celebrating the fact that they hooked up with a decent human being for once.

“Eleven and a half,” Kyle says, and Eli’s head lifts from staring at his phone.

“Same as me. I have a hotel room full of them sent from companies who’d heard I was playing a cowboy. Come by later and pick out whatever ones you like.”

If Kyle wasn’t already a fan of the infamous Eli James, heis now. Pure adoration replaces his embarrassment from earlier.

“Wow. Thanks, man.”

Eli jerks his chin. “Been there. My first movie role, I hadn’t eaten in nearly a week. I’d only done jock itch cream and razor commercials. I had seven dollars and change in the bank waiting for that first check to clear.”

I grin at them. “I have you beat. I was negative a hundred bucks and collecting overdraft fees like a professional pastime when I got a Hallmark movie role barely a week before I was going to be evicted if I didn’t get my rent paid.”

Issac watches us share broke aspiring actor war stories for a few more minutes. When Kyle admits to eating cold ravioli from a can because his power was cut off and stripping at bachelorette parties as his second job, Isaac whistles low.

“So, you all just gamble, hoping like hell you’ll get a part that pays the bills? While running yourselves broke doing whatever you can to make ends meet?”

All of us shrug and smile in similar fashion.

I turn to Isaac, still trying not to make too much eye contact. “Yeah. Pretty much.”

He nods appreciatively. “All right then. That’s cowboy as hell. Might make decent riders out of the lot of you after all.”

I scoff. “I already know how to ride pretty well.”

Judging from the way his brows lift, I hear the double entendre in my words just as Isaac does. He does something sexy with his mouth that makes it clear he’s biting back a filthy comment. The gleam in his green eyes makes me nervous.

When I’m certain the others are distracted by their own conversations, I lean toward him. Close enough so no one else hears. “If you dare say anything even remotely close to ‘Iknow’ right now, you’d better sleep with one eye open tonight, cowboy.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he says quietly back.

As the production team steps away from Ivy and Wyatt and approaches our group, Isaac clears his throat.

“I mean, I might dream of it. A little,” Isaac says under his breath barely loud enough for me to hear.