Page 40 of Starring Role

Jimmy stared down at the phone in his sweaty hand, clenching and unclenching his jaw.

Part of himwanted to drop everything and rush out there to be with Coop. But Coop hadn't asked for that. It might only make things worse.

At least he knew Jimmy was here when he wanted him, if he needed him.

Did he, though? He hadn't even known Jimmy would still want him if he quit the show. That seemed like a big thing not to know about your boyfriend. What else hadn't he been communicating clearly—orhadn't Coop been able to hear?

The hollow spot inside Jimmy dropped a little and grew bigger.

#

Singh was beginningto think the TV show was one headache after another. He didn't regret it—not yet—but he was heading in that direction. Yes, it had brought amazing publicity to the S&P program, and a greater degree of public acceptance and understanding. It was helping to recruit shiftersfor the program, especially lone wolves, and creating sympathy for shifters in general.

The show skewed unexpectedly young, although it was aimed squarely at a middle of the road prime-time action demographic, but that was a good thing, since forming positive opinions about shifters early on could bring a major improvement to society in general and the lives of shifters as the years passed.But it was taking time away from his real work, too, and he'd never had to deal with so many divas.

To be fair, sometimes he was the diva. Wanting to replace Cooper Hayes had been a selfish, emotional reaction rather than what was best for the show. But now this, with the stupid interview, where any fool could see that Lincoln didn't want to be there, and Cooper's body language was practicallyscreamingDon't beat me up after this is over.

He'd been putting out fires all day, sending notes reminding the studio that no one was to talk to the press about any rumors or behind-the-scenes issues, including personality clashes. Everything was strictly party line for now.

But it was a stopgap, and he knew it. He'd gotten several calls already from curious reporters. The sharks couldsense blood in the water, and if they couldn't find a source to talk about the bad blood between Lincoln and Cooper, they'd invent one. That wouldn't be hard after the gigantic bull's-eye Lincoln had painted on the show for them.

What was that asshole thinking? Fuming, Sahil turned back to write another memo, resenting the waste of his time and wondering if he would need to talk to Lincolnin person. Again. He'd already spoken to the man and had tried to be a bit less confrontational than he'd been towards Cooper. He hoped he'd learned his lesson about that: he shouldn't be rough on the actors unless he wanted egg on his face. But Lincoln wasn't making it easy. First the wooden acting, now the live TV debacle. He was a big name, and that had helped sell the project, but he wasbecoming dead weight.

His phone rang, and he glanced at the ID. This one was in his book as Kurt McCarter, Lincoln's agent. He answered the phone as calmly as possible.

"Hello?"

"Hi. I'm so sorry about the TV show. Lincoln's been under a lot of stress, and he specifically asked not to do dual appearances for a while, but that request was shot down."

Singh reminded himself to breathe slowlyand evenly, and to speak calmly. "That's not his call. Unfortunately, he signed a contract, and part of that contract involves promotion. And dealing with his costar in public without being a raging asshole. Does he even want this job? What's the man's problem?"

Silence, for a moment. "Actually," began the agent, "he's been tossing around the idea of quitting."

"He can't quit. He hasa contract." He was locked in for the first season, with opportunity to renegotiate afterwards. He wasn't tied to the show for life, committed as long as they wanted him, not the way Coop was.

As a newer, younger actor, Coop had given the strongest commitment they could ask for without getting into legal trouble. Basically, they owned his image as Seth Waters, and he could be brought backforever and his digital likeness used even after his death, for this show and the entire franchise. Young actors regularly signed up for things like that, but not people like Lincoln, who had a lot more leverage and a lot more name recognition. It would take a look at his contract by the experts to see just how soon he could quit, if he wanted to sever his ties here, but it wouldn't be impossible,the way it nearly would be for Cooper.

Basically, the kid's stuck, and the asshole can leave. Singh felt a twinge of guilt. He'd tried to make it right by adding some extra provisions to Cooper's contract. The guy was earning his keep, and so far, a lot less money than Lincoln. That would change in time, too. Singh would see to it. But as for Lincoln Canes, if he thought he could screwthe company over because he was famous—he had a surprise coming.

Singh opened his mouth to rip the agent to shreds, and then stopped. Last time he'd made an emotional call about this show, even when he was sure he was right, he'd been wrong. Yes, it was getting annoying wasting so much time on this, but if it was worth doing (and it was), he'd better get it right this time so he didn't oweanyone else any apologies. Singh found it harder to apologize than to do almost anything else.

"I'll speak with you later," he said, and abruptly ended the call. Let the guy think he was running scared. Maybe this was even a renegotiating tactic begun early: the old asshole routine, the hinted threats from his agent, but Singh didn't think so. Lincoln was savagely fed up with the show, thedog and pony show routine, and his costar in particular. It had been hard to miss, even in such a short interview. He should have tried to hide it better.

Or at all. What, the guy got this far in the industry, and he still can't act?

Still, this time at least, no matter how ticked off he was, Singh wasn't going to do anything until he'd spoken with his husband. Grant had a sensible,kindly approach to life and good judgment. The fact that he'd put up with Sahil all these years obviously meant he didn't have the best judgment in the world, but it was still a close-run thing.

#

Hey, art lover.

The text was from Swindon, and didn't this just make a bad day even worse. Coop cringed as he scrolled down to read the next one. Great—they'd arrived while he was gettingchewed out, so he'd already made the man wait a while.

Just my fucking luck. Why now?

The text read:The grapevine says you're in New York.I'm going to be there at a gala opening tomorrow.You're invited if you'd like to be.I would have asked you sooner if I'd known you'd be in the area.

He was so fucking polite, but the text made Cooper nervous. How could he say no? His hands shookas he started to text back. Three attempts, all deleted, and then he finally settled on a few short words.