“Oh, no,” I say as I shake my head. “Ethan doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body.” His track record with relationships is even worse than mine. “Plus, he despises Romeo. I think you’d have a fight on your hands there.”
Miriam groans. “Well, unless this final candidate blows me away, it may be a fight I’m willing to have.” She picks up the piece of paper in front of her. “Oh, God. This next kid has no agent and no experience. He doesn’t even have a headshot, for God’s sake.”
She slaps the paper back down onto the desk and sighs. “Go bring him in, would you? Might as well get it over with, so I can open a bottle of wine and drown my sorrows.”
I pat her on the back as I head toward the door. When I open it and look into the waiting room, there’s only one person there, and he’s not an actor.
“Liam?” How did he know where to find me?
He takes off his headphones and looks up at me. He’s even hotter in the daytime than he was last night. How is that possible?
“Hey, Liss.” He stands and walks over to me, and I don’t miss the way his gaze travels down the length of my body and back up. “I half expected not to find you today. Last night was so amazing, I started to believe I dreamt it.” He studies my face. “I’m glad to see you actually exist. And you’re even more beautiful than I remember.”
I’m searching for a response when Miriam calls out, “Elissa? Is there a problem?”
“No. Be right there!” I half close the door and lower my voice as I turn back to Liam. “Look, I’m happy you exist, too, but you can’t be here. I’m working.”
“I know. I’m on the list.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“I’m really not. Check it.”
I look down at the clipboard in my hand, and sure enough, over the page and right down at the bottom is “Liam Quinn.”
I glare up at him. He gives me a panty-melting smile.
“Elissa, I might not have been entirely honest with you last night, but I swear it was for all the right reasons.” He slides past me, pushes open the door, and walks into the room. “Hi, Miriam. I’m Liam Quinn, and I’ll be auditioning for the role of Romeo.”
As soon as Miriam lays eyes on him, her mouth drops open. It takes her a few seconds before she can form words. I know how she feels.
“Uh, hi, Liam. Great to meet you. Do you need the pages?”
He puts his phone and headphones on a chair and gives her a smile. “No, thanks. I have it memorized.”
“Okay, then. Just take your time, and start when you’re ready.”
I take my seat in a daze as Liam draws in a few deep breaths to prepare.
Next to me, Miriam whispers to herself, “Dear almighty Gods of Theater, I’ll never ask you for anything else as long as I live, but please, please, please let this man be able to act. I’m begging you.”
I’m still too shocked by Liam’s presence to even laugh.
He rolls his neck and shakes out his hands, then he closes his eyes for a few seconds. When he opens them, he blows us away by delivering the most incredible interpretation of Romeo I’ve ever seen.
Bastard.
Miriam is gushing. I’ve never seen her do that. Most of the time she’s terse and straightforward, but right now she’s spouting compliments all over Liam.
Can’t say I blame her. Not only did he deliver an amazingly intelligent performance, it was also hot as hell. When he was done, Miriam applauded. She asked him to read some more, but he said he hadn’t brought his glasses and couldn’t see the script without them.
It didn’t matter. By then he had the role in the bag.
I’m still reeling that he’s here. Wait, reeling isn’t the right word. “Furious” is more like it. I’m so angry, I’m shaking.
What breed of asshole lies to someone’s face? Oh, that’s right, an asshole actor. I really do have the worst taste in men.
“Elissa.” Miriam comes over to me. “Can you get all of Liam’s details and take his measurements? I have to run. Make sure he’s back here Monday to read with our Juliets. We’ll have to see who has the most chemistry with him.”
I have no doubt Liam could have chemistry with a brick wall if he tried.
She pats me on the arm. “See you both soon. Great job today, Liam!”
Liam waves as she leaves, then turns to me. He looks so self-satisfied, I want to smack him.
I walk over with my clipboard and measuring tape. “What the hell was that?”
“According to your director, the perfect mix of romantic passion and masculine power.”
“You lied to me last night!”
“No. I told you the truth. I work in construction with my dad and have never set foot onstage. This is my first audition. Technically, I wasn’t an actor until just now.”
“Oh, what crap. No one is as good as you were the first time at bat.”
He holds up his hands. “I swear to God, I’m not lying. I’ve wanted to act for years, but life got in the way. I saw the audition notice for this a few weeks ago and decided to give it a try.”