Then there was a long, awkward pause. Rationally, she figured it wasn’t really a long or awkward pause, but her imagination expanded it into something hideous. Good God, how was she ever going to learn how to do this in two weeks?
Fear started building inside her, but she kept it locked down tight. She’d already taken a leave of absence from her job, so she was totally committed. She’d just have to learn fast. So she paid extra attention all through the discussion of itinerary, accommodations, the game and costumes. Costumes were the most awkward because, apparently, the models/actors already had a lot of the things they’d need. The girls all had corsets, daggers and leather pants. Ashley had a neck chain that she’d been given as a joke. Blake even had his own sword and fur boots!
What did Ali have? Um…a blouse? Comfortable shoes?
“No problem,” Ken said with a warm smile. “That’s why Tina’s here. She’ll get together with you this weekend and get you all fitted.”
“Unless we can meet during the week?” asked Tina hopefully.
Ali shook her head. “My last day is next Wednesday.”
“That’s okay,” said Tina in a very perky voice. Was Ali going to have to learn perky? “How about we meet at Spiked Leather on Saturday morning? The owner knows me. He’ll give us a good deal.”
Ali could only smile and nod. Spiked leather? She didn’t remember Guinevere wearing anything that resembled spikes.
“That’s settled,” said Ken. Then he smiled at her. Lord, if it weren’t for that smile, she might have bolted right then. “We’ll need everyone to come next Thursday for the photo shoot. The address is in your folder.”
Photo shoot?
“And finally, we’re giving each one of you a copy of the game. Read the instructions. Memorize the product specs. And most of all, play it. A lot. Starting Thursday, you’re all on my dime. I expect you to spend all that extra time playing the game. When you’re not here, you should be trying to win Guinevere. Bring your friends over. Play with them, too. I expect every one of you to have gotten at least to Adept level by the time we leave.”
There were laughter and giggles all around. Apparently, for everyone else, finding playtime with the game wasn’t a problem. They all had gaming machines and friends who would fall over themselves to play. Samantha even giggled that she was so going to be queen with her brothers this weekend. They were dying to get their hands on this game.
The best Ali could do was paste on a smile. It had been a major accomplishment to hook up her DVR and connect up cable. She didn’t know an Xbox from a doorstop. Her brothers would know. They played enough video games, but they were more likely to play the game themselves and keep her out of it. No way did they have the patience to teach her. Besides, they both had jobs now and were busy with their own lives. Hell, what was she going to do? Then Ken touched her arm.
“Ali, do you think you could hang back for a bit? I’d like to talk with you if you’ve got the time.”
“Uh, sure.” She might have said more, but at that moment Paul came rushing up, camera in hand.
“I know you haven’t had time to have head shots taken, so I figured I’d just get this started here. If you could smile for me?”
Ali tried, but the sick feeling in her gut was getting worse. She obviously wasn’t doing it right because Paul dropped the camera and gave her an equally wan smile.
“Hmm, okay. Try this. Just lift your chin. Disdain. That’s good. Aloof? Yes.” He aimed the camera back to her face, and she belatedly realized it was shooting video, not taking still photos. Over to the side, the others were leaving, but Ali was still able to imagine their disdainful looks as she tried to show one emotion or another as Paul hopped around.
Then Ken stopped the man with a slight touch. “Do we really need to do those now?”
“Well, not normally,” Paul said with a slight grumble. “But somebody wants game Guinevere to look like Ms. Flores. The sooner we get some digitized images, the better.”
Ken shoved his hands in his pockets and looked awkward. “Oh. Right.” Then he glanced at Ali. “Sorry. This will only take a moment.”
“But—” she began. Too late. Paul had the camera rolling again.
“It’s best if I get all sorts of natural poses,” Paul said from behind the lens. “Hey, Ali, how do you feel about zombies?”
She blinked. “Um…bad?”
Paul chuckled. “Depends on the zombie, but okay. How about mass genocide? Republicans? Democrats? I’m looking for a strong emotion here.”
Ken stepped in. “Let’s go with the basics. Chocolate cheesecake.”
Ali gave him a grateful smile. That she could be passionate about. “I once offered to have sex with the next person who brought me a slice of black silk pie.” Then she immediately blushed. Had she said that aloud? “I was…um…I was in my apartment alone with my boyfriend at the time.”
Thankfully, Ken clearly thought it was funny. Paul flashed her a grin along with an eyebrow waggle. “And was it everything you hoped for?”
Ali shrugged. Might as well go with honesty. “Cheesecake, yes. Boyfriend, no.”
“Okay, last questions,” inserted Ken. “Ever seen someone kick a puppy? Trample flowers in the park?”
She frowned. “When I was a kid, we had a pet cat who was a huntress. I did everything I could to stop her, but she still caught things. Mice, bunnies, birds. It was awful the way she’d play with them. It was worse when she ate them.”
“Okay, that’s gross,” Ken agreed. “But it is their natural instinct.”
“I know. But it doesn’t mean I wanted to watch her do it. Or that I wanted her to gift me with her kills.”
Suddenly, Paul dropped the camera. “Perfect! That’s enough for the techies to get started with. Thanks, Ali!” Then with a wave, he moved over to the brunette who was just grabbing her coat.
Ali barely had time to remember he’d been filming her when bam, he was gone. It was rather disconcerting.
“He’s a high-energy kind of guy,” Ken said from where he stood beside her. “Especially right before a launch. He gets really jazzed on all the details and excitement.”
She watched as Paul simultaneously helped Ashley with her coat, passed Tina the camera while issuing instructions and still had time to flirt with Samantha.
“How many lattes a day does he drink?”
“Put it this way. I told him to just buy Starbucks. It’d be cheaper.”
Ali giggled, pressing her hand to her mouth as she did it.
“Don’t cover up,” Ken said as he gently pulled her hand down. “I like seeing you smile. Seeing you laugh is even better.”
Here it was. She’d been dreading it from the very beginning. It was one of those moments straight out of her fantasies where he had some reason to touch her and then they ended up just staring at each other. In her dreams, it took about two seconds for her to end up in his arms. Another ten before she was in his bed. But in real life, all she could do was look into his eyes and scream at her libido to shut up. No go. She just stood there looking while her nipples tightened and her belly trembled.
Hell.
Meanwhile, Ken seemed equally caught. He just looked at her, his eyes widening. She wondered if it was panic or terror. Part of her labeled it clear lust, but that came from her libido, which made up stuff all the time. She