第6部分(第3/7 頁)

ld　the　tip　of　her　Gauloise　cigarette　to　the　flame　from

Thaddeus？s　silver　Zippo。　She　inhaled　deeply　but　the　nicotine　did　little　to　calm　her　nerves。

Memorizing　her　lines　and　reciting　them　properly　had　turned　out　to　be　harder　than　she　thought。　On

top　of　everything；　it　was　majorly　scary　to　have　Ken；　freak　show　director　extraordi…naire；　yelling　at

her　every　five　seconds。

？Don？t　worry　about　him；？　Thaddeus　assured　her；　running　his　hands　through　his　dark　blond　curls

and　smiling　at　her　with　his　adorable　light　blue　eyes。　He　put　his　arm　around　Serena？s　shoulders　and

squeezed。　？I　know　it？s　rough；　and　personally；　I　think　you？ve　done　great　for　your　first　film。　We？re

just　on　a　tight　schedule；　you　know；　and　he？s　nervous　about　pleasing　the　producers。　Believe　me；　it

has　nothing　to　do　with　you。？

It　doesn？t？

？Do　you　really　think　so？？　Serena　wondered；　burrowing　into　Thaddeus？s　protective　embrace。

Normally　she　wouldn？t　have　been　quite　so　touchy…feely　with　a　guy　she？d　only　known　for　a　couple

of　days；　but　Thaddeus　wasn？t　your　average　guy。　It　was　more　than　the　simple　fact　that　he　was　a

movie　star：　they　were　pretending　to　be　in　love。　They？d　already　kissed　eight　times　for　the　stupid

climax　scene。　Cuddling　on　the　couch　like　old　friends　seemed　natural。

？Listen　up！？　boomed　the　director；　striding　back　into　the　room；　tucking　his　pack　of　Marlboros　into

the　chest　pocket　of　his　rumpled　denim　shirt；　which；　oddly　enough；　had　the　sleeves　cut　out；　so　it

was　really　more　of　a　vest　than　a　shirt。

Serena　shivered　at　the　sound　of　his　voice　and　Thaddeus　put　his　hand　protectively　over　hers。

？I　lost　it　back　there；？　Ken　apologized。　？Let？s　call　it　a　day；　shall　we？　Vanessa　and　I　hav