To be truthful, this was a huge opportunity. He was excited about it—a little less so than before Singh's interview, but still, it was exciting stuff. For all that the title was hokey, it was supposed to be the biggest new drama of the year. Lots of action, lots of emotion—from the producer ofCop City, a known hit-maker, and featuring the inherent drama of the Shifters and Partnersprogram, which paired police officers with shifter consultants in symbiosis. It was the brainchild of Commissioner Singh, who was the head of the program and dedicated to educating the world about it. He believed in the whole thing so much that he was getting his hands dirty with TV details and casting and interviews—all of it.
And apparently making excuses for having hired me.
Coop sighed.He should be okay with the fact that he wasn't anybody's first choice here. It shouldn't hurt—obviously, a shifter actor would be better. During his time in acting school, he hadn't met a single shifter. Or if he had, they'd kept it pretty hush-hush. The fact was, the industry wasn't very open to shifters, so it was no huge surprise that there weren't more climbing the usual rungs the usualways.
Maybe this show would change that and inspire more shifters to take up acting so they could be these characters on TV—or other characters, all sorts of characters. Frankly, the only shifter actors he'd ever heard of were the few well-known ones who always played bad guys, generally unnamed villains who could fight the action heroes.
The people in charge ofWolf Cophad been adamantthat they wanted to portray a less stereotyped, more vulnerable sort of character. The main character on the show, Seth Waters, was a young wolf shifter who was joining the force for economic opportunity and to get out of a bad life situation. This was going to be developed further over the course of the series, depending on how the first few episodes went over with the public. They still had timeto pivot and focus mainly on case-of-the-week episodes. There were several scripts in the can, and filming would start within days. But a lot of stuff was still being worked on.
Coop had never had such a pivotal role in his life, and it was a pretty big deal to get the part of Seth. Obviously, he was feeling pretty insecure about the whole thing, whether he'd live up to it, and it felt likehe'd been publicly shamed, what with Singh being called out for hiring him in the first place.
He'd gotten the role because he could portray the mixture of strength and vulnerability they were looking for in the character. Well, he felt pretty vulnerable right now—and it wasn't acting.
His phone rang; it was the studio. "Coop, get down here. They want you. Last-minute publicity shit. Andyou'll need your best smile."
That wasn't going to be easy after watching that interview. But he was an actor—he'd make it happen.
The show was set and filmed in a small-town atmosphere: cheaper to film, for one thing. At least he could afford the rent of a place near the studio's rented lot. If they'd been in Hollywood, he wasn't sure he could have even gotten through traffic this time ofday.
By the time he'd gotten there, it was raining and he'd begun to shiver. It was really only a drizzle of rain, and he knew the shivering was mostly from nerves, not the weather. None of that made him feel even remotely more competent. He should have brought an umbrella; a damp, bedraggled actor wasn't exactly going to sell the right kind of publicity for the studio.
He was a fool. Heshould have thought of this.I should always have an umbrella at hand.I should start acting like an adult.If Singh was displeased with him now, when he'd done everything he was supposed to, how much more likely would he be to want to get rid of Cooper if he messed up?
A small tap at the window interrupted his spiraling anxiety. He looked up and searched the gaze of the man bending downto peer in at him. "Got an umbrella for you here, Mr. Hayes," he said. He was one of the security officers, Coop recalled. He had a wide, genial face and was far more muscular than Cooper would ever be, no matter how much steamed chicken he ate. He also had kind eyes—and an umbrella.
"Oh, thank you," said Coop, flooded with relief. "It's a press thing, I think. They'll be furious if I'mall wet and crumpled."
He hopped out of the car and sheltered under the umbrella next to the kind security guard. Coop felt tiny and ridiculously protected next to him. The guy had a confident walk, big pecs and arms, and a broad build. As they fell into step together, so close they were almost touching, the guard held the umbrella aloft to cover them both.
"Thanks," Coop said again,hoping he wasn't about to start talking and talking and not stop. He finally caught sight of the guy's name tag. "Jimmy? Is that what you prefer to be called?"
"Sure, why not?" He had such an aura of calm about him; Coop wished he could borrow some of it.
"Well, I'm Coop. Er, Cooper Hayes, that is." Something soft and mushy fluttered in his chest, and he wished it wouldn't. He was anactor, damn it, not a boy who got flustered around musclebound guys.
"I know who you are, Mr. Hayes."
"Of course you do." He swallowed, wishing he could tell the guy to call him 'Coop,' but if he'd just introduced himself as that, and Jimmy was going to call him "mister" anyway, there was no point.
They'd reached the overhang of the lobby far too soon, and Coop mentally slapped himself onthe wrist for thinking that. Just because the guy was handsome and strong and a gentleman... Well, it was his job, right? So Coop should definitely not be enjoying being so close to him. It was the guy's job, for pity's sake.
"Well. Thanks."
Jimmy with the kind eyes held out the umbrella. "Here. In case." The way the smile on his face reached his warm blue eyes was impressive.
Coopaccepted the umbrella with an almost unruffled thank-you and headed indoors feeling as if he could have swung the umbrella around and tap-danced a few steps. He really should control himself.
Humming "Singing in the Rain" under his breath, he went to face the publicity work, far less anxious now.
