Singh was talking to the director, Mr. Giltner. Jimmy wasn't close enough to eavesdrop, even with his wolf hearing—which was probably for the best. Security guards weren't supposed to be nosy.
He'd only glimpsed Cooper today, arriving in a flurry and very early, going straightinto hair and makeup. One of the other guards had checked him in, so Jimmy hadn't even gotten close enough to sniff him. But his gut instincts told him the poor guy was nervous.
He was excited to see Cooper act (if he got to see any of it, which he hoped he would). He'd watched the few clips of him that were on YouTube, but they were all small parts, or grainy home videos of plays. He wastwenty-five, and Jimmy found it mildly exciting that their birthdays were only three months apart. It gave him a feeling of connection with the man he was already a fan of—the man who was going places, a star being born.
When he emerged from the wardrobe trailer, ready to start the scene, Jimmy caught his breath. The guy was gorgeous. Well, he'd been gorgeous before, but now he was even moreso. He walked with a cocky confidence in his low-slung jeans and leather boots. Wearing a white t-shirt that should be illegal, it was so tight, and a short-cropped motorcycle jacket over it, he exuded the kind of cocky confidence that would make any lesser mortal swoon. Not Jimmy, though. He was totally holding it together. His breath didn't catch, and his jeans didn't get tighter in a totallywork-inappropriate way. Not at all.
Coop's steps faltered when he saw Singh. He stopped. The older man walked towards him, and Jimmy found himself edging unprofessionally closer to hear what Singh would have to say, what words of wisdom and strength might pass here, like a baton keeping Singh's vision of a wolf-friendly future alive.
"I'll be watching your work," said Singh.
"Of course,"said Cooper.
It was a short exchange, but it gave Jimmy a weird feeling, not as though he'd watched an uplifting moment of encouragement, but something darker, almost threatening. Singh had seemed menacing as he said those words. Whatever he'd meant, he didn't stay; he walked off the set before the first scene began.
Jimmy stuck as close as he could to the set and watched when he got a chance.Cooper radiated nerves. He apologized twice for flubbing his lines before finally getting into the right place somehow and once again smoothly becoming the person he'd seemed to be when he left wardrobe.
In the show, Cooper was playing a wolf, and his costar, the older and more well-known Lincoln Canes, was playing his partner-to-be, a cop character, a strong, rather aggressive role. It wasinteresting to see the wolf character be the vulnerable one, younger, not a confident or tough person. It was easy to get into the scene, even with all the extras and camera crew, the frequent stops and starts and retakes, the touch-ups to hair and makeup, the directions and cameras and different shots. Easy because of Coop. He really was an attractive man, beautiful in the way actors could be,as if they didn't quite belong in this world but somewhere halfway between, half-fae, changing who they were and what they looked like as easily as if they'd been born to do it.
Of course it was a job and a learned skill, like anything else, and makeup, set design, lighting and wardrobe all played their part, but watching from afar, Jimmy felt a tug of longing in his chest, drawn to this pretendwolf and the man who played him. He wished he could know them both for real. What were Cooper's hopes and dreams? Did they feel real to him, the lines he was saying? It felt real, listening to them.
He wanted to protect this character, this vulnerable man, and help him see he really was strong enough...
His cousin rapped him on the arm. "Come on. Walk the rounds with me," she said in anundertone. As they drew away and began walking around the lot, nodding to the other guards they passed and scanning for anything out of the ordinary, she spoke in a severe murmur. "You were staring. That needs to stop."
He kept his gaze straight again, shamed. Of course he shouldn't stare. Did he want to lose his job, or come across as a creep? "Everyone was watching," he mumbled guiltily.
"Not like you were. Keep it in your pants, Jimmy. This is a grown-up job, and you don't get feelings for the actors."
"I don't. I-I haven't. I've barely spoken to him."
She gave him a disapproving look. "I have a sense of smell," she said crisply. "Just behave yourself, cousin."
A short time later, when it began to drizzle with rain, he felt miserably that his mood suited the weatherperfectly. Just his luck, getting feelings for an actor and having his cousin there to witness every embarrassing moment of it.
Really, he was being ridiculous. The guy was gorgeous, and a good actor. That was all it was, this feeling of being drawn to him. There was, and could be, nothing more. He needed to remember that.
