Kate Hardy - Behind the Film Star's Smile

‘Are you sure?’ Luke asked.

She nodded.

‘If the actors are happy, then I’m happy,’ Ayesha said. ‘OK, Mr McKenzie. Jess can help with your dog.’

He grimaced. ‘We were on first-name terms when we worked on A Forever Kind of Love, a couple of years back. Or would you prefer me to call you Ms Milan now?’

Ayesha winced. ‘This film isn’t the same as that one.’

‘You mean, I’m not the same,’ he said softly. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t take my personal life out on my colleagues. You’re right—I haven’t been my normal self on set for a while now, and that isn’t fair to the rest of the crew. Let me know if I’ve upset anyone here, and I’ll have a quiet word with them and apologise tomorrow.’

Ayesha nodded. ‘Thank you, Luke. That makes things a bit easier.’

‘And I’ll try not to be such an idiot in future.’

That earned him a lick on his hand from Baloo, and Jess couldn’t help smiling.

Maybe she wasn’t doing the wrong thing, agreeing to help.

Maybe this was going to be just fine.

And maybe, she thought, Baloo was going to do them both a favour. Help them both move on from a difficult situation in the past.

‘Half past eight,’ he said to Jess.

She nodded. ‘Bring her water bowl, food bowl and whatever she eats during the day, a bed and some toys.’

‘Toys?’

‘Baloo, you need to take him shopping,’ Jess told the dog. ‘Something to chew is top priority.’

‘Not squeaky,’ Ayesha called over, ‘or you’ll drive me potty.’

Jess laughed. ‘There you go, Luke. Your mission, should you choose to accept it...’

He laughed back. ‘That’s about right. OK. Doggy toy shop it is, then. Come on, Baloo.’

CHAPTER TWO

AT HALF PAST seven the next morning, Jess was in the production office, running errands for Ayesha and sorting out all the things that needed to be done before rehearsals for the day started.

It still didn’t feel real that she was meeting Luke McKenzie this morning.

And she still wasn’t quite sure whether he was a genuinely nice guy who was struggling through a tough time, or arrogant, selfish and just playing Mr Nice Guy in order to get her to dog-sit for him.

Either way, she needed her head examining. Spending a day with a dog was the last thing she needed.

But at least today she was prepared. And she had every intention of making Luke McKenzie do some of the work.

At twenty-five past eight, he turned up with the dog and several bags. ‘Morning, Ayesha. Morning, Jess,’ he said as he walked through the door.

‘Morning, Luke,’ Ayesha said.

‘Good morning, Luke,’ Jess echoed. ‘And hello to you, Baloo.’

The dog wagged her tail madly and strained on her lead, pulling Luke along the length of the office to get to Jess, and then put her paws on Jess’s knee and licked her face.

‘Get down, you bad hound,’ Jess said, but her tone was very far from scolding.

She’d missed this so much, having a dog around.

But she knew she had to compartmentalise. This was a job.

Three days.

No bonding.

‘I’ve just ticked the last thing off your list. Is it OK for me to go and help train the dog for an hour or so, Ayesha?’ Jess asked.

The production manager looked up from her desk. ‘Sure.’ She smiled. ‘I’ll have another list waiting when you get back.’

‘That’s fine,’ Jess said.

Luke produced a box of expensive-looking chocolates and handed them to Ayesha. ‘Thank you for lending me your assistant. She’ll be back with you as soon as we start rehearsing.’

Ayesha went pink with pleasure. ‘Dark chocolates. How lovely.’

‘I hope I remembered right?’ he checked.

‘Oh, you did—dark chocolate’s my absolute favourite.’ She smiled at him. ‘Thank you, Luke. See you both later.’

A showy gesture from a movie star? Jess wondered. Or a heartfelt thanks, and he’d actually taken the trouble to remember the production manager’s tastes? Or maybe it was a mixture of the two, because people were never quite that simple.

‘Right. One bed, one water bowl, one food bowl, one doggy packed lunch, one non-squeaky bone to chew, one ball, one rope thing...’ Luke handed Jess the contents of the large bag, one by one.

‘What, did you buy up the whole pet shop?’ she asked, amused.

‘No. I stood in the doorway with Baloo and asked the assistant to get me stuff to keep a chocolate Labrador from chewing everything in sight. Oh, and I said it had to be stuff with no squeaks.’

Jess looked at the assortment of toys on her desk and grinned. ‘I think you’ve just about got enough to keep her interested.’

‘I hope so,’ he said, sounding heartfelt. ‘So what are we doing this morning?’

‘We need a quiet corner to work in. No distractions for Madam, here,’ Jess said, unable to resist scratching the dog behind her ears. Baloo closed her eyes in bliss.

‘A quiet corner. Let me think for a second. OK.’ Luke took them to a bit of the set Jess hadn’t been to while running errands the previous day.

‘The very basics are “sit” and “stay”. I’d guess that Baloo’s never been trained at all, so it might take her a while to pick it up,’ Jess warned. ‘Baloo, sit.’

The dog glanced at her blankly.

Jess gently stroked down the dog’s back. ‘Baloo, sit.’

The dog sat; Jess gave her a piece of chopped liver from her pocket and the dog wolfed it down before licking her hand in gratitude.

‘Dog treats?’ Luke guessed.

‘Cooked chopped liver,’ Jess enlightened him.

‘And you keep it in your pocket?’ Luke looked horrified.

‘In a Ziplock bag. But, yes—if I left it all within her reach she’d scoff the lot within seconds and I wouldn’t have any training treats left,’ she pointed out.

He eyed her curiously. ‘You’ve done this before, haven’t you?’

There was no point in lying. ‘Yes.’

‘So, if you can train dogs, why are you working as a temporary production assistant?’

Because I can’t handle doing my old job.

‘It’s a job.’ Jess shrugged. And, to stop him asking any further questions, she said, ‘Right, your turn.’

It took him a couple of goes, but Baloo sat for him.

‘Now the treat.’ Jess offered him the bag. Was he going to be all prissy about it and refuse to get his precious movie star fingers dirty?

But he took a piece of liver from the bag and gave it to the dog.

That was a good start, she thought. Maybe she could work with him.

‘Next, we teach her to stay.’ She got Baloo to sit. ‘Stay,’ she said, and walked a couple of steps away.

Baloo bounded straight over to her, clearly panicking that Jess was going to leave.

‘No, sweetheart, I’m not going anywhere. But I need you to do what I tell you,’ Jess said. She walked Baloo back to the spot and tried it again. On the fourth attempt, the dog got it. ‘Good girl.’ Jess made a fuss of her and gave her a treat.

‘Your turn,’ she said to Luke.

Again, it took a couple of tries, but eventually the dog did what he asked. ‘Good girl,’ he said, and made a fuss of her before giving her a treat.

Luke didn’t seem to be so uptight today, Jess thought. He was definitely more relaxed than he’d been yesterday, and he was interacting with the dog instead of dumping her as fast as he could on someone else. Maybe it was because rehearsals hadn’t started yet today, so he hadn’t had to deal with his difficult co-star; or maybe the dog was helping him relax.

She so wanted it to be the latter.

They worked with the dog for a bit longer before the runner came over. ‘Mr McKenzie, the director’s ready for you now.’

‘Sure,’ he said with a smile. ‘I’m coming now. Jess, thank you—and you’re sure it’s OK to look after Baloo today?’