Bad Romeo Christmas: A Starcrossed Anthology (Starcrossed #4)(26)

My entire body shudders with anticipation. "Tease."

"That's on the list. And believe me when I say that even though I adore you more than anything on the planet, I'm going to enjoy hearing you beg."

There's another knock on my door. "Miss Holt? It's Ainsly. There's a problem with the red carpet, and Hugh Jackman is here for a meeting about his hosting duties." There's a pause. "Um, and George Clooney's people called to say he'll be an hour late, so we'll have to move him to later in the show. And there's someone here to see you who wouldn't give me his name but keeps telling me what to do."

"Shit," I say as my mind races. "Okay, Ainsly. I'm coming." I take one final look at Liam. His face is so close to the camera, I want to stroke it. "I'm sorry."

"Go," he insists. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay. I love you."

He gets the same wistful smile I always see when I say those words to him. "I love you more. Have an amazing show. Bye."

I hang up and sigh before pushing my hair out of my face and wrenching the door open. The previous bustle of the backstage area seems to have sped up, and when I get to the stage, I'm pleased to see that the chaos has been cleared and the set is almost done.

"Thank God."

When James hurries past me, I grab his arm. "Hey. What's the situation with the lighting?"

He looks flushed. "Uh, all good. Some guy showed up and managed to get back all the cues."

"Some guy?"

"Yeah. Brown hair. Glasses. Kind of bossy."

I freeze as a familiar voice pipes up behind me. "Man, I leave you alone for five seconds and everything goes to shit. Thank God I took pity on you and jumped on a direct flight from Sydney yesterday morning. Feel free to now express your gratitude. I'll wait."

I turn to see a most unexpected and welcome sight. Josh is standing there with a duffle bag in his hand and a shit-eating grin on his face. Apart from Liam, I don't think I've been more grateful to see someone in my entire life.

I stride over and throw my arms around him. He drops his bag and wraps me in a tight hug, and dammit, having him here is so comforting, I well up like a regular human, not at all like the emotionally controlled boss-lady I've spent years becoming.

Stoppit, Elissa. You cannot cry in front of your crew. You've made them fear you exactly the right amount to be useful. Don't undo that.

I take in a shaky breath and push down tears as Josh tightens his arms around me.

"Missed me, I take it?" he whispers.

"You have no idea how much."

"Yeah, well, you doing your best to crack several of my ribs right now is giving me a clue. Be gentle with your bestie, please. He's a delicate and precious flower who just happens to live in the body of a mid-twenties hipster god."

"So when you texted me before ...?"

"I was in a cab coming from the airport. I knew this gig would be a nightmare without me. Plus, Angel is busy filming, so I had nothing better to do than to come back and save your ass."

I make a scoffing noise. "Make no mistake, Kane. I could have handled this without you, but I'm still glad you're here. I suspect you also came running back because you missed me like crazy and got bored being Angel's personal assistant. Am I right?"

"Crazy talk. You know how much I adore fetching coffee and taking phone messages. It's what I live for." He pulls back and looks down at me. "Angel sends her love, by the way. She really misses you."

"I miss her, too." I can't believe how much. Angel feels almost as much of a sister as Cassie does, and even though not seeing her for months is hard on me, I can tell Josh is already struggling with their separation.

"Josh ..."

He steps out of our hug and waves me off. "Alright, alright, no more talk. Just give me all the information I'll need to kick this show in the balls. We're burning daylight, here."

I smile as I hand over my clipboard. "Go for your life, babe."

Just then James walks by, and Josh steps in front of him. "Hey there, chuckles. Give me your headset."

James's face drops. "What? Why?"

"Because," Josh says as he claps him on the shoulder, "you've failed to even come close to filling my freakishly large shoes. So hand over the wearable tech, and go help Ainsly get those dressing rooms ready. Before you know it, we'll be neck deep in celebrity egos and pushy managers, and I need you running point."

James looks at me in confusion. "Who is this guy?"

I smile. "He's who you should aspire to be if you want to make it in this industry. Now, do as he says and move your ass."

James turns bright red as he hands his headset and pack to Josh before scurrying off into the wings.

Josh shoves his clipboard under his arm as he slides on the headphones and clips the pack to his belt. "You honestly thought that doofus could replace me? I see your delusions have gotten worse since I left."

"He came highly recommended."

"Oh, please. Look at him with his stupid messy haircut and Dolce and Gabbana glasses. He looks like an idiot."

"Josh, he looks almost exactly like you. I think that's half of the reason I hired him."