Finding June Read Online Free Page B

people and answering questions as
myself.
    One of the men left the room as I scanned the
page and tried to get comfortable with the lines in the few short
seconds I had to look at them. I knew I could just read from the
paper, but it was so much better to have it memorized. It looked
more natural. I made sure I memorized the key words in my lines
that I knew would trigger the response from the other character in
the scenes. That way if I forgot the exact line and had to
improvise a little bit, the other actor would still pick up their
cue from me.
    As I took it all in, trying not to think of
the camera fixed on me or the line of people staring at me, I heard
the door open and close as the man re-entered the room with someone
following behind him.
    I kept my eyes trained on the page in front
of me, but the first thing I noticed about Lukas Leighton was how
amazing he smelled. This could have been due to the fact that I
wasn’t looking at him, so my other senses had to alert me that
someone incredible had just walked into the room. The second his
heavenly scent hit my nose I looked up from my script and into his
perfect blue eyes.
    “Lukas Leighton,” I said dumbly. Honestly.
That was the wittiest thing I could think of to say: his name. I
was pretty sure he’d heard his name enough times that he didn’t
need me reminding him of what it was.
    “June Laurie,” he replied with a winning
smile.
    I let out a little laugh. It was all I could
muster. Lukas Leighton had just said my name. And he was standing
two feet away from me. His ocean blue eyes. His perfect, full
mouth. The gorgeous dirty blonde styled hair. His ever-present five
o’clock shadow. That chiseled jaw. All right. I had to get a grip
or I was going to make a fool out of myself on camera. And in front
of the casting director. And most importantly, in front of Lukas
Leighton.
    “June, we’d like to have you read the lines
with Lukas so we can make sure everything . . . fits,” Mr. Hill
said thoughtfully. “So whenever you’re ready, you can start.”
    I was pretty sure I’d never be ready for this
moment, but I tried to calm myself. Gran had been right after all.
This really was the moment my whole life changed. I took a
steadying breath and tried to quickly get in the mindset of the
scene. From what I had gathered from the script, I was supposed to
be emotional because Charles had been accusing me of killing my
co-star for money. In this scene I was supposed to ask Cutter if he
really thought I was capable of killing Edward. Luckily, I wouldn’t
have to act much to get myself feeling worked up and emotional—I
was there the second Lukas Leighton walked into the room.
    Turning and facing Lukas while still cheating
out to the camera, I began with my lines, my voice full of emotion.
“Cutter, I know all the evidence points to me and you really have
no reason to believe me, but . . . you can’t think I’m capable of
something so . . . so horrible,” I said, looking up at him
hopelessly. My heart was beating out of my chest and I tried to
harness that emotion into the character of Imogen Gentry.
    Lukas took a step closer to me, closing the
gap between us in just one movement. He stared down at me with his
blue eyes and looked as if a thousand thoughts were passing through
his head. It was incredible. This is what it felt like to act with
someone who really knew what they were doing. I actually believed
that he was thoughtfully considering how to answer my question,
even though I already knew his answer, since it was written right
under my lines.
    “Listen, I know Charles can be kind of
intense, but he means well,” Lukas said softly, bringing his hand
to my cheek. I had to bite my lip to keep from grinning like an
idiot, which proved useful since it just made me look like I was
fighting back tears. “He has to follow through with every possible
lead. If he got distracted by every pretty suspect we had, he
wouldn’t be a very good detective, now would