A Midsummer Night's Fling (Much Ado about Love #1) (35 page)

Finally,
finally
, Nicola was offstage waiting, and Max was about to be. “‘But, notwithstanding, haste. Make no delay,’” he said to Lachlan. “‘We may effect this business yet ere day.’”

Max ran offstage, and Nicola threw herself into his arms, kissing him furiously. He was the director. He should worry about screwing up her makeup, her hair, her costume.

He
really
didn’t.

“You came back. You came back,” he whispered again and again, grateful, kissing every inch of her he could lay lips to, her hair, her cheek, her ear, her throat. She cupped his face and swept her tongue into his mouth, kissing him like they hadn’t seen each other in years.

“I’m never leaving,” she whispered and kissed him again. “Never.”
Kiss
. “Never.”
Kiss
. “Never.”

He cupped her head, holding her in place while he ravished her mouth.

“Titania!” someone whispered.

Max let her go, his cheeks hurting from all the smiling.

“You two seem to be getting along,” Lachlan murmured.

“Yeah.” Max sighed as he watched Nicola cavort around with Gil and her fairy handmaidens. “How many pages are left of this fucking play?”

Lachlan laughed.

* * *

N
icola had never realized
before how long the damn play was. All she wanted was to get away, to be alone with Max, but people kept talking to her, she had to keep doing scenes, acting. Ridiculous.

But finally,
finally
, Lachlan was onstage doing “If we shadows have offended,” and Nicola was standing beside Max in the wings, gripping his hand. “We did it, Max. And it was
good
.”

“I knew all that extra kissing practice would pay off.”

She laughed and engaged in a little more “practice” real quick before they did bows.

Lachlan finished the speech, and the audience erupted in applause, startling her so she jumped away from Max. He closed his eyes and squeezed her hand, drinking it all in. “We did it, Nic.” He looked at her, his eyes warm. “The first of many opening nights together, yes?”

She cupped his jaw, her engagement ring glinting in the stage lights. “Damn straight.”

When the two of them walked out together to take their bows, the crowd shot to their feet, the house shook with the sound of applause. (Of course, Lachlan got a bigger standing ovation than either of them, but you can’t have everything.)

As they walked into the wings after curtain call, Max slid to a sudden halt, and Nicola bumped into him.

“What?” she asked.

Max swallowed. “Isabelle.”

“So?”

He grimaced and whirled toward her. “Isabelle is going to be pissed about you quitting.”

Huh?
Nicola frowned, confused. “I didn’t quit.”

“What? But you said you were doing the tour.”

“I meant in July. You really thought I’d quit opening weekend?”

“You missed call time. And curtain.”

“Traffic sucked, and you distracted me so I lost track of time. Wow, I guess I understand now why Allie was in my costume.”

Max tilted his head to the side, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “How
did
you get into your Titania costume so fast?

Nicola dropped her gaze down, her cheeks burning. “Uh, I kind of tackled Allie backstage and stripped her out of my costume. Actually. Um.”

Max let out a crack of laughter.

Nicola elbowed him in the gut. “Not funny.”

He pulled her forward. Toward Isabelle. “Come on. We’ll face her together.”

“I like the sound of that.” And she did. She really,
really
did.

Without preamble, Isabelle leveled a withering glare at Nicola. “And why was it you missed call time, miss?
Hmmm?
”

But even as Isabelle said this, Nicola caught a hidden glint of humor in the other woman’s eyes. And she didn’t miss the quick darting look Isabelle gave her engagement ring.

Nicola tipped her head to the side and said, matter-of-factly, “Shall I get down on my knees and beg forgiveness for my tardiness, Isabelle?”

Isabelle’s mouth worked as she restrained a grin. She raised one eyebrow, then sighed. “Please don’t. You’ll ruin the dress and then Tierney will kill me.” Isabelle ran her gaze up and down Nicola, then said, with that fierce, rich diction of hers, “
Well
, now you
are
here, I think the RSF should make good use of your talents, don’t you? I certainly don’t want to lose you to that
Anything Goes
tour in July.”

Max squeezed her hand. Nicola caught her breath with excitement. “Does that mean I can come back for next season?”

“Until that
Anything Goes
lapse in judgment, you worked hard for the company,” Isabelle said. “And you accepted all that BS from Judith without batting an eyelash. I’ve been impressed with you so far, Nicola.”

Nicola couldn’t believe she was hearing this. Hey, if Isabelle was in such a good mood, maybe she should push? Just a little? “If you guys are still doing
Henry V
, I think I’d make a good Princess Katharine.”

Isabelle’s mouth quirked. “I had a different part in mind for you.”

“Oh. I see.” Nicola fought not to wilt too visibly. An extra? A page? One of the princess’s handmaidens?

“Henry V,” Isabelle said.

“Oh.” Nicola blinked. “Wait. What?”

Isabelle’s mouth curled in a smirk. “I had the idea after you performed at the school program. I think you’ll make a wonderful Henry. Oh, and I’m pretty sure you’ll get along with the director.” Isabelle winked, slid Max a sly look, then wandered away to congratulate other members of the cast.

“Who’s the director?” Nicola asked, feeling pole-axed.

“Me.”

She wheeled toward Max, gaping. He nodded, and his eyes were shining. “Max!”

He caught her in his arms and spun with her, the two of them shrieking like idiots. “This is fantastic, Nicci. I had all these ideas about how we could do
Henry V
with a female lead after the school program.”

“Me too.”

“It actually fits pretty well.”

“Totally!” They started offstage together, hand in hand toward the dressing rooms, talking all the way, giddy. “You wouldn’t do medieval costumes for a production like this,” she said.

“No, we should do Elizabethan stuff,” he replied. “All the way, all-out. Style the female Henry to echo Queen Elizabeth I as closely as possible.”

“Yes!” she said, bouncing on her feet and hanging on his arm.

Oh, it sounded cool. It would be difficult, no question. What to do about the scenes with the French princess, for instance? But the challenges were another fun mental puzzle, not a deterrent to doing the production. And a bold concept like this would draw all kinds of attention to the RSF. It would be a great vehicle for Nicola. People who might skip a more traditional presentation of
Henry V
would still come to see this just for the curiosity. And it would be great for Max’s directing career. Establishing him as an innovator. Imaginative. Bold.

The two of them would be together through it all. Brainstorming. Working. Living together. Loving.

She bit her lip and stopped, wheeling to face him. He paused too and turned, raising his eyebrows in question.

“Max,” she said. “Are you still going to moon me backstage now that you’re a fancy director?”

“When the occasion calls for it.”

She kissed him. “
Good
.”

* * *

T
hank
you for reading A Midsummer Night’s Fling!
Join the
Much Ado About Love Reader Group
for news about the series, and the
Midsummer Night’s Fling Group
to discuss this book. Make sure you’re on my
newsletter
mailing list for notification of the next book in the series.

F
irst and foremost
, I have to thank Robbie Myles and Ken Gray. They each cast me in separate productions of
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
once upon a time, and they both changed my life. Next I must thank Marie Force, Julie Cupp, and all the lovely folks at Jack’s House Publishing for their hard work on this book. You’ve changed my life too.

F
or my family
, thanks to Biaggio again, because I love him (duh) and because he let me read this out loud to him during crunch time. Thanks to Valerie, my first and best reader, the Queen of the Comma and Paperdoll Maker Extraordinaire. Thanks to Mom, who read this even though she hates Shakespeare. Thanks to Evan, just because he's cute and I love him. Thanks to Bonnie S. for always being a sympathetic ear and giving me a kick in the butt when I need it.

O
n the theater front
, many thanks to Thomas and Christine Ashworth who were so kind, and let me pick their brains about the realities of an actor's life. Also, thanks to the cast of the Theatricum Botanicum's production of
Measure for Measure
for lining up to let me grill them about outdoor theaters. Thanks to Lindsey C. for sharing her stage manager expertise with me. Many of the things I got right about a professional repertory theater are due to all these talented and generous people. Any errors are my own.

T
hanks to Michael P.
for another beta read even though RomComs aren’t exactly his thing. Thanks to Sam M. for help brainstorming the original series title. Thanks to Nathan J. for letting me go round after round with him on the first draft of the blurb.

L
astly
, if you've made it this far, thank
you
for reading my book.

E
liza Walker
, a native of Los Angeles, is the author of the Much Ado About Love Series that begins with
A Midsummer Night’s Fling
. Her experiences as an actress helped inspire the series about actors finding love amidst the bedlam backstage at a world-class repertory theater. Once upon a time, Eliza met her own wonderful husband when they did a play together.

B
y day
, Eliza helps corral engineers for NASA (without doing any of the tech stuff herself, of course). By night, she loves to write her sarcastic heroes and heroines bantering their way to true love. Eliza is a total geek, a movie buff, and a mediocre swing dancer. Eliza and her husband live in sunny Southern California with two of the neediest housecats on the planet.

F
or more information about Eliza
, please visit her website, “Like” Eliza on
Facebook
and follow her on 
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,
Instagram
, and
Goodreads
. Make sure you also join Eliza’s
newsletter
to be the first to hear about the next book in the Much Ado About Love Series. She’s always thrilled to hear from her readers. Email her directly at
[email protected]
.

J
ack’s House Publishing
, Inc. is New York Times bestselling author Marie Force’s publishing endeavor. Since 2010, Marie has been a leader in the self-publishing movement, particularly within the romance genre. She wants to put her expertise, knowledge and experience to work for authors who are struggling to be seen by readers in this increasingly competitive marketplace.  Since 2012, Marie has owned and operated the Formatting Fairies to help authors prepare their books for self-publication. Her team has helped hundreds of authors get started on their publishing journey. Now she wants to put her team to work on helping the authors we acquire to rise above the sea of books currently on sale and connect with readers. When Marie gives workshops on topics ranging from Self-Publishing 101 to Preparing for Success, her message is consistent—success in this business is all about writing a great book—and then doing it over and over again. If you’ve written a great book that no one has read, we want to help you find your readers.

W
e’re Looking
for the Next Great Contemporary Romance Novel!

Have you written a book that absolutely rocks? Is it edgy and sexy and provocative? If so, we want to be your publisher! Over the last six years,
New York Times
bestselling author Marie Force has built an eight-figure business mostly through independent publishing. With more than 30 indie-published books to her name, Marie knows how to elevate your book from obscurity to visibility. After four years of running the Formatting Fairies business, Marie and her team are ready to work for you. Would you like to skip over the hurdles of discoverability that all new authors face? Would you rather write than deal with figuring out how to format for all the major retailers? Would you like to have one of today’s top contemporary romance authors personally endorse your book? Would you like to be mentored every step of the way, from developing your website and social media presence to choosing your cover to setting your price? If so, we want to hear from you.

F
ind
out more at
jackshousepublishing.com
or email us at
[email protected]
.