The Great Scot (16 page)

Dylan Chisholm, star of an American dating program? Just hearing he'd been asked would be enough to send the entire village into paroxsyms of glee. His brothers would never let him hear the end of it.

Suddenly he needed to take a seat, too. And a very deep breath.

“H
e wouldn't even discuss it with me.” Erin paced her hotel room, phone pinned to her ear.

“And that was two days ago? When are you going to talk to him again?” Dana queried.

Good question.
And thankfully one Tommy hadn't asked her yet. “It's crunch time here and, at the moment, Dylan is staying out of sight, and I'm willing to let him. When are you getting in? I thought you'd be here tonight.”

“I got stuck getting out of Orly, so I can't connect and get up there until tomorrow morning. Is there anything you need me to do on the way in?”

“No, but I do have you tied up from the second you set foot in the village, so don't promise your time to anyone else, including Tommy. If he tags you, call me.”

“What's up?”

“Due to some…personnel problems, we've had to accelerate the preliminary filming schedule. The women will get into town Friday—”

“Friday? Day after tomorrow Friday? But I thought they were all safely tucked away in Inverness until early next week.”

“Yeah, well, one of the handlers apparently got drunk and spilled the beans to some guy she was hot for and—”

“Word got out about the women's location.” Dana groaned.

“So far it's just the local media speculating on who the women are and why they're there. But it's only a matter of time before someone posts on a bulletin board or someone's blog, then we'll have people snooping around and haunting our every move.”

“You don't have to tell me. Tommy must be going ape shit.”

“Understatement,” Erin answered. “Anyway, bottom line, he wants them here in Glenbuie as fast as possible.”

“You sure no one in the village is going to slip up? Just how in hell did you secure all that without Tommy having a major apoplexy?”

“Who said he didn't?” she responded dryly. “The town council here signed a confidentiality agreement. The villagers are all very close and well aware of the sanctions they face if anyone so much as breathes a word during filming.”

“I'm guessing it's not hurting any having the entire crew invading the town, spending freely.”

“Exactly. Anyway, I've got some locals lined up to keep the women under roof until we officially bring them out to Glenshire on Monday. Tommy's going to start filming the preliminary confessionals at the hotel and do more background filler stuff, so in a way, this helps get us back on schedule, but with all the prep work still going on, we're stretched mighty thin.”

“So what else is new?” Dana said, matching Erin's dry tone. “What do you need me to do?”

“Well, here's the thing,” Erin said, knowing her assistant wasn't going to be thrilled, but she didn't have a choice. “I need you to help out with those two contestants whose handler was fired.”

“Baby-sit the Barbies? Are you kidding me?”

“Now, now. Maybe you got two of the sweet ones. Anyway, it won't be for long, just until we move them into Glenshire.”

“I tell you what, I'll trade. You baby-sit and I'll try and convince your hot Scot that he should be our next Prince Charming. That's more my skill set anyway.”

“Who said anything about him being hot?”

“Oh please, like Tommy would beg you to sign an ugly guy. Come on, I'm stuck in an airport all night. Dish with me a little. Please?” she wheedled and Dana was a world class wheedler. “Tell me about him.”

“There's nothing to tell, except hell will freeze over before he ever agrees to sign on as Prince Charming, which means our asses are on the line here.”

Dana ignored her dire warning. “Word is he's intense.”

“Word from who? Who have you been talking to?” Erin sighed. Of course there was gossip. Who was she trying to kid?

The crew was, in many ways, like an oversized family unit. A highly dysfunctional family unit who happened to be putting in very long hours under extreme stress and pressure. So, naturally, gossip was one of their main forms of entertainment. Hoisting a few at Brodie's pub and fraternizing with the locals being the other two. Mostly Tommy operated on a don't-ask don't-tell basis. As long as it wasn't flagrant and nothing came back to bite him in the ass like it had in Inverness, he didn't care what the crew did on their minimal downtime. Of course, this time, with the entire village in on the story, it was far easier for the crew to take advantage. And from what she could tell, boy were they.

Her cheeks heated just a bit. Like she had fat room to talk.

“Never mind,” Erin said, not really wanting to know what everyone was saying.

“So? Is he?”

“What? Intense?” Erin had to press her thighs together just thinking about it. “Um, I can see why he comes across that way. He's pretty reclusive. It almost took an act of Parliament to get the use of his house. I can't see him putting himself under a microscope.”

There was a pause, then Dana sighed. “Fine, okay. I'll have to drag it out of you later.”

“You'll see him for yourself soon enough.” Although Erin discovered she'd be perfectly happy if Dylan just stayed hidden for the duration. It was foolish to think she could have kept him anyway, even for the duration of the film shoot. What with all the women coming to town, any interest he had in her would likely have evaporated like so much mist over the moors.

“But then I'll probably have even more questions for you,” Dana said. “So, if you're not going to give me hot, insider details, have you figured out what you're going to tell Tommy when he asks why you haven't signed him up?”

“Well, as they say, timing is everything. With the women coming in early, he's been pretty distracted. So that buys me a little time.”

“He'll just assume you've taken care of it, like he always does.”

“That's what I'm banking on. And I plan to have it taken care of. Soon.”

“But you just said—”

“I know what I just said. Tommy has his heart set on a Scottish bachelor for his next Prince Charming. I'll make sure he has one.”

“Erin,” Dana said, a note of dread in her voice. “He wants Dylan, and you know how he is when he wants what he wants.”

“Yes, I know exactly how he is. I promise, I have it under control.” A total lie, but she would have it under control. Just as soon as she figured out who she was going to get to substitute for Dylan. “On the bright side, we'll get to camp out here for the duration. No need to head back to L.A.”

“Oh. Right. I hadn't thought of that. But…won't it be a little redundant to use Glenshire again? I mean—”

“Well, see, that's going to be my angle. If we get a new guy, we get a new location to go with him.”

“Works for me. Surely, in all of Scotland, we can find another hunk with a family castle,” Dana said, sounding almost convinced.

“Well, that's where it gets tricky. We don't have the time or resources to go too far afield without tipping Tommy off. And I want to present this whole thing to him as a fait accompli.”

“How was he planning on re-using Glenshire anyway? Maybe you can talk him into using Dylan at another location entirely. Then we can scout locations and hunks at the same time.”

“Tried that. Tommy has this grand idea of introducing Dylan in a kind of teaser segment at the end of this season's finale, telling the whole backstory of how he actually owns the home in which the series was filmed and is a real life Prince Charming, blah blah blah. He's set on it.”

Dana said nothing.

“Details. Don't worry. We'll make it work.” Erin felt her palms begin to sweat. “Listen, get some rest and I'll catch up with you tomorrow. Be prepared to hit the ground running.”

“Aye, aye, boss.”

“And thanks in advance for service above and beyond the call with the whole handler thing.”

“Yeah, well, I figure you'll owe me then.”

“You're my assistant. I'm pretty sure it's in your job description to do things that don't actually fit your job description.”

“True,” Dana admitted. “But I know you. You'll feel bad about sticking me with this, because you just know I'm not getting the nice ones, and then you'll end up making it worth my while at some point.”

“I just sent you to Paris,” Erin reminded her.

Dana let out a deep sigh of contentment. “And did I remember to thank you for that assignment from the bottom of my very, very, very appreciative heart? It was so fantastic, Erin.”

Erin smiled, hearing the exact same kind of excitement in her assistant's voice as she felt when she got to scout a new place. “Sounds like
you
owe me.”

Dana laughed. “Damn, hoist by my own petard. And yeah, maybe I do. But I found the most magnificent date sites. Nothing cheesy or touristy. You're going to love them, I swear. I even have three back ups that are also to die for. Tommy might even smile.”

“You'll be handsomely rewarded if you can pull that off at the moment,” she said with a laugh. It occurred to her then how much she did trust Dana, because she had little doubt her assistant was going to come through as promised. Erin took pleasure and a certain kind of pride in seeing someone she'd trained spread her wings a little and do well. “I can't wait to see the dossiers. I knew you were ready, but—”

“Hey, don't thank me. Well, thank me, but you should also thank Jacques. If it wasn't for him…” She trailed off, then there was another deep, appreciative sigh.

Erin rolled her eyes. “Don't tell me, you left a string of broken hearts all up and down the Champs Élysées.”

“Hey, I was only there for a week.”

“Let's just say I have faith in your dedication and ability to focus.”

Dana laughed. “Interestingly, that's just what Jacques said.”

“I bet,” Erin muttered, but she was smiling as she said it.

“So come on,” Dana cajoled. “I'll tell you about my hot Frenchman if you tell me about your Great Scot.”

“He's not mine.” More's the pity, she thought with a sigh. “So there is nothing to tell.”

“Uh huh. That's not what I heard.”

Sometimes Erin wished her assistant was a little less focused. “Well, with all you've apparently already heard, there's no need for me to cater to your prurient interests, is there?”

“There was prurient stuff? Oh come on!”

“Just get up here safely, okay? We'll talk tomorrow.”

“Okay, okay, I fold. For now. Night, boss. Sweet dreams. Sweet, hot dreams,” Dana added with a laugh, before signing off.

Erin groaned. Hot dreams, indeed. Like the past two nights hadn't been a scorching marathon replay of their time by the waterfall and in Dylan's library. Only in her dreams, they hadn't stopped. Either time.

She hadn't heard a word from him since he'd abruptly left the library two days ago. Not one measly pink slip demand. Which she'd told herself was a good thing. Except that didn't stop her from thinking about him. Constantly. She kept half expecting him to suddenly pop up out of nowhere as he had before. She'd be doing something totally innocuous, like going over production notes, and, bam, out of the blue, she'd remember how it felt when he put his mouth on her, the way he'd pushed her up against that bookshelf, half tugged off her clothes, flicked his tongue over her oh-so-sensitive nipples…and god help her, her entire body would go all hot and wet and needy.

She turned away from the hotel window and stared at her bed. Her big empty down-filled bed. Sweet, hot dreams, indeed.
Thanks, Dana
. “I am so firing you,” Erin said into the now dead phone. An empty threat, especially since Erin would be lucky to hold on to her for another season before Tommy promoted her to take on more responsibility anyway.

Or worse, gave her Erin's job when she couldn't produce next season's Prince Charming on a silver platter and got her ass fired. That was the one pink slip she didn't want to see.

She sank down on the side of her bed, then flopped back and stared at the ceiling. She needed a plan, dammit. She needed to talk to Dylan. In this whole crazy mess she'd gotten herself into, he was the only one she felt she could really talk to about any of it. And yet, he'd steered clear of her, which, to her mind, was sending a pretty clear signal that he'd appreciate it if she did the same.

Well, considering it was his demands that had put her square in the middle of this situation in the first place, she figured she had a right to contact him if she needed to. He'd been the one insisting on having her as the go-between. So if she did contact him, she'd be doing so for strictly professional reasons.

And she was so full of shit it wasn't even funny. She wanted to see him again. Hell, she was dying to see him again. All the more reason to lock herself in her room and not come out until filming was over. But she knew he'd be the one person who would listen and perhaps help her figure out a sane, rational approach to solving her problem.