“And is getting out from behind the desk why you decided to audition? Nate said you had come that night just for a story.” That was edging into the personal again, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Well, partly. I did decide that telling the story from the perspective of one of the performers would be another way to engage people. But honestly? I wanted to meet you.”
Piper blinked, surprise and pleasure diffusing her cheeks with warmth. “That’s...flattering.”
“I don’t want to overstep any boundaries or make something weird. Are you seeing anybody?”
She wasn’t quite sure what to think about his candor. “No, I’m not. But you should know, I have a rule.”
“A rule?”
“I don’t date my costars.”
He didn’t look perturbed. “Why’s that?”
“A couple reasons. For one, the show comes first. If you start dating your romantic lead and everything goes south, it’s a lot harder to sell the part. I’m not going to do anything to endanger the quality of this show.”
“Fair point. And the other reason?”
“Acting as romantic leads tends to engender a false sense of intimacy. The nature of the roles often mean you fall into feelings of a relationship without going through the right order of things. So, you may start seeing each other during the show, keep seeing each other after, and then find out that what you thought was real attraction ends up being just a part you played that became familiar.”
“That sounds like the voice of experience.”
“Oh, it is. I have been burned before. So, while I’m incredibly flattered and not a little intrigued by your interest, I’m not going to pursue it while we’re acting together.” It was as direct and soft a put down as she could manage.
She expected a flicker of irritation or something. Instead he asked, “Do you have a waiting period?”
“A waiting period?”
“Sure. If you think there’s false intimacy or whatever, do you have some standard waiting period for after the show is over to let it wear off? Because, if you do, I’d like to mark it on my calendar.”
“Seriously?” she laughed.
“I’m nothing if not dogged in pursuit of the things that interest me.”
“I can see that.” The frank interest combined with the easy way he respected her boundaries made him all kinds of appealing. And that had her wanting to break her own rules. Before she could go down that path, she said, “Three months.”
“So, three months after the show closes, you’d entertain the idea of going out with me?”
“Sure.”
He picked up his phone. “Siri, remind me three months from December 20th to call Piper up for a date.”
“Okay, I’ll remind you.”
Piper couldn’t hold back the grin. “You’re incorrigible. I shouldn’t find that appealing.”
“I’m just gonna put it out there that if you change your mind, I have no such rules.”
“Noted.”
He pushed away from the desk and circled around behind it. “So, since you obviously didn’t come here for purposes of charm or seduction, what can I do for you?”
Piper pushed the flirt aside and pulled out the ad copy for the show. Time to get down to business.
~*~
“What’ll you have?” Myles asked.