“Del.”

“I know. I asked about you.” She smiled. “Want to get some breakfast?”

The invitation was clear. She leaned toward him as she spoke. Her smile was easy, and when she finished with her question she put her hand on his arm. Del took a step back.

“Thanks, but I’m with her.” He nodded toward Maya.

Cindy shrugged. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

* * *

BY THE END of the shoot, Maya knew two things for sure. That she’d never been so exhausted in her whole life, and that together she and Del had created magic. She’d only viewed the raw footage, but she liked what she’d seen.

The actual editing would be handled elsewhere. Still, she had copies of all she’d shot and later would get the finished commercials for her portfolio. In theory, she would never need them. She already had a job she liked. She wasn’t looking to make a change. But it was good to have options.

She parked by her office. Del had wanted to drive her home, but she had a few things she needed to check before she could return to her small house and crawl into bed. She hadn’t slept more than four hours for a week. She was so tired she was punchy, but it had been worth it.

She was proud of what she’d done. There’d been a challenge and she’d pulled it off. Del had been a big part of that. He’d stood by her the whole time. He’d offered great suggestions, had provided a buffer when one of the actors got a little full of himself and had ignored the blatantly sexual invitations of several cast members, not to mention from the crew.

Watching some big-busted sex kitten make eyes at him hadn’t been fun—especially knowing how great a night with him could be. But he’d refused them all. From what she could tell, he hadn’t been tempted. Not that he owed her anything. It wasn’t as if she’d ever told him how she felt.

She walked to the rear door of the office and opened it. “I love you, Del,” she said aloud, then giggled. There was a conversation changer, she thought. Would he back out of the room slowly or run for the hills? Because she was pretty sure he wasn’t going to be happy with the news.

Del liked her—she was sure of that. They worked well together. But love? He was interested in his next project, not forever. While she wanted...

Her brain was foggy, her thoughts unclear. Sleep beckoned. Just as soon as she sent off a few emails, she promised herself. She would sleep for two days and wake up refreshed. It was a plan. A good plan. She—

“There you are.”

Maya jumped and screamed as two small figures appeared in front of her. It took a second for her eyes to focus in the dimly lit hallway. Eddie and Gladys hovered.

“It’s two in the morning,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

“We could ask you the same question,” Eddie said. “You’re young. You should be home having wild sex with Del.”

Gladys sighed. “I’ll bet he’s hung like a—”

Maya instinctively covered her ears. “Stop,” she pleaded. “I’ve been working around the clock for a week. I’m in a weakened condition. I plead for mercy.”

Eddie and Gladys looked at each other, then back at her.

“Just this once,” Eddie said. “But we want something in return.”

Oh, no. Were they going to ask for a picture of Del’s butt? Because she wasn’t sure she could get them that. And even if she could, she wasn’t sure she wanted to. While she was a big believer in freedom of speech, she didn’t think the founding fathers had the naked butt of the man she loved in mind when they’d penned that amendment.

“We want to talk to you about our show,” Gladys told her.

Eddie nodded. “It’s not what we want it to be. Not the content. That’s perfect. It’s the production value. We’d like it to be higher.”

Maya’s sleep-deprived brain scrambled to keep up. “Did you search online to find that phrase?” she asked.

The two old ladies nodded. “We did and we think people would enjoy our show more if it looked better. We want help.”

“Now?” she asked weakly, pretty sure she was beyond rallying.

“No. We want you at your best.” Eddie smiled. “We want you to hold a class. Like Sam Ridge did to help small businesses with their finances. It wasn’t that interesting a topic, but the man does know how to fill out a suit.” She sighed, then looked at Maya. “We want a class about how to film our show. You can teach us about lights and camera positions and how to pan.”

“Like in the movies,” Gladys added.

Maya wasn’t sure if she meant she wanted the show to look as if it were shot like a movie or that she wanted to make the movements they do in movies when they’re pretending to film a show. Then she decided it didn’t matter.

“You’re on,” she told them. “Although one of you will have to remind me of this conversation. I’m pretty sure it’s all going to be a blur.”

“We will,” Gladys promised, then winked at her friend. “This means Del is also in a weakened condition. Think we could sneak into his place and have our way with him?”

Maya gave a strangled laugh and decided at that moment, her emails could wait. Anything she sent out tonight—or this morning, seeing as it was well after midnight—wouldn’t make sense, anyway.

“I love you both,” she told them with a yawn. “If you can catch him, go for it. He’s totally hot.” She hugged the old women. “The class will be fun. I promise.”