“How about you?” Curt asked the couple across the table, as he slathered butter on a roll. “What’re your names?”

“I’m Patrick. And this is my husband, David.”

“That’s me.” David reached for Patrick’s hand and squeezed. “The names are obviously fake, but the relationship is real.” He grinned. “And no, we’re not here to role-play as the sassy gay best friend.”

“Don’t get us wrong,” Patrick said. “We love a good rom-com trope.”

“But that tired trend belongs in the past,” David declared, reaching for his glass of wine. “Along with mullets and shoulder pads.”

“I most certainly agree,” the blond said, in that exaggerated accent. “I’m Bridget, by the way.” She wiggled her fingers in a cheeky wave. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” Patrick bowed politely. “The accent is a nice touch,” he added, maintaining an impressively straight face.

“And who’s the devilishly handsome fellow glued to your side?” David asked, resting his chin on his fist.

“The name’s Zach,” he said, easing back and slinging a casual arm over the top of Bridget’s chair.

Luke noted the way she immediately leaned in to his touch. The reviewer certainly seemed to be enjoying her interaction with the actor. Annoying as it was, he shouldn’t be surprised Zach was the one she’d gravitated to.

Zachary Brennan was a living, breathing, walking checklist of rom-com hero attributes. Bright blue eyes? Check. Charming grin? Check. Perfectly groomed scruff? Check. Luke honestly wasn’t sure how the dude managed that last one. Maybe he got up to shave in the middle of the night so the five o’clock shadow would start to appear around noon.

It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. An actor with a capital A, the man was dedicated to his craft. Luke could respect that, even if he didn’t like the guy. And he really, really didn’t like the guy.

The feeling was mutual. From the first time they’d met, during the job interview for Notting Hill, Luke and Zach had butted heads, barely tolerating each other’s presence. Zach wasn’t great about following instructions, and more than once during the weeks of prep leading up to this week’s opening, Luke had considered firing him.

He might have, too, if he wasn’t worried the other actors would quit in protest. Luke had hired most of them based on Zach’s personal recommendation, and he was well aware they looked up to Brennan as their unofficial leader—a fact that Zach exploited to his advantage, flouting Luke’s authority at every opportunity.

Luke even took the man’s clothing choices as a personal affront. Zach was wearing a tight, black V-neck T-shirt—and yes, he had the muscles to fill it out. Jay had called that one.