The Jaguar Star (Tales of the Were: Jaguar Island Book 4) by Bianca D'Arc (e book reader android .TXT) 📗

and a few supplies in a small tote, added her script on top and remembered to put her keycard in her purse, then headed out.

She found the majority of the cast and crew sitting in the wide area off the lobby where the hotel served a complimentary breakfast to its business travelers in normal times. They also seemed to have put out finger foods for after hours, but a lot of the people at the tables had what was clearly carryout meals in front of them, sporting different logos from neighborhood restaurants.

Adela saw her and waved her over to a large table near the back of the room. Katrina was pleased to see Franny and Guermo sitting there already, and they welcomed her with casual friendliness.

“Great first day,” Guermo gushed a bit as he beamed at Katrina. “I heard Sonia was very pleased with your work in the morning.”

“She was?” Katrina couldn’t help asking. She’d received the director’s vote of confidence in person earlier that day, but it was reassuring to know Sonia hadn’t just been being polite.

Guermo nodded. “I heard her say that she got a lot of really good material.”

“I saw some of the rough footage when we were going over what she wanted for makeup tomorrow, and it looked really good,” Franny put in.

“That’s a relief,” Katrina told them. “I’m still so new at this.”

Guermo popped out of his seat, and Franny followed. “We’re going to go get something to eat. Do you want anything from that barbeque place down the street?”

Barbeque sounded way too heavy to Katrina, so she declined, but Adela decided to go with them. They promised to be back in fifteen minutes, but Katrina assured them she had plenty to keep her busy, and she wasn’t really that hungry just yet. The trio left, and Katrina took out her planner. She had a lot to write down, and yes, she liked to embellish the pages with little drawings. She had a half dozen colored pencils in her bag that she pulled out to doodle. It was relaxing.

She got so lost in her drawing that she didn’t notice Ren at first. He’d come up to her table and was standing over her, watching her draw. Looking up, she met his gaze, startled.

“You’ve got a gift,” he told her, gesturing toward the little doodle she’d been working on in the wide page margin. She was tempted to close her planner, but he’d already seen it, so she decided to brazen it out.

“I was dreaming about big cats all night. Again,” she told him, rolling her eyes as she tried to make light of her words. “I don’t understand why. I guess seeing that…apparition…or whatever it was, the night before last, affected me more than I thought. I’m just not sure what color to make his fur. I was considering black because that’s all I basically saw, but somehow, that just doesn’t seem right.”

He looked at her almost suspiciously but then shrugged. “I think he needs spots.”

“Spots? Like a leopard?” she asked, surprised.

He shook his head just once. “No. Like a jaguar.”

“Don’t they kind of look alike?” she asked, narrowing her gaze in confusion.

“Not to me,” he told her, “but my mother is from Argentina. I was raised on legends of the jaguar.”

“Oh.” She hadn’t known that about his mother. She wondered if that was something he shared with the world or if he’d just given her a little bit of his trust. Either way, she was intrigued.

“I stopped by to see if you had dinner coming or if you needed a reminder that nearest place that does takeout closes in an hour. If you don’t get something soon, you might have to scrounge for something later.” His words were casual, but the concern she saw on his face seemed genuine. She was touched at how nice it was that he was concerned for her comfort.

“Thanks for telling me. I guess I’m used to New York, where there’s always something open, no matter what time of day or night.” She gathered her things and put them back in the tote bag. “I was sitting with Adela, Franny and Guermo, but they all went to get barbeque. That sounded a bit heavy to me, so I told them to go ahead without me. Have you eaten yet?”

He patted his flat midsection. “As a matter of fact, I just got back from the barbeque place. It was delicious, but if you’re looking for lighter fare, the place I mentioned has a lot of different choices. They had what looked like a well-stocked salad bar.”

“Say no more. You’ve convinced me,” Katrina told him as she stood. For a moment, he was much closer than she’d expected, but he moved out of her space after a slight pause.

“Enjoy,” he said, already turning away.

Hurt for no reason she could think of by his casual dismissal, she shouldered her purse and tote bag and headed out of the hotel to make the short walk down the street to the place they’d talked about. The restaurant was on the corner, and there was a long vestibule with a roped off lane where people waited to be seated or to place to-go orders. Katrina went in, and no sooner had she taken a step toward the roped lane than a camera flash went off almost in her face.

Katrina was taken aback by the unexpected flash and looked over to see a group of people standing off to one side in the vestibule, fielding professional-looking cameras. Could they be paparazzi? The local news had let the cat out of the bag last night, disclosing that Ren was in town. Maybe a group of eager beavers had set up camp on the off chance he might show up somewhere and were taking pictures of anyone who looked like they might be involved in the film.

“Hey, sweetheart,” one of the men called out to her. Not wanting to be rude, she looked at him as he moved