Lights, Camera, Kiss Me

A/N: This story is dedicated to AJ, Bex, C & Daisy, for their love, support, and for always being awesome.

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“This morning we’re lucky enough to have two of the hottest stars on Australian TV - Mackenzie Lauren and Ryan Moore, here with us today.”

It never seemed to matter how many of these interviews she did, Mackenzie "Mac" Lauren always felt nervous when sitting down to talk about her work. She’d spent the majority of the last few years in front of the camera, but this was different. She didn’t have a script telling her which questions Star Ellis, the Sunshine Mornings’ host was going to ask her. She did, however, have her friend and co-star, Ryan Moore, next to her.

She tried to relax as he laid his arm casually across the back of the couch they were sitting on. This would be the last publicity appearance she had to make this week, thank goodness. These early mornings, one after the other, had her inhaling coffee as if it were going out of fashion.

“Thanks for being here this morning,” Star said to them.

“It’s great to be here,” Ryan said.

“Thanks for having us,” Mac said.

“The season finale of Hart’s Valley airs this evening at eight-thirty on Channel Ten. The show has garnered a lot of attention in its first year,” Star said to them, “You’ve had a phenomenal first season, ratings wise, and the critics have praised both the writing and the acting consistently from day one. To what do you attribute the show’s success?”

“In all honesty,” Ryan said, “I think we’ve had some luck. I’ve never been on a show where things have just come together the way they have on Hart’s Valley. The writers, producers – the actors; everyone has gelled together really, really well.”

Mac nodded in agreement. Even on a show where everyone got along together well, she knew what she’d found on the set of Hart’s Valley was rare – a family. The whole cast and crew looked out for each other; and since they had a season which lasted forty-two episodes, and they shot from January to November, it was just as well. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard Ryan make this point in an interview either, and he had the most impressive filmography of all of her co-stars. At twenty-eight years of age he was only five years older than she was, but he was infinitely more experienced.

Star smiled and nodded. “Mackenzie, were you surprised when they announced Hart’s Valley had been picked up for a second season?”

Mac wasn’t surprised that the show had hit the right note with its audience. Named after the town the show was supposed to be set in, Hart’s Valley had it all; love, hate, lust, betrayal, and intrigue.

“We’ve really felt the love this season,” Mac said to her, “but of course you can never be one hundred percent sure of anything until it happens.”

“What about Brianna and Stone?” Star asked them. “Everyone wants to know if we’re going to see the two of them hook up in the season finale.”

“Do they?” Ryan asked, running his hand over his jaw. “I had no idea.”

Mac laughed at the question they’d been asked during every interview this week.

“Brianna still hasn’t forgotten that Stone blackmailed her to get the information he needed to take over her father’s company. She doesn’t trust him,” Mac answered about her character on Hart’s Valley. “But anything can happen in a season finale.”

“Mackenzie, you have a hard job - pretending to resist this man on screen,” Star said to her.

“It’s tough, but someone has to do it,” she came back with.

Ryan bumped her shoulder playfully with his, but he was smiling; a smile that had brought him a great deal of fame over the years. If it wasn’t for his family keeping him here in Melbourne, Ryan would have moved overseas a long time ago. The media often referred to Ryan as Australia's Romeo, and the name suited him perfectly.