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Four weeks later…
She pulled at the collar of her blouse. Tonight was the night she’d come down to Catalan Food Distributors to meet with Xavier and his brother, Javier. She’d only been home a few days from the Barcelona trip, and she and Xav were almost inseparable. Part of her wanted to move into his family’s estate since it would save her time and travel, but it was just too soon. She and Xavier were linked at the hip, and she slept over at his apartment every night, at least since her return home. It was getting to the point that after three weeks together in Barcelona and this week now, she didn’t want to be without him.
He made her feel safe.
More than that. He made Sandra feel loved.
Wasn’t that the problem, though? She was really Sandra Gaines, not “Jules,” and she had a connection to him that he thought was kismet but wasn’t. Not exactly. She owed it to him to tell Xavier about their first time in that limo long ago. She just didn’t know how, and the longer things built, the less she knew how to broach the topic.
Sandra knew how everything had happened, how it had all come to be, but it looked bad. From the outside, it seemed like she’d tracked him down, gotten a job in his company, and then wormed her way into his heart after a one-night stand so she could get the meeting she was at now. So she could have this one chance to do what she was doing now.
Pitch the script for her first movie to financers and see what they’d say.
Javier glared at her, his green eyes so like Xavier’s but also so full of barely contained disdain. Obviously, he’d taken this meeting only as a favor to Xavier, and she figured he was going to chew her out and dump her out the door in about five minutes flat. After all, Xavier encouraged her to follow her dream, to become more than just Mistress of Schlock, but he had also vowed that the final funding decision would be his brother’s and that her writing would have to wow a man who didn’t seem to like her already.
“Well,” he said, setting the screenplay down. Clearly, he had to have read the hundred-page plus document before meeting her, but he’d been perusing the last few pages since she came in the door. Maybe he needed to decide if the ending was strong enough. How would she know? “You certainly have some work here, Miss Gaines.”
“I know, but is that a good thing or a bad thing?” she asked, grateful that Xavier was sitting beside her and clenching her hand. He was always there, always saving her, and that extended to right now when she felt like her whole career was on the line. “I’m too close to it. I can’t really tell.”
You look like you want to put me on a pyre, but I’m hoping you’re just a gloomy guy.
Javier eyed his brother. “Well, I have to admit, this is one of the best things I’ve read in a while, and I just bought the newest Stephen King. I can see the scenes in my head and what kind of a horror movie it would make right now. Damn it. I do want to see it made.”
Xavier’s jaw fell open. “Really?”
She punched her lover lightly on the shoulder. “What? That’s your defense?”
Xavier shrugged sheepishly. “I know I loved it. I can’t always tell how Javi will do thin
gs. He can be a stubborn ass.”
His brother laughed. “I can hear you, but you’re both right. This is really good. We’ll put up half a million to invest in this.”
She blinked, not sure she’d heard him right. In her wildest dreams, she had hoped at best the brother would help her set up some crowdfunding campaign and possibly promote it with their own social media reach. Maybe get twenty or thirty thousand. But no, they were giving her a real budget.
“Considering some of it needs location shooting in Barcelona,” Javi said, “I’m sure I can make calls and pave the way for things.”
“You’re serious?” she asked.
Xavier chuckled. “Now who’s being unsure?”
“I just…did I fall and hit my head lately? This is the last thing I expected to hear tonight, to know that I’m actually…that what I made is wanted,” she said, her voice starting to wobble.
She’d waited twenty-six years for someone to see her talent, to give her a chance. How could she ever tell Xavier now that Sandra and Jules were the same person? He’d never believe her now. It would just have to be her secret, her cross to bear as long as she knew him.
Javier nodded. “I assumed that you wouldn’t have an ounce of talent. Xavier’s never wanted to invest in any of his girlfriends in a long time. However, I read it, and I know a chance when I see one. To be honest, it never hurts to diversify a company, even if this is quite a leap.”
“This is like a dream.”
Xavier kissed her, the cinnamon scent of him hanging heavy in the air beside her. “I knew you could do it.”
Javier smiled, but the expression didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Brother, can Juliet and I have a minute? I’d like to speak with her about a few funding details.”
“I don’t know,” Xavier hesitated.
Javi stood and went to the wet bar in the office to pour himself a glass of water. “It will only take a moment.”
“It’s okay, Xavier. I’m a big girl.”
