I like the way that sounds.
Tripp Carter’s assistant.
Sure, it’s not as good as Tripp Carter’s woman.
Or Tripp Carter’s pretty little subbie.
But I’ll take it.
The hold she was placed on was brief. There was a small smile on her face and in her tone as she semi-repeated her initial greeting. “Hi Angelo, this is Greer Moore. I’m Tripp Carter’s assistant. Right.” Her eyes went to the side as he spoke.
When her silence stretched, acidic regret hit me in the gut that I’d left her to take the fall for someone else’s fuckup. I was so used to everyone blowing smoke up my ass, it hadn’t occurred to me that Angelo might be giving her shit. But Intrepid Studios was more rigid than a lot of the other studios I’d worked with. They didn’t share Tony’s belief that all press was good press. They’d even wanted me to sit out theOld Flamepremiere thanksto a bullshit misunderstanding—and had only allowed me to attend once Easton agreed to babysit me.
I held out my hand for her phone so I could tell the uptight studio where they could shove every reel of film they’d ever produced, but she waved me away.
“Yes, Tony mentioned that,” she said, her voice calm. “Mr. Carter sends his sincere apologies for missing the appointment this morning. There have been some staff changes, and the details got lost in the shuffle. What was this for?” She jotted down notes, but I didn’t look down to read them. My focus was on the way her eyes widened before they darted up to meet mine. The bits of green in the hazel seemed brighter. If that wasn’t already a damn punch to the gut, the wide smile that spread across her face was enough to make me thank the hard-on heavens that I’d switched into jeans.
Sweatpants wouldn’t have stood a chance.
“We’d love to reschedule, definitely. His days this week are a little booked… Tomorrow?” By the time she lifted her questioning gaze to me, I was already nodding. Despite my immediate agreement, she asked, “Does the afternoon work? Great. Mmhmm.”
She wrapped up the call by giving him her contact info for the future, and I thanked fuck that Intrepid had just presented me with the perfect excuse to see her the next day. I didn’t care if they wanted me to rerecord all my lines for a new marionette version ofOld Flame. I’d do it. Hell, I’d man the strings myself.
As soon as Greer hung up, I asked, “Was Angelo being a dick?”
Her brows lowered. “Not at all. He was as gleeful as Tony to delete Alex’s contact info. Anyway, they want you to record some intros and ads before the movie goes to streaming.”
It was my turn to lower my brows. “I already did that.”
“Yes, but only a few solo options. They want more.” The brightness was back. “That’s a good thing, right? Like a big and good thing?”
That kind of revision wasn’t as simple as recording a quick video or two in front of a wall. There was a shit-ton of research and planning that went into how to promo a film, and if they were pivoting to me, it was with good reason. As someone whose ego and pride were wrapped up in my work, it meant a lot.
It also meant that Chase Majors—that entitled prick—was going to throw a hissy fit when he saw it wasn’t just his face plastered all over screens. That was reason enough to do it.
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “It’s a big and good thing.”
Greer’s smile faltered, and she studied me as she added, “He said there are a few trends they want you to record, too, so you can do those there, or they can send them to you to do on your own. Is that okay?”
The trend videos were usually stupid viral shit, but they came with the gig, so I was used to it.
At my nod, she plucked my phone from my loose hold and added it to my calendar.
When I saw the time was set for two in the afternoon, I let her know, “In the future, I can do mornings.”
“Says the man who eats breakfast at three PM.”
“That’s only when I’m off.”
“You’ve got a week of early mornings. I thought you’d like one last day to sleep in before the chaos starts.”
It was thoughtful—and not in the empty way people pretended to care about me.
I didn’t have the chance to say so before she stood. “Do you need anything else before I take off?”
Yes.
You.
