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As she walked by, Chiara glanced in her hallway mirror and resisted the urge to pinch herself. She looked happy...relaxed...and yes, sexually satisfied. Filming was over, so the main item on her agenda today was reading a script for a role that she was considering.
Ever since she and Rick had returned to LA from Welsdale two days ago, she’d been in a lovely cocoon. She flushed just thinking about what they’d done yesterday. Foreplay on the weight bench, but the exercise mat and even the jump rope had come in handy...
Walking into the den, she plopped herself on the couch, feet dangling off one end. She began reading the script on her tablet. Moments later, Rick walked in.
After an extraordinary bout of sex this morning, he’d gone out to run errands and she hadn’t seen him in the two hours since. He looked just as yummy as earlier, however. They were both dressed in sweats, but somehow, he managed to make his look sexy rather than casual. He hadn’t bothered shaving this morning, and she’d come to like the shadow darkening his jaw. Contrasting with his wonderful multihued eyes, it lent him an air of quiet magnetism...
Rick nodded toward the device in her hand. “Have you checked the news yet?”
“No, should I? I just sat down.” She belatedly realized he looked more serious than usual.
Rick folded his arms and leaned against the entryway. “Well, the good news is your temporary restraining order came through, so your bad fan can be arrested for getting too close.”
“Great.” She hadn’t given much thought to Todd Jeffers in the past several days, though now that she was back home and he knew her address, she supposed she did feel an undercurrent of more stress. She asked cautiously, “What’s the bad news?”
“Your father has gotten himself arrested.”
Chiara leaned her head back against the pillows and closed her eyes briefly. “In Sin City? What could he have possibly done? The police turn a blind eye to practically every vice imaginable there. Even prostitution is legal in parts of Nevada, for heaven’s sake.”
“Apparently he argued about a parking ticket.”
“Sounds just like him. Responsibility has never been his strong suit.”
“You have to deal with the daddy problem.”
“I’ve never called him Daddy,” she scoffed, straightening. “Sperm donor, maybe. Daddy, no.”
“Whatever the name, you’ll keep having the same pesky PR problems if you don’t address the issue. And your next big movie might not come with a stuntman willing to double as the star’s boyfriend.”
“Hilarious.” Still, she felt a pull on her heartstrings at the reminder that their arrangement was temporary and fake.
Rick dropped his arms and sauntered into the room. “We may have had some success in distracting the press from your father recently, but you need to turn around and face the issue.”
“I don’t run from anything,” she scoffed again.
“Right. You’re a daredevil. Guess who gave you the risk-taking gene?”
She shrugged off a sudden bad feeling as she got up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Rick’s gaze was penetrating. “What do you think gambling is? It’s a high from taking risks. There’s a rush from the brain’s rewards system. You like risks, your father likes risks. Different species of risk, but same family.”
She had nothing in common with her father. How dare Rick make that connection? Even worse, it was one she hadn’t seen coming. So she was in a profession with big highs and lows... So she did some of her own stunts...
Rick folded his arms again. “The funny thing is the only situation where you won’t take a chance is arranging a meeting with Michael Feran.”
“I don’t have anything to say to him.”
Rick tossed her a disbelieving look. “Of course you do. You have a lifetime’s worth of questions to grill and cross-examine him with,” he said pleasantly, “but let’s just stick with the issue at hand, which is getting him to stop attracting bad press.”
She jutted her chin forward. “And how do you propose I do that?”
“I’ve got some ideas...ones that might appeal to his own self-interest.”
“Oh? And since when have you turned into a psychologist?”
Rick braced his hands on his hips. “People management is part of the job description for a Hollywood producer. And stunt work is about getting your mind ready to conquer fear about what could happen to your body. Mind over body.”
“Thanks for the tip.”
