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“What if it’s more than that?”
“It’s not. Remember that I’ve been on my semibest behavior. Now I can see what a mistake that was. Pack your suitcase and forget about it. I guarantee it won’t happen again.”
“Sorry. I can’t do it.”
“Sure you can. You’re making way too big a deal out of this.”
“I wish. How do you think admitting something so degrading makes me feel? I’m only hanging on to my self-respect by a thread.”
“That’s because you’re behaving like an idiot.”
“And I’m determined to put a stop to it.”
“We finally agree.” He jammed his fingertips in his pocket. “Okay, I’ll compromise. You can move into the guesthouse for a while. Until you get your brain back.”
“Too awkward with Chaz and Aaron around. Moving to Malibu is a lot better.”
“Chaz already knows about Vegas, and Aaron would do anything for you. The guesthouse is the perfect place for you to deal with your craziness. As for our working relationship…When you’re on the set, you’ll be your normal professional self, and I’ll revert to being an arrogant pain in the ass. It won’t take you long to come to your senses.”
This would be the hardest part of all, and just when she needed her help the most, Scooter disappeared to spread her perkiness somewhere else. Georgie couldn’t look at him, so she made her way outside to the stone patio wall. “Bram…I’m not taking the job. I’m not going to play Helene.”
“What? Of course you are.”
She stared down the steep hillside at the red tile rooftops below. “No, I’m really not.”
She heard the angry thud of his footsteps coming up behind her. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard you say. This is the chance you’ve been waiting for. All your talk about reinventing your career…Was it bullshit?”
“Not at the time, but—”
“Damn it, I’m calling your father!” He loomed at her side. “You’re a pro. You don’t throw away the opportunity of a lifetime over something this stupid.”
“You do when the opportunity of a lifetime could possibly screw you up for years.”
“You’re not serious.”
“I can’t risk working with you every day, not the way I’m feeling right now.”
He dug in then. He paced the patio, delivering one argument after another. As he moved in and out of the shade, she saw him as he was, a creature of light and shadow, revealing only as much as he wanted. When he paused for breath, she shook her head. “I hear what you’re saying, but I’m not changing my mind.”
He finally understood she meant it. She watched him retreat into himself, like a sea creature disappearing into a chambered shell. “I’m sorry to hear that.” Cold. Withdrawn. “At least Jade will be happy.”
“Jade?”
“She’s wanted that part ever since the reading at the house. Haven’t you figured that out yet? We were ready to make her an offer when I saw your tape.”
“You can’t give Jade that part!”
“It’s going to stir up a hornets’ nest all right,” he said without a flicker of emotion. “But that means publicity for the picture, and I’m not going to turn down free press.?
?
A roar echoed through her head. She couldn’t move, could barely speak. “I think you’d better go now.”
“Good idea.” He pulled the sunglasses from his shirt pocket with cold, businesslike detachment. “It’s Tuesday. You have until the end of the week to change your mind or Jade gets the part. Think about that when you’re lying in bed tonight.” He slipped the sunglasses back on. “And while you’re at it, think about whether you really want to fall in love with a guy who’s getting ready to feed you to the wolves.”
Two days after Bram got back from Mexico, he returned home from the studio to find Rory Keene standing barefoot in his kitchen, squeezing pink icing blobs onto waxed paper under the supervision of a scowling Chaz. He’d barely slept since he’d returned. He had a sore throat, a nagging headache, and a perpetual upset stomach. All he wanted to do was bury himself in work.
“They’re supposed to be roses,” Chaz complained. “Did you pay attention to anything I told you?”
