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My insides squirmed. “Let’s not get carried away.” Then because I was suddenly feeling generous, I lowered my menu and said, “Just this once, you can order for me.”
“Just this once? That implies there will be another outing.”
He winked, and my skin bloomed hot under my clothes.
“I meant, just this once, I’d let a guy order for me. Not you specifically.”
“But that’s not what you said,” he teased, but before I could protest, he turned to the waiter and rattled off something in French, and the waiter chuckled.
My gaze turned laser-sharp, and when the waiter took the menus and hurried off to place our orders, I held firm.
“Anyway, what were we saying?” he asked, like my retinas weren’t currently burning a hole through his skull.
“You were just about to tell me the real reason you wanted to take me out. Which, I assume, has something to do with this business proposition you mentioned.”
“Oh, right.” He tapped the table with his fingers. “Well, I do have my reasons.”
“I’m waiting. . . .” I motioned for him to get on with it and took a sip of my water. Much longer and I’d die of old age.
“I want you to be my girlfriend.”
Chapter 7
THORNE
IwatchedScarlett’sexpressionclosely after I dropped the bombshell and she choked on her drink. The liquid wheezed through her windpipe as she coughed to hack it back up. Surprised would be an understatement.
“You, what?” she yelled.
“Shhh,” I hissed, glancing around me. I knew she’d be surprised, but I didn’t expect her to nearly choke to death at the prospect of going out with me. “I don’t want the waitstaff to hear any of this.”
“Why on earth would I do that?” she asked, like I was asking her to sacrifice her pet dog instead of feign a relationship with me.
“Because I have connections. And if you do this for me, I’ll get you into Parsons.”
She blinked at me a moment, and I knew I had her. My confidence ratcheted up a notch as I prepared to give her the spiel about the contract and—
“No.” She shook her head firmly.
My smile faded, and my confidence took a sudden nosedive. For a moment, I thought maybe I misheard her, so I sat there, staring at her while I waited for her to laugh and take her rejection back. But she didn’t.
“No?” I repeated. “Why not?”
“I want to get into Parsons on my own because I am worthy. Because I deserve to be there.”
“I don’t think you understand how the industry works.” I shook my head. Clearly, she was naïve. “Talent alone isn’t always enough. It’s your connections in this kind of industry that make or break you.”
“I’m aware, but I don’t want to look back on my career and wonder if I was good enough to make it on my own. I want to know that I made it because I have talent, not because I bought my way in.” She crossed her arms over her chest, eyes fixed on the cheese fries in front of us. “I don’t expect you to understand.”
I leaned back in my seat, lips parted. Never in the dozens of times I went over what I’d say to her in my head had I expected a scenario where she turned me down. I mean, no one ever rejected me. Quite the opposite, and here I was, offering her a handout, and she didn’t want it?
I rubbed my now-damp palms over the top of my jeans, wondering where to go from here and coming up short. “There must be something you want,” I said, but she didn’t reply. Instead, she leaned forward in her seat and picked up a fry, popping it into her mouth.
“What’s in it for you, anyway?” she asked.
I opened my mouth to give her some song and dance about my reasons, but then I stopped myself. Scarlett was different. Already, she’d proven to be unlike any woman I’d ever met, and because of that, I didn’t want to feed her a line of bullshit. I wanted to offer her something I rarely gave anyone—the truth.
“The rumors are true. There’s talk of replacing me on the set ofThe Soldiers Within Us, and since we’ve just started filming and my behavior can put me in breach, they can do it too. So I’m trying to change my image. I’ve vowed to stay out of trouble, and I’m booking more positive appearances like the one at the hospital, but it’s not enough. I need to put on a show for them, make the media fall in love with me, and draw so much positive press that the studio would be foolish to replace me.”
