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“Oh,” I said, staring at him in surprise.
“You’re a breath of fresh air. You’re honest. You’re not superficial. You are someone who speaks their mind, and you care about real issues and real people. And I don’t want you to lose that, not for the quest of making more money. And I have a feeling that you’ve already been presented with that opportunity before, and you took the right path. I don’t want your working at my company to take you off that path.”
“What do you mean?” I said.
“I mean, your dad is quite wealthy in his own right. I looked up his firm, and I know you must have grown up with money.And I know that there must have been expectations of you, and you chose to go your own path, which I admire and respect. I don’t want you to lose yourself in this world.”
“Oh wow. Thanks.”
I stared at him in surprise because he was right. I had walked away from money, and I’d walked away from a high status to live a life I could be proud of, to be someone I could admire. Poppy and I had both decided that we wanted to live lives that fulfilled us and made us happy. And while I wasn’t living the dream I had exactly hoped for, and I wasn’t in the job that I wanted, I was making it on my own and living in the real world. Not having someone to support you meant that sometimes you had to take jobs that you didn’t want because you needed to make money to pay the bills and that was a sacrifice I was making. Yeah. When I left San Francisco and told my dad to keep his money, I believed that I could be an actress or live a creative life that I had always dreamed about.
But the reality was that I couldn’t afford to pay my bills on bit work in student films and one off-off-off-off-Broadway show that had lasted for one week before it got canceled. And that was okay because I was still trying, and I was trying to make a name for myself. Even though finance wasn’t the career I ideally wanted to be in, it opened doors for me because just working this job for a couple of years would provide me with a nest egg that would allow me to pursue my goals again. It would still be on my terms and not the terms of my dad.
Travis had seen that. He’d understood without me even having to say a word, and my heart melted a little bit for knowing that he saw who I was. He truly understood where I came from and what I was doing and why it was so important for me to make a name for myself. I felt seen by someone other than Poppy for one of the first times in my life.
“Thanks, Travis,” I said, smiling at him softly. “I really am grateful for those words from you.”
“Don’t be grateful,” he said. “Just know that no matter what happens between us personally or in the workplace, I never want you to give up on that dream you have been waiting for your entire life.”
He smiled at me warmly. “I just want to kiss you right now. You know that,” he said, looking down at my lips.
“I wish you would,” I said, smiling up at him, wanting more than anything to wrap my arms around his neck and press my body against his.
I felt his hand touch the side of my waist, and I stepped forward slightly, gazing at him. “You’re the most beautiful woman here tonight,” he said.
“No, I’m not,” I said, laughing. “There are like supermodels and major actresses and Poppy.”
“Poppy’s gorgeous. I’d say she’s the second-best-looking woman here tonight,” he said with a smile. “But both of you are much more radiant and real than any fake plastics in attendance at this party tonight.”
I giggled slightly. “You don’t know quite how true that is. I heard at least three people talking about their plastic surgeon,” I said with a small smile.
“Trust me,” he said. “I know. I’ve felt more than my fair share of silicon boobies.”
I stared at him and rolled my eyes. “Really, Travis?”
“What? Isn’t what you love about me my honesty?”
And as we stared at each other smiling, my heart thudding, I realized that his words were truer than he knew. Poppy was right. She’d seen it before I’d seen it, but I was falling for Travis Covington. I was falling in love, and as I realized that, I started to feel scared because the last thing I needed was to fall in love with my boss. That would just complicate absolutely everything.
Chapter 32
“Travis, my man, there you are.”
A tall man with gray hair and striking green eyes approached Travis. He looked over at me for a couple of seconds and gave me a polite smile.
“Hello.”
“Hi.” Looking up at him, I stared at his face as he looked vaguely familiar.
“Barry, this is my assistant, Molly. Molly, this is Barry Costello. You may have heard of him?”
“Barry Costello,” I said under my breath, and then I paused, my eyes widening slightly. “You’re Barry Costello, the director of all those mafia movies?”
“Writer-director,” he said with a smile and nodded. “I’m glad you’ve heard of me.”
“Who couldn’t have heard of you?” I said, laughing. “My parents absolutely love your work. And me too, of course,” I said quickly, but that wasn’t exactly true. I wasn’t really a fan of mafia movies, but I’d definitely been able to appreciate his artistic talent. “You’re brilliant. Your last movie had thirty minutes with no talking, and it didn’t even make a difference to me.”
“Well, it was experimental for sure, and the studios didn’t really want me to do that. They didn’t think it would sell, but we’ve made five billion worldwide,” he said, “so I guess someone liked it.”
