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It was infuriating. I knew it was for the best. Of course, I did. Wehadto distance ourselves from each other. We’d already proven that we couldn’t be trusted with even the slightest intimacy. I didnotwant a repeat of what had happened at the hotel.
But the idea that he would never put his hands on me again… suddenly, I found that I couldn’t bring myself to draw that line. I didn’t want to know that I’d felt his touch for the last time.
He smirked at me. “I didn’t think so,” he said.
That was so maddening that I almost changed my mind right then and there, just to shut him up—but then we were walking into the building, and I’d missed my chance anyway, and we were headed into another day together and I hadn’t done it.
“Here you two are,” Michael said, greeting us at the door. “I’ve got you set up in a workspace at the back. Follow me.”
“Thank you for the hotel room, by the way,” Jake said as we followed him across the office. “Olivia and I had a great time.”
I burned a little hotter. I hated him for hinting so blatantly at what had happened between us—I was sure Michael could read between the lines. But at the same time, I was nearly as aroused as I’d been the night we had gone to dinner together, and I couldn’t stand that Jake had that effect on me so easily.
We stopped at a little table with a pair of computers. “I didn’t know what you’d need,” Michael said. “Maybe you prefer to work together on one device.”
“Two is perfect, thanks.” I stepped away from Jake’s touch and sat down at one of the computers, thankful for an excuse to put distance between us.
“So it’s script polish today,” Michael said. “I’ve given you the scenes we’re going to be shooting first. My main concern is getting the dialogue in tip-top shape, so focus on that, all right?”
I nodded. “I can do that.”
“As for you, Jake… I thought we could focus on talking today,” Michael said. “I’d love to go over the project and get the perspective of a military man. Of course, my characters are Army, not Navy, but I believe you should be able to contribute some useful information.”
“I’d be happy to,” Jake said.
I tuned the two of them out and got to work.
The script definitely wasn’tbad, but I was surprised by how amateurish the writing was. I would have expected someone writing for a Michael Sanders movie to be a whole lot better than this. I thought back to his last movie—it had been a space adventure—and realized it had had similar problems.
A lot of the time had been spent on the main characters shouting at each other, not saying anything of value. It was something that one didn’t particularly notice while watching it because one’s attention was drawn to the flashy special effects, but it had certainly been a factor.
I scrolled to the top of the first scene and started to edit.
I became engrossed in work for a while. I’d always found it simple to become distracted by writing—the world around me seemed to fade away, and I’d find myself immersed in the lives of the people I was attempting to write about.
For some time, I didn’t clue in on what Michael and Jake were talking about—I assumed the conversation was about the screenplay, the way Michael had suggested it would be.
Then I heard my name, which jolted me back to reality. “I developed it a few years back with Olivia’s brother,” Jake was saying.
I tuned back in. Jake was holding out his phone. Michael was looking mildly annoyed, but he accepted it and looked at the screen. “This is a financial planner?”
“Have you ever seen the original Branches app?”
“I can’t say that I have.”
“It completely changed the game when it comes to finance tracking apps. What makes the difference for people is how user-friendly it is, see? A lot of people have been put off from getting finance apps in the past because they’re not inclined to think in terms of math and numbers. However, those who find left brain activities stressful are precisely those who will profit the most from using this app.”
I couldn’t believe he was pitching the app right now. Bringing it up over dinner was one thing, but we were supposed to be working. “Honey,” I said, trying to sound like I loved him, like this was something we talked about from time to time, “Michael doesn’t want to hear about Branches right now. We’re supposed to be working on the screenplay.”
Jake laughed. “My wife is one of the people who reallyneedthis app,“ he said to Michael, leaning close as if they were old buddies sharing deep dark secrets I wasn’t privy to. “She’s horrible with tracking the household bills. I mean, don’t get me wrong, amazing as a writer, but when it comes to the budget… if it’s not a pair of shoes, she wouldn’t know how to save for it.”
I kicked him under the table as hard as I could. Was he demeaning me in front of Michael Sanders? It was the opposite of what I had brought him along to do, and I couldn’t believe he’d dare.
Fortunately, Michael chose that moment to get to his feet. “I have a meeting with the lead actor,” he said. “I’ll come and check up on you two later.” He got up and left the room.
“I should have asked to go along,” Jake said. “Would’ve been cool to meet the star of the film.”
“Let me guess,” I said icily. “You would have tried to tell him all about Branches also?”
