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Matthew pretended to act amused, but how he truly felt was annoyed. Having lunch the previous day with Ben had been torture enough. The last thing he wanted to do was sit through another meal with a guy he could care less about, especially now that he didn’t need access to Billy to get close to Tessa.
“Please tell Mr. Barnett it’s not necessary. Besides, he already thanked me.”
“Nonsense. What you did was very brave. And he’s already on his way to pick you up, so you can’t say no. Oh, he also wanted me to mention that Tessa and Ben will be joining you.”
Matthew perked up. “Really?”
“Really.”
He glanced at Tessa, who was getting in position to shoot again. He figured the scene must be her last of the day. Even so, that meant she wouldn’t be getting out of here for another thirty minutes, at the earliest. He’d probably have to sit through a drink alone with Billy, but he could manage doing so knowing that dinner with Tessa would follow.
Her last dinner as Ben’s wife.
He caught himself before he started grinning at the thought.
“Well, if I can’t say no, then I can’t say no.”
Stacy smiled. “He said he’ll pick you up on the street where the makeup trailers are. You should probably head over there now. He’ll be here soon.”
Matthew hopped out of his chair. “Sorry, Mr. Chase. You’ll have to tell me the rest of your story later.”
“Matthew, please. For the thousandth time, call me Logan.”
“Right. Sorry, Logan.”
“No worries, my friend. The end of the story can wait until next time.”
Matthew donned a less than believable smile. “Can’t wait.”
49
ON HIS WAY TO THE SET, Teddy made a stop at the Santa Barbara Hills Hotel, where he picked up some items from his room and traded the production car he’d been driving for his Porsche.
If things went sideways in his attempt to rescue Rebecca, he preferred to have the speed and agility of his roadster available to him over the clunky handling of the production sedan. Of course, that would still leave him with the Matthew problem. For that, he would need more help than just a fast car.
Once he was back on the road, he called Daniel Rivera and explained what he needed.
“Got it,” Rivera said. “I’ll make it happen.”
“When I get to the set, I’ll stall for as long as I can to give you a head start. Who will be in charge in your absence?”
“Kyle Hansen.”
“I have something for him to do, too. Let him know I’ll talk to him when I get there.”
“Will do.”
Teddy arrived at that day’s filming location five minutes later. The guards let him through the roadblock, and he parked near the makeup trailers. As instructed, Matthew was waiting there for him.
When Teddy climbed out of his Porsche, Matthew took a step toward him. “You really don’t have to do this, Mr. Barnett. It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“Not a big deal? Tell that to the bruise on your face.”
Matthew touched his cheek, surprised. Apparently, he hadn’t realized some of his bruise was showing through the makeup he’d put on.
“You’re lucky you weren’t more seriously injured,” Teddy said. “As far as I’m concerned, dinner is not nearly enough to thank you for what you did.”
“I don’t know about that.”
