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Chapter 1
“You brought the house down as usual.”
Lynn eyed the man through the curved mirror as she painstakingly removed her stage makeup. She had been working with playwright Jack Donaldson for over six years and was familiar with his expressions. Right now, the almost femininely pretty face with the superbly cut ash blonde hair and light blue eyes spoke volumes.
“What is it?”
“I have a bucket of champagne- “
“I have to meet Jason in exactly ten minutes, and you know how he is with time.”
“He is a stick in the mud and was not here for your stellar performance.” He pointed out.
“That’s because he was at the courthouse.”
“Ah, that big trial.”
“Pour me a glass, and let’s hear what’s up with you.” Cutting her eyes back to the reflection in the mirror, she rubbed the cream into her skin. Plucking several napkins out of the box, she used them to wipe the cream off her fingers. She was exhausted. The play had been running for the past two weeks, and she had been going nonstop.
“Here you go.” Pulling up a chair, he sat in front of her, holding his glass delicately between his fingers as he stared at her. “You are beautiful.”
Lynn lifted a tapered brow as she sipped her bubbly. “This must be huge.”
“I am just paying you a well-deserved compliment.” He protested. “When I started six years ago, you stuck with me.”
“That’s because I believed in you. Still do.”
He nodded. “Everyone, including my parents, thought this was just something – a fling, a phase I was going through.” He shrugged his elegant shoulders. “Having their only son turned out to be gay was something of a letdown.”
“They love you.”
“In their way.” His dazzling smile flashed as he continued to stare at the star of his play. Lynn Peterson was a size twenty-two black woman with curves in all the right places. Right now, the curly salt and pepper wig she was still wearing concealed thick dark brown hair streaked liberally with blonde highlights.
Her smile was white with dimples on her cheek, deep enough to bury dimes in, and her complexion a flawless caramel brown. Her personality was vivacious and engaging, and people could not help but fall in love with her, on and off the stage.
“Miriam's role was made for you. When I wrote the play, I did not dream that people would grow to love it so much. But it was you who brought the personality to the character.”
“You are flattering me, which means this is something huge.”
“I am just stating facts.” He told her mildly. “We are running out of money.”
“Ah, there it is.” She pointed her glass at him. “You want me to forgo my measly salary for how long?”
He shook his head. “Nothing of the sort. I would rather do without than ask you to sacrifice your salary.”
“Yeah, right.” She snorted.
“Oh, maybe I would not go that far.” He grinned at her. “We are running out of money, like I said before, and will have to close if we do not get an investor.”
She frowned at that. “I thought we would have a packed house every night.”
“As you know, the props, the overhead, the ads, the billboards all add up, and I will not approach my parents for another dime. I told them I would make this happen, and I meant it. There is someone.”
“Who?”
“Callum Hammond.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Multi-billionaire investor. I have heard of him, of course.”
