Fifteen million dollars.

Fifteen fucking million dollars.

That’s how much Kingston Television was going to pay me under the three-year syndication deal I had signed yesterday. They would also put up the money to produce five, one-hour shows per week and get the show syndicated into every market in the country by the end of the year. There were also six-figure bonuses for meeting ratings milestones every quarter and the promise of more good things to come if the show caught on like they believed it would.

One of the best parts was that I could recruit and hire my own staff. In my mind, there was no one better to executive produce the show than the woman who was walking into my kitchen at that very moment. I pulled a bottle of Coors from the fridge and twisted off the top and set it on the kitchen island. I knew better than to offer her a glass. Lucy liked her beer ice cold straight out of the bottle. I gave her time to drop her computer bag in a chair and was about to give her the great news when she pounced on me with her teeth and claws extended.

“I can’t fucking believe you did this to me,” she said, balling her hands into tight fists and shaking them in the air between us. “I thought you cared about me, Cole. How could you keep this from me?”

I planted my palms on the island and gave her a confused look. “Excuse me?”

“The syndication deal,” she said, throwing her hands in the air as if she were tossing pizza dough. “Why didn’t you fucking tell me you had signed a deal?”

“Actually, I was about to,” I said, sounding less irritated than I really felt. My good mood darkened quickly. I was not accustomed to this kind of assault and would normally strike back in force. Even though it was Lucy, I didn’t appreciate her tone and without thinking, went on the defensive. “What’s your problem?”

“My fucking problem is that I find out an hour before air time that you are bailing on my show!”

“Bailing on your show? Seriously?” I shook my head at her. “Lucy, you’ve been the executive producer for two weeks. You can hardly call it your show. And I’m not bailing on anyone, most of all you.”

“It is my fucking show and you are bailing,” she said, her face turning a decidedly unattractive shade of red. “You promised that you would give me a heads up if you were not going to renew your deal with WNN.”

“Actually, I didn’t promise you any sort of thing,” I said. “You asked me to, but I never said I would give you a heads up about anything. I told you, that was all in the hands of my manager and agent. It wasn’t something I would discuss with you.”

“You fucking asshole,” she said, spitting the words. She put her hands to her head in dramatic style and gawked at me. “You used me.”

That one made my head spin. I shook my head and frowned at her. “What? How did I use you?”

“I told you how bad Ed wanted you to renew the contract. How bad I wanted you to. I’m sure you told your agent that you were fucking the show’s new executive producer. Your agent used that knowledge to work the deal with Kingston. He told them they needed to sign you before I could convince you to stay at WNN.”

“Give me a break, Lucy,” I said with an exasperated sigh. “I already knew how badly WNN wanted to renew my contract. Christ, they’ve offered to do everything short of having Stephanie Hart suck my cock on the air to make it happen.”

“That would have certainly gotten you ratings and your rocks off,” she said angrily. “I’m sure Bryant would have fondled your balls while Stephanie blew you!” She folded her arms over her chest and glared at me. “Be honest with me, Calvin. Why didn’t you tell me?”

I took a deep breath and threw up my hands. “Fine, my agent told me not to, okay? He was afraid you’d say something to Ed and fuck up the deal.”

“You didn’t think that you could trust me?” Her tone went soft and her eyes filled up with tears. “Oh my god, that’s it, isn’t it? You didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth. You were afraid I’d fuck up your deal.”

“I was getting ready to tell you that now,” I said. “I was going to give you the news and carry out on the town to celebrate.”

She covered her eyes with her hands and shook her head. For the love of freakin’ god, why did women have to be so goddamn hysterical?

“You don’t trust me,” she said again as she picked up her computer bag and slung the strap over her shoulder. “And now you’ve probably cost me my job.”

“What are you talking about?” I came around the bar and tried to put my hand on her shoulder, but she jerked away. “Lucy, what are you talking about?”

“Management thinks that I knew all about your deal, but didn’t say anything because we were fucking. That’s what Larry David said to Ed. How could she be fucking the guy every night for two weeks and not know what’s in his head? Those were his exact words. Ed didn’t tell him we were together every night. Only two people knew that. Me and you. And I didn’t say a word. That means that you did.”

“Lucy, please…”

“You told your agent all about us and he told Larry. And now I’ll probably lose my job. Thank you very fucking much, Calvin. This is proof that you can’t go back in time without fucking up the future.”

“What? Lucy, you’re overreacting,” I said. “Come on, let’s forget this silly argument and go celebrate. I’ll personally talk to Larry on Monday and straighten things out.”

“No, I think I need to go,” she said, holding up her hands to keep me away. She gazed into my eyes. “I wouldn’t have said anything to anyone about your deal, Calvin. I would never do anything to hurt you. Obviously, that doesn’t work both ways.”

“Lucy, Jesus, come on…”

“Um, I need a little time to digest this,” she said. “I’m going to stay at my place tonight.”

“Okay, what about this weekend?”

She took a couple of steps back toward the door. “Um, I’m not sure.”

“Lucy, you’re being ridiculous,” I said, rolling my eyes at her. “You realize that, right? You’re overreacting. Don’t leave. There’s more I want to tell you. At least let me help you straighten things out.”

“That’s okay,” she said, turning to leave. “I don’t need your help. Not anymore.”

And with that, she was gone, leaving me pissed off and confused. It wouldn’t matter how successful or rich I became, I would never figure women out. Never. Not in a million years.