“Hello?” I said glumly after picking up the ringing phone. It’d been five days since my awful night with Jacob Archer, and I was still feeling down in the dumps about it. Not only had the man not asked me out because he actually liked the look of me, he’d done it because of that bastard James, who was still out there spreading rumors about me to anyone who’d listen.

Apparently Jacob had listened enough to try and steal Oscar from me.

Prick.

“Hey, it’s me,” Angie said on the other end of the line. “How are you feeling?”

“Still shitty.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah. I still feel awful over the whole date thing. Jacob just made me feel so low. And I don’t know if I’m even allowed to feel bad, because I was kinda using him, right? I mean, it was just meant to be a rebound date. Nothing serious or real. Just so I could maybe get a new contract. So what right do I even have to be mad?”

“Um… you have every right to be mad, girl! He tried to steal Oscar!”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“Well, anyway, I have some news that might help cheer you up,” she said.

“Oh?”

“Remember all the terms of our little deal?”

I sighed. “Yes. And you know I held up my end, obviously.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have pushed you. But like you said, you held up your end, so I held up mine. I got Delos the contract with Meridian Studios, and part of the contract says they must send you as the sports consultant on Fourth Down.”

I perked up. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” she replied. “Exciting, right?”

“Yes. Thanks so much, Angie!” I said. This was splendid news. Finally, something to get me out of this horrible funk! Angie paused a little too long before replying, and I frowned. “Wait. There’s a catch, isn’t there?”

“Not so much a catch. But there is some bad news,” she said in a reluctant tone.

My heart sank. I just couldn’t catch a break, could I?

“What is it?” I asked.

“Um…I just found out who the lead actor is, playing Walter Simmons.”

My stomach filled with dread. “Spit it out,” I said, although I had a feeling I already knew what was coming.

“It’s Jacob.”

I almost threw the phone across the room. “No! Why?”

“I’m so sorry, I only found out after I secured the contract for you. I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you all day. It’s horrible, but you really want the job, right?”

I let out a heavy sigh. “Yes.”

“So you can make it work. Somehow.”

I nodded slowly. “You’re right,” I said. “And actually, I have an idea. As soon as I see him during production, I’ll make one thing abundantly clear to him. If he acts like a tool even a tiny bit, I’ll go to the media and tell everyone what he did that night. How he tried to steal the dog to return to an abusive man, how he was a total dick to me over dinner…all of it.”

“Good idea. Although he already has a bad boy kind of reputation, right?”

I snorted. “Yeah, but it’s the sexy kind of bad boy rep. Not the dog-stealing kind. No one wants that.”

“True.”

“Okay, well, thanks for letting me know.”

“No worries. Production starts in three weeks, and they want you to go over the scripts before then. They’re sending them to you tomorrow so you can start making notes and so on.”

“Great.”

When we’d said our goodbyes and hung up, I summoned Oscar from across the room, where he was having a quiet nap. When he heard my voice, his ears pricked up, and he bounded over to me and jumped up on the couch next to me.

“At least I’ve got one gorgeous, trustworthy man in my life,” I said, petting his head. “At least I’ve got you...”

* * *

I arrived at Meridian Studios for my first consultant’s meeting the following Monday. A tall, willowy brunette assistant directed me to a conference room on the third floor. “You’re here about the Fourth Down movie, right?” she said as we walked through a corridor. I nodded, and she sighed. “I’m so jealous. I hear Jacob Archer is starring in it. I haven’t seen him around here, though.”

“He probably hasn’t been in yet,” I said. “The movie doesn’t start shooting for a few weeks. Right now the script is getting finalized and other details are being ironed out, so it’s mostly just other production staff hanging around rather than the actors, I presume.”

“Oh, right,” she said. “Well, I can’t wait to meet him. Maybe he’ll even ask me out! I hear he’s dated a few studio assistants before.”

“Just watch your dog around him,” I muttered.

She wrinkled her nose. “What?”

“I said good luck with that,” I said, forcing a smile.

“Oh. Thanks!

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes at her dreamy attitude toward Jacob, and I stepped into the conference room we’d just arrived at. Bonnie Minkoff, one of the studio’s executive producers, was sitting at the end of a large table. She smiled and waved me in, getting up to kiss me on either cheek as I approached. She was a tiny but formidable-looking woman with an intelligent gaze and closely-cropped hair. She gestured for me to sit.

“I think we’ve met a few times, haven’t we?” she said. “Through Angie?”

I nodded. “Yes, a few years ago. Anyway, thanks so much for taking me on board. I’m really excited about this movie.”

Except for the part where I have to work near Jacob, I silently added.

“Yes, we’re all super excited,” she said. “Anyway, I figured today we could just go over some general things, like what sort of issues or problems—if any—you’re seeing overall. We can even get started on fixing up the first scene when the script writers and editors arrive. They were here earlier, but they went for coffee.”

“No problem. I can start without them,” I said.

“Go ahead.”

“Okay, so overall, the writing is pretty tight, but it lacks a certain sense of gritty realism on the sports side. It’s obvious the writers did their research for the most part, but there are a lot of terms that ‘real’ everyday players, coaches and fans don’t actually use. For example…”

We discussed the script for a while, and when the writers returned half an hour later, I cleared my throat and spoke louder so they could all hear me outlining a particular mistake I’d just found.

“Which page was that?” one of them asked, flicking through the script.

“Page five, second line,” I said. “See, you have Walter on the field in that scene, as is necessary. But then it says the team they’re playing against has their O-line on the field.”

She looked confused.

“Sorry, I mean offensive line,” I said. “Anyway, Walter was a QB, and you can’t have both teams playing offense at the same time.”

“Oh, of course. Duh, I don’t know how no one picked up on that. It’s an easy fix. We’ll change that to the defensive lineup for the other team,” she said, crossing out some words on page five.

“Nora, you’ll be present throughout the actual shoots to make sure the actors are doing everything correctly, right?” another writer asked. “Like their throws or whatever.”

I nodded. “Yep.”

Bonnie spoke up next. “Oh, speaking of actors,” she said. “All the guys we’ve hired to play the football team and coaches will be coming in soon for a meet and greet. I figured you should meet them, Nora, seeing as you’ll be working with them so closely when filming begins.”

My heart began to race. “All of them? Even…even Jacob Archer?”

“Yes,” she said with a wink. “Got a crush, huh? Don’t worry. Who doesn’t love him?”

I didn’t have a crush on him. I wanted to crush him.

I forced a smile. “I’m excited to meet everyone,” I said diplomatically.

I was struck by the urge to race to the bathroom and check my hair and makeup, although I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t care what a bunch of actors thought of me… especially Jacob.

Right?

Bonnie checked her watch. “Actually, they should all be here by now,” she said. “Let’s take a break and head downstairs to the main set so we can do the meet and greet.”

“Oh. Sure.”

With each step I took behind her on our way to the main part of the set, an ever-increasing amount of dread pumped through my system. By the time we arrived at a large set of trailers, my legs felt like jelly.

“Guys!” Bonnie said. She let out a whistle. “Come and meet Nora.”

A large group of men were playing an impromptu game of football over on a fake NFL field, and when they heard Bonnie, they headed over to us. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw that Jacob was not among them.

“Where’s Archer?” Bonnie asked, noticing the same thing.

One of the guys shrugged. “Late, I guess.”

She rolled her eyes, and then she began the introductions to the actors. They were all big, beefy guys, except the one playing the wide receiver, and most of them seemed to have a pretty decent knowledge of the game. My main job with them would simply be observing as they filmed scenes and ensuring they did everything exactly right, rather than having to explain every single nitty-gritty detail to them.

Just as I thought I was off the hook in regards to seeing Jacob today, a familiar voice sounded in my ear.

“Sorry I’m late.”

I turned to see Jacob striding toward us. When he saw me, he paused mid-step in shock, eyebrows sky-high. I smiled to myself at how much my presence was already bothering him. He probably thought I’d come here just to fill his coworkers in on the dog-stealing incident.

“I’m glad you’re finally here, Jacob,” Bonnie said. “I’d like you to meet Nora. She’s our accuracy consultant for the movie. She’s assisting with script finalization, and when filming begins she’ll be observing every scene you shoot to make sure you’re doing everything right.”

“Right. Hi, Nora,” he said, extending a tentative hand. “It’s good to see you again.”

I reluctantly shook his hand, affecting a tone of cool ignorance. “Hi. I don’t believe we’ve actually met before,” I said, refusing to let my face betray my true emotions.

His eyes flashed with a vaguely offended expression, and I did a mental high-five. He deserved to be offended, and he deserved to think that he was so thoroughly unmemorable that I’d already forgotten him and all his bullshit.

When we were done with the overall meet and greet, Bonnie looked at her watch again and sighed. “I have a meeting with the studio heads in ten minutes,” she said. “Nora, you can find your own way back to the writer’s room, right?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

“Good. I’ll see you later.”

She strode away, and I began to make my way back into the main building. To my chagrin, Jacob followed me. I headed for the elevator as quickly as I could, and I almost made it away from him in time, but he reached out and held the door with one hand before stepping in beside me. With a ding, the doors closed, and I was trapped in the elevator with him.

Great.

“I know you remember me,” he said, looking down at me with those piercing grey eyes. “We only met a couple of weeks ago.”

“Met? Oh, I wouldn’t say we met,” I said. “Given the fact that you were sent to chase me down by my ex.”

“I told you, he didn’t send me.”

“Whatever. I really don’t care, Jacob. I don’t know why you’re even bringing this up. I just want to be a professional and do my job without thinking about you and all your garbage.”

“I’m bringing it up because I’m sorry. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

I gave him a sweet smile. “Same.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about bashing your skull in with a paper weight.”

He rolled his eyes and chuckled. “But you’ve still been thinking about me, regardless.”

“Please stop talking to me.”

He leaned closer, putting one arm up on the elevator mirror so that I was forced to shrink back against the wall to avoid touching him. He leaned down with a smirk. “I don’t want to stop. And I don’t think you really want me to.”

“You’re dead wrong about that.”

“I’m not.”

I affected a bored expression. “What makes you think that?” I said, trying to ignore my racing heart. He looked so good, even smelled good. Goddammit. I cast my eyes down.

“I think there’s something between us, despite the rough start we got off to,” he said, leaning even closer to me. “I felt it that night. I think you did too.”

“Rough start? Jacob, you took me on literally the worst date imaginable, which wasn’t really even a real date, and then you tried to steal my dog. That’s not a rough start. That’s basically a declaration of war. Even Mount Vesuvius erupted with less drama.”

He pressed on despite my reticence. “I know you felt it when you were on top of me the other night. In that very sexy lingerie, no less,” he said, voice turning huskier.

“I think you’re mistaking murderous rage with lust.”

“Just give me a chance to make things right. One more date. A real date this time.”

“Nope. I’d rather be stabbed in the neck with an Ebola-tipped screwdriver.”

He chuckled. “C’mon. I know you want me. I can see it in your eyes,” he said softly. “It’s okay to admit your true desires. It’s healthy.”

I scoffed. “You know you sound like a mentally challenged sex offender when you talk like that, right?” I said. “It’s not at all hot or sexy, like the movies might make you think.”

He stroked a hand over my throat, ever so gently. “Then why are you so hot?”

“I’m not.”

“Your skin is practically burning up.”

“The only thing that’s going to be burning up in here anytime soon is your eyes when I spray you with mace,” I said, pushing him away.

I expected him to frown and stop the elevator so he could storm off like a typical arrogant movie star who didn’t get his way, but instead he laughed. “You’ve got a real spark, you know? I like that.”

“I don’t care what you like,” I said.

The elevator finally came to a stop, thank god, and I stepped out.

“By the way,” I said, turning back to him. “If you don’t stop pulling all this shit with me, I’m going to the media and telling them what you did to me. Dog stealing and all. I’m sure your fans would love to know the real Jacob Archer.”

“That wasn’t the real me.”

I waggled a finger at him. “Shut it. I’m serious; I’ll get an interview this afternoon if I have to.”

He held up his hands in defeat. “Fine. Got it. From now on, I’ll be professional all the way, baby.”

I wanted to lecture him about calling me baby, but I decided against it. I didn’t want to waste any more breath on the handsome idiot.

“Good. See you later,” I muttered.

Then I walked away, and I tried to pretend my mind wasn’t chanting Jacob’s name with each and every one of my clattering footsteps. Damn. He was right about everything he’d just said. Even after what he’d done, I still wanted him.

Wanted him bad.