Noah was hilarious. Nathaniel, who she’d learned preferred just Nath, was more serious, and he was smart, really smart. They hadn’t ventured out of the wine bar, and Lyla enjoyed having some time to bond with the other two members of the Threens. Sadie stuck to her side, and Lyla was just beginning to relax when Cliff came over to tap her on the shoulder.
“We need to get back to the studio,” Cliff said into her ear.
“What?” she asked, looking at her watch to see that it was just after eight PM, she still had time. But Cliff looked so serious that she panicked. “Is it Trick? Is something wrong?”
But he didn’t answer her, just nodded sideways and backed off. Saying her goodbyes in record time, she paid no attention to the guys’ pleas that she should stay put. Sadie said she was coming with her and Lyla was so desperate to find out what was wrong that she didn’t even argue.
Racing back to the studio, she followed Cliff through the dark lobby and up in the elevator to the executive floor. Oh, God, if something had happened to Trick, she didn’t even know what she’d do. They’d had sex in his dressing room shower, but she’d been kicking herself for voicing doubts about their relationship. She didn’t have doubts, not really. She just opened her mouth and said things; it was idle speculation, conjecture. She didn’t think that her words could really upset him.
Her, Lyla Malloy, how on earth could she have the ability to hurt the megalith that was Nairn Strickland?
Sadie was at her back as she went into the office after Cliff, but she slowed in her pace when she saw Bunyan and Paul seated on either side of what she guessed was Bunyan’s desk because she’d never actually been in his office, until now.
“Where’s Trick?” Lyla asked.
Sadie closed the door behind them. “Was there an accident?”
“We need you to sign something,” Bunyan said.
“Sign…” Lyla glanced back at Sadie who looked just as confused as she did. “You called me here with an emergency… And the emergency is… you need me to sign something?”
“Yes,” Bunyan said.
Her new friend stayed at her side. “Wow,” Sadie said. “I think we need to get you a dictionary for Christmas.”
“You’ve caused a problem with legal,” Bunyan said. “On Boys Night… you should never have appeared on the show and especially not in the way you did.”
“It’s a sexual release,” Paul said.
Lyla was pleased to hear Cliff laugh. “Damn,” she breathed. “Trick would’ve had a great comeback for that. Where is my husband when we really need him?”
Sadie smiled, but Bunyan scoffed. “You seem to have forgotten what this is, Miss Malloy,” Bunyan said. “You are the property of this network and while you are, you act in the best interest of this studio. This isn’t a game. This is business and you are an asset. That’s all you are. And when assets stop working out for us, we sell them.”
“Sell them?” Sadie said. “Now I know why Trick isn’t here. If you spoke to her that way while he was in the room—”
“Yes, yes, he’d fly off the handle. He’d get defensive and threaten us all. Well, he’s not here, he’s working, for the studio. As we speak, he’s filming his quiz for us.”
“Yeah,” Sadie said and pulled her phone from her pocket. “He’s in the building and he’s expecting to hear from Lyla in five minutes. If he doesn’t, I guarantee you he’ll walk off set.”
Lyla couldn’t refute that. He’d been worried about her going out with his friends and what trouble she might end up in. If she didn’t text, he might assume that she was in trouble and feel it necessary to come chasing after her.
“No, he won’t,” Bunyan said and picked up a sheet of paper. “Because this will only take a minute… All we need you to do is sign this.”
“Oh,” Lyla said and began to move, but Sadie put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.
“She’s going to have her lawyer look at that first.”
“Lawyer?” Lyla said in time with Bunyan and Paul. Lyla didn’t even have a lawyer, though she could get a lawyer if it was necessary.
“Why would she need a lawyer?” Bunyan asked. “She signed the initial contracts without a lawyer.”
“Yeah,” Sadie said. “And that was just three weeks ago. Follow up contracts this quickly usually mean something was missed in the first contract or someone wants to change the rules of the game… Which is it? ‘Cause if this was about Boys Night, Damon would be here.”
“Damon?” Lyla asked Sadie.
“Their executive producer and director,” Sadie said.
Bunyan glanced at Paul. “We need to ensure there won’t be a lawsuit brought by Miss Malloy about the footage aired on Boys Night last night.”
“Why would Lyla bring a lawsuit?” Sadie asked. “She knew Trick was live. Knew what was happening. She addressed the studio and spoke to the guys even after she was on her back.” Sadie put her hand on Lyla’s shoulder again. “Sorry, honey.” Lyla shook her head because Sadie was right. “And that’s exactly what a lawyer would say if this ended up in court… What is it you want, Bunyan? You won’t find a person more accommodating than Lyla, so if you spell it out, she’s the most likely person to agree.”
Paul stood up. “We need you and Trick to go back to the hotel.”
“The hotel? Which hotel?” Lyla asked.
“Where you had sex,” Bunyan said.
“We can build a set,” Paul said. “But it will be easier just to reserve the suite for an hour.”
Bunyan projected his voice. “We need footage.”
“Footage,” Sadie said. “Of them having sex?”
“Just the usual,” Bunyan shrugged like it was no big deal. “We’re not filming porn. We have no problem with them staying under a blanket or trying to conceal what they’re doing.”
Sadie laughed. “You can’t be serious.”
Bunyan’s expression got sterner. “This is not your business, Miss Lawrence. This is between the studio and our cast. We need the footage. It is necessary and they have to comply. It’s in the initial contract. They both gave up rights to any and all intimate acts. We are allowed to have footage of it. We could sue them for subverting our access to the act.”
“Sue them?” Sadie spat out, then nodded at the desk. “Is that what that contract is?”
“No, actually,” Paul said. “This is an out.”
“His idea, not mine,” Bunyan muttered.
“It’s a waiver that allows us to use stand-ins,” Paul said. “If she signs this, we can get actors to recreate the moment.”
Recreate the moment she and Trick had first been intimate? The idea made Lyla feel sick. “How can you do that? You get look-a-likes? Won’t people notice it’s not us?”
“More of the action will happen under the covers.”
“But we didn’t do it under the covers,” Lyla said.
Sadie looped her arm through hers. “Don’t give them any details. That was your special moment with Trick. Don’t sell it to them.”
Bunyan laughed. “Both of them sold themselves to us when they agreed to do the show. This isn’t deviant curiosity. We need to enhance the appeal of the show. If viewers think they’ll get better footage on Boys Night, they’ll switch.”
Oops, yes, that was true. Lyla worried her lip as she tried to decide what they should do. “I don’t feel right about faking it,” Lyla said.
Cliff laughed. “I think Trick would have a follow-up line for that too.”
Yes, he would. Geez, all she ever did was say stupid things. “You won’t have to fake anything,” Paul said. “Sign the paper and we’ll use stand-ins.”
Other people, pretending to be them? How would she watch that? What if they did something that embarrassed her or Trick? If Bunyan was pissed enough he could make it seem like she was unsatisfied or that Trick was no good in bed.
And they’d never catch the emotional intensity of their joining. They could make it dirty and cheap. An actress could make her sound loud and ridiculous, or an actor could make Trick seem like a sleaze, something the studio was good at.
“No,” she said. “I won’t… I don’t want you to use stand-ins.”
“Then you have to go back to the hotel with him and do it yourselves,” Bunyan said. “It’s that or…”
“Or what?”
“We need something bigger,” Bunyan said. “Something that will make our viewers forget they missed the first time.”
“Something not under the covers,” Sadie said like she was translating and it turned out she was right because Bunyan nodded.
“Ideally it wouldn’t be in the bedroom either, it should seem spontaneous and…”
“Dirty,” Cliff said and it was sort of sweet that he sounded annoyed.
But Lyla couldn’t focus on that. Spontaneous and dirty… Turning to Sadie, Lyla set her determination. “You usually work on the quiz, right?”
Sadie glanced at everyone. “Uh, yeah, I took tonight off because of the team-building thing, I thought I’d have a backlog.”
“Can you get me into the studio?”