Chapter Sixteen
“Kai!” Donna enthused as Kai walked through the studio doors, having been asked to come in half an hour early today.
His stomach had been in knots since he’d gotten the call.
Her enthusiasm soothed some of his concern that this was going to go badly for him, but not all of it. Producers weren’t like normal people. They had no trouble smiling to your face while they stabbed you in the back.
“There’s someone I want you to meet,” she said, taking his arm to guide him toward her office, and that was alarming.
Wyatt had always been her favorite, as far as Kai could tell. He was the one who got greeted enthusiastically, he was the one who was called in early for meetings.
Kai had been lucky to get his job in the first place and had, up until recently, been keeping his head down and hoping no one noticed he was still showing up and drawing a paycheck. Now, he was being treated like Donna’s personal darling.
He didn’t like it. It made him suspicious.
There was another woman in Donna’s office, a petite blonde with startling green eyes and excellent taste in shoes.
She looked at Kai like he was some kind of livestock.
He didn’t especially like that, either.
“Kai Jones, this is Marnie Wilkinson, head of programming.”
Kai’s mouth fell open, and stayed that way while Marnie shook his hand and beamed at him, her eyes sparkling. “It’s so good to finally meet you,” she said. “I’m a big fan.”
Kai suspected that if she’d ever watched one of his shows, it had happened right before this meeting in preparation for it. It wasn’t even that she seemed insincere, it was just that no one watched his shows. He’d been filling a programming gap since the first one.
He was here because, for once in his life, he was actually bringing in ratings. Which was mostly because Wyatt was charming and graceful and allowed him to have a sense of humor and gave as good as he got.
Kai wasn’t sure how he felt about the way his heart fluttered when he thought of Wyatt. It was a dangerous, scary feeling, but all the same…
He hadn’t felt like this in a long time.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on you with this new show,” Marnie said smoothly, looking him up and down again. “You’re taller in person than I expected.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s because of my height,” Kai said without missing a beat, because apparently he could be faced with a woman who could make sure he never worked again, and still not quite stop himself from being sarcastic.
Marnie laughed, high and tinkling. It was a nice sound. She was a charming woman, which was no doubt why she’d gotten the position she was in.
Charming, but with the air of a bird of prey about her. Her beautifully-manicured nails made Kai think of talons.
He doubted she meant him any harm, but he also doubted she particularly cared about him as anything other than a suddenly useful asset, either. Not that he minded. Being useful would mean he got to keep his job.
And the more time he spent with Wyatt, the more he remembered how much he enjoyed this job, how he couldn’t imagine doing anything else now that he’d had a taste of it.
“And he’s funny, too,” she said, clearly delighted. “How come we’re still hiding you away in a midweek four o’clock spot?”
Kai glanced at Donna for an answer, because he didn’t have one. Luckily, the question actually seemed to have been directed at her.
“Oh, this show is just filming a programming gap,” Donna said without missing a beat. “I’ve always known Kai was destined for bigger things, and I wanted him working so he couldn’t be whisked away by a competitor.”
Kai barely managed not to look too confused by that statement. He knew what was going on, of course. They wanted something from him.
A sudden flash of a naked photoshoot made him recoil in horror, though he kept his reaction to himself. He didn’t know how Wyatt had done it.
It wasn’t that Kai thought of himself as shy, but there were some things he preferred to keep between himself and people he knew intimately, and most of them were covered by his clothes.
He still wasn’t sure how he was going to handle filming an episode after Wyatt had seen him naked. Not only seen him naked, but had his cock inside him. Twice.
And Kai had liked it, and wanted it to happen again.
He was doomed.
“Well, I think it’s obvious that we should have taken a risk on him before now,” Marnie said. “His own show, format to be negotiated, prime time slot, full production budget, full ad spend. I wanna put your face on every bus in the country. What do you think?”
Kai’s mouth fell open again.
This wasn’t the kind of offer he could just refuse, was it? It was what he’d wanted from the beginning, what he’d been so annoyed at having taken away from him a little over a month ago.
It was everything he’d been hoping for.
The uncomfortable clenching in the pit of his stomach was probably a normal level of excitement and nerves over such a huge offer. It was fine to be nervous.
“I, umm… well, obviously…” Kai scratched the back of his neck, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Ratings for the show you’re doing now will have to hold steady through the end of the run,” Marnie said. “But that doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a problem, we’ve had to allocate dedicated server space for your show. Now that we’re counting online ratings, we can see what’s going to be popular in the future, and you’re it. You’re scoring highly with all the groups we want to target.”
“And if the ratings hold steady?” Kai asked, wanting a little more clarity on exactly what he was being offered.
“Then we’ll open negotiations with… your agent, or…”
“Just me,” Kai said, not sure if he should be looking for an agent now, maybe.
He’d gotten this job by being plucked out of the kitchen he was working in after The Culinary Channel had filmed… something, there. The explanation he’d been given was that he was the most competent person they’d come across, and there was a programming gap to fill.
The real explanation was that the producer at the time had wanted to screw him, and he’d even gotten his wish, and Kai couldn’t quite bring himself to regret it, either. This was the best job he’d ever had, surprised as he was that he’d liked it at all.
And then Donna had taken over from the old producer when he’d moved on to bigger and better things, and she’d been confused about why the hell he was there at all.
“Even better, saves things getting complicated,” Marnie said, in a way that made Kai think he really did need an agent.
Not that he was inclined to find one. He didn’t want anyone else meddling in his life, even if they were likely to be right. He liked to do things himself, his own way.
It was a miracle that Wyatt didn’t hate him for it, honestly. He still couldn’t figure out what he’d done that had made Wyatt return his interest.
“I think I need to go,” Kai said, glancing at the clock on the wall. “Or I’ll put us behind schedule. But I am interested in your offer and I’d love to talk about it at a later date.”
“Of course,” Marnie said, offering her hand again. “It was a genuine pleasure to meet you, and we’ll talk once the series is done.”
Kai shook her hand, trying not to think of talons, and nodded.
This was his dream, and he was being offered a shot at it.
The rest of the episodes were going to be incredible, and he planned on making sure of that.