Jeremy was delighted that Lucy had responded to his text in just the way he hoped she would.

Half an hour later he was pulling up at the cottages.

He walked around to the back of Lucy’s cabin. She was standing on the little back porch, as she had promised. And Adrian was nowhere to be found, just as she’d said.

He had a little chuckle thinking about Harkness having to go for a fucking jog he was so nervous about what he’d done.

And well he should be. Jeremy was going to ruin the loser’s career if he could.

“Hi,” Lucy said with a nervous smile and a cute little half wave.

“Lucy,” Jeremy replied coolly. God, he loved to watch her squirm.

“I want to apologize for Adrian’s behavior,” she said in a contrite way.

“Good,” Jeremy allowed.

“I think Adrian would like a chance to apologize for himself,” she added.

“Let’s walk and talk,” Jeremy offered, gesturing to the path.

She looked a bit confused, but she followed him quickly enough. Good girl.

They walked around behind the next cabin, following the line of trees that led into the darkening woods.

“The Horizon account is a big deal,” Jeremy said.

She nodded.

He smiled. She got extra points for not saying that William Howard Casting was a big deal too.

“We appreciate the opportunity,” she said.

“Good,” he replied. “Unfortunately, after Harkness’s outburst today you can see why we would have a hard time not kicking you guys to the curb.”

“The way Adrian spoke to you was very unprofessional,” she agreed.

She said it in just the right tone. But something was off in the words she used. She was apologizing for tone, but not for content. Clever girl. Too bad he didn’t like them clever.

“Yes,” he agreed. “The way he spoke to me was unprofessional, and so were the things he said.”

She walked on with him quietly.

“Do you agree?” He wasn’t going to let her off the hook.

She bit her lip very fetchingly.

“You’re the client, so final casting decisions are yours to make. The language you used was offensive. But Adrian could have handled it better.”

She stopped there. Just short of saying that Jeremy’s language had been more offensive than Adrian’s outburst.

He stole a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. Whatever else she might have wanted to say, she hadn’t said it. She’d held her tongue like a good little piggy. And the stupid little bitch looked fucking miserable.

Yeah, he still wanted to fuck her sad mouth. But first he needed to get them into the woods.

“So, if you were in my position, what would you do?” He headed into the trees a bit, relying on the idea that she would follow.

A moment later, he heard her footsteps in the pine needles.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “But I would probably talk with Adrian directly. Allow him to apologize. Or if I wasn’t comfortable with that, I might have William Howard send another casting director.”

Jeremy sped up. They were just about out of range of the last cabin.

“So you think William Howard deserves another shot?” He knew how she would answer.

“I think Horizon is too big a brand to be satisfied with the second best name in casting,” she said, surprising him with the burst of confidence disguised as a compliment.

“But if Adrian Harkness is the best you have, then sending him back means I’d be working with the second best anyway,” he retorted. “Right?”

Oh god, the defeated look on her face was priceless. He almost hated to end the game. But it was so easy it wasn’t even fun.

“Look, Lucy,” he said as kindly as he knew how. “I’ve got another idea. How would you like to help your firm keep the Horizon account?”

“I’d be glad to do anything I can to make things right between you and Adrian,” she said, her expression lightening.

“Excellent,” Jeremy said. “All you have to do is sleep with me.”

She got the oddest expression on her face. Then she tilted her head slightly to the side.

“What?”

“Sleep with me,” he repeated slowly. “And we pretend this afternoon didn’t happen.”

“That- that doesn’t make sense,” she stammered, her voice pitched slightly upward.

“Sure it does,” he said. “Look, Harkness hurt my feelings. And now you can make me feel better again. I’m still not casting your diversity chick in my commercial, but I’ll forget about his hissy fit.”