BRIAN
Ella and I drove to the theater separately from her family because we planned to go to my dad’s for dinner after the movie. We ran into my father and a few of his friends in the lounge on the first floor of the entertainment complex. “Brian!”
He was sitting on a couch in the theater’s lounge with two other men and two women. Well, one woman and one almost-woman. The fake-redhead bombshell dressed like she was ready to go clubbing looked barely old enough to order alcohol.
Unfortunately, we were a little early, so we’d have to sit and chat for a while. I was tempted to walk right past them into the theater and pretend I hadn’t heard my father call my name, but he rose to his feet and shouted at us as he waved us over. “Brian! Ella!”
“Damn.”
Ella chuckled at my muttered curse and squeezed my hand. “Could he be any worse than my dad?” she whispered.
“The same. Just a different kind of awful.”
Ella gave me the most intriguing smile then. It was wry and mixed with something that said she thought I was adorable. I wished I knew what she was thinking, because I couldn’t imagine what she thought was cute about me disliking my father.
“It’s all good,” she said. “We can do this. Game faces.”
She flashed me a dazzling smile that would convince even the severest skeptic she was thrilled to be here mingling with strangers. I matched it with my own million-dollar smile and teased her. “You could be an actress with those skills.”
She snorted. “Yeah. Maybe I’ll try it after I get bored with my lingerie-modeling career.”
I was grateful for her light attitude. It went a long way in calming me down. There was nothing I loved more than my sexy little mamacita’s feisty, snarky, sarcastic humor.
Bright smiles perfectly in place, we walked over to greet my father and his friends. Well, I bet the redhead was more like his special friend, but I really didn’t want the details.
“Aw, you see?” he said to his friends, who all stood to greet us as well. “I told you they would be here.”
Keep the smile in place, Brian. He’s just a proud father who likes to show off his kid. It’s nothing more. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hello, Mr. Oliver,” Ella added.
After a quick pat on the back, Dad brushed me aside and took Ella’s hand. “Please, Ella, call me Max,” he crooned as he kissed her cheek.
Never relinquishing her hand, he guided her to the seat next to him on the sofa, barely leaving any room for his date on his other side. The redhead didn’t seem to mind all that much, considering she was already making bedroom eyes at me.
Suppressing a groan, I sat down next to Ella and forced a smile at the three strangers on the opposite couch. When they all gave me their attention, Dad immediately made introductions. “This is Lloyd Wright and Michael Hobson. They’re both from New Gate Films. Brian, you know Maya Sutherland. Ella, Maya is my brilliant agent.” He lifted an arm around his date and somehow managed a dignified smile. “And this lovely little thing is Noémi Virág.”
After polite greetings and handshakes, Noémi giggled like a ditzy schoolgirl and reached across Dad to place her hand on Ella’s leg. “I heard your great news this afternoon. Congratulations! I have to admit, I kind of hate you right now. I would kill for the opportunity to be a Lindon’s girl. That’s as supermodel as it gets.”
I stiffened, and Ella’s face paled. “You heard about that?” I asked, since Ella didn’t look like she could speak at the moment.
“Of course.” Noémi waved away the question as if the answer should have been obvious. “Mr. Lindon himself went live on Facebook saying he thinks you’re beautiful and that Erik Clarke’s idea was a fantastic one. He’s the one who announced that he made you the offer. Everyone’s talking about it.”
“Fantastic,” Ella grumbled.
Noémi completely missed the sarcasm.
I cringed. I wasn’t surprised by the power play, but I should have thought to warn Ella that this might happen. Lindon’s had to comment on the situation as a way to do damage control. They had to be fairly sure Ella would reject their offer, and if they didn’t say anything before she did, making the offer wouldn’t have done them any good.
I’d told Scott I’d sit her down for a good business-type talk after her family left, but at this rate, we were going to have to do it sooner. Like tomorrow morning. Hopefully, Scott was serious about me stealing him away from his family for a while. For now, the best I could do was change the subject so that Ella wouldn’t mention turning down the offer and have to defend herself to a group of strangers.
I sat forward and took Ella’s hand as I looked at the two people sitting across from me. Dad had already said they were from New Gate films, but I could have guessed they were from some studio or another. There are only two types of people in Hollywood: the creatives and the suits. The creatives physically make the films, and the suits control the decision making since they’re the money.
There’s a reason the execs in the industry are called suits, and it’s exactly the one you’d imagine. Most of us embrace casual in both appearance and behavior in the workplace. Suits don’t seem to understand the concept. I mean, here we were, seeing a movie on Christmas Day, and these two stuffy pricks were sitting here in their designer sharkskin suits and power ties.
“So… New Gate, huh? Why am I not surprised?”
I let plenty of arrogance seep into my voice while still seeming polite. All part of the game. These men were here with an agenda, whether I wanted to do business or not. I couldn’t be rude and burn any bridges, but I couldn’t entirely accept their underhanded attempt to get a meeting with Ella, either. Letting people in Hollywood think you’re a pushover is one of the worst things you can do.
“I seem to recall that name coming up in a number of phone calls with my agency recently.”
“Actually, Brian,” Dad interrupted, wearing an innocent smile that wasn’t fooling anyone, “they came to see the movie and chat with me about possibly directing a film adaptation of Drive Hard.”
Ella coughed, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek, because I knew that cough was only to cover up a laugh. “The video game?” she asked primly.
Ella was never prim about anything. The tone was all too polite. She was definitely trying to keep from laughing.
Dad’s face lit up with pride. “One of the biggest sellers on the market. It’s about time they make the film.”
Ella leaned toward my dad and placed her hand lightly on his forearm while flashing him a smile so beautiful I almost got jealous. “Mr. Oliver—Max—I honestly don’t think there is any other director in the world more right for that project than you.”
Now I was the one coughing to cover a laugh. No one sitting there with us could have ever suspected how much Ella loathed the majority of my father’s work. No doubt she believed Drive Hard would be the biggest, flashiest, most ridiculous piece of trash to come out of Hollywood this century, and I was sure she wasn’t lying when she said she thought Dad would be the perfect director for the film. Only I caught the condescension hidden beneath her compliment, and that was only because I knew her so well.
I couldn’t help elbowing her softly. She cut me a glance, and her grin turned wry. I had to rub my hand over my mouth and jaw in an attempt to literally wipe the smile from my face. When she saw me struggling to keep my composure, she gave me a subtle wink and turned her smile on the suits from New Gate. “Seriously. Max Oliver is definitely the man for that job. If you haven’t offered him a contract yet, you’d better get on it.”
The woman was incorrigible. I poked her in the ribs a little harder, tickling her in warning that she’d better cut it out before she made me laugh and got us both busted. She was so going to get it when we finally had a moment to ourselves.
The urge to snicker vanished when Lloyd and Michael smiled back at her like a pair of sharks circling a bleeding fish. “Well, I suppose if Ellamara has departed such words of wisdom, then we’d better get that contract written up first thing after the holiday,” Lloyd said.
Michael nodded. “And since we’re on the subject of contracts and proposals, Miss Rodriguez, it’s very fortunate that we’ve run into you today.”
“Yes,” I said in a clipped voice. “Fortunate indeed. And purely coincidental, I’m sure.” Sarcasm and disdain dripped from my voice. I wasn’t happy, and I wanted these jerks to know it. They needed to sweat a little.
Dad sat up a little straighter and lost that casual, easygoing edge he’d had before. “Relax, Brian. This isn’t an ambush.”
“No. It’s Christmas. This is hardly the appropriate time to be discussing business, and you promised us low-key if we came today.”
Ella patted my leg and whispered, “Brian, it’s okay.”
It really wasn’t. Scott was right that people were finding their own ways to get to Ella since I wasn’t returning their calls. That they would bother her on Christmas Day, when they knew she would be with her whole family, was appalling. I’m sure she was the only reason they were here. And I’m sure my father was more than happy to help them corner her when they dangled the Drive Hard project in front of him. Jerks.
“What proposal could you possibly want to talk to me about?” Ella asked.
I kicked myself again. I knew what was coming, and it was yet another surprise I hadn’t warned her about ahead of time.
“We’re interested in acquiring the film rights to your story,” Michael said.
“Film rights!” Ella gasped as I grumbled, “You, and everyone else in town.”
When Lloyd and Michael both looked at me, I said, “Don’t play dumb. You know everyone is trying to get this project. Studios a lot larger than New Gate.”
Ella turned her incredulous gaze on me. “They are?”
I sighed. “Yeah. They’re all asking me because you don’t have any contact info set up yet. I was going to tell you about it; I’ve just been waiting because you were so stressed about your GED test and your family coming. We need to sit down and go over all of this. I just wanted to wait until after the holidays.”
I shot a look at Lloyd and Michael as I said that last bit. Neither seemed very sorry. But at least Ella wasn’t acting upset that I’d kept this news from her. She looked stunned, but she was calm and pensive as she slowly processed the information. “Yeah, okay. That’s probably a good idea. Film rights.” She shook her head, blinking at her lap as if she still couldn’t believe it. “That’s crazy.”
She pulled herself together and smiled at me. “Thanks for not dropping that on me last week. You’re right. I was stressed enough.”
She leaned over, puckering her lips, and I can’t tell you how thrilled I was when she gave me a quick, grateful kiss. She’s so shy about the physical stuff and gets very embarrassed when the subject of our relationship is brought up. This tiny, chaste acknowledgement of what we were to each other felt like a huge step.
Ella took a deep breath, let it out, and then shook herself from her daze. “All right. Let’s definitely sit down and talk about all this Hollywood stuff soon. Maybe after New Year’s we can escape to your place, order in some take-out, and have a powwow?”
Despite that idea sounding like heaven, I winced. “Actually, with the Erik Clarke drama and the Lindon’s stuff, I’m thinking we shouldn’t wait that long.”
Maya finally jumped into the conversation. “Oh, I agree,” she said. “This is something you should act quickly on.”
I glared at the hungry gleam in her eyes. I’d been so focused on Lloyd and Michael that I’d forgotten Maya would have an angle of her own. “Ella,” she crooned in a sugary-sweet voice that set my nerves on edge. “You have no idea how hot a topic you and Brian are right now. You need to act quickly if you want to take full advantage of that. I could really make some amazing things happen for you.”
Ella frowned. “What do you mean?”
Maya handed her a business card. “I would love to represent you.”
I tried not to grind my teeth down to the nerve endings. Ella glanced at me, astonishment once again showing in her expression, and took the card from Maya. “You want to be my agent?” she asked, confused. “For what? I’m not taking Lindon’s offer. I’m not going to become a model.”
“You aren’t?” Noémi gasped. “Why on earth not? Are you crazy?”
I feared Ella would get mad and lose that infamous Latina temper of hers, but she just rolled her eyes at me and smiled sweetly at the woman she clearly considered an idiot. “I’m just not interested.”
Noémi’s jaw dropped, and Maya stole Ella’s attention back. “You’ll still need representation for a number of other opportunities that will come your way now. Film rights being one of them.” She flashed a big smile at the New Gate guys, who grinned back as if the deal were already set.
“Yes,” I said, grinding my teeth so hard my dentist would lecture me the next time I went in. “Ella is going to need representation, but again, you aren’t the only agent looking to represent her.”
Ella sighed. “I guess we have a lot to talk about, huh?”
I pulled her tightly to my side. “I’ll help you sort it out. It won’t be so bad.”
“Okay.”
Maya bristled. “I may not be the only agent wanting to represent you, Ella, but I’m the best.”
I snorted. That was quite arrogant of her, considering she knew who my agents were, and they actually were the best in town. “Whatever. You’ve made your offer. She has your card. She’ll add it to the pile.” I shot a stern look at Lloyd and Michael. “I have your offer and contact information as well.”
They both frowned but kept their mouths shut and didn’t interrupt when I told all three of them, “I promise Ella will look over everything that’s been thrown her way this week, and someone will get back to all of you on Ella’s behalf once she’s had time to consider her options and knows what she wants to do. In the meantime, she and I are going to head into the theater now. Her family will be here soon, and we’d like a few moments to ourselves before they arrive.”
I stood, and Ella smiled to the group as she rose with me. “Thank you for the interest. I promise I’ll get back to you after I’ve learned a little more about what’s going on. Have a wonderful Christmas. It was lovely meeting you all.”
Dad stood, too, and took Ella’s hand. “You’re still coming over for dinner after the show, right?” he asked, bouncing his gaze between both of us.
“I don’t know,” I said, as Ella nodded. “Is it really going to be just the three of us? Or will there be other agents and producers waiting to have an advantageous chat over dinner? Some reporters, maybe? Or photographers?”
I didn’t want to be a douche, but I was pissed at my dad. He’d basically exploited his connection with Ella to get in good with the New Gate people. I wasn’t surprised. My father is as Hollywood as a person can get. He’s always working every angle. But I was still pissed.
“Oh, Brian.” Dad sighed playfully and then grinned at his company as if he considered me a silly little boy whose antics he found amusing. “Always so skeptical and reclusive. You really should loosen up a little. You’d get further in this business if you weren’t always so rigid.”
I gave him my million-dollar fake smile. “It’s a cutthroat industry, Dad. We all know that. I just don’t appreciate being worked over by my own father, and I’m not about to let Ella get taken advantage of. I also value my privacy. What little I have left.”
Dad backed off. For all that he was, he wasn’t an idiot, and he knew he was pushing my buttons. “All right, all right. You kids go do your thing.” He turned his smarmy smile on Ella and leaned in close to stage whisper in her ear. “You make sure to help him relax a bit during the movie, eh? He’s always so cranky.”
Good grief. I hoped Ella didn’t see that for the sexual suggestion that it was.
Ella kept her smile up like a pro. “Really? That’s odd. He’s never cranky with me.” She shrugged. “Must just be you.”
I choked on a laugh. She’d just insulted him to his face but had delivered it with so much innocence he was forced to play along. I’d never been so proud of the woman in all my life.
“Hmm.” Dad’s smile tightened. “Perhaps you’re right. But you know how fathers and sons can be.”
“Of course.” She shot him a sweet smile and an innocent bat of her eyelashes. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he has a good time today. And we’ll be there for dinner. Promise.”
Dad’s tension eased. “Great.” He gripped her hand and held up his phone when she tried to walk away. “How about a picture before you guys disappear? A picture with the mysterious Ella will give me all kinds of street cred with the younger crowd, which I could really use if I’m going to be directing a video game adaptation.” He laughed boisterously and winked at her. “Plus, I need proof for Brian’s mother that I’m being a good father and paying attention to my son and his new girlfriend.”
“Dad.”
“It’s true.” He shot me a pout. “She’s sent me a dozen warning texts this week about Christmas being the time for family and that I needed to put in an effort with the two of you.”
I groaned. He probably wasn’t lying about that. “Fine. If it’ll make Mom happy.”
Dad handed his phone to Maya, who was—no surprise—more than willing to take the picture that would get her client even more exposure. Then, he squished in close enough to Ella that I almost punched him and slid his arm low enough around her waist that her eyes bulged.
“Dad,” I growled.
The douche had the nerve to chuckle as he kissed her cheek and let her go. “Thank you, love. We’ll see you guys in there. I look forward to meeting your family, so make sure to introduce them at some point.”
When I started dragging Ella away, she seemed more than ready to go. It wasn’t until we were sitting in the theater that she leaned over and whispered, “I think your dad grazed my butt on purpose when he put his arm around me.”
And that was it. Things went red. I stood, with every intent to go kick my father’s sleazy ass, but Ella yanked me back down. “Chill. There’s no need to go all Druid Prince on him. Just, next time, you get to stand beside him for the pictures.”
Whatever combination of curses I grumbled made Ella burst out laughing. I took a deep breath. If she was fine and laughing about it, then I didn’t need to go make a spectacle of myself by punching out my father in public. But I wanted to. “I’m sorry. There’s really no excuse for him.”
“Hey, at least he seems to like me, right?”
She was teasing, but that was not funny. She didn’t realize my dad would have no problems trying to get my girlfriends into bed if he thought he could manage it. She’d be no exception.
I tipped my head back and groaned as I scrubbed my face with my hands. “Not funny, woman. Do me a favor, and keep your distance from him, if you can. Please? In fact, let’s keep him as far away from your family as possible, too. Especially your stepsisters. Your dad hates me enough as it is. He’d lose his shit if my father hit on the twins.”
Ella sighed but smiled and leaned her head on my shoulder. I lifted the armrest between us, and she snuggled in close, instantly relaxing all of my muscles. I let out another long breath and leaned my head on top of hers.
“What a week we’ve had, huh?” she asked. Her voice got softer, as if matching the sudden shift in mood.
I squeezed her gently and kissed the top of her head. “I wish I could tell you it won’t always be like this, but my life is a three-ring circus, and you’ve just signed on to star as the main attraction.”
“As long as they get someone awesome to play me in the movie,” she teased, surprising me with her light response to the situation. “Oh, and your dad is so not allowed to direct it. Sorry. Just, no.”
“Deal. Thanks to your glowing recommendation, he’ll be too busy making Drive Hard anyway.”
Ella laughed again, and this time I laughed with her.