Chapter Twelve
Hailey was having so much fun celebrating being in a movie with her friends that she completely lost track of time. Next thing she knew, the ladies were saying goodbye. She had to make sure Josh got to Claire on time for their meeting tonight. She grabbed her cell. Oh, shit. Nine thirty.
“Josh,” she called to the other end of the bar, “why’re you still here?”
“I get off at ten.” He wiped down the bar top, completely oblivious to his major failure to attend to Claire and her distressing situation.
“But don’t you have to meet somebody?” she asked with a significant look.
Mad elbowed her. “Who’s he meeting this time?”
Hailey ignored her. “Josh?”
He tossed the rag behind the bar. “Nope.”
She couldn’t very well scream you have to meet Claire Jordan and fix this mess across the bar to him. She walked around the bar to where he was. It was empty on this side, so she leaned forward and whispered, “You’re bailing on Claire?”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
She let out a breath of exasperation. What was wrong with men? Geez. It was the least he could do. She pulled out her cell to text Claire and let her know. Oh, Claire had just texted her.
She stared at her cell phone, heart pounding against her rib cage, reading the text a second time. This couldn’t be—
That would mean—
What the hell!
Claire: It was Jake I went on a blind date with. He switched with Josh, who wanted to teach you a lesson. What did that rat do? :(
What did he do? Only take her out to a snooty restaurant, bore her silly, and pretend to be a successful businessman! And what kind of “lesson” was he teaching her? What was his ulterior motive? To brag, brag, brag in a ridiculous attempt to make her want Jake and then do a Scooby-Doo reveal that it was really Josh, the arrogant obnoxious bane of her existence that she wanted? Wrong-o!
To fool her into thinking she was good enough to hobnob with the wealthy elite? Or just to make a fool of her? He’d probably been secretly laughing at her nervous discomfort at that super-fancy restaurant.
She looked up to find Josh staring at her intently. “How could you!” she shouted.
“What’d you do this time?” Mad called with a laugh.
They both ignored Mad.
Josh just looked at her, his soulful brown eyes meeting hers in an intense gaze. Just like when he’d fooled her with that dinner and gave her that weirdly intense look! He was reminding her! As if she needed the reminder.
She leaned forward and growled a solemn vow. “Josh Campbell, you will never date in this town again.”
“Get a grip,” he said.
She huffed. “You are out of my business plan forever!”
Josh rested both hands on the bar in front of her and leaned close. She fought the urge to lean back. His voice was a husky whisper that gave her an involuntary shiver. “I never wanted to be in it.”
“Then why did you…what was all that…augh!” She put her palm out. “I want all my money back.”
“I don’t have it with me. You’ll have to come back to my place.”
She pursed her lips. “Uh-huh. Where I suppose it’s in your bedroom.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “How’d you know?”
She jabbed a finger at him. “You just hit number one on my shit list.”
“That’s better than number two.” He laughed.
She wanted to throw something. She wanted to leap over the bar and throttle him. But she didn’t. She kept it together, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. “I will get my revenge. You won’t know where or when or how, but it’s coming when you least expect it.”
His smile was slow and devious. “Bring it on, princess.”
She bit back all the most awful swear words she knew because—
She. Was. A. Classy. Lady.
Argh! She turned and stalked out the door.
~ ~ ~
Claire was not about to accuse Hailey or anyone else in the book club of snitching to the press. The sooner she found out who was behind it, the sooner she could relax around Jake. And she really wanted to enjoy him. It had been so long since she’d felt really comfortable with a man. So long since she’d felt that spike of desire just from a look or a touch. And he understood the need to keep them out of the spotlight.
She headed back to her trailer for a short break, her silent shadow following her as she thought back to the day Ty had given her the message that Josh knew who she was. Blake and the usual crew had been with her. She had a good relationship with the crew, and Blake had never done anything to hurt her before. Though Blake had been extra bitchy and diva-like on set lately. This was the first time she’d directed him. Did he have a problem with her being the boss? He’d signed on for all of the Fierce trilogy movies. Why would he risk it? Maybe he thought he was untouchable, in no danger of being fired. Oh, fuck. She nearly slapped her forehead. It all made sense. Blake had nothing to lose. He could do whatever the hell he wanted because he knew the fans wouldn’t accept a substitute Damon. Everyone loved him for the role. She couldn’t very well use a different Damon for the second and third movies of the trilogy.
She went inside the trailer, not liking what she knew she had to do. If Blake was leaking stuff to the press, stabbing her in the back, she had to know before it completely torpedoed the movie. She took a deep breath and made the arrangements for a private lunch meeting in her trailer the next day. Frank would be stationed right outside if she needed him. She didn’t think Blake was the violent type, but you could never be too careful.
The next day, Blake arrived right on time with a no-carb, high-protein lunch—rare steak and spinach. He smiled. “It’s been too long since we had a quiet lunch just the two of us.”
The last time had been when she’d talked to him about taking the role of Damon. “Too long,” she agreed, taking a seat with her own lunch of salad with salmon and two skinny breadsticks. Her stomach turned, knowing what she had to ask him, and she knew she couldn’t eat.
“How you like working here so far?” she asked.
“Great,” he said, slicing into his steak. Blood oozed from the rare meat and pooled on the white plate. He shoved the steak in his mouth and pointed the gleaming knife at her, his expression hard. “Anything you need to tell me?”
She licked her dry lips, her gut churning. “No. Production schedule is on track.”
She’d wait until he was finished with the knife, clear the table, and then broach the true purpose of their visit. She knew she had a vivid imagination—knife, blood, murder—but her gut never steered her wrong.
She quickly moved the conversation to his favorite topic—himself. He happily talked about his career and major interviews he’d scored, all while wolfing down his steak. He picked at the spinach and shoved the plate back.
“I’ll have this taken care of,” she said, gathering the plate, knife, and fork, and stepping outside to hand it off to Frank. She leaned her head out and whispered, “Tuck this somewhere.”
Frank didn’t question it. Merely took the dishes that were not in his job description and returned to being vigilant.
She stepped back inside but remained by the door. “Blake, these stories about me sneaking around with a bartender are doing serious damage to our movie buzz.”
“I know. That’s why I suggested we go out to that premiere. Turn it back around.”
“Look, I’m just going to come out and say this. Only a few people know I went out with him. And you were one of them.”
Blake’s expression remained impassive. “So? Crew was there too.”
“I already questioned them. They all swore they’d never said a word.”
“I don’t like what you’re accusing me of. I’m a professional.”
“I’m going to ask you this once and I want you to be honest. Did you tell the press that I went out in disguise with Josh Campbell?”
“Claire, be serious. Why would I—”
“Just answer the question!”
He stood, palms up, a conciliatory gesture at odds with the barely banked hatred simmering in his sharp blue eyes. “You’re psycho.”
“You don’t like answering to a woman boss. You wanted your own production company, but you can’t get it off the ground—”
“I’ve got stuff in the works.”
“No, you don’t. I know everything,” she bluffed. “I know it was you who leaked the Josh thing.” She didn’t know, but the hair on the back of her neck was standing straight up and deep in her gut she knew.
He crossed his arms. “You can’t fire me. I have a contract for the trilogy.”
“I can buy out your contract and replace you.” In theory, that was true. In practice, tough to come up with the funds. Blake wasn’t cheap.
“No,” Blake said, suddenly appeasing. “We’ll make more appearances together. The fans of the franchise will go nuts. They’ll forget all about your disguise thing.”
“You want more appearances together to raise your own profile. That’s what all this was about. To get investors in your production company. Don’t you see how you’re shooting yourself in the foot? You think you’re just bringing me down a notch? You’re screwing up all the good PR buzz we had for this movie. That doesn’t come cheap.”
He gave her a slick smile that made her sick. “Let me make it up to you.”
“How? You’re killing my movie—”
“Your movie?” He jabbed a finger at her. “That’s the problem right there. Your movie, your production company. All high and mighty, bossing everyone around—”
“Get out.” She opened the door and gestured for him to go.
“Bitch! You’ll be sorry.”
He stormed out.
“I already am,” she said to herself. She went to the window and watched Frank escorting Blake a distance away. Blake shook him off and headed to his own trailer.
Now what? They were a month away from wrapping production and she didn’t have the budget to reshoot with someone else. She was stuck with him. She paced the length of the trailer. She couldn’t imagine working with him for two more years, knowing he secretly hated her. Who knew what else he might do to sabotage her?
She wanted to tell Jake. To make sure he knew she’d found the culprit and to apologize for accusing him. She had his number now that he’d texted her. She texted and stared at her phone, willing him to respond. She shook her head, such a normal thing to do, texting a guy and waiting for a response. He was probably working. She sighed and set the phone down. She should eat.
She’d just finished lunch when her cell rang. She snagged it, already feeling better seeing Jake’s name on the screen.
“Hey,” she said. “It was Blake who told the press about Jenny and Josh. I’m sorry I accused you.”
“Ah, fine, you’re forgiven,” Jake said. “Paranoid movie star.”
She laughed. “Thank you, bigheaded CEO.”
He chuckled. “So did you fire Blake?”
She sighed. “I’m stuck with him. I can’t afford to buy him out of his contract. He’s locked in for all three movies.”
He whistled a long, sympathetic tone. “That sucks.”
“That’s show biz.”
A silence fell.
“Well,” they said at the same time.
She laughed. “I’ll see you tomorrow for dinner if you’re free. The premiere with Blake is off.”
“Sounds good.”
“Okay. I’ll arrange everything and text you the details. Ciao.”
“Come on. Ciao? Could you be more pretentious?”
“Could you be more judgmental?”
He groaned long and loud. “How long until we can get out all this pent-up aggravation and channel it properly?”
“You’re a beast.”
“I am.”
She smiled and held the phone closer. “I kinda like beasts.”
“I know you do. I had your number from day one.”
“You did not.”
“All right, not day one Jenny. Day one Claire.”
“I looked you up. You didn’t tell me you were named Sexiest Bachelor in Silicon Valley.”
“I thought that went without saying.”
She laughed. “I can’t believe I just had a horrible betrayal from the guy I’m stuck with for the next two years and then you call and I can’t stop smiling.”
“Get used to it. Ciao, baby.”
She grinned. “Ciao.”
She hung up and left her trailer, nearly giddy with something that felt very close to love. She’d been in love a time or two, once in high school, too young too soon, and once while she was a struggling actress with another actor. That last one ended when she got her big break and her boyfriend didn’t. This felt different. Bigger. All capital letters kind of LOVE. She was getting goofy.
Her assistant rushed up to her as soon as she got back to the set. “Blake’s gone. We can’t find him anywhere. I think he left the estate.”
Dammit. He had a contract, and they needed him today.
She shook her head, coming down from the clouds. “Get his agent on the phone.”
~ ~ ~
Jake felt like a double agent with the hoops he had to go through just to have dinner with Claire. No wonder she was paranoid. He had to meet her at the back entrance of her hotel and take a Mercedes with tinted windows through some back-alley route to the service entrance of the restaurant where her assistant had made a reservation under a false name. Her bodyguard came along for the ride, barely saying two words to Jake. Once at the restaurant, they were quickly escorted through the kitchen, where the workers didn’t even blink at their presence, and then down a flight of stairs to a basement room with three small tables and three waiters. The space was cozy with dark wood paneling and glowing wall sconces.
He recognized one couple at the other two tables—a big-name actress with her rock-star boyfriend; the other table had two young beautiful people who could have been actors, musicians, or models. It seemed to be the place to go for the beautiful couples looking for privacy. Claire waved to the actress, her smile bright. He lifted his chin in acknowledgement and settled his hand on Claire’s lower back, guiding her to the only empty table. Claire looked stunningly beautiful, as anyone would expect from the Claire Jordan, in a sleeveless dress, turquoise on top, gold on the skirt. Her sexy gold heels had skinny straps that wrapped around her ankles.
Not that he didn’t appreciate her efforts, but he’d been just as drawn to her as Jenny with no designer anything and no makeup at all. He figured she had enough people in her life gushing over her beauty so when he first saw her all glammed up, he’d merely said, “Nice dress.” To which she’d said, “Nice shirt.” It was a white button-down tailor-made to his measurements. And that was enough with the compliments.
Once they were settled at the table, he leaned across it and spoke in a low tone meant for Claire’s ears alone. “No wonder you have such a big head. It’s like you’re the president or something.”
She puckered her lips to the side, looking adorably put out. “Ya know, insulting your date isn’t the way to beast mode.”
He chuckled. “Beast mode after this. Guarantee it.”
“And you say I’m the one with the big head. Haven’t you heard of taking things slow?”
“I’m not good at waiting. Neither are you. Otherwise we wouldn’t have—” he raised his voice to a falsetto “—hoo-hoo on our first date, Jenny.”
She laughed, the throaty, husky sound he loved. “Keep your voice down.”
He glanced at the menu. “You always eat dinner at nine o’clock?”
“It was the only time I could get. Griffin Huntley reserved the entire room for him and his wife before this. It was their date night.” That was a huge rock star. Now he was impressed.
Jake looked around the cozy space. “Griffin Huntley eats here? It must be good.”
“Yes, it is, sir,” the waiter, a tall, thin man said, appearing suddenly at their table.
Jake smoothly covered. “The lady and I will have your best champagne. We’re celebrating.”
“Very good, sir.” The waiter left.
Claire tilted her head with a sunny smile. “And what are we celebrating?”
A rush of affection surged through him. She was everything—sweet and fiery, sexy in an effortless way. Glamorous, yes, but not superficial. There were layers. He was a goner, even with the Jenny/Claire twist.
He took her hand and stroked the underside of her wrist. “The beginning of something great. At least I think it will be great. I fell for Jenny, but the jury’s still out on you.”
Her hazel eyes danced with amusement. “I could run circles around Jenny.”
He brushed his lips across her knuckles and felt someone staring. He looked over to where her bodyguard, Frank, was standing at the entrance to the room like a soldier. Their eyes met, and Frank’s gaze flicked away.
Jake leaned across the table and whispered, “So does Frank just stand there the whole meal?”
“Yes,” she whispered back. “He always stays by the main access point to a room with a visual on any alternate access points.”
“And does he go with you to your…” He hesitated, but he had to know. “How do you have sex?”
She grinned devilishly. “The usual way.”
He didn’t laugh. Frank was creeping him out the way he stared. He kept his voice low. “So he’s like right outside the door?”
She shook her head and whispered, “He’ll check to make sure the room is okay, and then he stays in his room below mine.”
“Can he hear everything?”
“I hope not. I don’t know.”
He thought about that, glancing over at the stone-faced giant again. Talk about a cock block. “So he’s always with you?”
She nodded and whispered, “It’s necessary for my safety. And his number is programmed in my cell. I’m supposed to wear this emergency one-touch bracelet to contact him too, but it’s ugly.” She wrinkled her nose.
He bit back a laugh. The woman had a shadow that she fully accepted but not to the point of messing with her outfit. “Oh, it’s ugly.”
“Yeah.”
“So you only like fashionable security devices?”
She took a sip of water, hiding a smile. “And there’s so few of those.”
A basket of warm bread arrived. He offered her the basket, and she shook her head. “Too many carbs.”
He took a slice of sourdough for himself and slathered it with butter. “Jenny wouldn’t care about carbs.”
“Jenny’s not doing a sex scene on film in her teeny groin cover.”
He closed his eyes. He did not want to think about Claire nearly nude with another man even if it was simulated sex. He opened his eyes to find her staring.
“Does it bother you?” she asked.
“Nah. I’m sure he sucks in the sack.”
“It’s not sexy at all. It’s very technical, getting the staging right. Plus the crew is right there.”
He changed the subject. “So what’s next for you? Where do you go after you finish filming this movie?”
“We wrap on Fierce Longing two days before Thanksgiving. That’s ironclad. Everyone has plans to fly home for the holiday. I’ll do some postproduction in LA, then Vancouver for three months for another film. I’ll be in Connecticut again next October to film the second movie of the trilogy. We’re staggering the Fierce movies one a year. There’s Fierce Longing, Fierce Craving, and Fierce Loving.”
He took a bite of bread and chewed. “I should read those books. They sound dirty.”
Her eyes lit up. “They are. But also a really powerful story of love and redemption.”
The waiter arrived with their champagne, opening it with a muted pop and then pouring a small amount in each of their glasses.
Claire took a sip. “Wonderful, thank you.”
The waiter smiled. “Very good.” He poured a little more in each of their glasses and left.
Claire raised her glass. “To love and redemption.”
“I’m not sure what that means in this context, but…” He went to clink glasses, but she held hers back.
“It means we’re both redeeming ourselves by showing our true selves.”
His voice came out husky with the emotion clogging his throat. “And the love?”
She gave him a small smile. “I don’t know. I had some feelings for Josh, but the jury’s still out on you.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “Touché.”
She smirked. He clinked his glass against hers and they drank.
He set his glass down. “Where do you live when you’re not filming?”
She lifted one shoulder. “I have a place in Aspen, one in San Francisco—”
“I live in San Francisco. Well, close by. Do the neighborly thing and stop by.”
“I’ll bring a picnic.”
He gazed at her warmly, remembering their first picnic. “Just bring you.”
She shook her head. “Why do I feel like you’re too good to be true? Like any moment this is all going to go poof!” She flexed her fingers in the air.
“Like you’re on a prank show.”
She looked around suspiciously.
“You’re not. This is real.” He took both her hands in his. “As real as it gets.”
The waiter returned with a first course of salad.
After he left, Jake watched Claire take tiny bites of salad and chew slowly. She didn’t have an ounce of fat on her. He wouldn’t mind seeing her with soft curves. He understood, though. If he was filming in the buff, he’d be working out round the clock and watching that scale.
She looked up. “I told Hailey about you and Josh switching places.”
“Yeah? What’d she say? Did she still like dinner? It was a three-star Michelin-rated restaurant.”
“Oh, that’s what he did? I didn’t know how he taught her a lesson. Huh. So he just took her to dinner, pretending to be you? She’s so mad I thought it was much worse. All she’ll say is he’ll never date in this town again.”
He burst out laughing. He could just imagine Hailey plotting some revenge. Probably tell everyone Josh had an STD or something.
“You don’t mess with Hailey,” Claire said.
Jake shook his head. “He took her out to show her she really wanted him not the billionaire brother.”
“You’re a billionaire?”
“You didn’t look up my portfolio?”
“No. I just looked up the basics—marital status, criminal record, sexiest bachelor titles.”
He chuckled. “I fell out of the ten-figure club recently. Anyway, back to Josh. Get this. He went through all that elaborate setup, but then he never did the big reveal, never rubbed it in her face. He just took her to dinner, took her home, and that’s it.”
“There must’ve been more to it than that.” She ate some more salad, looking thoughtful. “She’s furious. Something must’ve happened.”
“If it did, he’s not telling.”
“I’ll work on her. Women talk about stuff, especially Hailey. It’s really not like her not to share all the details. She is all about details.” She pursed her lips. “And he sounds like a jerk.”
“Hey, that’s my twin.”
“I know, but—”
“Yeah, it was a jerky thing to do. He’s all twisted up over Hailey. It’s really simple. You like a woman, you ask her out, seduce her, and screw her brains out. That’s my philosophy.”
She bit back a smile, but he could see the laughter dancing in her eyes. “You might’ve missed a step there.”
He pretended to consider this. “No, I don’t think so. That’s about it.”
She laughed. “I shouldn’t encourage you.”
“You really should.”
Their salad plates were whisked away the moment they finished. The entrees arrived a few minutes later. Everything was farm-to-table and organic. Claire had salmon with roasted vegetables. Again, no carbs. He had steak with sweet potato puree. He remembered the look of ecstasy on her face when he’d hand-fed her chocolate cake on their picnic. Now that he thought about it, she only had three bites. And that cake was fantastic.
“Don’t you miss carbs?” he asked.
“I have them between films. It’s fine.”
He sliced into the steak, perfectly medium well. “So what happened with that guy’s agent?” He knew he wasn’t supposed to say names when they were out in public, but he was curious what happened with Blake.
“Later,” she said.
He nodded once. “Got it.”
They finished dinner, conversation easy between them just like when they were Jenny and Josh. It only made him more certain that this thing between them was real, always had been, and it would build from there. He coaxed Claire into having a drink at his friend’s bar downtown. He’d reserved the private room on the third floor, a favorite place of his to take clients or friends. Occasionally a woman.
On the drive over, she snuggled against his side and filled him in on Blake.
“I told his agent he was in breach of contract, threatened with my lawyer, and Blake shows up two hours later drunk off his ass.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “That’s terrible.”
“Yup. And then today he showed up an hour late, hungover and snarling at everyone. He fired his assistant and then threw a fit that no one brought him his specialty coffee, which was what his assistant would have done if he hadn’t been fired.” She let out a long sigh. “He’s been harassing me about Josh too, saying the guy just wants me for publicity for his bar.”
“You didn’t tell him about me?”
“I don’t want anyone to know about you. They have enough to talk about with the Josh thing.”
“We should go public. It’s not fair to Josh. He’s been dodging the press and it stresses him out to have a crowd near him.”
“But he works at a bar. Isn’t he always in a crowd of people? Or at weddings?”
“He can handle the bar because there’s a barrier between him and other people, but it’s different when he steps outside and there’s a bunch of reporters. I imagine he sticks to the edges of the room at weddings.”
She sank further into the seat. “I don’t want people to know about us. It’ll ruin it. I just found you, and I want to keep us private. It’s especially important for the fans to keep the focus on Damon and Mia.” He didn’t like the way she let the press dictate her life, especially when his brother had to deal with the fallout.
He shifted to meet her eyes. “Forever?”
“No, not forever. For a while. Until I’m sure that we’re at a level that it doesn’t matter what the press says. And that everything is all set for the movie.” She sighed. “It’s better this way. You don’t understand what you’re in for.” Her voice dropped, sad and resigned. “It’s a nightmare.”
He tried to lighten the mood. “You don’t even know what you’re in for with all my Silicon Valley peeps. Talk about a nightmare.”
The corners of her mouth tilted up. “Oh yeah?”
“Oh yeah.” He played with a lock of her hair. “Computer bugs that’ll keep you up at night. Shareholder meetings that’ll put you to sleep.”
She wrapped an arm around his middle. “Tell me what you do. I read it’s something to do with sharing information.”
“Your Google fu powers are impressive.”
She laughed. He told her, explaining why he’d started the company and the technology’s uses all over the world. He also told her about the offers he’d had to buy his company, so she’d know that he could be flexible with where he lived and how he spent his time for a future with her. Though he didn’t state the future-with-her part out loud. He never laid all his cards on the table this early in the game.
“Impressive,” she said.
He dipped his head to whisper in her ear, “Now if you’ll just say that tonight when I drop my pants.”
She smacked his shoulder and laughed.
They were off to a flying start. A second start, actually, even better than the first because it was real.