Chapter 7

Jesse

Jesse’s heart pounded as she looked up at Hal Roberts. She could not even think for how nervous and sick she felt at this encounter, but she locked onto Elaine’s words for her and used them to give her strength. Until she found her own, true, strength, she would just have to fake it through.

“This is my head of security, Adam,” Roberts said, gesturing to the other man in the room. Jesse looked over and granted him a smile, only to be met with a brief nod and a flat expression.

“I can ask him to step outside for the duration of the interview if you’d like,” Roberts offered.

“That shouldn’t be necessary,” Jesse smiled up at him, shocked that her voice had remained so steady as she spoke.

She watched as Roberts took a seat across the table from her, taking up his cup of coffee. Jesse took great pains to beat her anxiety and calmly arrange her materials in front of her.

“Do you mind if I record the interview?” she asked, withdrawing her recorder from within her bag.

“Not at all,” Roberts answered, and Jesse felt her stomach clench at his smooth voice.

In all honesty, she had no idea how she was being so calm and collected on the surface. Inside, her heart was pounding, and her stomach was fluttering. Hal Roberts was attractive onscreen, but in real life, he was absolutely immaculate. He was tall, at six foot two, and broad. She could easily tell his muscular frame from his well-fitted gray suit. In addition to his appearance, his smell was overwhelming, being exceedingly masculine and distinctly spicy. It was all Jesse could do not to swoon.

In fact, she was somewhat grateful for the presence of his bodyguard with them. Somehow, Jesse felt less pressure than she would have if it had been a one on one situation, and she felt a sense of relief knowing that this man was here with them, making the whole experience much less personal and more businesslike, as well it should have been.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Jesse said, hitting the record button on her recording device and gathering up her notebook and a pencil, setting them in her lap as she leaned back in her chair.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Roberts flashed her a smile of blindingly white teeth, and Jesse had to work hard to keep her jaw from dropping.

“Perfect,” she said and looked over at her list of questions on the table before her. “As you know, everyone is really raving about your movie. You spent years on this film, and you committed yourself so much to your performance. How did it feel when you finally wrapped it up?”

Jesse watched as Roberts’ eyebrows met in a frown.

“For the most part,” he started, “it was just an immense relief. It was very stressful to work on such a large project, and it was very taxing for me. I had played roles in movies before, but I had never really directed one or produced one for that matter. It was really just a lot more than I had originally anticipated, and in retrospect, I’m not sure I should have made such a big leap as young as I am.”

“Well, I don’t think anyone will be second guessing your capabilities after the success of this film,” Jesse remarked, and Hal gave her what seemed to be a rueful smile. Jesse couldn’t help noticing the expression, and her mind erupted with questions. She knew, though, that it would be best to stick to the questions she had brought and keep deviation to a minimum.

“Which brings me to my next question,” Jesse continued. “Do you have any plans to direct any more films any time in the future?”

Roberts blinked once at the question and seemed to think for a minute.

“Well, the future is very ambiguous,” he answered. “But as of now, no. I have had my fill of that particular endeavor for the time being.”

Jesse scribbled his answer into her notes. She felt Roberts’ eyes on her as she wrote and felt a small flush creep over her cheeks.

“And why not?” She proceeded with the interview, looked across the table at him and saw his brows meet again. It was obvious that he was not happy to be answering these questions.

“As I said before, it was extremely taxing,” he said, his voice short and clipped.

Jesse felt a spark of irritation at his tone, but she decided to keep herself calm for the time being and move on to the next question.

“This movie dealt with an extremely sensitive subject,” Jesse said smoothly, simply moving on to the next of her questions. “What was the personal inspiration for this film?”

Jesse saw Roberts clench his fist on top of the table.

“There was none,” he said, his voice tight. “I wanted to make the movie to bring light to a much larger issue than the issues of just one person. The issues dealt with in the movie are universal, and an enormous problem in our society. There doesn’t have to be any personal reason for making a movie like this when the state of society lends itself to making these problems so widespread.”

Roberts seemed to spit his answer out at her, and Jesse felt her annoyance with his tone reach an all-time high. She decided to deviate from her specified questions after all.

“If that is the case,” Jesse responded, keeping her tone as level as possible, “I think a lot of people will be very disappointed.”

Jesse saw a flash of anger pass through Roberts’ green, gold-flecked eyes.

“And why is that?” he retorted, resting his elbows on the table and leaning toward her.

“This movie spoke to people in a very personal way,” Jesse said.

“As it was meant to,” Roberts said shortly.

“And yet here you are,” Jesse heard her voice rising in pitch and volume. “Telling me, you have no personal connection with this movie at all.”

“I’m an actor,” Roberts snapped. “I connected with this movie like I connected to all the others. You have to throw yourself into a film, no matter if you directed it or not.”

Jesse gritted her teeth. Somehow, she knew that Roberts was lying. She could see it in the way his eyes flashed.

“Why have you been avoiding an interview for so long?” Jesse asked.

“I haven’t been avoiding them,” Roberts said. “I have been refusing them.”

“Again, why?” Jesse pressed. “It definitely gives the impression that there are personal reasons for doing so.”

Jess heard Roberts release a huff of breath.

“It’s called advertising,” he finally answered. “It was a new technique devised by me and a highly competent marketing staff. And I think it paid off, don’t you?”

“That’s all well and good,” Jesse said. “But that doesn’t explain why you refused one for so long after it came out.”

“What you seem to fail to understand,” Roberts said, “is that when you devote so much of yourself to one thing for so long, you get a little tired of it being the only subject of conversation. Did you ever stop to think that I needed a break from it for a while?”

“No,” Jesse said frankly. “Because that would imply a level of personal connection, of which you have claimed to have none.”

Jesse saw Roberts’ eyes narrow, and she felt her stomach clench as his face took on a very predatory look.

“Next question,” he bit out through clenched teeth.

Jesse gulped and looked down at her notes to gather her thoughts. She had indeed deviated far from the original list of questions. Maybe it was time that she finally got back on track. She took a breath and readied herself for the rest of the interview.

Fortunately, the rest of the interview passed much more calmly. The questions were far more general, and fortunately, Roberts seemed to become much more agreeable as the questions veered away from a personal inquiry. Jesse took good notes, and she, too, calmed as the interview progressed.

Still, her mind lingered on his strong reaction to the more personal questions. She wondered why he had been so offended and could not shake her instinct that there was more to that story. Still, she knew she had already overstepped the bounds of the interview and was determined to finish it out in a more professional manner.

It didn’t help, though, that she found herself ever more attracted to the man in front of her as the interview progressed. It seemed that he was more than just a pretty face. He was very smart and knew how to get what he wanted. He had succeeded in his field not just due to his talent and money, but due to his intelligence. She could even tell that he was trying to push the interview his way, rather than let her lead it.

He was also obviously very dominant. It took a lot for Jesse to keep from letting him take charge. Several times, he had responded to her questions with questions of his own, and it took a lot for her to refocus it on him. She could see his power and dominance behind his eyes, and she had to admit that a large part of her wanted to succumb to him.

After all the questions had been answered, Jesse was mentally exhausted. Her nerves were still racing, and she was experiencing a measure of irritation from the earlier part of the interview. She put down her notebook and pen and turned off the recording device.

“That concludes our interview.” Jesse sighed, partly in relief and partly in frustration. “Thank you for giving us some of your time this morning.”

“My pleasure.” Roberts gave her a smile from across the table. “I have to admit, this whole experience was much more pleasant than I thought it would be.”

Jesse cocked her head.

“And why might that be?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“Well, to be plain,” Roberts said. “Primarily because I didn’t have to put up with Elaine Beck.”

Jesse couldn’t help releasing a short burst of laughter. She definitely shared the same feelings about dealing with Elaine.

“Do you two have a history?” Jesse asked, somewhat teasingly.

“Is this question going to be in the article?” Roberts raised his eyebrow.

“Oh no,” Jesse shook her head. “I’m sure I wouldn’t have a job here if Elaine’s name wound up in this article.”

“Well, then I guess it can’t hurt, to be honest.” Roberts shot her a devious smile. “She annoyed the living hell out of me.”

“Oh?” Jesse raised her eyebrows. “Do you interact with her often?”

“No, fortunately,” Roberts answered. “But she harasses me relentlessly. I have to give her my respect for being persistent and pushy, but to be honest, those are not traits that I particularly admire in a woman.”

Jesse felt a flicker of irritation.

“So what are traits that you admire in a woman?” she retorted, crossing her arms and tilting her head. Roberts smiled at her, and she saw his eyes travel up and down her form. She saw some kind of intent in his gaze and couldn’t deny the way her body slightly responded to the look.

“In truth?” Roberts spoke. “I prefer respect from everyone I interact with, regardless of their gender, and pushiness does not go over well with me.”

“Some would say that respect must be given before it can be received,” Jesse said, feeling her ire begin to rise again. Roberts raised a brow and looked her over once again. Jesse had to work hard not to shrink under his scrutiny.

“And some would say that respect must be demanded,” Roberts said, his voice taking on a darker tone.

For the first time, Jesse openly blushed, unable to contain her body’s attraction to him. She stood from her seat across the table.

“Thank you for your time, Mr. Roberts,” she said, holding out her hand for him to shake.

“Thank you,” he said, rising slowly. He took her hand in his and gently squeezed it in his own. He leaned closer to her.

“You can call me Hal,” he said.

“Thank you,” Jesse repeated, feeling her heart pound in her chest. “Hal.”

He smiled down at her, and Jesse felt her heart flutter.

“It was a pleasure, Jesse,” he said, her name rolling easily off his tongue. “I can’t wait to read the article.”

“I’m sure.” Jesse granted him a smile. She saw his bodyguard stand from the corner of her eye and turned toward the door to watch them leave.

As soon as they exited the room and were out of her line of sight, Jesse collapsed into her chair with a loud huff of air, relieved to finally be finished with that ordeal.