Page 67 of What I Did for Love
Bram tightened his hand around his keys. “She meant both of us.”
“I don’t think so. She said to tell Georgie not to get dressed up because it would be just the two of them.” Aaron beat a hasty retreat.
Bram let loose with a string of obscenities. Rory was still stone-walling him. She loved theTree Housescript, but according to her V.P. in development, she wouldn’t consider backing the film unless he stepped aside as producer and lead actor, which would defeat the goal of restarting his career. Sometimes he thought he should buy an ad inVarietyand announce to the world that he wasn’t the same feral kid who didn’t have enough character to survive his success. Or maybe a simpler message…How about a fucking second chance?
If only Rory would meet with him personally, but the closest he’d been able to get was during the nighttime incident in her backyard. He’d even slipped through the rear gate with a bottle of Cristal a few days later as an apology for having woken her up, but one of her lackeys had taken the champagne from him and shut the door.
He glared down at Georgie. Thanks to Chaz’s cooking, she’d gained enough weight so those big green eyes peeping at him through a fringe of bangs had lost their sunken appearance, and her shiny brown hair curved around fuller cheeks. “I want you in my office in ten minutes.”
She opened her mouth to tell him to go to hell, but he was ready for her. “Unless you aren’t interested in seeing the script forTree House…”
He knew he had her, and he walked away without looking back.
She kept him waiting ten minutes longer than he expected. She hadn’t used the time to change her clothes, and she still wore the outfit from their paparazzi coffee run: a bright lemon knit top with a modestly curved round neck, a tiny cropped cardigan as insubstantial as a spiderweb, and wide-cut green-and-cream mattress-ticking slacks only someone so slender could carry off. The outfit concealed far more than it revealed, which made it sexy as hell.
She made the first move in this new game they were playing by tilting her head toward the poster of Jake Koranda playing Bird Dog Caliber. “Now there’s a real man.”
“I’ll be sure to tell him you said so.” He squeezed a rubber exercise ball in his fist, channeling Humphrey Bogart inThe Caine Mutiny.“I need a little cooperation for a change.”
She looked wounded. “What do you mean, ‘for a change.’ I’m always cooperative.” She plopped down on his couch. “Okay, mainly cooperative with other people, but still…”
“Stop screwing around and listen.” He curled the ball in his palm and pointed his index finger at her nose. “Don’t sabotage me with Rory Keene.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“Wouldn’t you? Rory loves everything about theTree Houseproject except…”
“You?” She widened those gum ball green eyes. “It’s because you have a bad reputation.”
“Thanks for pointing that out.” He set the ball on his desk. “I have to make this film, Georgie. Me and nobody else. You need to convince her I’ve turned into Husband of the Year.”
“You haven’t.”
“Pretend.”
“You’re asking me for help?” Again the big-eyed Orphan Annie thing, but Georgie had always been a team player, and he figured she’d help him…after she gave him a hard time.
She put a finger to her cheek. “If I suck up to Rory for you, what do I get in return?”
“Hot sex and my undying gratitude.”
She pretended to think it over. “Nope. Not good enough.”
“I’ll let Meg stay in the guesthouse.”
“Meg’s already staying in the guesthouse.”
“Let me put it another way. I won’t hit on her while she’s staying in the guesthouse.”
“You won’t hit on her anyway. You treat her like she’s twelve.” She finally got down to business. “I want to read the script before I meet Rory this afternoon. Hand it over.”
“I told you I’d let you see it.”
“Yes, but you didn’t tell me you’d let mereadit.”
“You noticed that.”
She held out her hand.
