Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 133878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
“What is that supposed to mean?” Shane asked.
She pointed to the stage. “They’re rehearsing. Keep your voice down, please. I won’t cause any trouble. Like I said I’ll be out tonight, this afternoon if I have to, and I’ll arrange with Bobby to get a pickup out there so I can leave you Stef’s car.”
Shane stared at her, his eyes nearly glowing in the light cast from the stage. “Just like that?”
What did he expect her to do? “Like I said, I’m not going to cause trouble.”
“Oh, my love, but I will.” He stalked across the narrow hall, and she took a step back. It didn’t matter since he wasn’t giving her space. His hand came around her neck, and he gently brought her up on her toes. His mouth hovered over hers, and despite all the crap of the day, a thrill went through her as he spoke. “You have no idea the amount of trouble I’m going to cause if you step foot off the G without one of us with you. Something is going on and it’s not about your former boss, though you should know I would have done the same damn thing as Bay.”
“I was going to handle it.” He was so close, and he was giving off some serious Dom vibes.
He stared at her for a moment as though deciding how to handle her. If it had been Bay staring down at her with intense eyes, she could have gone on her toes and kissed him and distracted him, but Shane was far more intense about some things. “If some woman had her hands on me, what would you have done?”
She could lie. “I would have trusted you to handle it.”
His eyes narrowed, and she felt the hand on her neck tighten slightly. “Some woman is making me uncomfortable and you’re fine with that. I’m on my own?”
She let loose a low groan of frustration. “Damn it, Shane. That’s not fair.”
“Tell me why you freaked out. Did you want your job back?” His jaw tightened. “If that’s the truth, then I’ll talk to Bay about apologizing, though I would bet that asshole will be nasty about it.”
“I handled it.”
“How did you handle it, Brooke?”
“I told him he could either leave Bay and Rye alone or I would press my own charges and make sure everyone in the world knew exactly who he was,” she replied with some fire of her own.
“There’s my girl,” he said, his mouth hovering above her own. “Now tell me what you would have done in his place. No fucking lies, Brooke.”
Such an ass. “Fine. I would have pulled her off you by the hair, and I wouldn’t have thought twice about it.”
“Again, my girl.” There was a wealth of satisfaction coming off the man. “Now tell me why you’re so pissed off about losing a job you didn’t want back in the first place that you’re willing to leave both of us behind. I’m suspecting you weren’t planning on asking us to go with you wherever it is you think you’re going.”
Put like that it didn’t sound great. “I’m going with Cleo when she leaves town.”
He took a step back as though he needed to consider her decision. After a long moment he nodded. “Will she stick around after opening night? I read some directors hand things over to the assistant or the stage manager.”
He sounded so calm it made her heart ache. She’d kind of thought he would fight her. Still, it was better if they could be civil. “She’ll stay for a couple of weeks. We’re going to hole up somewhere and start talking about design for the film. There’s not a ton of money attached, but we’ll make do. I expect to stay at her place in LA for a couple of weeks until I can figure something out.”
“I’ll start looking. Is there a particular area you’re interested in?”
“What?”
“I know the marriage thing was fake for you, but it wasn’t for us. If you go to LA, we go to LA. Bay will make some money off the showing, and even if it’s not a lot, I’m going to apply for some art grants that should keep us afloat until he does. He won’t like it, but he can start doing some commissions.”
She shook her head. That wasn’t how Bay worked. “He needs to feel inspired. You can’t count on that when you’re doing commissions.”
She should know. It was what she did every day. She could handle it, could find the artistry in giving the client what they wanted, but what she and Bay did was different.
“All he needs is you,” Shane announced quietly. “We’ll let Trev know we need to put in two weeks’ notice. It’ll be okay because he’s interviewing a couple of new hands. We’ll have some time to train them.”