Page 12 of Good Enough

She looked up at him through her eyelashes again to gauge his reactions, but he knew his face would be blank. There was a slight grimace on her face as she continued. “I have patience problems, I guess. But, honestly, being direct gets me where I want to be faster, and there are fewer communication disasters. It’s something I’m known for around here,” she admitted.

“Noted—accuracy, no bullshit, and no filter.”

She nodded. “For the most part, it gets me results. But there are always those who don’t appreciate my tactics.”

“Stapleton.”

“Stapleton,” she confirmed with a head tilt to the left.

“Is he a problem for you? Other than the obvious.”

Laughing lightly, Kubrick shook her head. “The last few weeks, he’s been King of the Assnozzles. No idea what’s crawled up his butt further than usual.”

“Is he like that with everyone, or just you?”

“Oh, it’s everyone. But I’ve been keeping watch over my crew, especially the women, so that any problems are dealt with immediately.”

“What about you directly?”

“When I first took this job, he was annoying, like a mosquito. Handsy. Smarmy.” She held up her hand when she noticed his jaw clench. “I told you, I took care of that bullshit real quick. Unfortunately, since he’s the lead moneyman, all that jacked-up behavior often goes with the job. I kept putting him in his place, and he eventually stopped. Now, I just have the desire to throat-punch him on a nearly constant basis. But, if this film is a success, I won’t need people like him anymore. I plan to finance my own projects with my residuals from this one.” Her face lit up with excitement and anticipation at her last comment.

Confidence returns. That’s hot.

“An action movie about Navy SEALs will be that much in demand?”

“If done right, I think this could be the biggest action film of the year. I have a friend who writes historical paranormal romance novels. She says that contemporary protector romances, especially those featuring former military men, are the hottest thing in the book market these days, so I’m going to capture a corner of the market that action films haven’t taken full advantage of. Definitely better than any comic book draw starring an Australian-accented male playing a Norwegian god,” she grumbled. The look in her eyes went fierce. “I even hired some of Hollywood’s allegedly most handsome eye candy and highest box office draws, so maybe it will even be the highest box office take of all time.” She grinned sheepishly. “Cocky, huh?”

Challenges herself but is self-aware. Double damn, why does she have to be all the things I love in a woman?

“My co-workers would call it ‘determined.’ I can certainly respect that. It’s probably part of why God agreed to do this.”

“Because I was a bitch to him?” she asked incredulously.

“No. You were firm. You knew what you wanted, and you had a clear vision. You didn’t come in wanting us to solve all the problems, just the ones we’re the experts at. And you obviously care. You clearly want to do this right. He can see honesty a mile away, even if he’s not in the room.”

And you’ve got some potentially serious shit going on that you don’t even know about.

“I expect everyone’s best, and in return, they know they get mine.”

“So I noticed.”

Frowning, she asked, “What do you mean?”

He leaned forward, his forearms on the table with hands clasped. He watched her hungry eyes travel from the string bracelet on his tanned wrist, up his muscled arm, to his face.

Yeah, guess God is right. She’s not immune to me.

“I watched how you handled people all afternoon. You do it so well, they never know they’re being handled. You pay attention to them, you look them in the eye, you know personal things about them, and ask about their lives. Hell, you even knew that the two-days-on-the-job makeup girl’s dog had surgery and asked how it was doing. You do those kinds of things, and later, I bet that when you ask these people to do things you want or need, they break down doors to make them happen. They probably work twice as hard as they want to, or intend to, just to earn your praise.”

She bristled. “It’s not my intention to incur favors or make people feel like they owe me something. I try to treat people with respect and reward them for good work. Help people when they need it.”

“I don’t think of it as being manipulative.” He tried to correct her misunderstanding. “They genuinely like you and work harder because you see them. They’re not just paid employees. You include them.”

“Hmmm. You saw all of that from two hours around the lot?”

It was his turn to shrug. “It’s what I do.” She tilted her head with a look of disbelief on her face. He raised his hands in mock surrender. “I may have also spent some time on the internet last night researching you.”

“Former Navy SEAL, burgeoning psychologist, and internet stalker. Killer combination. Tell me, do you sleep?”

---