Page 1 of Broken Rules

1

LEX

When I was a kid, I used to have nightmares about showing up at school in my underwearandbeing called up to deliver a report I hadn’t written.More than once, I dreamed I was the star of the school play, but I had never gone to a rehearsal.It was opening night, and all eyes were on me—unprepared, deer-in-headlights me.

This was no nightmare, though it felt like one.I was standing in my father’s office, which, at times, had felt more like home to me as a kid than the house I grew up in.The studio was on the brink of producing my first major film, a project Dad was counting on essentially turning around the studio’s lackluster numbers.Imagine my surprise to find out he went behind my back and secured a notoriously difficult director without my input.As if it wasn’t bad enough, he had chosen the script without me and was already reaching out to agents to secure the actorshewanted.

Now, I was faced with the last person I would ever have hired for this or any project.Summer Strawbridge, with her shitty attitude and insistence that she always knew what was best and her artistic vision couldn’t possibly falter.Word traveled fast around here, and everybody knew that certain people who weren’t worth the pain in the ass they might deliver.

It didn’t seem to mattersince she was standing in front of me, giving me the up and down like I was a slug, and she was deciding whether to squash me or let me go on my way.She looked like she had just left some artist commune with the boho outfit she’d thrown together.And yet, somehow, she managed to look down on me?

“I know we’re all looking forward to getting started.”Dad was either unaware of the sudden tension in the air or didn’t care.I’d go with the latter because why would he?As far as he was concerned, she was my problem.He’d expect the same results regardless—a film with the power to breathe new life into the Landry International brand.

“I know I am,” she chirped.Did she realize how everything about her changed when she turned away from me to face him?That withering expression she wore a split second ago turned to something brighter and hopeful—just an eager girl looking to prove herself.

Had she ever considered acting as a profession?If she had, I could see why she had given it up in favor of directing because she was no good at pretending she wasn’t desperate as hell.Her smile was too hard, almost brittle, much like the light shining from her eyes with determination and mania.I could respect one.I wasn’t sure I wanted to work with the other.

Not that I had a choice because, as usual, Dad had gone over my head and done exactly what he wanted and now expected me to play nice and accept his word as law.I’d ask myself where he got off, but I knew the answer.He had always gotten away with it.Why would that stop now?

“And do you understand we are looking at a rushed schedule?”Dad asked, watching her closely.“I wasn’t sure if word had gotten to you yet.”

If she hadn’t already rubbed me the wrong way, looking at me the way she did, I might have felt sorry for her.She didn’t know she was being tested.The girl had only walked in moments ago wearing her loose, flowing dress and arms full of bangles, the sort of look that gave me the impression of an artistic, free spirit type.In other words, was she going to adhere to a rigid schedule, or was she somebody who relied on her horoscope to make decisions for her?

Her smile slipped, but not by much.“A rushed schedule?”she asked.I couldn’t read her expression but imagined her panicking inside.

“Yes, we had a scheduling conflict and had to shift projects around to accommodate.Lex will tell you all about it,” he offered, throwing my ass under the bus.“This is his baby.I have to remind myself to keep my hands out of it.”With an indulgent laugh, two out of three of us knew he didn’t mean, he looked my way.“Son, I’m handing the reins over to you.I would invite the two of you to talk it over here, in my office, but I have a meeting in a few minutes.”

The bastard.

The motherfucker.

Putting me on the spot this way, saddling me with her, and then stepping back and playing innocent.It was part of the new persona he was trying to put together in his old age—the benevolent, grandfatherly figure.I didn’t care for it.

But it was the hand I’d been dealt, and a pair of clear, green eyes watched my every move.I had to rise to the occasion before she got the idea I didn’t know what I was doing.

“Let me lead you to my office, Miss Strawbridge.”I was out to sea, flailing blindly, but I’d be damned if I gave any hint of that as I opened the door to my father’s office and stepped aside so she could pass.

I realized as I led the way to the office catty-corner from my father’s, on the opposite end of the floor, that we had something in common.We were both a little shell-shocked.“There’s a small, unused office here,” I pointed out, opening the door to the room next to my office.“You’re free to take it for the duration of the project.”She looked around, not saying a word, her stiff body language screaming a single word.Rage.

It was obvious she hadn’t been given all of the details, the same as me.It might have brought us closer, given us something to bond over.Should I clear the air and laugh over this?

She made up my mind for me as we entered the room, one considerably smaller than the one we had left.I had only started putting my own touches on it.Truth be told, with Dad considering retirement, part of me wanted to wait until I moved into his office before settling in.

Turning to me as soon as we were alone, she folded her arms.Gone was the sunny, almost painfully sincere and driven girl Dad met.I was looking at the real Summer, whose chin jutted out when she was pissed off.“Is this your policy?”

“Meaning what?”And why the fuck was she so combative straight off the bat?We had barely exchanged a few sentences, yet the woman glared at me like I had personally destroyed her life.

“Meaning, I wasn’t told anything about a rushed schedule when I agreed to do this picture.How rushed are we talking?”

“Six months to the premiere,” I announced.Why bother easing into it?She wanted to play tough, so I’d give her what she wanted.“You’re welcome to tell us to fuck ourselves if you don’t think that’s possible.Better to get it out of the way now.”

Her head snapped back like she’d been struck, and her eyes widened a fraction.For the first time, we were on equal footing, both of us flailing to make sense of what we’d been thrown into.We were both trapped since she had to know we were the only studio in town willing to hire her.There was no choice but to comply if she wanted to work.

The illusion of solidarity didn’t last long.“Now I see why you wanted me for this,” she announced, jutting a hip out to the side, still staring me down in my office.“I can’t imagine any other director capable of getting the job done in such a ridiculously short amount of time.Why did we bother having this meeting?I should be out scouting locations as we speak.”

I shouldn’t have bristled ather strident, almost overly confident tone of voice.Cocky, even.“There are procedures we need to follow first, you realize.”Taking a seat at my desk, I gestured for her to do the same in one of the leather chairs on the opposite side.She hesitated, lips pursed, but gave in before long.Why did everything have to be a contest with her?

“How many movies have you produced, Mr.Landry?”She took a seat, moving gracefully, crossing her legs under her long, linen dress.Something unexpected stirred in me as I watched closer than I should have.I couldn’t help it.It was hardwired in me.When I saw a beautiful woman, I reacted.It was nature.

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