Page 9 of Broken Rules

“What happens next is we make the best fucking picture we can.Full steam ahead.Let’s get this thing done.”Something had shifted.We were on the same team now.

It was more than that.Whatever wall was between us crumbled just enough for me to see the person beneath her prickly, antagonistic shell.I didn’t realize it until she turned in the chair to reveal a wide, radiant smile and eyes that now shone with excitement.There was a real, wounded person in there.And if she had been the brains behindRoad to Glory, she had a hell of a future in front of her.

A future I wanted to be part of, if only professionally.If we made a movie with the same sort of buzzRoadhad built without millions behind its publicity, there was no stopping me from ushering the studio into a new era, an era I could stamp my name on the way Dad had stamped his name on the studio after taking over from his father.

“All right,” she agreed.I watched her jaw tighten in determination.“But I’m going to need an apartment.I’m tired of living out of my suitcase.”

“Done.Your job tomorrow is to spend the morning looking for a place.All I need is a copy of the signed lease.”

A pair of delicate eyebrows shot up.“You’re serious?”

So that was all it took to impress her?

“As a heart attack.So start looking.I’ll expect an answer by noon tomorrow.After that, your job is to scout locations.I want a full list by the time we get together for dinner tomorrow night at my house.I’ll send you the details in the morning.”

“Wait!”she called after me once I was in the hall, but it was too late.I was already moving, more determined than ever to get this done.The fire in my chest was now in my gut, pushing me onward.

“Can’t hear you,” I called out from my office, chuckling at her loud groan while wondering why the hell it smelled like sage in there.

4

SUMMER

“This is all wrong.”I grabbed the hem of my sundress and pulled it over my head, balling it up and throwing it on the floor of what was going to be my motel room for one more night.First thing tomorrow, Claudia and I would load everything up into the back of her old Chevy to move into the apartment on Wilshire we’d found this morning.

It had been a whirlwind.Last night was spent searching through listings after the impromptu meeting with Lex.We were almost giddy with the possibilities while sharing a bottle of chardonnay.“Might as well shoot your shot,” Claudia had pointed out more than once as we scrolled through eye-popping listings.Some of those apartments cost in one month what I had spent on my first car.

But she had a point.What was the worst thing Lex could say?No, it’s too expensive?The idea made me giggle.We hadn’t known each other for long, but I could read a person.It meant swallowing his pride and admitting he couldn’t afford it, which he’d never do.Not a man like him, with something to prove, not to mention his deep pockets.

Still, after we had toured the two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in the heart of Beverly Hills, I had called Lex’s direct number with my heart in my throat.Yet when I quoted the price, he didn’t balk for a second.“That sounds reasonable.Have the property manager forward me the agreement, and I’ll have my assistant handle the details.”

And that was it.It was that simple.It wasn’t even ten o’clock yet, which meant we had plenty of time to scout shooting locations.I already had a handful in mind, confirming how perfect they were while Claudia and I drove from place to place.

There was only one problem as I dug through the few decent outfits I owned, hoping to look presentable tonight.It was the fact that Lex Landry wanted me to meet him at his house in the Hills for dinner.

“Would you relax?It doesn’t mean anything,” Claudia reminded me for maybe the hundredth time since he had dropped that bombshell.

I called to tell him I had a list of locations, and he had announced he’d send a driver to pick me up at eight o’clock and drive me to his house, where we’d go over the locations and the shooting schedule.

“Why can’t we do this in public?”I asked, pulling out a pair of linen pants that needed a quick ironing.“I told him what happened with Clyde.I’m not supposed to think there’s something fishy about this?”

“He figures you’ll trust him because he knows what happened,” she countered.“You said he seemed pretty pissed off about it.”

“He did,” I admitted.

“And honestly,” she continued, picking up my sundress off the floor and shaking it out.“What are you supposed to do?Meet up at some fancy restaurant and spread a bunch of work across the table?It’s a working dinner.You either do it here, at the studio, or his house.”

“Why do you always have to make so much damn sense?”I muttered, holding the pants up in front of me and checking out my reflection in the mirror.“I don’t know.Does this look right?”

“I think your instincts were right with the dress.”

“I don’t want him thinking I dressed up for him.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have blown out your hair and put on makeup,” she pointed out in a gentle voice, chuckling.

“I’m wearing mascara and lip gloss.That’s not makeup.”

“Sure, whatever you say.Wear the dress,” she concluded, flopping onto the bed and picking up the remote to turn on the television.“And consider yourself lucky.I’m looking forward to Chinese delivery tonight.”

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