Page 15 of The Boss I Can't Stand
“Eight,” she shot back, setting off again. I followed her to the display table near the front of the store.
I don’t want her, but I need her, I reminded myself. I needed her because I needed X to remain the face of this project. He was the name that would make this an undeniable success. I smoothed my hair back. “Fine. Two months. No more.”
She sniffed, reaching for a bolt of fabric. “I guess I’ll consider it.”
“You’ll take it,” I growled, catching the bolt before she could pick it up. What the hell were we doing here if she wasn’t going to sign on to the project?
“Or what?” she argued, pulling on the bolt. I held firm. She tugged again. “You’re going to run off and offer the job to someone else? Go ahead!”
This woman! Frustration burned behind my eyes, but I couldn’t relent. I wouldn’t. I wasnotgoing to let anything stand in the way of making this movie a success.
If that meant I needed her to sign on, then she was damn well going to sign on. No matter what I had to do. She pulled harder on the bolt. I pulled back, the two of us locked in a tug-of-war.
“Let go!”
“Sign on to the movie.”
“No.” She yanked on the fabric so hard the bolt flipped up, whacking the mannequin next to us, which tipped into the other one, landing the two figures in a very compromising position on the floor.
Sierra huffed, righting them as her cheeks turned bright red. “What do you have against Merle?”
“Who?”
She slapped her hand down on the mannequin’s head as it started to fall off. “He’s delicate and you’re smacking him around like a stunt double on one of your ridiculous car movies.”
I didn’t have time for this. “Sultry Stitches,” I said. It was her side business. I’d seen it on her business card. She made burlesque costumes.
Her eyes narrowed.
“What about it?”
“I’ve seen the script for the nextRun ’n’ Gunproduction. You sign on to do the costuming for this movie, and I can guarantee there will be anice little burlesque sequence that can only be outfitted by Sultry Stitches.”
She finally released the mannequin, crossing her arms and pursing her lips. I was offering her the promise of more work.
Work that would be seen bymillions. That kind of product placement could shoot her orders into the stratosphere. And anyone working in this business knew you never turned down an opportunity when it fell into your lap.
“Not sure I’m the biggestRun ’n’ Gunfan,” she said.
I already knew she’d say that. Just to be difficult. But I could tell I was wearing her down. At the very least, she’d stopped marching away from me. “Look,” I said pointedly. “X is really excited to work with you.”
“Yeah, too bad his producer is insufferable,” she said.
I bit down on the grumble that surged up my throat. “X fought for you in this role even when I said you’d be nothing but trouble. And right now, you’re proving me right. Is that really what you want?”
She glared at me.
I kept at it. “And you know this picture is going to be an award contender with X at the helm. I’ll push you forward for award consideration. Are you really prepared to turn that down?”
A muscle in her cheek twitched, and I knew I had her. Recognition was what everyone in this industry wanted. We all wanted a shiny statue that said we were the best. Because recognition meant you got to keep making movies.
“I know how badly you want to be a part of this movie. You gushed about the biography all over your social media when you read it.You’re not actually going to throw this opportunity away because I annoy you, are you?”
She let out a heavy sigh. Her eyes flickered back to the phone in my hand.
“I’ll sign it,” she muttered.
A sense of relief finally seeped through me. Thank the gods of unproduced films.
