Page 95 of Second Act
Hugh came to a decision. “You’re going to apologize to Jessica tonight. In person.”
“Have you forgotten we’re in DC and she’s in New York? And it’s snowing?” Now she sounded exasperated.
“That’s what helicopters are for. It’s not snowing hard enough to stop them from flying. Trevor will let you know when and where to meet me for the flight.”
“Do you intend to make everyone who says something you don’t like about your girlfriend apologize in person? Because if you do, you won’t have much time to make movies. She’ll need to toughen up if she’s going to keep dating you. And by the way, I’m not being dragged to New York in the snow to grovel in front of her.”
A red mist hazed over Hugh’s vision, but his voice was arctic. “Don’t forget that Irene Bartram thought she would play Samantha Dubois for the rest of the Julian Best series. Then Irene interfered with Gavin Miller’s personal life. And now Samantha is dead.”
Instead of being intimidated by his veiled threat, Meryl laughed. “Oh, Hugh, baby, you’re far too honorable to do anything to damage my career. In fact, I sometimes wonder how you succeeded in this dirty business with all your gleaming integrity. Nice guys usually finish last in Hollywood.”
That one was a right hook to his chest. He had not been at all nice to Jessica in those early scrambling days of his ascent to stardom. It was only because he’d made it to the top that he could afford to have principles now.
All the anger drained out of him. “Forget it. I don’t need you there. But I’m going to give you some advice. Don’t discount the power of integrity. Doing the right thing may appear inconvenient at times, but it breeds trust, which is a valuable commodity in this business.” He didn’t give Meryl a chance to respond before he disconnected.
For a long moment, he simply stared down at his cell phone before hitting Jessica’s number on speed dial. A shudder of fear passed through him. What if she didn’t believe that Meryl was lying?
Her greeting held nothing but pleasure at hearing his voice. There was no sign of anger or distress, so she must not have seen the interview. He dreaded the revulsion he might hear, but he had to tell her. “Jess, I’m calling because Meryl gave a television interview this evening and said things that were not only untrue but which could upset you.”
“Oh, I saw it. Aidan has some sort of alert set up on his phone.” Yet she sounded untroubled. “I kind of liked Meryl when I met her in your trailer, so it surprised me that she would do that. But I guess she wanted to stir up some publicity, right?”
Hugh winced at Jessica’s matter-of-fact tone. He hated knowing his cynicism had rubbed off on her. Yet relief rolled through him that Meryl’s insinuations hadn’t sent her running for the exit. “Just to be clear, there has never been any kind of relationship between Meryl and me, other than a professional one.” He didn’t mention that Meryl had tried and failed.
“I never doubted that you would have told me if there was.”
“I’m coming up there to prove it to you. Tonight.”
“Oh, Hugh, you don’t have to do that. I mean, I’d love to see you. I miss you all the time, but you have to work tomorrow.” She sounded torn between happiness and distress.
“I’ll text you my expected arrival time as soon as I know it. I won’t keep you long because you have to work, too, but I need to talk with you face-to-face.”
“It will be wonderful to see you.” She sounded like she meant it. “I love you.”
“I adore you.” He disconnected and walked back into the living room to put Trevor to work on travel arrangements.
Two and a half hours later, the limousine pulled up at Jessica’s house. The wrought iron lamp over her front door tinted the snowflakes drifting down with a golden glow, and the solid, brick Victorian town house projected an air of timeless serenity that he envied.
Unfortunately, the trip had given him far too much time to think about what Meryl had said. He had tried to dismiss her comments about Jessica needing to be tough as sour grapes, but she’d planted the seeds of misgivings in his mind, where they’d taken root. His righteous anger had diminished into an uneasy sense of guilt by the time he exited the limousine.
Jessica opened the door just as Hugh walked up the steps, so he could enter straight into the warmth of her home and her presence.
She wore jeans and a purple sweater, and her hair fell in a shining curtain over her shoulders. He wanted to stand and bask in the sight of her after just a day’s absence. He hated to think how intensely he’d miss her after the weeks his foreign filming schedule would keep them apart. Meryl’s words about exactly that echoed through his brain.
He bent to brush his lips against Jess’s, tamping down his desire to pull her against him so he could feel every inch of her body. “Hello, my love. I’m so sorry to arrive late on a work night, but this is important.”
He searched Jess’s face, trying to read what she really felt about Meryl’s stupid ploy. But her expression wasn’t giving anything away. So he simply wrapped his arms around her, folding her into him as he inhaled the fragrance of her soft hair, and the warm, feminine scent that was just Jess. “I’m sorry, my love,” he said again.
She melted into him, her arms tight around his waist. “Hey, it got you here when I was missing you like crazy, so I’m not complaining.”
Hugh closed his eyes. Only Jess could have the generosity of heart to see this as a positive. He ran one hand over the silk of her hair.
She continued, her voice muffled again his chest. “I just have to get used to this sort of thing, and I might as well start now.”
The guilt sliced at Hugh. “No, we should at least be able to trust my colleagues to behave like professionals.”
“It wasn’t that terrible, because I didn’t believe her.” Jess sighed, her breath a whisper. “I’m more worried about what my clients are goingto think. They’re not used to having a celebrity’s, um, girlfriend in their midst, so they don’t know that most of that crap is made up.”
Remorse sank its talons deep into Hugh’s chest. He hadn’t considered the impact on her employees and clients. He lived in a bubble with his multimillion-dollar houses, chartered private helicopters, and staff to ward off unwanted intrusions. But Jess had to deal with the fallout from stunts like Meryl’s. Expecting her to join him in his majestic isolation was out of the question. Her work was part of who she was. He couldn’t cut her off from that. Yet Meryl had reminded him of the conflicts it would create.
