Page 37 of Heavy Shot

She nodded again. "Yeah. I haven't told her about us. Our past, I mean.”

"You've seen her since you've been in LA? Apart from Blue, I mean?"

"Yes. We had dinner on Friday night."

"Ah. You were the friend she mentioned," Kline said, puzzling for a moment before asking. "Is that why you hung up on my call?"

Jill smiled and nodded once more. "You'd just talked to her. So, yeah. It wasn't a good time."

He blushed and managed to look sheepish. "I feel a bit caught out."

"You should," Jill said, with a shrug. "She thought it might be you, anyway. I just didn't want to get into it. It's too awkward."

"She's not my girlfriend," Kline said. "We just met, really. But she's a great girl and I appreciate that you handled it that way."

"Nice way to put it," Jill chuckled. "So, is that what I'm wearing?" She nodded at the hanger in his hand.

"I think so, yes. Feel up to dancing? Haven't been to a decent club in ages."

"You're making me go to a club? I hate clubs."

"Roland thinks you need to be out and seen having fun."

"Damn him," she muttered. "All right. Dancing it is."

Kline waited while Jill changed again and praised her mightily when she reappeared, resplendent in red, with sexy strappy heels and dramatic, artful makeup. "You're gorgeous as ever, darling," he said, offering an arm.

"Hmm," she dismissed. "So, take me downtown. We can stop off for dinner first. Eric always has a table for me at Le Bernardin."

"Good enough."

She rang down to the door and had them call a car, so one was waiting by the time they made it to the ground floor. Jill walked ahead, Kline hanging back a ways to watch her hips sway. She put a little extra swish into her step for him, smiling over her shoulder at the expression on his face. "Come on, Pokey. Quit staring and get in the car."

He slipped into the seat beside her, their hips touching, but neither of them shifting to break the contact. Something in the air had changed, Jill thought. Kline gave the driver the address and they were off to Le Bernardin where both of them were welcomed in like family. Rich, famous family, but still, the smarm was at a minimum. A who's who of New York celebrity was seated around the restaurant and Jill offered hellos and hand squeezes as they were led to their table.

"This is your town now, isn't it?" Kline asked, smiling.

"In some corners it is. But Gary got half of it in the divorce. Maybe more. LA is yours, though. They love you there." She offered him a warm look and then blushed a little, "I've seen all of your movies. They're right to love you."

He winked at her and pulled her chair out to seat her before settling in the chair opposite. "You'll take LA over before you know it. I'll have to come to you for work."

"Ooh," she purred playfully, flirting. "I'll have to employ the casting couch then."

"And I would work twice as hard to make sure you knew just how badly I wanted you--I mean, to 'work' with you," he said, with a hint of a smile.

She groaned at him and hid behind her menu for a while. She never knew where she was with him. She was constantly off balance. She wasn’t even sure he honestly found her attractive. Their last encounter flashed through her mind, and she blushed with humiliation at how he’d left her. But he was here now and being kind and charming. She knew what to do with kind and charming.

Their dinner was interrupted by a few visitors, people stopping by to offer their support or condolences to Jill over the recent ugliness. She held her head up high and accepted the sympathies, introduced people to Kline, and generally behaved like a good hostess at a very small dinner party, all the while mortified at how many people knew her private business.

A couple walked away, and she deflated slightly. "I'm exhausted," she whispered. "It's worse than working the circuit. But at least I can pretend it's a play, right?"

"That's what actors do. We pretend."

"You're pretending to absolutely adore your costar in Knight right now, aren't you? Kara Viceroy? Why do you despise her so much?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"To me. You're acting like you did when we were going out with Philip and Jean all the time, and you hated Jean."

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