Page 94 of Heavy Shot

“Good luck with that out here!”

Lunch with Rick had turned into a job offer that she accepted immediately, and then into dinner as they worked through the details, and she found herself liking him more and more. She also found him in her office more and more until she felt like she had to remind him that she was at work for Simon Says, not for Circle Sky–yet. He had taken it with good humor and said, “Tell you what? Have dinner with me and I’ll stay out of your office. I just keep making excuses to see you. Give me a dinner date and we’ll call it even.”

“A dinnerdate?”

“A date. Yes. A social engagement,” he said, putting on a voice. “A date. You, me, tomorrow night and no work talk. Sound good?”

It did sound good, and she agreed just as she was being called out to the set, and she found herself laughing for no reason. A date with Rick. The most normal man she’d met in a while. That sounded really good. And maybe if he’d taken her out that night, right then, maybe it would have been good, but she had time to think about it and by the time she picked up a voice message from Rick the next morning, telling her that he'd made a reservation at a nice Italian place for dinner and he'd pick her up around seven, she knew what she had to do.

Reservations at an Italian place sounded great, but she wondered which 'nice' restaurant he'd chosen. After the initial thrill at the realization Rick had asked her on a date, Rhiannon had been analyzing the possible motives and regretting the fact that she felt the need to do that. He seemed like a nice guy, but she didn't really know him. Thad's friend, but Kline's friend, too. He was well aware of the very recent scandal and had, for all intents and purposes, seen her naked already. Plus, there was no telling what Kline might have said about her.

Part of her said that it was true that she didn't really know him, but at the same time, she'd never get to know him if she didn't take a chance. Her experience with Kline had made her gun-shy, surely, but was she really going to allow one bad relationship to put a moratorium on her social life?

Still, there was a nagging doubt. She tapped her phone against her chin, considering how to handle it. They were working together now and if things didn't go well personally, she was contractually bound to suffer through however many weeks of script development and shooting it took to complete the film. Technically, he was her boss because he was the producer who had taken her on for the project.

Rhiannon shook her head. She'd turned Thad down time and again for the very same reasons. It wasn't ever that he wasn't charming or attractive, but he was her boss, and he was still legally married, even if he and Monique were already on the outs before he started asking. Rhiannon didn't want to get into the middle of all of that, but she also didn't want to compromise her work relationships or her reputation. She didn't sleep her way to success and she didn't want anyone to believe that she had. It was that simple.

Rhiannon pulled her phone open and scrolled through the list of calls to get Rick's cell number, pressing the call button when she found it.

It rang three times and she was getting ready to leave a message when he answered, "Hello? Rhiannon?"

"Hi, Rick. Yes, it's me," she confirmed. There was music in the background and the sound of splashing water. "Did I call at a bad time?"

"No, but can you hang on for a minute? I need to go inside."

"Sure." She waited and listened to the noise fade, the sound of a door opening and closing, sealing it out completely.

"That's better. Sorry about that," he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "I take it you got my message?"

"Mmhm."

"And is Italian alright?"

"Yes, but-" Rhiannon started to speak, but a female voice in the background interrupted.

"Rick? You're not going to work all day, are you?" she asked, with a slightly teasing tone. "Come into the pool. The water's warm."

There was a shuffling sound and Rhiannon knew he'd covered the phone somehow, but she heard his response distantly, "I'll be there in a minute."

The woman said something else that she couldn't make out and then Rick's voice was clear on the line again, "Sorry about that."

"I guess I did call at a bad time," Rhiannon said.

"Not really. Just lunch. My assistant just jumped in the pool."

His assistant? She’d seen his assistant, Amy. Any nerves she had about canceling the date disappeared. "Ah. Well, I just wanted to tell you that I'm not going to be able to make it for dinner tonight."

"No?"He sounded disappointed."Okay. Something come up?Some other time then?"

Rhiannon let out a breath."Actually, no.It’s– We're going to be working together and I hope you'll understand that I keep my professional relationships strictly professional. I'm just uncomfortable seeing a coworker, or in this case, a superior, socially."

Rick was silent for a moment then said, "Okay.I respect that."

"I'm sorry, I should have said so when you asked, but we've been lunching and I didn't really think of it as a date right off," she explained. "I just don't want things to get complicated."

"Right," his tone had changed completely, but he was still friendly. "I understand, and I do respect that. Then, I guess I'll see you at the next writers’ meeting."

"Yes," she said, pausing briefly. "I'll see you then."

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