Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Jay hit the answer button and then Smith’s voice boomed down the phone, all loud and cheerful. “I just want you to know I’m fully in with the role you offered me yesterday.”
Jay rubbed his face. Yesterday’s stubble met his fingers. He had no idea what Smith was talking about so he tried to bluff. “Right. The action film?” Had they been talking about a new action film? He was so hungover he couldn’t remember.
Smith sounded like he was seriously trying to hold back laughter. “Yeah, it’s going to be so good, out there in the grass with the sheep. All those sheep and that lonely old ram. You were inspired when you pitched it to me last night. I had trouble getting to sleep, I was so excited about it.”
Jay was silent as he held up his throbbing head with the phone on one side and a hand on the other. “There were sheep?”
Smith finally burst out laughing. “There were only sheep. Valentina and I are still laughing. Jay, what on earth were you up to last night?”
“I might have had a couple of drinks too many,” he admitted. He scratched his head. Sheep? He wanted to make a movie about sheep?
Then Smith turned serious. “I know you don’t drink like that as a rule. What’s going on?”
He and Smith went way back—almost as far back as he did with Archer—and right about now he was feeling sorry enough for himself that he needed a friend. He decided to tell at least the core of the truth to Smith Sullivan who, in love as he was with Valentina, was the perfect person to help him in this situation.
He swallowed, unsure of how to put such unfamiliar feelings into words. “I’ve completely fallen for a woman and she will have no part of me.” He paused. It was strange to hear himself speak this way. This was not the kind of thing he’d ever said to anyone before and the words felt odd in his mouth. He needed to lighten the tone. “I’m not a hot A-list actor like you.” This wasn’t the reason Erin had rejected him, but his default defense was always to joke around.
But Smith wasn’t having it. He’d known Jay too long and he clearly knew what a friend in need sounded like. “Have you shown this woman the real you? You play a good game, like I always used to, but look how much Valentina had to get past when she met me. I was an actor, always under the spotlight when she prefers privacy, and what’s more, I was playing the role of her sister’s love interest in a movie. And now I’m about to become a father, because thankfully, Valentina stuck around long enough for me to convince her that we had what it took to make it. You act like you’re all about the big deal, Jay, but you’re a good man underneath. Let her see that.”
Despite how rotten Jay felt, Smith had managed to make him smile. Maybe he’d phoned to make fun of him—and who could blame the man—but there was kindness there too. He was checking up on his agent to make sure he was okay. And Jay appreciated that.
Plus, it was really good advice. “You might be right,” Jay said, inwardly cursing himself for treating Erin like she was just another girl when she was anything but. Smith had his number—Jay had defaulted to his well-worn playboy dealmaker persona, the guy who saw getting a woman into bed as a challenge to be overcome. But he didn’t feel that way about Erin, and she wasn’t that kind of woman, so what had made him act that way? He must have known his behavior would drive her away.
Secretly, in the part of himself where he still felt like a little kid from a roach-infested apartment with no hope, just his own hustle, did he feel he didn’t deserve a decent woman like Erin? Because he’d sure succeeded in blowing the one incredible chance she’d given him.
While he was thinking, Smith said, “And get that script to me about the sheep. I’m already doing some shepherd method acting to get ready for the role.”
Smith was still laughing when he hung up.
Jay shook his head and vowed never to drink again. He needed to get on with the day and somehow make amends with Erin.
He managed to get to his feet, take the dog out, put on some coffee, and take some painkillers. He was about to head upstairs to a long, hot shower and shave off that sad stubble when his phone rang again. Once more he groaned. Archer Davenport. Another person he always picked up for.
As he said hello, Archer sounded in suspiciously high spirits.
“I didn’t offer you a part in a sheep movie, did I?”