Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 65643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 328(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 219(@300wpm)
I could feel Garrett’s eyes on us. They cut through the crowd like lasers, boring into the side of my face. When I glanced in his direction, our gazes inevitably locked. Every time, I felt a shiver of both hot and cold that jolted me out of the conversation. More than once, I almost missed what Julian had said. It wasn’t a great impression to leave on a powerful producer, but I couldn’t stop.
Andrew had prolonged his conversation with the director, keeping him tethered to the conversation so I didn’t lose Julian’s attention. Now, though, I squeezed his hand. I needed him to step in and save me from career suicide.
Smoothly, as though he read my mind, he pivoted. The conversation enveloped Julian like a fog. He was still standing beside me, but his attention was gone. I was free to ask myself what the hell was going on? Why was I looking at Garrett? Why did I feel this overwhelming urge to untangle my hand from Andrew’s, leave the conversation with a powerful producer and director, and make my way across the room to a man I couldn’t stand?
I let go of Andrew’s hand, but not to go to Garrett. Instead, I went to the bar. It was out of his line of sight, and I needed the reprieve to get my head on straight. The last thing I needed was alcohol, though, so I got a soda and took it to a quiet corner where I could see the room. I noticed that, generally, when you watched a room, it didn’t watch you back. You were free to be the one who observed, who assessed, who judged. Though people still snuck glances at me now and then, they largely focused on subjects that weren’t looking back.
As I leaned against a wide column, I watched the crowd around an actress whose career I wanted to mimic. She’d been a child star, but she’d transitioned gracefully to adult roles without taking her clothes off. She’d done a run of romantic comedies, but now she was moving into producing. She’d told Variety that she was making the roles that no one would offer her–or any women. I wondered if one day, we might end up working together. I hoped so. I’d rarely worked with women directors. Maybe one day I could even–
“Why are you standing over here by yourself?”
Garrett’s voice startled me. I’d been so absorbed in the actress that I hadn’t noticed him making his way over until he was right there, the charcoal sleeve of his Tom Ford suit brushing against my bare arm.
I raised my glass. “I needed a minute.”
“Take your minute, but take it slow,” Garrett advised, assuming there was liquor mixed in. Likely because the bartender had poured my soda into a cut glass highball.
For some perverse reason, I didn’t tell him what it was. I just tipped it up and drank it half down.
Garrett’s mouth twisted down for only a second before returning to his usual, relaxed expression, but his eyes darkened. “My payday depends on yours, remember?” he murmured.
I laughed shortly. His payday might be connected to mine in our bargain, but his ability to pay his mortgage and his publicist and his credit card bills wasn’t. Not to mention, the ability to make a living doing the only thing I’d ever wanted to do. Whatever Garrett might think, I had more riding on this than him. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t enjoying messing with him.
“I’m serious, Destiny.” Garrett scanned the room to make sure no one was paying attention to us, then he put a hand on my back. It might have looked casual to an onlooker, but there was tension in his fingertips as they curled around my waist. He guided me further into the corner until we were hidden behind one of the columns. It was darker over here. No one had expected anyone to end up in this isolated, cut off space. There was no flattering lighting, no high tables, no cameras. “I thought you were smarter than this,” he said between his teeth.
“Smarter than what? Getting sloppily drunk in a room filled with people who can make or break my career?” I tried to laugh, but it stuck in my throat. I almost felt like I really had sucked down a couple ounces of vodka in one gulp. Being this close to Garrett made my brain fuzzy, my thoughts disjointed. This wasn’t a good idea on so many levels.
More to clear whatever was sticking in my throat than to bait him further, I raised the glass to my lips again and drank.
Garrett watched me do it, his face tight. “If you make a fool of yourself tonight and blow what we’ve set up, our deal is off. I can’t help you if you don’t want to help yourself.” He started to move out of our hiding space.