by Mel Curtis
“How does that work, exactly?” Cora asked.
“I rate them on an aggression scale. Dooley didn’t want them to have all the edges smoothed out.” Donna beamed at Blue. “Your dog was very high on the scale.”
Cora reached down to pet a brown Pomeranian mix. The dog snapped at her hand.
“That’s one of our more aggressive dogs. I save those for the really hard cases we get assigned.” Donna smiled. “Perhaps the little black Chihuahua to start.” She handed the dog to Cora, who started to pet it, but froze when the little dog growled and pulled its lips back from its teeth.
“Very good.” Donna produced a treat from her pocket and gave it to the dog. “That’s the perfect response. No biting.”
“You train them to be mean?” Cora started to hand the dog back, but Donna stepped away.
“This is a rescue. These dogs have been abused and abandoned. I don’t have to train them to do anything. It’s in their nature. For the sake of the Foundation, I reinforce their stubborn tendencies.”
That explained why Mr. Jiggles had been a holy terror when Blue took custody of him.
He gave Donna an I-come-in-peace smile. “We’re here to understand the nuances behind your operation.”
“Oh.” Donna blinked, dogs streaming around her as if she was sugar and they were hungry ants. And then a more disappointed, “Oh. You’re cancelling the program.”
“That’s not what I said,” Blue soothed. “We won’t be able to place any more dogs if you don’t explain your end of the process. My father’s notes were…”
“Incomplete,” Cora filled in when Blue faltered.
The siblings exchanged a smile. For a woman who didn’t do teams, Cora was on his wavelength this morning.
“There’s not much to tell. I rescue the animals and allow them to misbehave. None of them are truly bad.” She made kissy noises, which drew several dogs to her feet, tails wagging. “Dooley would call and tell me what kind of dog he was looking for – mildly to sharply aggressive. Someone would come pick the dog up and that was that.”
The burden of the Avengers was nothing compared to the weight on his heart. His father left him a dog to try and fix him. “And when my father called you about this dog before he died.” He gestured to Mr. Jiggles in the carrier at his hip. “What did he tell you?”
“The usual. The subject was self-centered and didn’t know the worth of the love he could give…” Donna eyed him warily. “But you should know this.”
“I’m just confirming what you know,” he said past a throat clogged with pain. His father thought Blue was self-centered? That Blue was incapable of love? And he’d thought his ex-girlfriends had betrayed him?
Blue took Mr. Jiggles out of his carrier, needing to hold him close. “I think I hated him at first. I resented that my dad had such a misbehaving, effeminate-looking dog. And that was before he was pink.” Blue’s gaze softened, his voice mellowed. “But it was all a sham. Mr. Jiggles was just another example of my father’s quirky self-help programs.”
“I’ll take him back,” Donna said quietly, reaching for him.
“No.” He held him in the crook of his arm the way Mr. J liked. “We’re a pair now, like…Batman and Robin.”
“Kermit and Miss Piggy,” Cora murmured. She tried to put the black dog in her arms down, but it growled, so she froze again.
“That’s what usually happens.” Donna beamed. “They’re good dogs, at heart. And with love and care, they turn into the best little companions.”
“How many dogs would you say you placed this past year?” Blue continued to pet Mr. Jiggles.
“Last year was slow – maybe six? No, seven, not counting your dog.”
There’d been three little beasts at Winnie’s. Suddenly, Blue didn’t feel so singled out. Or at a loss as to what to do about Cora. “We’d like to place a dog today.”
His sister glanced up sharply. “We do?”
“Yes. We’ll take that one.” Blue pointed to the black dog in Cora’s arms.
Perhaps sensing where he was going with this, Cora shook her head.
“This is perfect.” Donna clapped her hands. “You want to learn how to be a good friend? How to be less selfish? How to love someone? Take the dog.”
“But – ”
Blue silenced Cora with an icy stare. “My sister needs this dog more than you know. We’ll be in touch about placing more dogs soon.”
“We will?” Cora watched helplessly as the dog lady gathered up a carrier, a starter bag of dog food and dog dishes from a cupboard on her porch.
“You want to increase your billings, don’t you?” With a last pat, Blue put Mr. Jiggles back in his carrier. “How many self-centered people do you know in Hollywood?”
“Almost everyone. I only hang out with bitches, remember? At least, I used to when I had friends.”
“You’re going to bring small dogs back in fashion. One bitch at a time.”
And finally, Cora understood. The dog was her therapy, but also her path to her inheritance. “Every one of those bitches needs a dog. I can make living accessories cool again.”
“Don’t kid yourself. You need that dog more than I needed Mr. Jiggles.” At her wounded expression, Blue put his arm across Cora’s shoulders in a brief hug, pulling away when the little black dog bared its teeth at him. “I’m not sure who’s more vicious – that dog or you.”
Chapter 23
“It sucks about the Avengers naming you, but Ivan says you figured out a way to work it to the show’s advantage.” Maddy lugged a whiteboard into Blue’s office around eleven, looking like nothing important had happened between them. Same brusque, businesslike demeanor. Same jeans and T-shirt uniform. Same blunt-cut locks swinging about her face, even when she stood still. She stopped moving long enough to connect her gaze with his. “You okay?”
“I am now that you’re here.” It didn’t matter that he sounded smarmy. It was true. He might almost forget all the betrayals – the Avengers, Cora, his dad – if Maddy put her arms around him.
She didn’t put her arms around him. “I’ve got it all mapped out. All we need are bachelors.”
His cell phone rang. He ignored it, rounding his desk to get to her.
Maddy searched for a place to put the whiteboard, and picked up his father’s print. She blinked and leaned in for a closer look. “Naked women on a picture in your office. Why am I not surprised?”
Since Blue never saw the naked woman in the picture – only women and probably Dave seemed able to see them – he removed the print from the credenza, and set it against the wall on the floor by his desk. “You can put your board here.” He moved close enough for Maddy to give him a hello kiss, but she darted past him and propped up her board, backing herself into the corner.
Pride and lack of sleep fought with the abundance of need she created and the memory of how comfortable he’d felt in her embrace, tethering him in the middle of the room. Since he’d dropped her off at the hotel early this morning, his day had been hellish. The only bright spot was Maddy. Or would have been if she’d put her arms around him and kiss him. In her arms, he didn’t feel like the scumbag the Avengers accused him of being. He’d renew his man card tomorrow. Today, he needed a little T.L.C.
“These are the women I’m recommending for the pilot.” She refused to look at him. Her hands fluttered around as if she wanted to take flight.
Maddy was uncomfortable. With him?
Blue frowned.
In his dog bed, Mr. Jiggles yawned, tired after a morning spent playing with Cora’s black beast, Brutus.
Maybe Maddy wasn’t uncomfortable around Blue. Maybe she was spooked by what was happening between them. Not that he knew what it was. He just liked it. He had to get them back to where they were last night, where there were no boundaries between them. He needed to re-establish trust.
Drawing a deep breath, Blue took a step toward her.
Her eyes widened and she blurted, “We’ll need to bring you
r exes in for some advance relationship coaching with you before we send them on dates. And it would be great if we could get some footage of them on a date trying out their skills after you do your matchmaking voodoo.”
Not wanting to spook her, Blue sidled behind his desk, as if he was going to sit down. “That’ll require a pack of men.” He rounded the corner on the far side and kept walking.
“You know everyone.” Maddy dragged a chair between them.
“That doesn’t mean I’d throw them to the wolves like that.” Being a wolf himself, Blue leaned on the desk and grinned. “You haven’t said good morning.”
“Good morning?” She raised an eyebrow and whispered, “We said our good mornings earlier.”
“Chicken.” Blue knew what he wanted to do – take her in his arms and kiss that dreamy smile back on her face, the one she’d given him all night long, the one that had kept him going through the morning. He’d love to pull her into his reclining office chair and remind her how good they were together.
Instead, he gave her the space she wanted. For the moment. “Okay, let’s talk about which women to choose.”
“As producer, that’s my decision and I’ve chosen.”
“This is Hollywood. The talent usually has some say.” He stared her down. “You do agree that I have talent.”
Her cheeks flamed. She hurried across the office to close the door, not noticing that he’d followed her. “This is exactly what I didn’t want to happen. I have to maintain a working relationship with you, because – ” She turned and nearly bumped into him.
He pulled her into his arms, kissing away her brief objections. Only when she sighed and snuggled closer did he release her.
“After the morning I had, that’s all I wanted.” That dreamy smile of hers directed at him after a deep kiss. “Now, who did you pick?” He stepped back and read her board. His good mood evaporated. “Not Kaya. She’s dangerous.”
The dream was over. Maddy crossed her arms. “She’s dangerously good television.”
“At my expense,” he said. “Portia I understand. She brings in viewers. But Jenny?”
“She’s sexy as hell and preciously naïve.”
Cora knocked and opened the door without waiting for permission – definitely not a habit he wanted her to keep given he had plans for Maddy in his office. She carried Brutus, who growled at everyone.
Cora summed up the situation almost immediately. “Dude, don’t you watch TV? You’ll need more than one crazy woman for the pilot.” Cora claimed Blue’s chair, putting Brutus on the floor. “I agree with Maddy. You’ll need the perfect train wreck trifecta: Jenny, Portia and Kaya.”
The little black menace trotted over to Mr. Jiggles, who was curled up on his bed. A couple of suspicious sniffs had Blue scooping up trouble and handing it back to Cora.
“Control your beast.” Blue scowled at his sister. “Aren’t you both forgetting something?”
They stared at him.
“None of this will work if I can’t find them their perfect mates.”
“You’re aiming too high.” Maddy rested against his desk, a lock of hair swinging onto her cheek. “Nobody expects The Bachelor to marry the woman he gives the rose to, and they’ve been on the air for years. Viewers are hopeful. They watch to see people struggle with the same challenges they do, or far out challenges they’ve only heard about.”
“I get it.” Cora ignored Brutus’ growls and stroked him. “It’s more than matchmaking. It’s personal growth.”
Which would require the Rules. Shit. He was so screwed. It wasn’t like he could give each of his exes little dogs and hope they’d learn something about romantic relationships. How had his father done it? He started to sweat.
“Exactly,” Maddy was saying. “Let’s start with Jenny. You said she was too much into her trust fund and having fun. How do we make her grow up?”
“Take away her money.” Cora fiddled with Brutus’ collar. “Speaking as the voice of experience, that seems to exterminate the fun out of trust fund babies.”
“We can’t take her money away,” Blue said.
“But we can put her in a situation where she sees an alternative future without wealth,” Maddy pointed out, a speculative gleam in her eye.
Blue wished it was yesterday, pre-billboard and she was looking at him speculatively. “What have you got in mind?”
“Have her spend a day with someone who had it all and lost it all. Have you ever heard of the Actor’s Guild Retirement Home?”
“An old folks’ sob story won’t work on its own.” Cora shook her head. “You’ve got to take away all her accoutrements in addition to her line of credit.”
“Meaning?” Damn it. Blue had a feeling Cora and Maddy were onto something. And if they laid a foundation, he’d have to come through with some coaching.
“Put Jenny in Kmart fashion,” Cora said. “Make her drive over there in a car without a working air conditioner. Make her agree that for every transgression she makes in the day’s rules that she’ll have one more day spent in hell.”
“And what exactly is hell?”
Cora looked down at her clothes. “This place.”
“Your sister scares me. And when did she get a dog?” Maddy rambled nervously after Cora returned to her office, leaving her and Blue alone. Leaving Maddy ninety-nine percent sure she’d made a mistake sleeping with him. “I need to collect some post-introduction footage of Professor Quinby. Do you want to come?”
“Provocative invitations like that just drive me crazy.”
“As business associates, Blue.” Just looking at him brought back vivid images of his body naked and that treacherous feeling of home. Her heart sprinted hopefully toward the possibility of another night. Her mind could do nothing to stop it.
“I’ll go if you agree to come out with me tonight.” Blue’s smile was unrepentant.
That was so not happening. “I’m waitressing.” She gathered her things. “You’ll be the talk of the town today. Go out and be a man of mystery.”
“The mystery is why you won’t have dinner with me. I’ll buy the champagne.” Blue came around the desk. “You should quit that waitressing job.”
She eyed him warily. “I can’t quit until we go into full production. These deals fall apart all the time.” Just saying it made her nervous.
Blue stopped, brightening. “You’re right.”
Maddy got a bad vibe, an I’m-about-to-get-another-dagger-in-the-back vibe. Apprehension threatened to crack her words. “Don’t do this to me, Blue.”
“What?”
“You can dump me, but don’t dump my project.”
“I’m not dumping you.” Blue said nothing about the show. He closed the distance between them and kissed her softly on the forehead. “It makes me feel better to know you’re here for me.”
“Why do I doubt that?”
Blue took something out of his pocket, palmed it, and then pressed it into her hand. “Here’s proof.”
“A USB data stick?”
“It’s all of Dave’s film. I’m giving it to you for safe keeping.”
Ever since the gossip guru, Lyle Lincoln, had flashed her a picture of Blue in tights, she’d wanted that film. And yet… “Are you giving it to me to use on this project?”
He blanched. “I’m giving it to you because I trust you.”
“You think I need proof?” That sucked.
“Yes. Because of who I am and because of who you are.”
“Lovers are supposed to trust each other, or they wouldn’t be lovers. I can’t take this as the woman you slept with last night.” She congratulated herself on her use of the past tense. “But…you could give this to your reality show producer.”
Blue looked like his James Bond car had been sideswiped.
She walked out of his office before he could say anything more.
And then she did the craziest thing. She gave the USB to Gemma and told her to lock it up. There was only so much temptation a r
eality show producer could resist.
She was still ruing the fact that she hadn’t so much as peeked at the film when she showed up at work later.
“I saw your car here the other night, Maddy,” Paul said. “Any tequila regrets?”
“For a bartender, Paul, you’re awfully naïve.” Maddy tied on her apron. “Tequila comes with regrets. It’s in their product guarantee.”
Paul grinned. “I bet he shows up again tonight.”
“He won’t.” Because they were back in platonic territory.
A man with romantic intentions gave a woman flowers, not film of him in tights.
Chapter 24
“Tell me again why we’re meeting?” Blue said as he sat down to dinner with Vivian Gordon at a white tablecloth restaurant in Beverly Hills. The night of the Freedom Transformation, she’d tried to slam his fingers in her car door. And now she wanted to talk?
And yet, since Blue wanted her husband’s billings, he decided dinner with Vivian was a good idea.
“The other night I got the impression that my husband arranged for you and I to...” Vivian had the sleek and slender beauty of Hollywood. Salad-fed thin. Perfectly dressed and accessorized. Tactful highlights in her blond hair. And a look he couldn’t fathom.
“Your husband wants you to be happy.” Blue glanced around for a waiter. He had a feeling he was going to need a drink.
Instead his gaze landed on Kaya and Jenny. They lifted their glasses in a mock salute. Kaya’s red-tipped hair didn’t move when she laughed. Jenny leaned too far forward so that her boobs almost fell out of her sundress. They were as out of place in the muted, staid restaurant as a girl scout on the sidewalk in front of the halfway house he’d visited with Dave.
How in the hell…
Cora.
He was going to wring his sister’s skinny neck.
He sent her a text: How did you know where I was going?
A few other patrons leaned in to whisper conspiratorially and glance in his direction. Thanks to the billboard, his face was immediately recognizable. Humiliation layered with frustration. He couldn’t do anything other than stay the course with Maddy, which was starting to feel like madness.
