by Lucy Monroe
"How does that make sense? We're halfway through the movie."
"It wouldn't be the first, or even the fiftieth time a principle actor was replaced during production."
"What about Carey?"
"We still need Jepsom Acres for filming."
"Give me the list of people you want me to call."
Deborah was on her fifth phone call when Rock came into his office. She finished her pitch and hung up. "That's exhausting. I don't know how you do it every day."
"It has been a while since I had to cold call investors for a project, but I thrived on the pressure."
"I don't." Not any of the pressure. Not that Deborah had any intention of telling Rock about the threat of her losing her role if she couldn't bring in capital.
Deborah's career was not Rock's responsibility, whether or not Elaine Morganstein understood that. She'd done her best to encourage investment from the people Ms. Morganstein had instructed her to call.
"I'm beginning to wonder if my producer gave me the list of people least likely to invest. It seems every one of them has some kind of issue with either Ms. Morganstein or Art. One was a flaming homophobe that wouldn't invest in a coming of age and coming out story about a gay man if it would make him a million-to-one investment. And that's a quote."
Rock came around the desk and leaned next to where she was sitting in his chair, reaching out to touch her. "You're tough, hot stuff. You can handle it, but I'm sorry you have to."
She couldn't help leaning into his hand. "You're being awfully nice."
"You're easy to be nice to."
"Usually you're being nice to my body," she teased.
His expression turned serious. "I know I screwed up when you brought up investing in the movie, but I haven't treated you like I don't see anything but your body, have I?"
"No." In fact, he'd taken pains to treat her like she mattered, spending time with her that was nothing about sex.
Which was how she'd fooled herself into believing he valued her more than he was willing to admit.
Only now she was starting to wonder again, if she'd been fooling herself at all.
"You ready for a break?" he asked.
"I wish I could, but I really need to finish this list before I take one."
Rock's sherry gaze glowed with approval. "I can respect that. I'll take my laptop to the sofa and work."
"I can move away from your desk," she said with a shake of her head. "I don't need it to talk on the phone." She stood up before he could argue with her, grabbing the notepad she'd been jotting her thoughts down on.
He touched the notepad. "Do you mind if I look at it?"
"Not at all."
He scanned her notes, his expression thoughtful. "You've got a couple people here that are strong potential investors."
"I do?" She hadn't thought so. In fact, she'd thought the last hour of talking had been a total waste.
"You see this guy who asked you all the questions?"
"Yes. He was really dismissive of the potential for profit from the movie."
"He's setting himself up to make a more favorable deal for the money he wants to invest."
"He wants to invest. How do you get that from my notes?"
What followed was a fifteen-minute lesson in Venture Capitalism 101. Rock explained how to spy an eager investor behind a reluctant façade, how to answer certain types of questions and what to say to increase her chances of being listened to and sparking interest from the money people.
Her phone calls after that went a lot better and Deborah began to think she might not be such a wash on the production team.
She had two investors wanting more detailed specifics, though none as demanding as Rock had been. She wondered at that. Did they trust her producer and director's word more easily because they'd invested in Hollywood before, or was Rock just a very smart guy?
Considering how he'd built his fortune and the time it took him to do it, she was going with the latter option.
The two money people he'd said were actually interested had already emailed her with further questions too. Yep, Rock was a highly intelligent guy.
Deborah was at the door when Rock looked up from his work. "You taking off?"
"I'm getting my laptop so I can send and answer some emails. Those two you thought were interested both emailed me asking for more information and three of the final people I talked to want me to email them projections too.,."
"Good." He stood up and stretched. "I think I'll go down for a tray of coffee."
"I bet Lydia would be happy to bring it up." Deborah knew the older woman would. She'd said as much, lamenting how little Rock let her do for him.
"She doesn't need to make an extra trip up the stairs on my account."
"You really are a nice guy, Rock."
"Only to people who matter to me."
"Then a lot of people must matter to you."
"No. I'm tolerant and persuasive when I have to be, but nice? No."
"You've been nice to me." With one painful exception and that argument really hadn't lasted long. She now wondered what would have happened if she'd stuck around to fight it out.
"And that doesn't tell you something?"
"What do you want it to tell me?" she pushed. She wasn't assuming anything with him again.
Deborah wasn't entirely convinced that Rock hadn't changed his tune simply because his younger siblings had convinced him to. And if that was the case, that was not okay.
She needed him to believe in her because of who she was, not what the important people in his life thought about her or the positive influence she had on his life.
"It means you matter to me, beauty. Don't ever doubt it."
"Not even when I go back to LA?"
"As things stand now, no way in hell are you going back without me."
"I'm sure it will all be resolved before I leave Alaska." Sheriff Benji Sutherland was another very smart man and Deborah didn't have any doubt he'd make the issue of someone wanting to hurt her a priority.
If no other reason than because the results had put the denizens of his town in harm's way, but she thought he would have anyway. He gave off the vibes of a lawman who really cared
Rock just gave her a look that said he thought her optimism was misplaced. "I got ahold of the security company I use. Their people will be here tonight."
"They got a flight that fast?"
"They're in Alaska. A group of vets who went into personal and corporate security when they came home. And they have their own plane."
"Swanky."
"There are plenty of places in Alaska that are only accessible via plane during the winter." He came closer to Deborah. "Besides, some of their accounts are in the Lower 48, it just makes sense."
"Oh, okay." Did Rock have his own plane too? She'd never thought to ask, but there were places on the property the film crew had been told to stay away from and she'd never ventured there herself.
He massaged the back of her neck with one hand, the other landing on her hip. "So, you think it's impressive to own your own plane?"
"Doesn't everybody?"
"I have a helicopter. What kind of cred does that get me with you?" he teased just before brushing his lips over hers.
Her lips parted just slightly, but he kept the kiss lips to lips, breath to breath, sending her ordered thoughts scattering to the four winds. After several seconds of one of the most romantic kisses she'd ever received, he backed away. "You're a temptation, Deborah."
"You're the one doing the tempting right now. I was on my way to get my laptop when you waylaid me."
His smile was pure primal male. "You didn't complain."
"Why would I? You're a very pleasant kisser."
His laugh was warm and joyous. "Oh, you do delight me, beauty."
Rock came back into his office, ridiculously relieved when he found Deborah already there, sitting on the sofa, feet propped up on the coffee table he'd had commissioned with the desk, and lapt
op open in her lap.
She'd been thawing since their argument the day before, but he wasn't dumb enough to assume she was fine with everything. He'd accused her of using something that had been incredibly powerful and special for both of them to try to manipulate him. He'd hurt her and now he was working on regaining her trust.
Because he'd finally accepted he did not want this thing between them to end with the movie.
She looked up. "You're back with your coffee. I miss coffee."
"When was the last time you drank it?"
"Five, maybe six years ago."
"That's a long time to go without the elixir of life." He placed the tray with both his coffee and a carafe of chilled water with lemons floating in it for her on the table a few inches from where her feet rested.
She laughed, the sound going straight to his dick. Damn did he like it.
"It's all part of keeping myself in perfection for the camera."
"Do you really need to be that strict with yourself?"
"Oh, I just practice clean eating. No hormones, no caffeine, no trans fats. I know actors that live strictly on raw foods or have gone entirely vegan to stay in top shape."
"I'm pretty sure your beauty isn't because you don't drink coffee."
"No, but looking years younger than my actual age? It's all part of it."
"Is that so important?"
"I used to think so."
"You're not so sure anymore?" he asked, not sure what he wanted to hear.
"I've enjoyed this movie, but I'd rather play older characters."
"So, why don't you?"
"You want the truth?"
"Yes. From you? Always."
"That goes both ways."
And that fast, their conversation was in deep water. Not bad water. Just deep. "Agreed."
She nodded. "I love acting. I've actually really enjoyed talking to investors, though mostly after you gave me that lesson in what they needed to know to be interested."
"I'm glad I could help." He hoped she knew he meant it.
"Like I said, you're a good guy."
"As long as you think so." Especially after yesterday.
"I do. Anyway, there's a lot about my industry that fascinates me, inspires me and gives me joy."
"I hear a but coming."
"Because there is one. But when I went to performing art school, it was because I enjoyed being on the stage and I was very, very, very good at it. Movie and television acting is not the same. It's not bad, but it is different."
"Different in a way you don't like."
"In a way I don't prefer."
"So, why LA instead of Broadway?"
"Because I believed my family would come to terms with my education and career choices if they saw me as a success."
"And that wouldn't happen on the stage?""
"You think it's unlikely to hit stardom on the screen? It's even less likely to have the kind of financial success and recognition my parents would approve of on the stage."
Maybe. Maybe she would have made it, but she'd pursued a whole different type of career looking for her family’s approval. "What do you want now?"
"I've finally realized it's not their approval. If it takes becoming world famous and worth millions to gain their love, it's not really love, is it?"
"No." He didn't sugar coat it, or waffle his answer.
That wasn't love. That was conditional approval. And in his opinion, any parent that put those kinds of expectations on their children wasn't much of a parent at all.
"I want to be happy, Rock."
"You deserve to be happy, beauty."
"I do. Everyone does."
"What is going to make you happy?"
"I'm not sure. I think a return to the stage."
"In LA? In New York?" Wherever she wanted to go, he was going to support her.
Deborah Banes was not his mother, not his father. She was the woman he loved and he thought who might very well love him.
"Maybe in Anchorage." She looked at him like she was waiting for him to tell her what a terrible idea that was.
"You're not going to gain any recognition performing on stage in remote Alaska."
"I'm not looking for recognition, or even monetary success. I want to be happy."
That was the second time she'd said that. "Are you saying you're not happy now?"
"No. I haven't been happy for a very long time. I don’t trust people. I don't open myself up to friendship. I spend a lot of time alone, even when I'm with other people. That changed when I came here. You, your brother, your sister…the other residents of Cailkirn. This is a good place, Rock."
"I've always thought so."
"I want children and I don’t want to worry if that changes the shape of my perfectly proportioned figure."
Oh, hell. His whole body went twang at the idea of her having his child.
He settled down beside her, took her laptop from unresisting fingers and placed it on the coffee table with the tray, then pulled Deborah sideways into his lap, kissing the side of her neck. "Want to make a memory to erase the one of my stupidity after the last time we made love in here?"
"I thought you had to work."
"You're hell on my schedule, beauty." He smiled.
She didn't.
He kissed her, lingering until she kissed him back. Then he spoke against her lips. "But you're good for me."
"That's what Carey and Marilyn said."
"This time, they're right."
Neither of them spoke again for a long time.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Rock was livid when he got off the phone with Elaine Morganstein two days after reconnecting physically with Deborah. He'd been pissed before speaking to the director, after getting the report from the security agency he hired, but talking to the Hollywood barracuda had just made him angrier.
Didn't his hot stuff have a single person in her life besides him and his siblings who had her back?
He found her in the barn, talking to his Percheron mare, Amanda.
"Life just doesn't feel fair sometimes, you know?" she asked the horse, feeding her a carrot. "Then you probably don't know. I think life might be a lot easier as a horse."
"In a good home, you're probably right," he said, laying his hand on Deborah's shoulder.
She jumped. "I didn't know anyone else was in here."
"I just got here. I was looking for you."
"Well you found me."
"I did," he acknowledged. "Talking to my horses."
"Just to Amanda. Orion is a bit too intimidating, but I gave him a carrot too. I didn't want him to feel slighted."
Rock laughed. "He probably would have, too, and made me pay for it the next time I went to saddle him."
Deborah turned and looked up at Rock. "Why were you looking for me?" She moved closer. "Or can I guess?"
"If you guessed that, you'd be wrong. This time."
She went to step back. "Oh, well—"
He grabbed her, keeping her close. "That doesn't mean I'm not open to it."
"But you wanted something else."
Tension filled Rock as he remembered his conversation with her executive producer. "Why didn't you tell me Elaine threatened your role in the film if you didn't get me to invest in the movie?"
"So, you called her?"
"I did."
"What did you decide to do?"
"Invest, but that's not what I want to talk about right now."
She met his gaze, her eyes dark and serious. "I didn't tell you because my career isn't your responsibility. I did my best to bring in other investors."
"You did a damn fine job of it too."
Her lips twisted. "I don't think Art and Ms. Morganstein were as impressed."
"Those two can shove it up their assess and sit a while."
Deborah's eyes went wide, her mouth opening and then laughter spilled out. "I can't believe you said that."
He shook his head. "You're too independent for your own
good. You know that?"
"Because I refused to use you the way you worried about? I don't think so."
"I was furious when Elaine told me the threat she'd made against you."
Rock loved the way Deborah's body just naturally relaxed into his. "I was pretty mad myself when she made it."
"She's probably regretting both making the threat and telling me about it right now," he surmised.
"Why? Did it change your mind about investing?" Deborah asked, sounding not so much worried as curious.
She really didn't expect him to fix her problems. Too bad for her, that was in his DNA when it came to the people he loved. And he did love her.
No point in denying the inevitable.
If nothing else, discovering what he had today made him realize just how deeply he cared about the woman who turned him on like no other, but more importantly managed to touch a part of his soul he'd thought dead.
"I told her that since she valued the investment that much, she could make a few concessions for getting it. You're being listed as producer right under her, and will have two more scenes to direct, making you a solid contributing director on the movie with acknowledgement in the credits and directorial credit on IMBD for the movie."
Deborah's eyes widened, her mouth opening, but nothing came out.
"Cat got your tongue, hot stuff?"
"You? Why? How?"
"Me. Yes. Why? Because somebody has to have your back. How? I'm a very good negotiator."
"I'd say so." She just stared up at him for several long, silent seconds.
Then she reached up and cupped his face, that single connection with her hand sending warmth through his whole body.
She licked her lips in unconscious provocation, her expression saying she wasn't thinking about sex right now. Or even kissing. But she was looking at him. Like he was some kind of hero.
Rock liked it. A lot.
"Thank you," she said on a soft sigh. "I didn't expect that."
"I get that, but you might as well get used to it. I'm not going anywhere, beauty."
She looked away, toward his mare. "I want to believe you."
"But it's hard after so many people have let you down?"
"So many?"
"Your family makes three, four if you count your stuck-up prig of a brother-in-law."
