“You’re gonna get sick of me,” Steve said.
“Doubtful.”
“Okay, maybe I’ll get sick of you.”
Drew paused as though considering this for the first time. “Oh. Right. I never thought—introverts, though. We can make other arrangements. I’ll rent a camper or a house or something.”
Smiling, Steve shook his head. “It’s fine. If it were longer than a few days, I’d want my own space, but I’m happy to share with you.”
“It’s gonna cause a scandal,” Drew said apologetically, gesturing with his head toward the crew. “But it’s a small production. They’re not gonna talk if they want to get good gigs. I mean, probably.”
Steve figured it was only a matter of time before the whole world knew everything. He wasn’t eager to hasten the process, but he wouldn’t lose sleep over their coworkers’ nosiness. “I don’t care if they talk.”
“You’re not worried that they’re going to think….”
Steve cocked his head. “What? That I’m using you?”
Drew flushed as if he were embarrassed to bring it up. “Sorry if that sounds conceited.”
With a shrug, he said, “I don’t care what they think either.”
They moved Drew’s stuff in from his car, enduring nothing more than a few raised eyebrows. Steve was just debating whether to suggest dinner or testing the mattress when his phone rang.
“Mama Said?” Drew asked.
“Don’t judge me.” Steve plopped down onto the bed and answered the call. “Hi, Mom.”
His mother never called before six. He should have known it was bad news.
“FIFTYthousand?” Drew repeated.
“That’s what they said, I guess.” Steve grimaced. He didn’t want to complain. He could afford to pay that. It wouldn’t even hurt all that much. But it would only prolong the inevitable. Whether he paid up or not, sooner or later someone would realize he wasn’t just Steve Sopol, newbie scriptwriter and veteran script doc, he was Steven Stone, son of Hollywood royalty Marla and David Stone.
Drew dumped himself into the chair at the end of the bed. “Wow. Now I feel self-absorbed. I automatically assumed I’d be the one getting extorted.”
Steve almost smiled. “That’ll teach you.” He took another cleansing breath before sitting up against the headboard so they could make eye contact. “So. I guess we need to decide what we want to do.”
“I guess we do.” Drew scrubbed his face. “What doyouwant to do? If you want to pay them off, I’ll write a check. Your mom shouldn’t have to shell out for that.”
That was sweet, but—“My mother can take care of herself, as she would no doubt inform you.” Steve considered for a second and added, “And me too, I guess. Never let it be said that Marla Stone is not an independent woman.”
“Right.” Besides, all things considered, she probably had more money than Drew did.
“The question is, does it make sense to do that?”
Drew shrugged. “I guess… to me it doesn’t. If not this, if not now, it’ll be something else a week down the line, or a month. And I don’t think it’s healthy to live waiting for the other shoe to drop. But then, it’s not my shoe.”
“You make a good analogy. Mom would approve of the shoe part.” And Steve agreed with him. Which meant not paying this asshole off. Which meant his privacy was about to go the way of the silent movie. He blew a raspberry. “Okay, so we’re in agreement. Now what?”
“Now lots of things.” Drew made a face and raised his phone. “I texted the details to my publicist, for starters.” Steve hated that—it made him feel like the situation was even less in his control than it was already—but he’d gotten romantically involved with a famous actor. Publicists came as part of the package. And at least Alan would have experience with this sort of thing. “Why’d they call your mom, though? Why not you?”
Huh. Steve hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t know. I guess to prove that they know who I am?” He shook his head. “Or maybe they’re trying to throw us off. Like if it’s someone who has access to me.”Like someone on the crew, he didn’t say.
“You think it’s someone here?” Drew frowned. “I mean, I don’t think any of them would do it. Or I didn’t think so until now.”
“It could be someone with bad debt,” Steve said. Blackmail didn’t necessarily have to be malicious. If someone was hard up for a lot of cash and needed itnow…. Well, he’d been born to wealthy parents. Not everyone got so lucky.
Sighing, Drew rubbed the bridge of his nose. “For the moment, who it is doesn’t matter. Did they give an ultimatum? When do you have to decide?”
