More angry tones.It must be Antonio.At least she hoped it was Antonio and not studio executives.Antonio’s hot head she could handle.Pissed off cut-throat execs, not so much.
“I’ll set up a meeting with the studio for tomorrow morning and we’ll hammer out the details.Nine a.m.Okay, I’ll see you there.”
He ended the call and made another one, this time to someone at the studio.From what she understood, they agreed to arrange a meeting for the morning.
The thought of meeting with them the next day with her tail between her legs made her feel sick.And she would need to let her mother know what had happened so she could be there as her manager.
“Do you think they’ll take me back?”she asked when he hung up.
He pursed his lips.“I think the pay cut will be the key to making this all fly.”
She slumped in his lap.
He rubbed her back.“It will be all right.You will need to look properly remorseful, but I won’t let them eat you for lunch.I promise.”
She leaned back into his arms, wanting to believe him, wanting to trust this make-believe game of having a big, strong, all-powerful daddy to look after her could really be true.But she still didn’t even understand the rules of the game.And it was a game—she had no illusion of keeping Joel Sutherland for longer than it would take him to wrap up the movie filming.
“Tell me what happened to you this morning, Marissa.”
She stiffened and tried to sit up, but he pulled her back down, stroking her arms.She drew a breath.“My sister invited my asshole ex-boyfriend and his band over to play a house concert at my place last night.”
He waited, saying nothing.
“I had a hard time getting to sleep and I guess I forgot to set my alarm,” she admitted.
“So you stayed up partying against last night?”
“No,” she snapped, twisting around to glare at him.“I couldn’t sleep because my sister invited my asshole ex-boyfriend and his band over,” she repeated, wanting him to see how this was all Bev’s fault.
He looked at her, his face impassive.
“What?”
“What options did you have to change that situation to prevent a problem for yourself this morning?”
Pressure built beneath her nose and cheekbones as hot anger rushed to her face.“I don’t know,” she snapped.
She waited for him to snap back, but he said nothing.
She considered his question.“I could’ve left, I guess, and stayed at a hotel.But I shouldn’t have to, it’s my house!”
He nodded.
She swallowed.“I could’ve kicked them out, but then it would’ve looked like he got to me.”
“Did he get to you?”Joel asked, studying her.
Tears pricked her eyes.“No,” she said, too vehemently.She dropped her head to get control.
He put a finger under her chin to lift it back up.“Did you love him?”he asked softly.
She scowled.Sitting on Joel Sutherland’s lap with a sore bottom and his full attention made Billy Foxx seem completely insignificant.She shook her head.“No.”
“So what got to you?”
“He publicly humiliated me.He didn’t even have the decency to break up with me before he started?—”
Joel touched her lips, stopping the diatribe.“Do you want to be with him?”
