Ugh. She hated the verbiage she defaulted to with him. Technically, she was on leave. This particular leave happened to have a gig attached to it, which Blaine couldn’t know. If he realized her knee was ready to perform again, he’d have her on a plane back to a theater in no time.
And while her knee was ready,shewas definitely not.
“I don’t like not being able to reach you.” His voice hardened a notch.
There went the mood swings again, the ones she’d tried to avoid ever since they landed back on US soil. “You’re reaching me now, silly.” She infused lightheartedness into her tone, hoping he’d match it. He’d gotten weird lately, stressed. Was he on something?
“Sure, after how many days?” In the background, a pen clicked. She could see him sitting in his sky rise office, staring out the window toward the fog of downtown Los Angeles, jagged lines of blocky skyscrapers disturbing the horizon. “Is everything okay there?”
She looked up. “Right as rain.” Thunder rumbled in the distance.
“It sounds like you’re outside. I thought you said you were getting in the shower.”
She turned away as a group of women in matching T-shirts pushed inside the diner. “I’m?—”
“You know I don’t like lies, Rosalyn.” The pen clicked faster.
Well, that was ironic. But she couldn’t confront him now—not when he was the current gatekeeper for her very life. She gripped the phone. “Calm down. I’m outside, but meant I wasaboutto head in to get cleaned up.”
Blaine’s vinegar turned to sugar. “Sorry, doll. You know how I get when I worry.”
Didn’t she, though.
The sugar melted into molasses. “I miss you.”
Ew. Her stomach roiled. “Blaine?—”
“Now you calm down.” He laughed, as breezy as the wind tugging at Rosalyn’s hair. The sprinkles of rain grew bigger, dampening her shirt. But she didn’t go inside. If Blaine heard diner chatter in the background, he’d be livid.
His pen resumed clicking. “I know it’s just business with us. Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate one of my super stars, right?”
“I guess.” Rosalyn’s tight shoulders refused to relax. He’d always been quick with the compliments. Not that she wanted them from him anymore. Not since he had proved his true colors, put her in danger.
“Of course, if you wanted to change that status…” He laughed. “We already have a foot in the door, right? Would be easy.”
“Very funny.” Rosalyn took a deep breath, trying to convince her body she was on a phone call, not being chased by a tiger.
He’d given her the perfect segue to ask for an update on their legal situation.
But that would still risk an explosion. She hesitated, debating.
His pen abruptly silenced. “Look, I’ve got another call coming in.”
Decision made for her. She couldn’t decide if she was relieved.
“Rest up, take care of yourself so I can get you back on stage where you belong.”
Wasthat where she belonged?
“See you soon.” Blaine hung up before she could decide.
Rosalyn eyed the diner, appetite all but gone. How had everything in her career gotten so off track so quickly? And when had she gotten so naive? She’d been a straight-A student her entire life, for crying out loud. Valedictorian. Harvard education. She’d beensosmart.
So how had she been so fooled?
In school, when she felt stupid, she studied harder. Sacrificed more. Proved herself. Now she had no such remedy.
She was stuck, and it was her own fault.
