Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 63716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
“But the media will. If they found out, your head would be on a chopping block. It’s not the good old days anymore.”
His face darkened and he drew back. “Listen, I was never a part of the good old days, as you put them. I can assure you that having…feelings…for an employee is uncharted territory for me.”
Feelings. What a funny way of describing a hard on. I didn’t believe him. I might abhor Julian when I wasn’t fantasizing about him, but I wasn’t blind. He was the golden prince of Hollywood, and women had been understandably lining up to be his princess. The prize jewel was the engagement ring, of course, but they’d take a night in his penthouse, a long weekend on Catalina Island, whatever they could get.
I didn’t blame them, but I wouldn’t be one of them.
“You should go,” I said abruptly, setting Camper aside and standing up in one motion that made Camper’s back arch and his fur bristle.
“I should,” Julian agreed, standing up more slowly, like I was another skittish cat and a sudden movement might bring out my claws. He was standing between me and the direct route to the hallway, so I cut through the kitchen again. Julian appeared at the mouth of the hallway, his movements still slow and deliberate. He was closer to my bedroom than the front door, and for a second, the air was so thick with erotic tension that it felt like we could tip either way.
“No, you need to go,” I said, practically shaking with the effort it took to send him away. “You can’t–I can’t–” Frustrated by my inability to find the right words, I reached for the door handle.
“Hey, I’m going, but first…” Julian crossed the space between us in one stride and sank his palm against the wood. The door thudded shut, and I was trapped between his body and the door. I should have felt the familiar panic welling up again, but if it was there, it was lost in the tumult of want and longing. I swayed toward him before my brain had a chance to get a grip on my body.
Julian felt it, but he didn’t take advantage of it. Instead, he just looked down at me, his blue eyes glowing with a strange light I’d never seen in them before. “We have to get something straight, Laurier. Cards on the table. I don’t trust you on my set, but I want you in my bed, so I’m not going to fire you. But it’s going to be on you to come to me.”
I lost my breath. Words had been letting me down before, but now they completely failed me. Julian seemed satisfied by whatever he was reading on my face, though. He nodded slowly. “You’re going to come to me.”
I shook my head. “No,” I whispered, and I believed it. I wouldn’t repeat the mistakes of the past. He was the same kind of man as my father, but I wouldn’t be my mother.
Julian’s gaze dropped to my mouth. My lips were parted, my breath was coming too fast. “I think you will,” he murmured. “Eventually. And I won’t lay a finger on you until you do. Because make no mistake, Willow. I might be the head of the company, but you have all the power.”
12
JULIAN
I managed to keep my word over the next week. I didn’t go by their filming locations, and I sent all my threats about cutting the trailer before the end of the week directly to Miller.
And every night, I waited for her to come to me. I’d sent her my address even before I left my building, with a quote note. For when you change your mind. I’d been feeling cocky. I couldn’t imagine that with that kind of energy flowing between us, charging us, binding us, that she could stay away. As the days drained away, though, I wasn’t feeling cocky anymore.
I was feeling edgy, desperate. I kept my cool at work, but Dana could see I was on edge. Thankfully, she chalked it up to Miller and O’Conner. One was complicating the other. Despite my increasingly profane threats, Miller wasn’t sending me the cut I wanted. Despite the studio’s increasingly generous offer package, O’Conner still wanted proof we could handle it.
She got it, she thought.
My friends suspected there was more to the story.
“If you just need to get laid, why don’t you just go get laid?” Landon asked.
“You know Julian isn’t that kind of girl,” Dominic smirked. “He likes to be romanced.”
But I didn’t need romance. I just needed Willow to fucking give in already. I was parched for her, starving. The taste I’d gotten hadn’t done a damn thing to quench my curiosity. It had only whetted my appetite. One-night stands had never been my thing, but if that was all she gave me, I’d take it and worry about getting my next fix later.