“I could start tomorrow.”
“What about your dentist office job? Don’t you need to give two weeks’ notice?”
He thought she was going to quit? She frowned. “Uh, well. I hadn’t planned on quitting. It’s only part time and—”
“No.” He interrupted her with that one word, but didn’t say anything else.
“No? No to which part?”
“I need you one hundred percent committed to this score. Our schedule is tight. I need to be sure you’re completely on board before we move forward. If you’re working another job, you’re not committed.”
That was it. He said it so sternly, with no give to his words, that she could already tell she wasn’t going to get anywhere by arguing.
Quit her job. Quit her safety net…and just plunge.
Could she do it?
This is your dream.
She took a deep breath. “I could give my notice this afternoon. They only require one week, since it’s just a part-time position. I could still start tomorrow, then be ready to ramp up to full time next week.”
He hummed, as though something else had caught his attention and he was trying not to let on. But then he said, “I’ve got a call in to our attorney to pull the papers together. He said he should have them this afternoon. I’ve got a meeting with an investor later today, though, so I won’t be able to look at what he puts together until tomorrow. How about Wednesday morning, instead?”
Her heart skipped a beat. She was really going to do this. “Okay. Sure. Wednesday morning.” But… “You’re meeting with an investor today?”
“Yeah. In an hour.”
That wildness that had taken hold of her didn’t seem to be abating, because she only hesitated a second before she dove in. “Look, I know it’s not really my business, but if I quit my job to work on this score, I can’t take a chance that I won’t get paid. Is the studio in trouble?”
There was a moment of silence before he answered, his words coming slowly, as though he was weighing each one before he said it. “It’s not in trouble yet. I poured a lot of my personal resources into this first film, and I don’t have much more to give. I’ve been looking for investors for a while. It’s becoming more urgent.”
“Oh.” What must that be like for him, to have to tear his focus away from his film to go ask people for money? She certainly wouldn’t like it. It had to be stressful, and possibly even a little humiliating…
For the first time, she found herself feeling something like sympathy for him. Not just sympathy. Respect. He might have taken a risk and started his company without quite enough financial security, but the fact was that he’d gotten this far, and what she’d seen of the movie had been impressive. She wanted to help him. Not just because she needed to be sure she’d get paid, but because she no longer felt the same way about him than when they’d first met.
But she didn’t want to think about that. It might mean she’d have to change her mind about whether or not she liked him, and she wasn’t ready for that.
But she could at least offer a little advice. “Are you, uh, planning to change before your meeting?” The second the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to take them back. She was turning into him, commenting out of turn.
But this was important.
“Why? What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
Nothing, except that you look like you went shopping at the 1998 version of Urban Outfitters and bought all the crap no one else wanted.
She considered, for a moment, doing what he had done earlier when he’s started to comment on what she was wearing. It’s not important. Forget about it
That would have been the polite thing to do. The expected thing. But apparently, all rules went out the window when she was talking to Chris. Before she could stop herself, she blurted, “Your shirt has a picture of grown men wearing spray tanner and sailor hats.”
To her surprise, he let out a quiet laugh, the sound coming through low and seductive over the phone.
It made her arms prickle with awareness.
Oh, what this man did to her.
“You think it matters that much?” His voice had sobered now, and he actually sounded interested in her answer.
“I-I don’t know,” she admitted. “But if you’re having trouble getting investment, maybe it’s because of, you know, the way you…”
“The way I what?”
“Well…I mean, you have a way of standing out.” Was it just her, or did that last bit come out a little breathy? Now was not the time to be thinking of the way his muscled shoulders looked in that fitted T-shirt, or how his beautiful eyes grabbed her every time she looked at him, or—
He huffed. “Of course I stand out. That’s the point. I make my own rules. I’m not a pushover, just waiting for someone to come along and hurt…”
“Hurt what?” It sounded like he’d been about to say hurt me.