chomped on the end of a cigar, trying to suck some calm from the tasty Cuban. “If I thought for one minute that Jessie was in any kind of danger, I’d stop the show until the problem was solved. It was an accident.”
“What if it happens again? Only Jessie isn’t so lucky?”
“Didn’t you hear me? I said the entire studio is being gone over. Maxwell had a cow when he heard Jessie almost got fried. Them boys ain’t going to miss a thing.”
“Unless one of them frayed the wire to begin with.”
J.P. rolled his eyes. “You’d do well to keep your assumptions to yourself. The press gets any crazy notions, I’ll be looking for you.”
Colin cursed under his breath.
“Don’t go messing up a good thing. Today’s show was good. Damn good. I saw the look on your face while Jessie was reading that stuff. You know I’m right. Causing A Commotion is good.”
Colin’s head jerked around. “Forget Causing A Commotion . This is about keeping Jessie safe and continuing with the show when her safety is in question is wrong. My every gut instinct says so. Things have been happening on set, and we’ve ignored them, writing them off as gremlins and mishaps.”
Giving up on getting any calm from the unlit cigar, J.P. twirled the Cuban between his fingertips, but didn’t speak. What could he say? Colin tossed out crazy accusations. Yet not so crazy that he could completely ignore them. However admitting anything would be a big mistake. The boy would run with any glimmer of problem to try to destroy the show. They both knew it.
“I saw that cord. That wasn’t a mishap.” Colin stormed out of the office, leaving J.P. to ponder his parting remark.
If not for the maintenance men’s assurances that the frayed cord was an accident, he might believe Colin, take his concerns more seriously, but Colin wanted Jessie gone.
Question was how far was he willing to go to get her off the show?
* * *
Keeping her eye on the thick L.A. traffic, Jessie fumbled in her purse until she found her ringing cell phone. “Hello.”
“We need to talk.”
Colin. Insane joy filled her. Curiosity, too. Had her poetry reading gotten to him? She hadn’t been able to keep from imagining his voice saying the words to her while she read the piece. Especially as Colin had watched her with such hot eyes. She had been reading to him, despite however many viewers tuned in, and he’d been turned on.
J.P. praised her efforts, but she still believed Colin should have been the one to read the excerpt. Of course, her desire to hear him say such words biased her.
“Who is this?” she asked, just to be coy.
“You know who it is.”
She smiled, not admitting a thing.
“We need to discuss what happened today,” he said.
“You mean when my entire body tingled and not because you touched me? Or my debut as an erotic poetry reader?”
“This isn’t a joke, Jessie.” No, Colin didn’t sound teasing at all. He sounded frustrated, ticked off. “Meet me.”
Should she? Her heart raced at the thought of seeing Colin away from the studio. Since the night of the Wolf gala the only time she saw him was work. Despite her brevity about being a new age woman and not needing a man, she longed for time with Colin. Time away from the office.
Because she was lonely? Or because it was Colin?
“Because you want a private poetry reading?”
“Jessie.”
She sighed loudly.
“There’s a restaurant,” he named the place and address. “Meet me in fifteen minutes.”
“No.”
“What?”
“No, I’m not meeting you.” She settled back into her car seat, appreciating the moving traffic.
“Why not?”
“Because I already have plans.”
“Plans?”
“I do have a life outside of the few hours I spend in your company.”
He groaned. “This is important. For once can’t you just do what I ask without arguing? I’m worried about you.”
She couldn’t take him seriously. To do so would throw her world off balance. Would raise hopes that
“What if it happens again? Only Jessie isn’t so lucky?”
“Didn’t you hear me? I said the entire studio is being gone over. Maxwell had a cow when he heard Jessie almost got fried. Them boys ain’t going to miss a thing.”
“Unless one of them frayed the wire to begin with.”
J.P. rolled his eyes. “You’d do well to keep your assumptions to yourself. The press gets any crazy notions, I’ll be looking for you.”
Colin cursed under his breath.
“Don’t go messing up a good thing. Today’s show was good. Damn good. I saw the look on your face while Jessie was reading that stuff. You know I’m right. Causing A Commotion is good.”
Colin’s head jerked around. “Forget Causing A Commotion . This is about keeping Jessie safe and continuing with the show when her safety is in question is wrong. My every gut instinct says so. Things have been happening on set, and we’ve ignored them, writing them off as gremlins and mishaps.”
Giving up on getting any calm from the unlit cigar, J.P. twirled the Cuban between his fingertips, but didn’t speak. What could he say? Colin tossed out crazy accusations. Yet not so crazy that he could completely ignore them. However admitting anything would be a big mistake. The boy would run with any glimmer of problem to try to destroy the show. They both knew it.
“I saw that cord. That wasn’t a mishap.” Colin stormed out of the office, leaving J.P. to ponder his parting remark.
If not for the maintenance men’s assurances that the frayed cord was an accident, he might believe Colin, take his concerns more seriously, but Colin wanted Jessie gone.
Question was how far was he willing to go to get her off the show?
* * *
Keeping her eye on the thick L.A. traffic, Jessie fumbled in her purse until she found her ringing cell phone. “Hello.”
“We need to talk.”
Colin. Insane joy filled her. Curiosity, too. Had her poetry reading gotten to him? She hadn’t been able to keep from imagining his voice saying the words to her while she read the piece. Especially as Colin had watched her with such hot eyes. She had been reading to him, despite however many viewers tuned in, and he’d been turned on.
J.P. praised her efforts, but she still believed Colin should have been the one to read the excerpt. Of course, her desire to hear him say such words biased her.
“Who is this?” she asked, just to be coy.
“You know who it is.”
She smiled, not admitting a thing.
“We need to discuss what happened today,” he said.
“You mean when my entire body tingled and not because you touched me? Or my debut as an erotic poetry reader?”
“This isn’t a joke, Jessie.” No, Colin didn’t sound teasing at all. He sounded frustrated, ticked off. “Meet me.”
Should she? Her heart raced at the thought of seeing Colin away from the studio. Since the night of the Wolf gala the only time she saw him was work. Despite her brevity about being a new age woman and not needing a man, she longed for time with Colin. Time away from the office.
Because she was lonely? Or because it was Colin?
“Because you want a private poetry reading?”
“Jessie.”
She sighed loudly.
“There’s a restaurant,” he named the place and address. “Meet me in fifteen minutes.”
“No.”
“What?”
“No, I’m not meeting you.” She settled back into her car seat, appreciating the moving traffic.
“Why not?”
“Because I already have plans.”
“Plans?”
“I do have a life outside of the few hours I spend in your company.”
He groaned. “This is important. For once can’t you just do what I ask without arguing? I’m worried about you.”
She couldn’t take him seriously. To do so would throw her world off balance. Would raise hopes that
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