His One Desire by Kate Grey

 

Chapter One
    This couldn’t be happening.
    But as Kali Jones stared across her desk into her boss’s
face, hoping to find some evidence that he was joking, all she saw was the
blissful happiness of a basic cable TV producer who’s been approached by one of
Hollywood’s rising stars about the network’s newest project.
    Except it wasn’t just any project. It was
her
project. The paranormal drama she’d dreamed of doing for years, and which had
finally been given the green light by the network.
    Because of her budget and also because of her vision for the
show, Kali had been planning to cast unknowns. And even if they’d been able to
afford a big star, Luke Tanner was the last actor in the world she’d ever want
to work with.
    Once upon a time, she and Luke been friends—before they’d
become enemies. Of course he had no idea that Kali Jones, writer and director
of
Ghosts
, was Caroline Jones, the girl he’d known back in high
school. When he found out, he wouldn’t want anything to do with the show.
    But Kali didn’t want things to get that far. She didn’t want
Luke to find out who she was, and she didn’t want to see him ever again. Which
meant she had to nip this in the bud right now.
    She took a deep breath and prepared to fight, both for her
show and for her peace of mind.
    “Tom, I thought we’d agreed to cast fresh faces. Not only
because of our budget constraints but also because—”
    “But that’s the best part! According to his agent, Luke
Tanner is so excited about
Ghosts
that he’s willing to work for what
we’re able to pay.”
    She felt a sudden chill. “Did his agent happen to mention
why he’s so interested in this project?”
    Tom grinned the grin of a man who was sure he was about to
impart good news. “As a matter of fact, he did. Luke wants to work with
you
,
Kali. He saw
Negative Space
and loved it, and he wants to work on
Ghosts
because you’re writing and directing it. What do you think of
that
?”
he finished triumphantly.
    Another chill swept through her, leaving her palms clammy
and her stomach nauseous.
    “Well?” Tom prompted after a moment, obviously puzzled that
Kali wasn’t bouncing up and down with excitement. “Isn’t that amazing?”
    “Amazing,” she echoed faintly.
    So it wasn’t a coincidence. Luke knew who she was. He knew,
and he’d deliberately set up this situation.
    For one brief moment she considered telling Tom the truth
about why Luke wanted to work with her, but she rejected the idea almost
immediately. Even if she gave him the whole story, which she’d rather die than
do, Tom would never believe that Luke Tanner—rich, successful, and on his way
to becoming one of Hollywood’s biggest stars—would go to this much trouble to
get revenge for something that had happened before he was famous, when he was a
teenage boy from a poor family.
    But Tom didn’t know Luke. When Luke had a goal in his
sights, he pursued it with relentless drive. People usually ended up giving him
whatever he wanted.
    Apparently, he hadn’t forgotten or forgiven the one person
who hadn’t.
    Kali ran her hands through her short dark hair and tried to
think clearly. She had to stop this somehow. Luke didn’t really want to be a
part of
Ghosts
. He’d involve himself in the show to the extent
required to ruin it, and then he’d walk away.
    But she wasn’t about to let that happen. She’d invested too
much of herself in this project to let Luke’s petty desire for revenge destroy
it.
    She took another breath. “I know you’re excited right now,
but making a casting decision like this would go against everything we’ve
talked about. And it’s not just the money. We want to work with unknown actors
so we don’t have associations from past roles. We want to do something fresh,
where we can take risks and experiment and fly under the radar for a while.”
    Tom stared at her like she was some odd species of alien. “I
know the plan was to be creative on a small