His One Desire by Kate Grey Page B

percent.”
    Her eyes fell to the framed playbill again. When their
meager funds for
Negative Space
had run out, Tom had put up five
thousand dollars of his own money to keep the production alive. And a few years
later, he’d helped her make it into a movie.
    “Okay,” she said, hopelessly. This was doomed to end badly,
but she couldn’t say no to Tom. Maybe she could manage the Luke problem without
too much damage. Maybe she could—
    Tom was talking again, the happy look back in his eyes.
“Wonderful! I knew I could count on you. Luke’s coming into town next week, so
we’ll set up a meeting for—”
    The intercom buzzed, and the two of them heard the
receptionist’s voice.
    “Ms. Jones? You have a visitor.”
    She glanced at her desk calendar to confirm that she didn’t
have any appointments for this afternoon. “Who is it, Stella?”
    “Luke Tanner,” Stella said. There was suppressed excitement
in her voice despite the fact that she’d seen her fair share of celebrities
over the years.
    Kali froze. “I thought you said he was coming next week,”
she hissed to Tom. “Didn’t you say next week?”
    Tom shrugged. “That’s what his agent said, but I guess he
flew out early.” Before she could stop him, Tom leaned over her desk and spoke
into the intercom. “Stella, this is Tom. Have someone bring Luke up to Kali’s
office, will you?”
    “I’ll bring him up myself,” she said, her voice bubbling.
    Of course you will.
    Kali sprang to her feet, grabbing her purse from the back of
her chair. “I’ll be right back,” she said to Tom. “I—I need to go to the ladies
room.”
    She was out the door before he could say a word, half
running down the hall to the bathroom.
    She didn’t have much time. She turned on the cold water and
splashed her face, patting her skin dry with paper towels before fishing in her
purse for the few items of makeup she possessed—under-eye concealer, blush, lip
gloss. She applied those with shaking hands and then ran a brush through her
hair.
    She stuffed everything back into her purse and glanced in
the mirror. She’d put on too much blush, so she grabbed another paper towel and
rubbed most of it off. Her khaki pants and navy blue button down shirt were
both wrinkled, but she’d have to live with that.
    Not that she cared what Luke thought of her appearance. She
didn’t. It was just that she would prefer to present the most professional
image possible when meeting with a Hollywood star, no matter who it was. She
owed it to the network. She owed it to Tom. She—
    Had to go right now if she wanted to be back behind her desk
before Luke got there. She jerked open the bathroom door and charged down the
hall, turning the corner that led to her office and crashing into someone with
a chest like a brick wall.
    She was knocked off-balance, but strong hands caught her
before she fell.
    “Oh God, I’m so sorry, I—”
    Then she looked up and saw who she’d crashed into. It was
Luke Tanner, his big hands gripping her shoulders and his eyes hidden behind
aviator glasses.
    An electric feeling went through her.
    She’d forgotten what she was saying, which was probably just
as well. She wasn’t sure she could speak coherently right now.
    “Ms. Jones, are you all right?”
    It was Stella, peering at her from behind Luke. Tom, looking
startled, was standing in the doorway of her office.
    “Of course,” she said, her voice coming out as a croak. She
started to pull away from Luke, and when his hands didn’t immediately loosen
she jerked out of his grasp in a panicked spasm, stumbling back a few steps.
    “Mr. Tanner, I’m Tom Hammond,” Tom said smoothly, coming
forward to offer a hand. “And this is our writer and director, Kali Jones.”
    Her boss frowned at her, his eyes sending a clear message.
Pull
yourself together.
    He was right. She needed to get a grip.
    Luke shook Tom’s hand with a smile. “It’s a pleasure,
Tom—and please call me Luke.” Then he turned