L.A. Cinderella by Amanda Berry Page B

was shut, but light peeked out from under the door. Was that the sun or his desk light?
    She sighed and went into the kitchen. Why did she care? They were just going to have an affair. It’s not like they’d decided to date. She had been the one to try to cut things off. The water ran over the top of her bottle.
    Maybe he’d decided that she was right. Her heart twisted but she ignored it. Maybe this was for the best. Notsparing his door another glance, she headed back to her desk. Putting it out of her mind, she filed what she was working on and pulled out the documents for Night Blooming . Chase wouldn’t hide from her. Obviously, he had to do stuff away from the office sometimes.
    She shoved her glasses up on her nose. She’d checked the shipping documents online for her contacts. They were supposed to be delivered today. Maybe she would call it an early night. After all, hadn’t Chase said they should work on it together?
    She heard the door close as the last person left. Well, she thought, the last one, except for her and potentially Chase, if he really was in his office. She sighed. She had it bad.
    Her computer fan shut down, leaving the office in silence. She glanced down the hallway. She could knock to see if he was there and tell him she was leaving for the night. If he wasn’t there, no one would know. If he was there…well, she could cross that bridge when it happened.
    As she moved to stand, her desk phone rang. It was almost six o’clock. Who would be calling her at work?
    “This is Natalie.”
    “Hi, Natalie. Jared Anderson. Before you hang up, let me apologize for the way I came off the other day. I’m just trying to show people the real Chase Booker.”
    She almost hung up the phone, but his last sentence stuck with her. “The real Chase Booker?”
    “You know, the man behind the legend. The real Chase Booker, not the public persona.”
    Actually she was very familiar with the real Chase Booker, or at least the Chase Booker he’d shown her. How could she really trust that was the real Chase? He was a great actor. Award winning. What made her think he wasn’t acting with her?
    “Hello? Are you still there?” Jared’s voice cut across the phone line.
    She cleared her thoughts. “I’m sorry. I really can’t help you.”
    “That’s fine. I’m going to send you an e-mail with my contact info in case you change your mind. Good night, Natalie.”
    She hung up the phone. Maybe he was right. Maybe no one knew the real Chase. Her mind wandered back to this weekend. Her pulse kicked up a notch and she released a breath. If that hadn’t been real, she didn’t know what was.
    Or maybe she just didn’t want to know if it was faked. Maybe she wanted to cling to those feelings for a little while longer.

Chapter Twelve
    C hase set down the phone. All day it had been one disaster after another. He’d avoided going anywhere near Natalie today for fear he wouldn’t be able to resist pulling her into his arms.
    His life had always been filled with beautiful women willing to give him anything. Whenever he was available, another woman would slide effortlessly into the role of girlfriend. Natalie’s reluctance to be a part of his public life was something he’d never dealt with before. Even his high school girlfriend had loved the extra attention at first.
    Everything about Natalie felt different, and he was afraid of letting her slip through his fingers. For once in his life, he wasn’t sure what to do.
    He’d hoped to catch her before she left for the day, but at five a director had called him to work out some issues withtheir next production. An hour later, he’d worked through the details, but feared Natalie had already left the office.
    Pushing back from his desk, he strode to his door and yanked it open. Natalie stood there looking achingly uncertain. Her pale face bloomed red as she met his eyes.
    Quickly glancing down the hall and seeing no one, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his