“What’re you working on now?” he asked between bites.
“Lots and lots of voice work for the next few months,” I laughed. “On Wednesday, I start laying down vocal tracks for the new Pixar movie I signed on for. I’m a unicorn named Maude who hates glitter and fun. Think Grumpy Cat with a horn and a rainbow colored tail. After that’s done I’ll move on to doing post-production work on a movie I wrapped about four months ago. Just the usual—dubbing and a possible reshoot of one scene the director thinks he might want to change direction on. How about you?”
Gage grimaced as he finished chewing a bite of asparagus tempura. “I’m headed to Georgia on Thursday to finish the second half of principal photography on the next installment of my Hunting Evil series.”
I’d seen all five of the Hunting Evil movies multiple times. They were a cross between James Bond and the Underworld franchises. High intensity, edge-of-your-seat thrill rides that were like box-office crack, each one bigger and more successful than the last.
“I love those movies.”
“Normally, I do, too, but right now, I want to leave town like I want a hole in my head.”
I wanted to think he was talking about us—about me—but I couldn’t be sure. “Bad timing?” I asked.
Gage’s head cocked to the side as he gave me a devilish grin. “Fishing for compliments, beautiful?”
I felt my cheeks heat as I bit my lip and looked down at my plate. “I didn’t want to assume—”
“Assume away,” he answered. “I promised you dates and romance and leaving town right when I’ve found you isn’t ideal.”
If someone had told me yesterday that Gage Ryan would upend my entire life in about twenty-four hours, I’d have rolled my eyes and called them foolish. But there I was, less than a day after meeting him, and I already felt attached. I wasn’t eager for him to go to Georgia, either.
“Anyone who dates someone that works on location has been through this,” I murmured. “If it’s meant to be, we’ll figure it out.”
“You’re damn right we will,” he said firmly. “I’m not letting you go, Morgan. Not for a minute. I’m not looking forward to the separation, but I’m all about keeping this going for the long haul.”
And just like that, the butterflies were back.EightGageI ran a hand through my hair, my patience at its end as I sat across from my agent. Yesterday hadn’t gone how I’d wanted, with Morgan and I having opposite schedules. It had sucked not to be able to see her. We’d only managed to text between meetings, and I’d had to be satisfied with knowing that I’d see her one last time before I left town in the morning. But I had to make it through my day before that happened.
“Stop making excuses and meet me at Casa Vega for dinner,” Mario snapped. “We have shit to go over before you head to Georgia.”
“I already told you, Mario. I can’t do it,” I clipped out, crossing my arms over my chest.
“You don’t have anything on your calendar for tonight. I know because I checked.”
I ground my teeth in frustration. If I knew for sure that he’d keep a lid on my relationship with Morgan, I’d tell him about my plans for the night. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Mario; it was that I knew him too well. He’d see the situation as too good of an opportunity to pass up because the media would go crazy over a matchup between me and an actress who had won a Golden Globe, was nominated for an Oscar, and whose name had been romantically linked to another actor.
The story would make damn good fodder to sell papers, and it would potentially boost my box-office worth for the contracts Mario was currently negotiating for me. But fuck if I would use Morgan as leverage. I wasn’t certain about exactly what was going on between the two of us, but I damn well knew that it was more than the usual superficial Hollywood relationship where both parties used the other to boost their career. Morgan deserved better from me, and she was going to get it no matter who I had to piss off.
I tapped the watch on my wrist. “You’ve got me for fifteen more minutes. Anything we don’t cover, we can email about while I’m gone.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Why do I have the feeling you’re hiding something from me?”
“Would I do something like that?” I flashed him an innocent look.
“We both know you would, you moody bastard. It’d better not be something that comes back to bite us both in the ass,” he muttered before letting the matter drop and moving on to the business we still needed to cover.
True to my word, I bailed on him fifteen minutes later and hit a few stores on Rodeo Drive before it was time to meet Morgan at Il Cielo for dinner. I’d wanted to pick her up, but it was hard to argue with her logic when Mario’s office was only a couple of miles from the restaurant, and I would have been stuck in traffic for at least an hour on the way to her place. But I’d insisted we have an early dinner because I was greedy to squeeze in time with her before I had to leave. That was how I found myself pulling up behind her at the valet stand at the ridiculous hour of a little before six o’clock in the evening. And thank fuck that I got there when I did so I could hop out of my car and help Morgan out of hers while I glared at the valet for the way he was leering at her legs.