Page 60 of Hot Nights in Morocco
She drops her gaze and scuttles away. I guess the water can wait.
“Christ, Charlie, that studio is like a fucking tombstone around my neck.” Jake sinks down into his seat after this gritted-out proclamation, and shuts his eyes.
What just sparked in him, I wonder. Irritation? Disappointment? I know he’ll never turn his back on Global. It’s become too interwoven with his grief.
“If Global was your father’s baby, maybe you could try introducing the toddler years?” I suggest cautiously.
One eyelid cracks open. “How so?”
“Develop a part of the studios as your own. Something you can put your personal stamp on.”
The corners of his mouth tilt. “Fucks like a dream and perceptive as fuck. You might be my perfect woman.”Throwaway comment, Charlie—don’t read anything into it.“You’re right, I do have my own ambitions. I want to establish an art house division. I’m meeting a shitload of resistance from the board, though. They think it’s too risky.”
“What’s life without a little risk?”
Strong words from someone so averse to it.
“What piece of classic literature is that particular pearl of wisdom from?” he drawls.
“The book of Charlie Winters.”
“Sounds like something I’d enjoy.” He pulls me closer and nuzzles into my hair. “Fuck, I’d like to build a bonfire from all the deadwood ideas kicking around Global. We can’t keep on churning out dumb blockbusters forever. Times are changing.” He shifts in his seat and I can tell that he’s really passionate about this. “You’re a natural, Books. You never miss a trick. You should think about staying on in the industry after the movie wraps.”
His comment hits me out of left field. “Are you offering me a job? In L.A.?” I’m stunned. I love making movies. It’s messy, dirty, and fun. I’ve never stuck at anything in my life, but all of sudden I’m excited at the prospect of carving out an actual career for myself. Not to mention moving to another continent, working with Jake again…
“Not with me, though.” It’s a stinging rebuttal wrapped up in four words. “I have contacts in London who can help. They’ll show you how to spot a movie script’s appeal and marketability, how to wring every last cent out of a budget—”
“I thought that was more of your brother’s forte?” I joke, feeling like an idiot. Of course there’s no future for us. Silly me. Even if I wanted it, this man does one-night stands with limited extensions only.
To my surprise, Jake starts laughing. It’s a rare and wonderful sound. “Touché!” he says, kissing the top of my head.
“How long until our flight lands?” I ask, thinking fast.
He checks his wristwatch. “Forty minutes or so. Why?”
But I can tell he’s thinking the same as I am, because the next thing I know he’s dragging me into the private bedroom at the back of the plane and flinging me onto the bed. I feel his mouth on the hollow of my collarbone and then on the side of my jaw before my vision starts to blur.
I wish we could stay locked together like this forever.
I wish he didn’t have serious commitment issues.
I wish my past didn’t haunt me.
“Have you ever dreamed of fucking a famous movie producer at thirty thousand feet?” he demands suddenly, yanking me back to the bedroom as he pushes up my T-shirt and pulls down my bra.
My nipples are stiff peaks in anticipation. His words are like a lit match to my lust. “Why do you ask?”
He slides off my underwear and tosses it over his shoulder. “Because in less than twenty seconds, Charlie Winters, you’ll be scratching that one straight off your bucket list.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
“I’m going to murder Max for this. He’s getting sliced and diced with a blunt carving knife, and then I’m going to bury his body under this patio—Ouch!”
Another shard of glass slices into the soft pad of my thumb, leaving a trickle of crimson pain in its wake.
“On second thought, that death is too good for him. I’m driving him out into the middle of the Sahara and leaving him for the camels.”
“Hungry ones that haven’t been fed in weeks,” agrees Rachel, jumping down from a stepladder to grab another box of fairy lights. “Even I’d pay good money to see that.”
