Grounded By You (6 page)

Pieces of what Victoria was saying were starting to fit together, and suddenly Sam had a bad feeling about the direction of the conversation. “The movie’s onscreen romance, right?”

“The movie’s romance, but also, what if, just what if, there’s the same spark of chemistry between you and Ms. Rose? Wouldn’t that be something?”

“I met her during the auditions. She was nice, but she’s not my type,” Sam said. At the moment, there was only woman that Sam was interested in.

“You haven’t even given it a chance. You’re single. She’s single. You’re going to be spending a lot of time together soon, and just think of all the publicity that would get,” Victoria said.

“I’m sure it would,” Sam said. He knew that it wasn’t an uncommon strategy for the studios to play up a potential romance between the two lead actors in a movie for the free publicity it attracted. He always wondered how many of those he read about were actually real, and how many were as fictional as the characters the actors played. “But like I said, I’m not interested in Delaney like that.”

“She’s gorgeous and smart. You could learn a couple of things from her too. She’s been around the industry longer than you have,” Victoria said. “Besides, I hate to break it to you like this, but the studio is rather insistent on this point.”

Sam sat forward in his chair. “They can’t make me date someone that I don’t want to date.”

Victoria put her elbows on the edge of her desk. “Sam, I know that you want this. You’ve been telling me for months how badly you wanted a role like this, a fat, juicy part that you can sink your teeth in that will draw the kind of critical acclaim you’ve always dreamed about. You even said that since you were a little boy you’ve wanted to be Jackson Monroe. Hell, you play your cards right, you could be nominated for an Oscar. Why wouldn’t you want to do everything in your power to make sure that this film,
your
film, is as successful as it can be?”

Sam ran his fingers through his hair again. Everything that Victoria said was true. It was the role of a lifetime and could make his career. “Is there any way around this?”

Victoria handed him a card. “You have a dinner reservation Friday night. Here’s Delaney’s phone number and the details. Have dinner with her. Get to know her better. You two are going to be joined at the hip for the next couple of months whether you like it or not, and that doesn’t even include promoting the movie before and after it premieres. Think about it, and think about what it could do for the trajectory of your career.”

Taking the card from Victoria, he stared at it. It was a sobering symbol that his life was no longer completely his own. “I’ll do the dinner, but I’m not going to pretend to have a relationship just because the studio wants me to. But I agree that Delaney and I should get to know each other better. We need to make sure that the on-screen chemistry is there no matter what.”

“Excellent,” Victoria said.

Sam wondered at her victorious tone. Perhaps he should have said no to the dinner, but he didn’t see anything wrong with it as long as everyone involved knew where he stood.

They chatted for a few more minutes about the start of filming and some more logistical details that Sam hadn’t heard yet. He had been expecting that he would be back home in Bleckerville for several weeks during the on location filming at the Willoughby, and Victoria confirmed it.

“Are you sure you don’t want a room at the hotel with the rest of the cast and crew?” Victoria asked again.

“My parents would be hurt if I didn’t stay with them,” Sam said. “Besides their place is closer to the Willoughby than the hotel. No, thanks.”

“Suit yourself,” Victoria said. “And not to add any pressure, but don’t be surprised if you get asked to work longer hours than we anticipated. The executive producers are talking about trying for a holiday release date.”

“That’s only six months away,” Sam said.

“The studio is putting big bank behind this film. If they release it this year, it even has a shot for the awards season. They’re going to press hard. It’s going to be a pressure cooker, so I suggest you do whatever you need to do to stay focused and on point. No distractions.”

“No distractions,” Sam repeated. He felt a little sick to his stomach. He reminded himself that this was why he had moved to New York. It was the chance at a role that a lot of well-known actors had wanted, and instead, it somehow landed in Sam’s lap. Now that things were getting started, he told himself that he shouldn’t be so surprised that everything wasn’t magically aligning the way that he expected. He was a cog in the wheel of a much bigger enterprise.

Watching Victoria flip through her appointment book, Sam took it as his indication that he could leave. He stood, and Victoria looked up and pointed at him. “Be nice to Delaney. You two are going to go places as long as you don’t do anything dumb. Remember that you can make or break this film, Sam. You and Delaney both.”

Sam forced a smile on his face and gave Victoria a thumbs up sign. Then he strode out of the room before the false smile cracked. He nodded to Bernice as he breezed past her and then exited the office. In the hallway, he took a deep breath and dug the card with Delaney’s number on it out of his pocket. He dialed the number and waited.

“Hello?” Her voice was exactly as he remembered, warm, friendly and with a hint of sexuality that made a man take notice.

“Hey, it’s Sam…er, I mean, Carter. Groveson.” He wanted to smack his forehead. The dual name was definitely something that he was going to have to remember to watch moving forward. It felt strange, as if he were living a double life. Victoria had insisted that he use his full name as his stage name, and Victoria so far had been spot on the money about everything.

“Hi. I’ve been expecting your call,” she said.

Her teasing tone eased some of the tension between his shoulder blades. He reminded himself that she was stuck in the same situation that he was. He doubted Delaney had any serious interest in him either. She was exotically beautiful with her dark hair and full lips, and she was the kind of girl who could get any guy she wanted. She and Millie shared one critical thing in common. They were both way out of his league.

“So this dinner thing we’re supposed to do on Friday night. You still up for it?”

“It’s just dinner,” she chuckled. “It sounded like a good chance for us to get to know each other better. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, we’re kind of stuck with each other.”

Sam was eager to get Delaney’s take on what Victoria said the studio was proposing, but he didn’t feel comfortable addressing it over the phone. “So it looks like I’ll plan to pick you up around eight?”

“I heard the studio was sending a car. Pretty fancy, huh?”

“Like another world,” Sam said honestly.

“See you then,” Delaney said and clicked off.

Sam stared at the phone in his hand. Delaney had been cast as Camilla more than a month before he was offered the role of Jackson. It was obvious to him during the audition that she was a producer favorite. Even though he had no intention of going along with the proposed game, he also didn’t want to piss off his new co-star. If she thought the whole thing as was stupid as he did, then she might have the pull to make the whole thing go away.

He sighed. He supposed that there were worse ways to spend a Friday night than in the company of a beautiful woman. Which made him wonder what Millie was up to on Friday night and who the guy was that he saw her with the night before. He wasn’t quite sure how to explain what was happening in his world to her. He figured that he wasn’t even supposed to talk about it.

Then he shook his head. He was acting like Millie would care. He kept forgetting that there wasn’t anything other than friendship between them anyway. That thought annoyed him more than he was willing to let on. He was glad that he was heading to the gym. Knocking around a punching bag was exactly the ticket to taking the edge off. He needed to knock the vision of Millie St. John right out of his head.

Sitting across from her mother and brother, Millie decided that she was in hell. Josh kicked her under the table, and when he cocked his head toward their mother with a warning look, she realized that she had been asked a question that she completely missed. She tuned her mother’s voice out several minutes ago for a reason.

“I’m sorry?” She tried to keep her tone even and unemotional.

Her mother sighed. “Amelia, I just don’t know what we’re going to do with you.”

Clare St. John was the only person who still called her Amelia. Even her father had caved to her preferred nickname when she was in prep school, but her mother maintained the rigid air of formality despite Millie’s repeated attempts to change her mind. Finally, she just gave up. Millie was stubborn, but she was no match for her mother.

At fifty, Clare’s face was still beautiful and unlined. She could easily pass for Millie’s older sister instead of her mother. That made her envied and revered in her small group of snobbish society friends, and Millie knew that suited Clare just fine. Clare was a small time model back in the eighties before she snagged herself a husband in James St. John, who at the time was a real up and comer. Then Clare gave up her modeling career and immersed herself in climbing the social ladder. Millie had to give her mother credit. When the woman put her mind to something, she almost always made it happen.

Which meant that Millie had to watch her back or else she’d end up married off to some boring banker before she could even blink. Her mother tolerated her desire to go to college, and even to have a career, but she couldn’t understand why Millie was so dead set against settling down. Clare wasn’t introspective enough to consider that it might be because Millie witnessed the dance of her parents’ loveless marriage for far too many years.

“That quaint little inn where you spent last summer is all over the news,” Clare said. The flash of annoyance of Millie’s lack of attention had already disappeared. “That must mean your friend Kate is doing quite well. All that publicity will almost certainly guarantee an uptick in business.”

“It’s always busy during the summer season,” Millie said. “Walter
Moolen’s book has been enough to keep the place packed all summer long for years.”

“Well, I guess they’ll be able to double their rates then,” Josh interjected. “I heard some of the women at the gym already gushing over the guy they cast as the lead for the movie. What’s his name again?” He snapped his fingers as if trying to jog his memory.

Millie was surprised. News traveled faster than she expected if it had already reached her family’s ears. “Carter Samuel Groveson,” she said.

“That’s it!” Josh exclaimed, pointing at her. “It’s a weird name.”

“Not that weird,” Millie said as she straightened her napkin in her lap. She didn’t want to talk about Sam with her family.

“I heard that he was from that same town where the inn is located. Did you happen to meet him during your stay there?” Clare’s voice held a note of distraction.

Millie saw Clare scan the room, no doubt trying to determine if there was anyone else in the room who required her attention.

The turn of conversation didn’t give Millie a chance to plot out what she was going to say about her friendship with Sam. Her two worlds were colliding. She decided it was best to be honest. It would come out sooner or later. “I know him. He worked at the Willoughby at the same time I did.”

Suddenly she had Clare’s full attention. “Well, isn’t that a fascinating coincidence,” Clare said.

Millie realized her mistake too late. She could see what was going on in her mother’s head. It was a quick calculation of what could be gained by letting it
be known to her friends that her daughter knew the famous new movie star.

She needed to change the subject, and she knew just how to do it. “So I need to talk to dad about the job that he arranged for me.”

“Not a big enough title for you?” Josh joked. “There is a limit to the extent of the nepotism that he’s going to show us for the time being. He wants us to work our way up and prove ourselves to the Board.”

“Actually, I’m turning down the job altogether,” Millie said.

Her mother gasped and Josh’s mouth fell open.

“You’re what?” Josh grabbed her hand. “Excuse us, Mother. I think that Millie is feeling a bit under the weather. I’m going to take her outside to get some fresh air.”

Clare fanned herself and nodded. Millie wanted to roll her eyes. It was annoying how quickly Clare always acquiesced to everything that Josh said. She was barely out of diapers when she realized that both her parents favored her older brother over her. Of course, Josh was smart, funny, and handsome. She adored him too, but still it rubbed at her how much she felt like an afterthought in the family.

Josh had his hand under her elbow and kept her tight against him even as he nodded and smiled to several of the people at the tables that they passed.

“You can let me go now,” Millie hissed under her breath. “You are hurting me.”

“No way,” Josh said under his breath. “Not until I talk some sense into you.”

They were past the maître de and then out into the small hallway that led to the door out to the street. Josh pulled her toward the back and into a small coat room that was currently not being used. When they were kids, they used to hide in the same room to avoid Clare, who paraded them around as if they were trophies instead of people.