Shards of Glass (15 page)

“Who?” I asked.

“Me,” Daniel rumbled. “I’m going to be your leading man, your co-star. I’m a trained actor, might as well put my skills to use. Yes or no, Janie? You need to decide.”

I sat there, silent, gob-smacked by the humdinger news. Had I heard this right? Not only was Daniel Glass going to now direct
The Dark Edge of Love
but he was also going to REPLACE CAL AS MY LEADING MAN! I could feel my limbs trembling. Not tickle induced laughter this time, no, but terror. And I had been doing so well! I thought of Cal, waiting for me, planning a weekend away. Of how relieved I was, just an hour ago, to be mentally free of Daniel—to be getting on with my life, moving forward.

And now look.

“I don’t know,” I said in a quiet voice. Samuel, Pearl, and Daniel were waiting, their gazes fixed to me for a concrete answer: was I going to bare all in this movie? Strip myself of my nicely worked out nudity clause that had been gone over with a fine toothcomb by one of Hollywood’s finest entertainment lawyers? Strip myself in every way.

Samuel’s voice was a cleaver to my rumination. “Look, Janie, I like you. We can up your fee. Not by a lot but—”

“It’s not the money,” I broke in.

“Sam, Janie doesn’t have to decide this very second!” Pearl said. “Let’s finish our drinks and take a rain check.”

“What about Cal?” I asked.

“Cal will be just fine,” Samuel said.

Any second now I would see Cal. There was no way I could look him in the face, knowing what I knew, and not share it with him. I was disgusted by their cavalier attitude. They all had immense wealth and stellar careers. Amazing how people with everything forget what it’s like for the rest of us who have to fight for our chances. And the money wasn’t the whole of it; this part was a big break for Cal—for any actor. Losing it would be devastating even if he did still get his paycheck.

“He’s waiting for me,” I let them know.

Pearl glared at Samuel. “I told you we should have talked to Cal first,” she whispered.

Samuel threw up his arms in the air. Or tried. His tight suit jacket restrained him. “We don’t even have an answer from Janie yet, how could we have spoken to Cal first?”

Daniel turned abruptly to me. “Cal’s
waiting
for you? What?
Here
?”

“Yes, he’s just outside the door.” A look of perplexity swept across the director’s face. “We’re seeing each other,” I added. The words flew out of my mouth. Maybe I wanted to punish Daniel in some way. Let him know he didn’t own me. No, I had other options; men who weren’t still living in the past, and using women for sex to make themselves feel better. Men who weren’t control freaks. It was crazy that Daniel would be playing the lead of Jonathon, even though I knew several actor/directors had had huge success wearing both hats: Robert Redford, Sean Penn—the list went on. But still, Daniel taking control in this way unnerved me. I had already sublet my apartment—I couldn’t go back to New York right now anyway. I had made a commitment to the bank to pay off my sixty thousand dollar student loan. Saying ‘no’ to
The Dark Edge of Love
would turn my life upside down.

But if I said ‘yes’ my life would
still
be turned upside down. In a different way.

Pearl got up. “Well, I’m going to ask Cal to come inside and we can talk this over. I’m very happy to offer extra severance pay, from my own pocket if need be. None of this is his fault.” She walked toward the door.

I didn’t care to see Cal’s disappointed face when he found out the bad news, so I excused myself to use the bathroom. I guess that was cowardly, but there it was.

I stayed in there as long as possible. I heard low voices, muttering, no expletives or anything, just benign murmuring, like white noise. I splashed cold water on my face, and when I went to use the toilet, blood in my panties made me realize that all this stress had brought on my period a week early. That happened sometimes when I was stressed—my period might last a day only. And I was sure feeling stressed now. Was it always like this, this thankless, feckless film business? Or was it only Hollywood? Actors being exchanged like commodities without any thought for how that person in question would actually
feel
? No wonder actors became demanding when they got to be famous. Their way of saying “I won’t take this shit anymore! Finally you can treat me like a human being.”

I rummaged about in my purse and luckily found a tampon. Washed my hands, found some French hand cream and, after several minutes killing time, stood with my scented, moisturized hand on the doorknob, braving myself to return. I still hadn’t made up my mind.

I needed more time.

I tentatively turned the door handle. Daniel was right there, in the corridor between the bathroom and Samuel’s office, his face suddenly in my face, his blue
blue
eyes windows, not to
his
soul, but to
mine.
They undid me every single time. Left me open, vulnerable, and weak. Lightheaded. My heart racing out of sequence.

“Janie.” He pinned me against the wall, his gaze raking me up and down. He stroked my cheek with his thumb, letting it linger along the edge of my jaw. “Please say yes.”

“Daniel, I—”

“I need you, Janie.”

“Your wife would have been perfect for this role, but not me,” I fired out, and immediately wished I hadn’t opened my mouth. I sounded bitter, bitchy and jealous. Which of course, I was. Jealous of a dead woman.
Get a life, Janie
!

“If only you knew.” One side of his mouth lifted at the corner sardonically.

“If only
you
knew how you’re doing my head in!” I shot back. “How do you think this is for me? Yes, no, yes, no. Finally I’d gotten the swing of things with Cal, and boom! You’re back in the picture!”

“This is all about Cal?” he asked, incredulously. “
Cal
?”

“What just happened now? In there while I was in the bathroom?”

“He was let go.”

“Why don’t people tell it how it is? He wasn’t ‘let go,’ he was unceremoniously fired!”

“He’s fine, Janie, believe me. If that film had been made in the direction it was going, it would have ruined his career. And yours. I saw the dailies. It was a pile of shite.”

“A pile of shite?”

“The Irish have a poetic way of saying things and yes, it was a pile of fucking
shite
.”

I couldn’t help but smile. But my heart was pounding through my chest and out the other side having Daniel so close. He knew exactly what he was doing. Using me. Using me to get what he wanted. He knew I was obsessed with him, it was written all over my face, in every breath I took. He wanted me as his little marionette to dance to his tune while he waltzed about Hollywood, or whatever capital he happened to be in, shagging Natasha Jürgen lookalikes. I’d heard more on that front. Jake had heard rumors too about the Daniel Glass Shagathon.

“So you’re my knight in shining armor coming on his galloping steed to rescue me from this ‘pile of shite?’ ” I said, sarcastically.

Daniel ran his tongue along his lower lip then nipped it between his teeth. “That’s right, I’m your knight in shining armor. You’ll look beautiful the way I’m going to shoot you. Long languid takes, black and white for the sex scenes but with maybe a dash of color. Red. On your lips. Or red panties. Or a lone red rose in a vase. The color can be added later in post-production. Grainy black and white. Low lighting. Slow mo. You’ll look fucking amazing. A class act. What do you say?”

“Why? Why did you change your mind?”

“You really want to know?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Because I heard they were making a fucking meal of it and I couldn’t stand to see your career go down the toilet.”

I digested what he said. Still, it wasn’t enough of an explanation. “Why
you
as the actor? There are lots of great theater actors you could choose from for the role of Jonathon. Why
you
?”

“He’s not called Jonathon any more. The character’s named Finn now.”

“The improvisation has started already, has it?” My tone was sarcastic.

“You bet.” He leaned in closer and let his lips brush lightly against mine.
Oh God.
“We can start improvising right now,” he murmured into my mouth.

“Why you?” My echo was a whisper, I could hardly breathe—he’d sucked the air clean out of my lungs with his proximity.

His blue eyes seared into me. “Because I don’t want any other man fucking touching you.”

It took several seconds for me to process his words. Professional jealousy? I could feel my heart swell. Not in a good way but in an I’m-going-to-have-a-coronary sort of way. But I wouldn’t let him get off so easily and manipulate me with a click of his finger as he was so used to doing. I wanted him to
feel.
To
hurt.

“Well I’m seeing Cal. We’ve started dating,” I half lied.

His eyes turned dark, a flash of fury, and it pleased me to no end. I felt lightheaded and dizzy even.
Let him experience the stab. Let him know what it’s like to think about me having sex with someone else, the way I have envisioned him fucking all these busty blondes.

“There’ll be no dating Cal,” he stated, as if it were a fact.

I raised my brows, haughtily. “Oh no? What makes you so sure?”

“Because he’s getting on a plane in an hour. I’m having a car take him to Van Nuys, where he’ll catch one of my jets to New York.”

“One of your jets?”

He flicked his wrist in a dismissive wave as if his wealth was of no importance. “My father had an automobile parts empire. I still have shares in his company, and every now and again I take advantage of the perks it has to offer.”

“So you’re putting Cal on a jet? Why? So he can’t get in the way of filming? So I won’t be able to concentrate on anyone but you so you can control me like malleable putty for your work of art?” I was out of breath, my tirade a torrent.

Daniel gripped my wrists. “Janie, why are you so blind? So stubborn? Isn’t it crystal clear?”

“It’s as clear as
glass
. I know who you are, Daniel
Glass
! You’re a megalomaniac who wants everyone to tow the line. You don’t want me for
me
, you want me so that I can make you shine. Polish your ego ‘til it gleams! Be your little star student actress while you nurse your . . . your . . .” I wanted to say ‘blonde bimbo addiction’ but I stopped myself. His wife was blond and I sounded like a psycho talking ill of the dead. Besides, she’d been anything
but
a bimbo. Anything but. I actually put my hand over my mouth so I didn’t make a total jealous bitchy fool out of myself.

Daniel’s lips curled up: a lopsided smile that almost looked like a smirk. He seemed not only amused, but pleased by my outburst.

“Janie, Janie, Janie. My little Janie Juilliard. Such a feisty little Kate, aren’t we? Claws out, ready to fight and scratch. Such a wild shrew! Am I going to have to
tame
you? Whip you into shape? Take you over my knee and spank you?” –then he whispered in my ear—“fuck some sense into you?”

I could hear myself cry out as my body went limp. I literally crumpled to the floor at the idea of Daniel spanking me and fucking me. Had I heard him right?

Maybe not, because the next thing I knew, I blacked out.

THE STORY CONTINUES . . . .

Click on the cover or link below to preorder
Broken Glass
(releases 17th March 2015).

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Broken Glass
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Broken Glass
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Thank you so much for choosing
Shards of Glass
to be part of your library and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you loved this book and have a minute please write a quick review. It helps authors so much. I am thrilled that you chose my book to be part of your busy life and hope to be re-invited to your bookshelf with my next release.

If you haven’t read my other books I would love you to give them a try. The Pearl Series is a set of five, full-length erotic romance novels. If you’d like to know more about Star and Jake, you can read their story in
The Star Trilogy
. I have also written a suspense novel,
Stolen Grace.

Click on any of the book covers for more details.