The Mogul (9 page)

“What about you? Do you love it too?”

His gaze swept her face. It was so warm and affectionate it physically warmed her. “You got the best performance out of Esther I’ve ever seen. She sang every song like an angel. I think they’re right. This thing is Oscar-worthy.”

Candace was so stunned she didn’t know what to say.

“Better yet, Esther raved about you to the executives. She said you were one of the only people on set, aside from me, who knew what they were doing. She said we lined up the best director and the best supporting cast and everything ran like clockwork. They’re very impressed with us.”

“Wow, this whole thing is so incredible. I can’t believe it.”

“Believe it, Candy, because there’s more. They’ve offered us a film to manage and keep on budget for the studio. The contract calls for us to get several hundred thousand each, plus more if the picture grosses enough at the box office.”

Candace was stunned. She had already made more money than she knew what to do with. She’d been so busy she had just put it in the bank and hadn’t even bothered to move from her apartment into something better. “What did you tell them?”

He laughed. “The usual, that we needed our lawyers to look over the contracts but we’d be in touch.”

She laughed too.

He suddenly became very serious. “If you don’t want to take it, there are plenty of other projects being offered.”

“No, I think it would be fun. What’s the film about?”

“It’s a docudrama on Lena Horne.”

Lena
had been one of her mom’s favorite singers. Her uncles had even played “Stormy Weather”
at her mother’s funeral. This would be like a dream come true.

Mark gave her a smoldering kiss. “This is all happening because of you, Candy. I really appreciate all your hard work.”

“It’s because of all
our
hard work.”

He took her hands in his. “Listen, there’s a great house just come on the market two doors down from mine. Maybe you’d consider taking a look at it. Then we’d be close, but you’d still have a place to go to get away from me when I piss you off.”

Candace thought about it and really liked the idea, especially since they spent so much of their workday together. Having a place would give them the best of both worlds. She would have a great house to call hers, but she’d still be close enough to visit him whenever she was feeling romantic.

“All right then. Let’s go call a real estate agent and go have a look at that house.”

Then he took her hand and they walked out together, right into the bright lights of
Hollywood
.

The End