“How you like working here so far?” she asked.
“Great,” he said, slicing into his steak. Blood oozed from the rare meat and pooled on the white plate. He shoved the steak in his mouth and pointed the gleaming knife at her, his expression hard. “Anything you need to tell me?”
She licked her dry lips, her gut churning. “No. Production schedule is on track.”
She’d wait until he was finished with the knife, clear the table, and then broach the true purpose of their visit. She knew she had a vivid imagination—knife, blood, murder—but her gut never steered her wrong.
She quickly moved the conversation to his favorite topic—himself. He happily talked about his career and major interviews he’d scored, all while wolfing down his steak. He picked at the spinach and shoved the plate back.
“I’ll have this taken care of,” she said, gathering the plate, knife, and fork, and stepping outside to hand it off to Frank. She leaned her head out and whispered, “Tuck this somewhere.”
Frank didn’t question it. Merely took the dishes that were not in his job description and returned to being vigilant.
She stepped back inside but remained by the door. “Blake, these stories about me sneaking around with a bartender are doing serious damage to our movie buzz.”
“I know. That’s why I suggested we go out to that premiere. Turn it back around.”
“Look, I’m just going to come out and say this. Only a few people know I went out with him. And you were one of them.”
Blake’s expression remained impassive. “So? Crew was there too.”
“I already questioned them. They all swore they’d never said a word.”
“I don’t like what you’re accusing me of. I’m a professional.”
“I’m going to ask you this once and I want you to be honest. Did you tell the press that I went out in disguise with Josh Campbell?”
“Claire, be serious. Why would I—”
“Just answer the question!”
He stood, palms up, a conciliatory gesture at odds with the barely banked hatred simmering in his sharp blue eyes. “You’re psycho.”
“You don’t like answering to a woman boss. You wanted your own production company, but you can’t get it off the ground—”
“I’ve got stuff in the works.”
“No, you don’t. I know everything,” she bluffed. “I know it was you who leaked the Josh thing.” She didn’t know, but the hair on the back of her neck was standing straight up and deep in her gut she knew.
He crossed his arms. “You can’t fire me. I have a contract for the trilogy.”
“I can buy out your contract and replace you.” In theory, that was true. In practice, tough to come up with the funds. Blake wasn’t cheap.
“No,” Blake said, suddenly appeasing. “We’ll make more appearances together. The fans of the franchise will go nuts. They’ll forget all about your disguise thing.”
“You want more appearances together to raise your own profile. That’s what all this was about. To get investors in your production company. Don’t you see how you’re shooting yourself in the foot? You think you’re just bringing me down a notch? You’re screwing up all the good PR buzz we had for this movie. That doesn’t come cheap.”
He gave her a slick smile that made her sick. “Let me make it up to you.”
“How? You’re killing my movie—”
“Your movie?” He jabbed a finger at her. “That’s the problem right there. Your movie, your production company. All high and mighty, bossing everyone around—”
“Get out.” She opened the door and gestured for him to go.
“Bitch! You’ll be sorry.”
He stormed out.
“I already am,” she said to herself. She went to the window and watched Frank escorting Blake a distance away. Blake shook him off and headed to his own trailer.
Now what? They were a month away from wrapping production and she didn’t have the budget to reshoot with someone else. She was stuck with him. She paced the length of the trailer. She couldn’t imagine working with him for two more years, knowing he secretly hated her. Who knew what else he might do to sabotage her?
She wanted to tell Jake. To make sure he knew she’d found the culprit and to apologize for accusing him. She had his number now that he’d texted her. She texted and stared at her phone, willing him to respond. She shook her head, such a normal thing to do, texting a guy and waiting for a response. He was probably working. She sighed and set the phone down. She should eat.