Not happening. So not happening.
“I’m sorry,” I say, handing the paper back. I keep my chin up and voice even. Plenty of time for tears later. “I don’t think this role is a good fit for me.”
He stares at me dumbfounded. I guess no one’s ever said no to him before. Well, sign me up to be the first. I’ll be damned if I’m spending my night rubbing some flabby old man for him to get his rocks off. I doubt there’s even an actual role to go with this “audition.”
The assistant stares at us with his mouth slightly open.
Chaser steers me toward the door.
In the hallway, I shake my head, feeling dejected and embarrassed. A complete foolish failure.
“Sorry, babe,” Chaser says, rubbing his hand over my back.
“I need a new agent.”
“I don’t think that will make a difference,” Chaser mutters.
“Probably not.”
“You okay?” he asks once we’re inside the elevator.
I shake my head. “I’m tired of this. What would’ve happened if you hadn’t come with me?”
His jaw clenches, and he looks away. “If this band thing doesn’t work out, maybe I need to start up a security company for young starlets.”
I huff out a sad little laugh. “Obviously, it’s a needed service.”
“Hey,” he says, gently curving his hands over my shoulders and looking me in the eye. “No more auditions unless I can go with you, okay? Even calls—”
“If I ever land another role. I’m sure I’ll be blacklisted and branded ‘difficult to work with’ any day now.”
“Mallory, look at me. I refuse to believe someone as talented as you won’t find work.”
His faith in me means everything. “Thank you.”
“You’re my tough girl.” He traces his knuckles over my cheek. “When your life was turned upside down, what did you do?”
I lift an eyebrow. “Stole a bunch of money and ran from my father’s goons?”
He doesn’t crack a smile. “No. You took a chance and followed your dream. It took guts to come out here the way you did. Lots of people say they’re going to chase their dreams but few ever have the courage to do it.”
“You did.”
“We’re not talking about me.”
I tap his chest. “I think that’s why people call you Chaser. Not the other reason.”
The corners of his mouth lift. “I like your version better.”
“Call your agent,” Chaser reminds me the next morning.
Not a conversation I’m looking forward to, but Chaser’s persistent. He’ll keep “reminding” me until I do, so I might as well get it over with.
“Mallory, did you walk out of the meeting?” she says as soon as her secretary puts me through.
“He moved the meeting to his hotel room, Marilyn. That’s not what I agreed to. He met me in his bathrobe and wanted me to give him a rub down.”
“Oh, honey. He’s just a little eccentric. No one’s ever complained about him before. You probably misunderstood.”
Misunderstood my ass.
“The film is about a massage parlor.” She huffs. “What’s he supposed to ask you to do, tap dance?”
I don’t appreciate her subtly pushing the blame on me. As if I’m stupid or paranoid.
“Well, it’s not the role for me,” I insist.
“Okay.” Her heavy sigh almost has me apologizing, but I keep my mouth shut. “I may have something else for you, but you’re going to have be a grown up and do the audition.”
She hangs up before I have a chance to protest.
“You can’t trust any of them,” Chaser says after I slam the phone down and explain the conversation. “Her loyalty is supposed to be to you, but she needs to stay on good terms with guys like that to find work for her other clients.”
“You’re the only one I trust out here.” While I say “out here,” I really mean anywhere. In my whole life, I think Chaser is the only person I’ve ever trusted completely. It’s scary to put that much trust in someone not to hurt or betray you.
He rubs his knuckles over my cheek. “You’re the only woman I’ve ever trusted.”
Maybe for someone else that would be a red flag, but since his mother left him at such a young age, I understand why he’d be guarded.
I want to be worthy of his trust. “I’ll always have your back, Chaser.”
“I know, little dove.”
He’s already sacrificed a lot to protect me. I want to have his back as much as he has mine.
To be there for him no matter what life throws at us.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chaser
“For fuck’s sake, Jacob, it’s almost midnight,” I grumble. “Get your shit together.”
The fucker has the nerve to roll his eyes. He’s been insufferable since we started recording the songs Mark Cutter requested.
First, it took him a week to agree to the songs he wanted to present to Cutter.
Every day since, he’s either shown up late or shows up drunk. Sometimes, if we’re really lucky, he’s both.
“What’s your problem, man? You know I create better in the midnight hours.” He flaps his hands in the air like a deranged bird and spins in a circle. “We all do. Always have.”
Great, guess tonight he’s high instead of drunk.
Plus, that’s not actually true. Usually, the four of us in a room together, no matter what time of day, jump starts our creativity. Especially when our record company is paying for studio time and breathing down our necks. We’ve always worked well under pressure.
“Listen,” Garrett says, trying to be the voice of reason since it’s obvious I’m about five seconds from choking Jacob. “Maybe we should go. Let you have some solitude to lay down your vocals.”
“No, no, no. I need you guys here. We’re supposed to record together. Our sound requires it.”
Everyone groans. The rest of us have been here since noon. Jacob didn’t bother to show up until after seven. I’m the only one who has to be up at six to take Mallory for a casting call.
“Are you good with the lyrics now?” I ask.
“I don’t know. I might mess with that one verse.”
“Jesus Christ,” I grumble, shaking my head. I’m going to kill this motherfucker tonight. I stalk out of the room and down the hallway.
“What’s the problem, Chaser?” our sound engineer Joe asks.
“Nothing. We’ve just been at this all fucking day and haven’t gotten dick accomplished.”
He shrugs. “It happens. All you creative genius types are a pain in the ass.”
“Yeah, well, I have to be up early.”
“You shouldn’t be working right now. Didn’t the record company give you an advance?”
Yeah, we’d each been handed fat checks. Not got-it-made money but definitely both-feet-out-of-the-gutter money. Most of it I plan to spend on buying Mallory a car.
“I’m not working. I’m pissed, though. We’ve been at this twelve hours a day for multiple days and have fuck-all to show for it.”