Jack said.
I opened my mouth and slammed it shut again. He had me there. But I wasn’t leaving here without a fight. Jack might not like me, but I was facing something far worse—my father’s disappointment.
That thought alone had me begging. “Just one minute.”
One of Jack’s brows hitched up in surprise at my pleading tone. But he recovered quickly, and I could see him preparing yet another round of insults and threats to get me off this property.
Brandon stopped him with a hand on his arm. “It’s okay, Jack. I’ve got this.”
Jack looked like he was going to argue, but Brandon shot him a meaningful look. “I’ve got this,” he said again. His tone was so solemn that I fought the urge to call Jack back when he started to walk away.
Sweet, chatty, loveable Brandon of the day before I could handle in my sleep. But that look of sad disappointment when he turned back to face me?
I chewed on my bottom lip, shifting from one foot to the other, feeling for all the world like I’d just been sent to the principal’s office.
“So,” he said, crossing his arms. “What exactly was your plan here, Delilah?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Only my father calls me Delilah.”
“So, Lila really is your name?”
I swallowed. I deserved that, I guessed. “That’s the name I go by.”
“And Baker?”
“That’s my sister’s last name,” I said. “We thought it might be best if I didn’t announce that I was a Deveraux.” I gestured to the spot where Jack had just stood. “For obvious reasons.”
Brandon’s eyes moved over my face, studying me intently. “Are you going to tell me what you’re doing here?”
I took a small step forward, awkwardly clasping my hands in front of me. “I wanted to apologize—”
“I meant here,” he interrupted. “In Pinedale.”
Oh. I licked my lips and took a deep breath before diving in headfirst. “I want you to come back to L.A. with me and audition for the lead role in the reboot of Love on the Range.”
He stared at me, not even a blink to help me understand what was going on behind that blank slate expression of his.
I edged closer. “I know acting isn’t your big dream, but think of the money, Brandon.”
He blinked this time, but other than that, he gave nothing away. I tried to think of all this from his point of view. I flinched inwardly. I shouldn’t have used the word audition. That had a tendency to terrify even the most stalwart stars.
“Don’t think of it as an audition,” I said. “It’s more of a formality than anything. Everyone wants you to have the role that your father created.”
“You want me to play my father?”
“His role,” I said quickly. God, I was making a mess of this.
He stared for another long moment before giving his head a little shake and then running his hand through his hair with a huff of humorless laughter. “I can’t believe this.”
I let him have a moment. Clearly, that wasn’t what he’d been expecting.
His gaze clashed with mine. “And this was your father’s big idea? Send his daughter here to… what? Seduce me?”
I shook my head. “No. No, of course not.”
Although, my father probably wouldn’t have cared as long it worked.
“Befriend me, then?” His tone held a hint of mockery that made me feel like dirt. “Why would you even agree to do this, Lila? What’s in it for you?”
“Um…” How to explain that my own success was contingent on me bringing him back? Preferably as my boyfriend. Nothing created better publicity than a starring couple dating in real life. Whether or not it actually was real hardly mattered.
This was probably not the time to mention any of that. Instead, I focused on a different truth. “It wasn’t like this was anyone’s first choice,” I said.
At his questioning look, I explained. “You must know that my father had people reaching out to your mother for months now.”
His expression went totally blank, and I realized my mistake.
He hadn’t known that.
Crap.
“Your father has been pestering my mother?”
Yup, that was anger tingeing his voice, make no doubt about it. I cleared my throat and tried again. “I wouldn’t say pestering.”
He crossed his arms as his expression hardened. “What would you say?”
I hesitated only briefly before taking a leap of faith. Tess and her “source” might not have verified the info, but I had nothing else to go on. “I’d say he was reaching out with a way to make all your money problems disappear.”
His eyes