his younger brother was quick to interject before he could give his soul away so thoughtlessly. “We don’t mind stipulations, as long as they are reasonable and don’t infringe on any of my brother’s other obligations. And as long as you understand we may have one or two of our own.”
This guy was slick. He might be young, but in no way was he untried when it came to word games or negotiations. I was glad Salinger had someone like him in his corner. I wish I’d been as lucky when I was his age. I would’ve saved myself a lot of hurt and betrayal.
I stuck my hand out for the dark-haired man to shake. “As ridiculous as it sounds, have your people call my people. We’ll get the paperwork in place and start working on a press release.”
Just as Jeno was reaching out to return the handshake, rolling his eyes at my cliché comment, I was suddenly caught up in a very strong pair of arms and hugged tightly enough that a little squeak of surprise slipped out of me. Maybe I was feeling a little grateful that he’d played along in front of my ex, or because he didn’t gloat when I gave into my obvious desire to play the character he wrote for me, but whatever I was feeling prevented me from pushing Salinger away. He hugged me in a way that was so warm and comforting, I almost forgot why I hated him for so long.
Luckily the limo finally pulled up in front of my office, and I was able to escape before I had to put too much thought into why I’d acted so out of character all evening… or rather, since he’d crashed back into my life with all the finesse of a hurricane.
Salinger
“ARE YOU REALLY willing to sign your life away just to have Maren and her money attached to this movie?”
Jeno asked the question with a frown as I finished flipping through the contract we’d finally received from Lennon. My pen hovered over the last page that needed my signature. I’d signed everything before the final page without much thought, but Jeno’s words gave me a moment of pause. There were close to a hundred stipulations added on to the already thick, complex legal document, all of them centering on the serious consequences I’d personally face if I fucked up this project in any way. Maren wasn’t messing around. The restrictions she required were even stricter than some of the ones I’d faced while I was locked away and disconnected from the rest of the world at rehab. If I slipped up in the slightest way, not only would the financial loss be nearly impossible to come back from, but everything I’d worked to get back would be gone. If I got busted breaking the law, or caused the production to be delayed for any reason tied to my behavior, Maren was going to become the majority shareholder of my new company. There were pages and pages listing what was considered appropriate behavior while we were working together, and if I went against any of her rules, there was an astronomical fine.
I really was signing away most of my freedom and agreeing to act in a way that I was totally unfamiliar with, but I was willing to go the distance in order to get Maren to agree to work with me. After she blurted out she wanted the part, I waited anxiously for her to take her words back. It wasn’t like her to speak so rashly. But then again, she’d also kissed me breathless the same night, so maybe I didn’t really know her as well as I thought I did. I would have sworn hell would freeze over before I would get the chance to know what it was like to be kissed by her.
As expected, the news of that kiss had broken the Internet the next day. There were fuzzy pictures of us together on every celebrity news page, and unverified sources claimed we’d been dating for months or that we’d hooked up that night because we’d been in love since we were younger and were both finally single. The stories were outrageous, and the scope only grew bigger and more exaggerated as weeks went by and news of us working together again started to make the rounds. I was used to being in the limelight and having my business out there for the world to dissect. But