never would buy for themselves. Maybe it was time to go home for a visit.
“Ah, there you are.” Lenny bent down and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “I brought someone with me. We have great news.”
Skye forced a smile for Lenny. He might be a stern father figure, but he was still a good one even if she felt like rebelling against him right now. She looked over her shoulder and saw Jim in his ever-present casual suit that practically screamed that it cost a fortune. Basically, it was a full suit minus the tie. He thought that showed he was relaxed and casual.
“Hi, Jim. I guess it’s something big if you’re at my house tonight. Did I get nominated for an Oscar or something?” Skye asked with a bit of sarcasm to her voice, which she instantly felt guilty about. This man got her to where she was with the best movie parts she could ask for. They just weren’t the kind to win awards. He was the reason she had this house and the ability to make sure neither she nor her parents ever had to worry about money.
“It’s big, Skye. Huge! The role that will get you the Oscar for sure,” Jim Hexter of Hexter and Stein Agency said with a grin. He and Lenny were both in their early fifties and similarly built, but Jim looked completely different. He exuded power from his shaved head down to his bright blue eyes, the bespoke suit, and the fifty thousand dollar watch on his wrist. Lenny, meanwhile, went for a surgically-enhanced death grip on youth and clothes that tried to show how hip he was. In Lenny’s mind, he was still twenty-five years old.
“Did I get the lead in the Marie Lockend drama?” Skye pulled her legs from the warm pool water and jumped up to face Jim.
“Better. I got you the lead in the Tony Ketron film everyone is talking about.”
Skye heard Karri gasp as her own mouth fell open. However, it wasn’t from good news. “I told you I would never do a Tony Ketron film. Not. Ever. What part of that did you not understand?”
Jim’s smile fell into a scowl. “I lobbied hard to get you this role. You should be grateful. Every A-list name is being floated around and you got it.”
Skye’s anger fueled her as she fisted her hands and placed them on her hips. “Tony Ketron is a sexist pig. Every one of his movies has left the actresses feeling sexually violated after being naked on set for twenty hours a day. You know I’m friends with Gina Toussaint. You know Tony tried to force her to have unsimulated sex during his last movie. There was no reason for it, but he claims all the nudity and horrific things the actresses go through is for art. Bullshit! It’s so he can get off on having actresses humiliated. His movies have no plot other than how to degrade women.”
Jim’s jaw tightened. “This is the talked-about movie, Skye.”
“I know that. You sent me the screenplay and I rejected it. A woman whose powerful husband finds her ugly after she’s given birth so she sends the baby to live with her mother as she finds a way to win her husband back through sexual acts of escalating humiliation where consent is a big issue. No way, or have you forgotten my contract has a no-nudity clause in it?”
“When you posed nude on top of a dining room table for a magazine, your nudity clause went out the window.” Jim stepped forward as he shoved his hands into his pockets and stared down at her.
“I was covered, Jim, and you know that. You were there. There isn’t even a hint of the curve of my ass in that picture since I had on flesh-colored underwear. That’s beside the point. I won’t do it. Period. Tell Tony to shove it. I’d rather never win an Oscar than prostitute myself to him for his so-called movie. End of discussion.”
“Listen here, missy. I made you and I can unmake you. You don’t get to make decisions. That’s for the big boys to do. You do what I tell you, smile, and say thank you for the money I make you.”
Skye felt Karri come to stand slightly behind her in support.
“Are you threatening me? I can have any agent in Hollywood take me on if you think you can tell me what to do.”