Harlequin Desire January 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 by Maisey Yates (inspirational books .TXT) 📗

on good authority that she doesn’t have many offers in the pipeline. The controversy damaged both of you—no offense.”

“None taken.”

Julian had agreed to offer her the part. A phone call wasn’t going to do it. Tomorrow he was flying out to Georgia, where Bettina was filming her television series, to offer her the part in person. First, he wanted to know how Nina felt about it.

“Frank thinks Bettina Ford would be right for the part of Amanda.”

“Ah.” She fell back against the cushion of the leather banquette. “What about you? What do you think?”

“I think she’d do a good job,” Julian said. “I’ve always thought so. We’ve discussed it in the past. Even though I don’t think she’ll want the job, I should at least run it by her.”

“What if she says yes?”

Her interest in the food had waned, which was unfortunate, because he knew she was hungry. He should have waited to tell her. Now he had no choice but to go all in. “You know about Betty and me, right? How things ended?”

It might have been his imagination, but Nina flinched when he mentioned Bettina by her nickname.

“I know what I read. I’d rather hear it from you.”

As with everything, it started with a social media post. In this case, it was a tweet. He pulled it up and handed Nina the phone. She read it, grimaced and returned his phone.

Julian had it memorized. When your so-called action-hero boyfriend is too limp to stand up for you, it’s time to move on. #Bye.

“Betty deleted it a half hour later, but the harm was done. Our breakup was announced on the news. Rather than overwork our publicists, we just went for it. We were done.”

“Did you stand up for her?” she asked.

“I had it out with the director. I even threatened to bail on promotion.” His answer seemed to ease Nina’s concerns, but Julian didn’t want to leave her with any misconceptions. “I stood up for her because she was my girlfriend, not because I cared about the big-picture implications of cutting her role out of the film. That came later.”

“I get that you’re not the most enlightened of your species, Julian. But you’re not an ogre, either. You can stop beating yourself up already.”

Julian wanted to believe her, but somehow she only saw the good in him. Her judgment had to be skewed.

“It’s time you distinguish yourself from the balloon animal they’ve made you into.”

She wasn’t wrong. At some level, he believed every word printed about him. He let it define him, and to some degree he let it hold him back. It had almost stopped him from pursuing Nina, whom he considered a serious artist. It was unlikely one prickly tweet would damage her career.

“Today I focused on your character,” Nina said, switching topics. “His lines have to be memorable.”

“Going forward, should I sleep with all my screenwriters?” he wondered aloud. “No one’s given a damn until this point.”

“You could try,” she said, her tone serious. “Why not?”

“I was being cheeky. You know that, right?”

“I wasn’t.”

He picked up a fritter and bit into it. He loved that she didn’t cringe at his cringe-worthy jokes.

“If you want me to work extra hard, you’ll have to motivate me,” she said. “We have four nights left.”

He nearly choked on the fritter. “Only four?”

She gave him a funny look. “Vacation is over.”

“I thought you’d stay. Since you’re working with us and everything.”

“I can write from anywhere,” she said with a shrug. “Might as well do it from my desk at home.”

The strap of her dress finally fell over her narrow shoulder, but he was too distracted to care. Her dismissive tone unnerved him. “If that’s true, you can stay and write here.”

“No.” She was firm. “I need my laptop and its stand, my wrist brace, special noise-canceling headphones, leggings and cozy slippers.”

The waiter cleared the table and served their main dishes while Julian fumed. He was not going to let a pair of cozy slippers get between him and Nina. “Couldn’t we have all of that shipped from Amazon?”

“No!” she objected. “I need my things. And I need clothes. These are my vacation clothes. There’s not much to them.”

“I like your vacation clothes,” he said, tugging at the strap of her sundress.

She slapped his hand away. “We have to eat our food before it gets cold or Cyril will be insulted.”

“I can’t have that.”

Julian picked up his utensils and attacked his oxtail without tasting it. He had no explanation for it, but the thought of her leaving filled him with dread. She probably had a full life to return to. He was asking for too much. Come to think of it, he hadn’t asked for anything at all. Maybe he should try.

Julian laid down his fork and knife. “Stay with me. Don’t you want to?”

She swallowed hard, although she hadn’t been eating for a while. “It’s not that simple.”

“I can make it simple.”

Having her stuff shipped was no big deal. If she needed to fly to New York and take care of things, he could arrange that, too. Needless to say, she didn’t have to worry about running a tab at Sand Castle. He’d take care of it. There were no logistical problems that money couldn’t solve. He didn’t want to put it so bluntly, but that was the truth.

Her grip tightened on her fork. “I don’t want to discuss this anymore.”

They finished their meal in near silence and walked back to the hotel. The usual group of tourists had gathered outside the hotel gates, cell phones in hand. Julian signaled one of the guards to assist them, but he took the lead, shielding Nina. She hooked a finger through a loop of his jeans and did not let go, following him to the lift. When the doors slid shut, she swiveled around and buried his face in his chest. Julian held her close. He finally tasted relief.

She slipped her arms around his waist. “Ask me again tomorrow. Okay?”

“Sorry. I don’t