Her Boss by Arrangement. Teresa Carpenter
of her margarita. “Mark has been banned from the set. Work has become such a drudge.”
Thinking of her encounters with Black, of his unsmiling facade and his penchant for being a bit of a jerk, Tori wasn’t totally shocked by the redhead’s reaction to the man. What a shame such a gorgeous car belonged to such a dysfunctional individual.
“Count me in.” Cindy Tate tucked a wisp of blond hair behind her ear before tapping her glass to Jenna’s. “My mother came to town to see me work. She’d really been looking forward to being on the set. But the guards refused to let her join me. I asked for a few days off to spend with her and was told no because the film is behind schedule.”
“I’ll pitch in,” Olivia Fox chimed, not moving an inch as she basked, tanned and toned, in the sunshine, her jet-black hair flowing over her bright yellow bikini.
“Did you have someone banned, too?” Jenna asked. The three actresses were rising stars working together on a futuristic action film, kind of a Charlie’s Angels in space.
“No.” Olivia adjusted her sunglasses, then resumed her boneless position. “But the set has become a morgue. Everyone is so serious and intent on their job, no one laughs anymore.”
Remembering the threat of a cleaning bill for nonexistent toe prints, Tori controlled the urge to offer her own funds. Obviously the man was making friends wherever he went.
“Why do you blame Black?” Tori asked as she met Lauren’s gaze across the deck, where they were all gathered at Jenna’s Venice Beach home. They’d taken care of the plans for Jenna’s engagement party, and were now relaxing poolside, enjoying the ocean view.
By Arrangement would be working with Black on several events when the Hollywood Hills Film Festival started in a month. Actually make that working for Black, which suited Tori much better. It meant she’d be less likely to run into the man.
Either way Tori knew Lauren had her ears perked, she inhaled information and used it like a weapon.
“Because it’s Black’s decree.” Cindy rolled her eyes and touched her tongue to the salt rimming her glass. “Visitors have been limited on all sets. But if a film is over budget or over schedule, he closes the set down altogether.”
“Lucky me,” Jenna groused. “I’m going from one Obsidian production to another, so I get no break.” She sank onto a lounger next to Olivia. “It was really nice having Mark on the set. Now I hardly get to see him.” Gesturing to Tori and Lauren, she implored them to understand. “You two introduced us. You must know how much I miss him.”
“Not to mention it’s going to be much harder planning the wedding now,” Cindy pointed out helpfully. “Tori and Lauren are great.” She flashed a grin at them. “They introduced me to my hubby, too, and they gave me a spectacular wedding. Still they did need occasional input.”
Lauren choked on a sip of iced tea. Probably remembering the fit Cindy threw when they went off-line for a Saturday wedding three months before her event. She wanted to tell them about a wine she tasted at a local winery she just had to have at her reception. When Lauren checked her voice mail, they had over fifty messages and had been fired. Twice. All this was after they’d advised her they had a wedding and would be unavailable. Never had Tori been happier that Lauren was the voice of By Arrangement.
Tori didn’t do confrontation.
Lauren thrived on it, in a calm, controlled manner, of course.
She let Cindy vent for a couple of minutes, made noises of sympathy for her distress, showed regret for losing the contract and then hit her with the fact By Arrangement would be billing her for the work already done. Lauren wrapped it up in a pretty little bow, reminding Cindy they had told her they would be unavailable and of the clause in the contract stating on the day of a wedding By Arrangement gave the bride and her event our exclusive attention. It was a courtesy we extended to our brides and it wasn’t something we were willing to compromise on. The clincher was our disappointment as we introduced Cindy to her fiancé.
Cindy apologized for her snit, which wasn’t her first or her last, and By Arrangement went on to give her a “spectacular” wedding.
“We do need input,” Lauren agreed, calm as always. “But you needn’t worry. It’s our job to make the whole process easy for you.”
“But I’m getting married in March,” Jenna said, pouting, “I planned to take a couple of weeks for a honeymoon, but it’s in the middle of my next film. Now I’ll be lucky to get a few days off.”
Tori sympathized with her friend and client. She genuinely liked these women, but seriously, Jenna did sign a contract. It was a tad unrealistic to expect an entire production to halt filming so she could honeymoon. Not that Tori could voice her opinion to these three. They weren’t used to being thwarted. They were in demand, which pretty much meant they got whatever they asked for. Tori supposed they could be forgiven for being a bit full of themselves.
“Obviously Garrett Black has no life or he’d understand our plight.” Cindy sighed.
“From what I hear, Black is spending all his time in his office. Probably reviewing all the production contracts so he can collect on deadline penalties.” Jenna scowled into her drink, absently running a finger around the rim of her glass, knocking off all the salt. “My last three projects ran over. Doesn’t he realize delays are the nature of this business?”
“Were all the films Obsidian productions?” Lauren asked.
Jenna shook her head, ginger curls flowing over her bare shoulders. “Just this one, but we used Obsidian Studio’s lots for the other two. And we were delayed because the lots weren’t available when we were supposed to shoot. Which proves my point.”
“Black is new to the job,” Tori pointed out, though she had no idea why she felt compelled to defend him. “Maybe he’s just trying to fix a problem he sees.”
“Do not defend the man.” Cindy shook a finger at Tori. “He’s a coldhearted bastard.”
Yeah, no argument there.
“What he needs is a woman.” Olivia sat forward and wrapped her arms around her knees. “He’s all work and no play. And he wants the rest of the world to be the same. If he had a woman in his life, he’d have less time to mess with ours.”
“Yes.” Jenna hopped up and began to pace excitedly. “A woman would distract him, soften him. He’d be more understanding of other people’s relationships. He definitely needs a woman.”
Uh-oh. Tori saw where this headed. She glanced at Lauren and knew her twin had come to the same conclusion. But the ball was rolling. There was no stopping it now.
“It’s the perfect solution,” Cindy agreed, blue eyes alight as she shifted her gaze between Lauren and Tori. “And we know the perfect pair to find her for him.”
* * *
“Oh, no, he did not.” A few days later, Tori clicked on an email to open it because the preview couldn’t be right. Garrett Black hadn’t actually sent her a bill for the cleaning of his car’s carpet. But, oh yeah, he had. The attachment confirmed it: two hundred dollars for an interior cleaning.
FROM: [email protected]
SUBJECT: Cleaning bill
Ms. Randall, please forgive my delay in providing the bill for the carpet cleaning of my Maserati. I appreciate your willingness to take responsibility for your actions. It gives me hope By Arrangement will conduct themselves in a professional manner while representing Obsidian Studios at the upcoming film festival. You may send a check to me care of the studio.
Why was she even surprised? If she looked up his birth certificate, she’d see the A in Garrett A. Black stood for arrogant. He had some nerve talking about professionalism while blaming her for toe prints that were clearly paw