At Odds with the Heiress(45)
“I did leave it behind.” She sighed. “Mostly.”
It was her equivocating that renewed his frustration. “But it followed you here.”
“Bobby is a hard man to say no to.”
“I suppose it depends on how sincere you were.” Why couldn’t she just admit that the offer intrigued her?
“You can’t seriously believe that I would give up my life here?” She scrutinized his expression. “My family’s here. I have a career I love, and things...have gotten very exciting.”
He gripped her arm and stopped her. “What sort of things?” He hadn’t meant to sound so intense. But he needed to hear her admit how she felt about him.
Her lips parted, but no words emerged. Finally, she shrugged. “Tiberius’s unsolved murder. His files. My attack.”
All of which meant she was in danger. Maybe returning to Hollywood wasn’t such a bad idea. “All good reasons for you to leave Las Vegas and take the part.”
Scarlett shook her head, then regarded him. “Why is it so damn important to you that I take Bobby’s offer?”
Because he needed to prepare himself if she was going to leave.
“You have a knack for finding trouble. I just want to know when my life is going to get back to normal.”
* * *
Irritation with Logan burned in Scarlett’s chest during the hours after they parted until she returned to collect Madison and her friends and bring them back to Fontaine Richesse. She tried not to let his willingness to be rid of her dent her ego, but his “support” of her career had leveled a crushing blow to her heart. How had she so misread the situation between them? Granted, it wasn’t easy getting past his hard exterior to the caring, passionate man beneath. But in the past two weeks, she’d thought she was starting to make inroads.
He’d never be a tender romantic, but she’d eat that sort of guy up in two bites. Logan was difficult and fascinating. She could spend a lifetime with him and never get bored. The tail end of the impulsive thought snagged her full attention.
When had she starting thinking in terms of a lifetime with Logan? Her immediate reaction was to shy away from her heart’s answer. She reminded herself that her first description of the man was that he was difficult. Did she really want to spend the rest of her life with such an intractable male?
The answer was yes if the man was Logan Wolfe.
He was the only man she’d never been able to manipulate. This meant that she had to be her genuine self around him or he’d call her on it. That was both liberating and terrifying. Letting him glimpse her faults and vulnerabilities meant at any moment he could use her weaknesses against her. Would he?
A breathy laugh puffed out of her. And she’d accused him of having trust issues. She was not much better. She could count on one hand all the people she trusted in the world. The first was her mother. The next two, her sisters, Harper and Violet. The fourth, she was on her way to meet for a drink. Scarlett contemplated her thumb. Did she count Logan among her allies?
“Hello, Bobby,” she said, sitting down beside the producer. “Is Chase joining us?”
“No. He’s on a winning streak at the craps table and didn’t want to leave.”
Scarlett smiled. “What about you? Any luck at the tables?”
“A little.” He grinned at her. “Now, let’s get down to business. I know you, Scarlett. You want this part.”
“It’s a fabulous opportunity.”
“So come to L.A. and test for it.”
Agreeing would set her foot on a path that might not lead back to Las Vegas. She shook her head. “I really appreciate what you’re trying to do for me,” she told the producer. “But I’m not interested.”
“You’re an actress, not a hotel manager.”
He made it sound as if she was dealing drugs for a living. “I’m not turning you down because of my position with Fontaine Richesse,” she explained. “I have a life here. A life I really love.”
“What if we could shoot all your scenes in one day? You wouldn’t have to move back to Hollywood. Just commute. You still own your house, don’t you?”
She had a place on the beach in Malibu that she’d bought shortly after turning eighteen. She’d told herself she’d kept the house because market values had dropped, but the truth was she loved the California coast and kept it as a getaway when she needed to escape the glitter and rush that was Vegas.
Or as a backup plan?
Was Logan right? Deep in her heart, was she thinking of Las Vegas as something to fill the time during the lull in her acting career? With the way her heart was skipping at the thought of going back to work in front of the camera, she had to consider if she’d been kidding herself all this time.