Her Red-Carpet Romance Read Free Page B

indeed?” he murmured, thinking back, for a second, to his own solitary life. It hadn’t always been that way.
    Talking about herself always made her feel uncomfortable. Yohanna was quick to return to the salient point of all this. “The bottom line is that there isn’t anyone to complain about my hours even if they do turn out to be extensive.”
    â€œNo ‘if’ about it,” he assured her. “They
will
be extensive. I’m afraid that it’s the nature of the beast. I put in long hours and that means so will you.” Again he peered closely at her face, as if he could read the answer—and if she was lying, he’d catch her in that, too. “You’re all right with that?” he asked again.
    â€œCompletely.”
    â€œYou haven’t asked about a salary,” he pointed out. The fact that she hadn’t asked made him suspicious. Everyone always talked about money in his world. Why hadn’t she?
    â€œI’m sure you’ll be fair,” Yohanna replied.
    Again he studied her for a long moment. He didn’t find his answer. So he asked. “And what makes you so sure that I’ll be ‘fair’?”
    â€œYour movies.”
    Lukkas’s brow furrowed. He couldn’t make heads or tails out of her answer. “You’re going to have to explain that,” he told her.
    â€œEvery movie you ever made was labeled a ‘feel good’ movie.” As a child, the movies she found on the television set were her best friends. Both her parents led busy lives, so she would while away the hours by watching everything and anything that was playing on the TV. “If you had a dark side, or were underhanded, you couldn’t make the kinds of movies that you do,” she told him very simply.
    â€œMaybe I just do it for the money.” He threw that out, curious to see what she would make of his answer.
    Yohanna shook her head. “You might have done that once or twice, possibly even three times, but not over and over again. Your sense of integrity wouldn’t have allowed you to sell out. Especially since everyone holds you in such high regard.”
    Lukkas laughed shortly. “You did your research.” He was impressed.
    â€œIt’s all part of being an organizer,” she told him. “That way, there are no surprises.”
    There were layers to this woman, he thought. “Is that what you consider yourself to be? An organizer?”
    â€œIn a word, yes,” Yohanna replied.
    He nodded, as if turning her answers over in his mind. “When can you start?”
    There went her pulse again, Yohanna thought as it launched into double time. Was she actually
getting
the job?
    â€œWhen would you want me to start working?” she asked, tossing the ball back into his court. It was his call to make.
    He laughed shortly. “Yesterday.” That way, he wouldn’t have lost a productive day.
    â€œThat I can’t do,” she told him as calmly as if they were talking about the weather. “But I can start now if you’d like,” she offered.
    Was she that desperate? he wondered. Or was there another reason for her eagerness to come to work for him? Since his meteoric rise to fame, he’d had friends disappoint him, trying to milk their relationship for perks and benefits. As for strangers, they often had their own agendas, and he had become very leery of people until they proved themselves in his estimation. That put him almost perpetually on his guard. It was a tiring situation.
    â€œYou can start tomorrow,” Lukkas told her.
    She wanted to hug him, but kept herself in check. She didn’t want the man getting the wrong impression about her.
    â€œThen, I have the job?” she asked, afraid of allowing herself to be elated yet having little choice in the matter.
    â€œYou can’t start if you don’t,” he pointed out. “I’ll take you on a three-month