Chapter One

Los Angeles

Catherine St. Aymes sat on her balcony looking out to sea and listening to the gulls singing into the wind. Her caller ID popped onto the phone in her slender fingers along with an insistent vibrating pulse. That setting needed to go. Sighing, she thought of the glass of wine and the lesbian romance she had planned on cracking open this afternoon and was so very tempted to let it ring through to voice mail. After exchanging several frustrating text messages with said caller already today, it would serve him right.

Instead, she sighed again and answered. “Hello, Richard,” she said in a clipped British accent, making her frustration clear with just those two words.

“Look, Cat, you knew it would be the full six weeks for this film when you signed the contract.”

She was unsurprised that her agent dispensed with any greeting and shot right to the point. Catherine pressed two fingers to her right temple and closed her eyes. “Don’t call me that, Richard. You know how I hate it when you’re so informal.” She pushed a frustrated sigh out into the light breeze. She was frustrated with herself for letting Richard needle her and frustrated with him for always pressing, always pushing the boundaries from professional to personal.

“Catherine,” he said, drawing out the end of her name sarcastically. “I’ve done what I can with the studio publicists, but you have a contract to uphold and a job to do. The press tour needs to hit several key markets, so it’s all set for a kickoff with the premiere here in Los Angeles in a few weeks. Then you’ll head to Toronto, then New York the week after, then London, Berlin, and—”

Her impatience got the better of her and she cut in. “Must it be the whole month and a half? These things are exhausting and milk the life out of me. If this goes the full time, I’ll only have a few weeks to recover before filming starts on the next one.” She felt dread settling over her as she recalled just how terrible she was with the promotional aspects of her work. The thought of dealing with all those journalists, their intrusive questions, of forcing her somewhat awkward and introverted nature into a box for so many hours at a time created a ball of anxiety in the pit of her stomach.

Richard continued talking as if she hadn’t interrupted. “And then Vancouver. The studio went all out and chartered a private jet for the tour. Your stay in each city will be at least three days with some a day or two longer. Each will kick off with a press junket in the hotel on day one, a premiere of the film on night two, special parties or promotional events and then interviews with two or three important journalists from major outlets in the days following the premiere.”

He finally paused, then sighed and went on when she didn’t interject again. “Look, Catherine,” he said more gently, “the contract is airtight, and the promotions schedule has been set for months. A Desperate Kind of Love is already a contender for best picture, you’re short-listed for a Golden Guild Award for Best Actress, and it isn’t even happening for a few more weeks. Get it together and we’ll both make a mint.”

Catherine just groaned.

“Look at the bright side of it all, this role will take you to the next level,” he said, his tone cajoling. “You’ll be at the top of the A-list with your pick of roles for years to come. Think of it as another role to play and channel your inner extrovert.”

“Yes, right,” she spat back in derision. Resigning herself to the fact that ignoring it, couldn’t make a contract go away. “Can we at least keep each press junket to less than nine-hour days? Last time, the shortest was fourteen hours and the delays…” She paused, pulling a face he couldn’t see. “Ugh! I just can’t deal with that this time. And don’t even think of booking me at the same hotel as the junkets. That was disastrous. Someone always leaks details, regardless of the lengths we’ve gone to in order to keep them private. Last time, I just couldn’t get away after someone let slip my damned room number.” She shuddered. “So many of them came around knocking at all hours of the day and night. I won’t have that this time. I mean it.”

“All reasonable requests, babe. Though some of the hotel bookings might be tricky.” Catherine had never felt more inclined to hurl her phone off the balcony. “Richard,” she said warningly. “Babe isn’t appropriate. We’re no longer married, and you promised to keep things professional.”

“Right,” he muttered, then droned on. “I’ve already made arrangements for a public relations consultant to accompany you and keep things on track. The usual agency is sending someone over to meet with you this morning and they should be there in an hour. It might be a good idea to have a PA too, if you want things to go more smoothly this time around.”

Catherine rolled her eyes skyward. So much for advance warning. “I think a personal assistant is too much, Richard.”

Through the receiver, she heard a car door slam and then muffled voices as he spoke to someone in the background before he interrupted her once more. “Look, Catherine, just meet with the public relations manager and keep an open mind. We can talk more about it later, but right now I’ve got to get going.”

The call abruptly ended before she could respond.

Richard knew just how to bully her into getting his way and abruptly ending the call before she could argue was typical. Really, he’d been doing this kind of thing since he’d started representing her.

She found herself suddenly married to him to cover up her sexuality when an ex-lover had threatened to come forward to expose her. Though the sham marriage had been untenable for her almost immediately, it had taken her over a year to extricate herself from the debacle. Both their professional relationship and their friendship had taken a hit with the divorce.

It took another hit when she’d broached the idea of officially coming out. Richard had alternately raged and threatened her, certain that it would be the end of her career. In the end, he’d tried to smooth things over by agreeing to create a strategy for her coming out. But each time she brought it up, he would bluster and come up with an excuse to push it off.

Her contract with him was up for renewal in less than a year. In her heart, she knew it was time to sever their relationship fully. She just needed to figure out how to do so without hurting Richard. She owed him at least that much for all he’d done for her over the years. Sighing, she turned and went inside to change for unwanted company. So much for the quiet day of rest and relaxation she had planned.