Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Tate
Why did I do that? And why does Sophia smell amazing? I almost kissed her. Shit, I need to pull myself together. I’m here in a professional capacity. OK, sort of a professional capacity. I mean, that was the first thought I had as I was lying in bed staring at her book. I kept thinking if I could just meet this author and talk with her, then maybe she’d agree to let me make this book into a movie. And then every decision I made after that point was probably not very lucid at best, and downright unbalanced at worst. The guys are going to think I’ve lost my mind when they find out what I’ve been up to. Hell, I’m beginning to think I’ve lost my mind.
I stand outside the car taking in a deep breath and hoping to quell my body’s reaction to her being so close before she comes out of the car. I don’t want her to think I’m some weird Hollywood pervert.
Her door opens and then I hear the beep of her car as she locks it.
“This way,” she calls out as she begins to walk toward the office building in front of us. Her cheeks look flushed, and her chest is rising fast.
“You OK?” I ask as I run up the steps of the building and hold the door open for her.
“Great.” She pauses as we stand in front of elevators in a lobby. The building is nondescript. There are a few planters but that’s about it. “I should warn you…my assistant might be your number one fan and she has no idea you are here.”
The elevator dings and the doors open. We step inside and the doors close. I look down at her. “You mean you aren’t my number one fan?” I tease.
She glares at me in the mirror of the elevator doors, and I fight a grin. I open my mouth to say that I had hoped she was, but the elevator stops, and the doors open.
“Uh, this way,” she mumbles, taking my hand, and leading me to an unmarked door where she uses a key to open it. We’re in a hallway off an office. She practically shoves me into a room and shuts the door. “Sit. Feel free to make coffee. The bathroom is down the hall to the right,” she adds, motioning to a single-cup coffee maker by the door.
“Oh, uh, OK,” I say slowly as I take in what I presume to be her office. There’s a big window behind her desk that looks out into a park area. Her walls have photos of children. There’s a small circular table in front of me with four chairs, another two chairs face her desk where she’s sitting in front of her laptop. One of those standing desks is next to her on her right. I sit down at the table and pull out my computer. I guess I can start writing this screenplay. Since I have the author sitting next to me, I’ll be able to ask questions. I open a blank document and begin to type when a woman enters the office. She’s small with dark hair and she’s staring down at some documents in her hands.
She glances over at Sophia. “Do you have time to review this grant?” she asks, holding up the paperwork.
“Sure,” Sophia says and stands, taking the papers from her. Then the woman’s eyes suddenly meet mine and I watch them get bigger and bigger until they are like two saucers on her face.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know you…had…holy shit!” She stumbles over her words as she looks at me, and then her gaze shoots back at Sophia.
“This is Lex,” Sophia offers. I suddenly wonder if Lex knows Sophia is an author. Why the hell haven’t I asked her if her pen name is to keep her writing career private?
“Sorry, you probably get this all the time, but you look just like—” she starts.
“Tate Anders?” I finish her thought.
Lex nods her head. Her eyes darting back and forth between Sophia and me.
Sophia sighs. “That’s because he is Tate Anders, Lex.”
Lex’s hand flies to her mouth. “Oh. My. God,” she says. “I mean…uh…hello.”
“Hello, it’s Lex, right?” I ask, extending my hand to her.
She nods her head and bites her lip. “Nice to meet you, Lex,” I continue.
“Uh, nice to meet you, too,” she manages, turning to Sophia and giving her a what the hell look.
“So, I’d like to call a staff meeting so I can introduce everyone to Tate and explain why he’s here,” Sophia says, giving Lex a harsh look. I’m beginning to wonder if coming here was a bad idea. I want to keep a low profile, but my brain hadn’t thought this far ahead. I acted in total panic mode when I bought the plane ticket. I should know better by now. I should know that I’m not a normal person anymore and that I need to watch my surroundings and the people I interact with all the time. But, honestly, sometimes I just forget. It’s easier than it should be to slip back into Brooks Anders and his normal life.
Lex nods. “I’ll, uh, send an email to meet in the conference room at ten, OK?”
“Yes, thanks,” Sophia replies. Lex turns and leaves, closing the door behind her.
“Well, that went well,” I say with a grin as Sophia slumps down into her chair.
“Is this how you live your life, every day?” she asks as she puts her elbows on the desk and rests her chin in her hands.
“I suppose so,” I answer. Is this a bad thing? Does she hate it? Shit, am I going to ruin her whole life if we make this book into a movie?
“I can’t even imagine…” She trails off as she looks me in the eye. “What should I tell them?”
“Who?” I ask, frowning in confusion.
“The Beatles,” she says sarcastically before motioning toward her door. “My office colleagues,” she clarifies with an eye roll.
“Oh, right. Do they know you write romance novels?” I ask as I sit down in one of the chairs in front of her desk.
She nods. “Yep.”
“Then tell them I’m a fan and am secretly in town for something and wanted to meet you,” I offer with a shrug.
She gives me a pointed look. “You seriously think they are going to believe that? And you don’t have to worry. There are only six of us in the office. And if we say don’t tell anyone, they won’t. They will however gossip like hell amongst themselves,” she explains. I feel the tension leave my shoulders a little. I hope she’s right.
I shrug. “Let them gossip, then.”
She rolls her eyes again and groans. “You are seriously no help here.”
I wave her off with my hand. “Come on, let’s go meet these colleagues. They’ll love me. I’m very charming,” I say with my best movie-star smile.
She throws a squishy stress ball at me. And I laugh as I chuck it back at her. Sophia Walsh is adorable when she’s frustrated.
“Fine, best of luck to you,” she declares as if I’m being thrown to the wolves. She stands and I follow her down the hall. I hope she’s right about her colleagues keeping my presence here under wraps. I really do need to stay off the radar for now, at least until I figure out what the hell I’m going to do about the mess I made back home, and for that matter, what the hell I’m going to do with my entire life.
We enter a larger room and I see several people. Lex, a man in his twenties, a woman in her twenties, and two other women who look to be in their thirties or forties all sit at a conference table.
“I’d like to introduce you all to Mr. Anders,” Sophia says, motioning to me. The eyes of the three women widen. Lex gives them a knowing look. The man seems nonplussed by my presence. Immediately everyone’s heads turn toward Sophia with questioning eyes.
“I know, I know,” she says, raising her hands. “He’s an actor. We all know who he is. He wants to spend some time at our office for a few days.” She glances at me as if trying to relay something and continues. “He’s working on a film project that looks at grant work and he wants to understand it better. My agent knows this and mentioned my work to his agent. I’ve had him sign a confidentiality agreement this morning, so he will keep all that goes on here to himself. In return, I hope you will keep his presence here to yourselves.”
One of the younger women raises her hand.
“Holly, you don’t have to raise your hand,” Sophia admonishes. Holly looks young, maybe just out of college. I look at her and she shyly smiles.
“Uh, yeah. Sorry. I was wondering if Mr. Anders will be following all of us around, or just you?” she asks.
“Just me for now,” Sophia explains. “I’m not sure how long he’ll be able to stay with us here to observe, so for now I’ll be trying to show him the ropes.”
“Oh,” Holly mutters, looking like a competitive child who has just lost a game.
“Any other questions?” Sophia asks.
The rest of the group shakes their heads in unison. “Alright, then, back to…” She trails off as a delivery boy carrying a bag of what looks like donuts and a carton of coffee shows up at the conference room door.
“Delivery for Sophia Walsh,” the young man says smiling and looking around the room. “Sorry, no one was at the front desk, and I heard voices back here.”
“I…uh…” Sophia splutters.
“I ordered everyone breakfast,” I say with a sly smile. When Sophia said she wanted to introduce me, I figured I could get something delivered quickly and the app I used did not disappoint. That was here in less than twenty minutes.
The room bursts into a barrage of discussion. “Thank you” and “Isn’t that nice” and “He’s so sweet” all ring out in unison as they surround a side table where the delivery man has set the food. Sophia looks at me and mouths “Thank you.” I nod with a smile as I walk over to join her co-workers. I am introduced to each one and learn what they all do for the charity. I’ll have to remember to tell Paul to send a donation here. Their work is impressive.
After some normal chitchat, I become Tate to everyone, and everything seems to return to normal as best as I can tell. I see Sophia eating a donut at the conference table and watching me, but when I look at her, she quickly glances over at Lex and says something about some files she needs.
“So, like, how long are you here?” Holly asks, breaking my train of thought.
“Not sure. I’m in between projects, so maybe a few days,” I offer. I practically see little cartoon hearts shooting from her eyes. Dear God, I need to get away from her.
“Sophia, do you have some things you want to go over with me?” I ask.
She looks at me and then at Holly. I see her lips twitch with amusement. “Sure. Holly, maybe you can give Tate a tutorial on our e-filing system later,” she suggests.
“Oh, sure. Whenever you want, Tate,” Holly offers with enough enthusiasm to rival a sweets lover being chosen to win a lifetime supply of candy.
“Great. Look forward to it,” I lie. I follow Sophia back to her office, and when she shuts the door, I glare at her. “You suck, you know that?”
She giggles and shrugs. “I couldn’t help myself,” she says.
She motions to the small table in her office. “Have a seat and do whatever it is movie stars do and I’m going to get some work done. We can head back to the house at lunch and then I have to get the kids from camp this afternoon. Mark will be picking them up from my house at six.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I reply as I take a seat.
I glance over at Sophia who is studying something on her computer screen. She looks like a sexy librarian. But she doesn’t act like she knows she’s sexy. Does she not know that?
My gaze travels over her body. I love that she has curves. I miss women having curves. Every woman I’ve dated in Hollywood seems to be on a diet. Even Lacey is on the slender side and sticks to salads for most of her meals. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with eating healthy or being thin, but Sophia doesn’t seem to think about that at all. Does she? I hope she doesn’t. She’s perfect just how she is…or at least I think so…so far.