he’d had a folly of a marriage? To a much younger woman? Ellie decided to skip that can of worms—she had a huge enough one open already. ‘You told me you were a guest.’
‘You assumed that. I did try to explain who I was but you were too busy apologising to listen.’
‘I’m not going to apologise any more,’ she said defiantly. ‘You should have told me. You should have stopped me making a fool of myself twice over.’
He stood and walked around to her side of the table. ‘You never made a fool of yourself with me.’
She stood, speaking through a clamped jaw. ‘Mr Theroux.’
He stepped closer. ‘You can’t be serious.’ His voice dropped to an intimate whisper.
‘Actually I am,’ she declared firmly, shoring up her quivering response. ‘You know it’s inappropriate for us to talk further. You need to talk to—’
‘Nathan.’
‘That’s right.’ She inhaled—bad idea because she caught that deliciously spicy soapy scent.
‘I don’t want to deal with Nathan. I want to deal with you.’
Now she knew what menopause was going to feel like: the hot flash stunned her. ‘You can’t.’ She snuck a breath. ‘It would be unprofessional. Nathan will work on it alone.’
‘There’s nothing to work on.’ He shrugged.
‘Are you saying that because I’m leaving, you’re not interested in negotiating?’ she asked even more breathlessly. ‘Are you trying to blackmail me?’
He hesitated. ‘I’m open to negotiations. But I would prefer to talk with you.’
‘But if I’m not available will you still be open?’
He grinned. ‘I’m a businessman, not an idiot. I know there are benefits to be had from this place being used as a location. Not for just any movie, of course.’
She gazed at him through narrowed eyes. Not sure she could believe him.
‘I enjoyed every second with you in my bed, but I’m not slimeball enough to use our fling in my business decisions,’ he said quietly but firmly. ‘Just as you’re not slutty enough to think sleeping with me could make me change my mind, right?’
‘Right,’ she said. ‘But the fact is we don’t know each other very well.’
‘And as far as you’re concerned we’re not going to get to know each other any better.’
‘I think that’s best, don’t you?’
‘Not at all,’ he answered bluntly. ‘But unlike your colleague I’m gentleman enough to respect your wishes. I’m not into harassing people.’
Just how much of that conversation with Nathan had he overheard?
‘I’m capable of keeping my business and my personal life separate,’ he continued easily. ‘It won’t make any difference.’
Well, he was more capable of that than she was—she couldn’t think straight with the guy around.
‘Truth is I’m in the midst of a new deal to take on two new boutique hotels so a cash injection plus publicity could be useful. That’s why I’m more open to film negotiations now than I was a couple of months ago.’
‘Well, you’ll need to talk to Nathan. I no longer work for the location company.’
Utterly silent, he stared—his brown eyes shifting to black and hard in a whisker of a second. ‘You got the sack?’
Ellie shivered in the face of iced fury. The ultimate in easy-going humour had a frozen fiery depth she hadn’t anticipated. Ruben Theroux wasn’t someone to make angry. And now she knew he hadn’t listened in to the whole conversation she’d had with Nathan.
‘Nathan didn’t have the authority to sack me. I resigned,’ she said, lifting her chin. ‘With immediate effect.’
His jaw dropped. ‘Why?’ Now he looked even more angry. ‘You’re just going to quit and run from some silly little mess?’
It wasn’t a silly little mess. It wasn’t anything to do with Ruben. She’d seen the light. She’d been taken on by that company to keep the paperwork tidy and to flooze where necessary. She might be a complete pleaser but that was taking it too far.
He glanced down at her clothes—and, no, her jeans weren’t designer like his. Hers had frayed at the edges from use, not been bought that way.
‘What are you going to do?’
Pride surged. ‘I’m not so stupid to throw in a job without having something else lined up. It’s all sorted already. I start next week.’
‘Doing what?’
She didn’t want to tell him the finer details—not that she was embarrassed, more that she sensed it would be safer to keep him distanced. He was in her ‘past’ already. ‘Same industry, different job.’
‘You’ve got a part in a film, then?’ He suddenly grinned. ‘Lead role?’
‘No.’ She bit back an answering smile. ‘I’m not a wannabe actress.’
‘But you have leading-lady looks.’
She vehemently shook her head. ‘Please not the flirting again.’
‘It’s impossible not to,’ he murmured. ‘Come on, tell me.’
She shook her head. ‘Not acting.’
‘That’s really not a fantasy?’ he scoffed. ‘Any woman who works in the industry has that fantasy.’
‘Well, I don’t. I can’t think of anything worse than being judged harshly on a giant screen.’
He gave her a sideways look. ‘Well, you got your new job organised pretty quick.’
‘She’s been after me for some time.’ It was true. She’d only had to send a text asking Bridie if she was still keen and the emphatic ‘yes, start Monday’ had been received less than a minute later. ‘I’ve been mulling it a while.’
Fact was she was tired of trying to please everyone—and of not progressing.
Ruben Theroux still looked troubled. Ellie’s pride bit deeper. ‘Don’t think that my decision has anything to do with what happened with you.’
‘It doesn’t?’
‘I’ve been thinking of a change for months.’
‘You’re not letting that Nathan drive you out, are you?’ he asked carefully. ‘Because he’s not worth it. Trust me, no relationship is worth killing your career for.’
‘You
