LITMIR.BIZ

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also been the most ambitious, keeping up on every casting call and arranging her days off accordingly. “How?”

      “Look, I don’t know what kind of film he’s looking at producing, but why not throw your hats into the ring? It’s not as if we haven’t all stood in line for hours and hours for a two-minute audition just to get thrown out on our rears.”

      Oddly, it was Amy who seemed more excited. “Is he holding auditions?”

      “Not yet. Not that I know of, anyway. He seems to be in the scouting stage.” Troubled by her attitude, Dana stared at Kelly. “I thought you’d be all over this opportunity.”

      Kelly sighed. “I’m tired. This town is finally getting to me.”

      Amy’s mouth dropped open. She briefly looked over at Dana, who understood the disbelief in Amy’s face. “You? Miss Insanely Optimistic? You’re giving up?”

      “I think eight years of heartache is enough.” Kelly drove a frustrated hand through her curly hair. “I’ve got to get back to work.” She hesitated. “Look, I was going to wait and tell you guys once I made up my mind for sure, but my mom told me there’s an opening for an assistant manager at the local bank back home. The manager is an old family friend and the job is pretty much mine if I want it.”

      “Shut up!” Amy’s face went pale.

      Dana knew she didn’t look so hot herself. How could this be? Not gung-ho Kelly. She never ever lost hope. Anyone would’ve bet she’d be the last woman standing. “You’re going back to Wisconsin?”

      Kelly shrugged. “The cost of living is lower and I might as well use my business degree…” She smiled sadly. “As much as it pains me to admit it, I’m going to be thirty next month.”

      “Thirty?” Amy frowned. “That’s right. Wow.”

      Kelly gave her a wry look. “I’ve got to face facts. Thirty is way too old for this town.”

      “What about that new guy you’ve been seeing?” Dana asked when she found her voice again. She hated the thought of Kelly leaving. Foolishly, the idea had never occurred to her that their threesome would ever be broken up, and the concept was hard to grasp. “Is it over already?”

      “No. Everything is good.” Kelly stood. “Look, I shouldn’t have brought this up yet. Miranda won’t be back from vacation for another two weeks and so obviously I wouldn’t give notice yet. And then again, I haven’t made a decision. I really have to get back to work before Kyle gets in my face.”

      “But what about this guy Culver?” Amy got up, too, so abruptly she nearly knocked her chair over. “Don’t you want to know what that’s about?”

      The two other employees remaining in the cafeteria looked up with avid interest. Kelly lowered her voice. “Maybe. But I’ve got to give the bank my answer soon. You guys break a leg.” She winked, and left without waiting for Amy or Dana.

      Amy shook her head, still looking stunned. “That was scary.”

      “Yeah.” Dana was feeling pretty shaken herself. She got rid of her unfinished coffee, afraid to look at her watch. She had to be late, but she couldn’t seem to make herself move toward the door. “Did you see this coming at all?”

      “Hell, no.”

      “Me neither.”

      “Yeah.” Amy smoothed back her dark hair. “Wow. I’d like to go slam back a couple of shots, but I have to get back to the desk.”

      Dana sighed, and walking side by side, they headed for the door. “I’ve got to meet Chase.”

      Amy’s chin came up. “You think he’s legit?”

      She shrugged. “I don’t have any reason not to.”

      “You going for it?”

      Dana swallowed. “I haven’t auditioned in three years.”

      “So?” “So, I like what I’m doing.”

      Amy snorted.

      “Right.”

      What Dana should’ve pointed out was that she’d quit three years ago. Moved on. No more pie-in-the-sky dreams for her. She had no business nurturing even the teensiest hope. Yet here she was, holding her breath.

       3

      CHASE BENT over to pull on his sweat socks, wincing with the effort. Yesterday’s run—his first with Dana—hadn’t tested his physical endurance as much as the hundred sit-ups he’d foolishly punished himself with last night. An equal amount of push-ups hadn’t fazed him, but then again, the recent double bullet wound near his ribs had made crunches a bitch.

      He promised himself that tonight he was taking it easy. Just him and that king-size bed. Throw in some room service and the television remote, he’d be all set. And if Dana were to…

      Shit. What the hell was wrong with him? He couldn’t be thinking like that. Yeah, she had legs that could wrap nicely around a man’s waist and a high firm backside that you could set a beer on, but she was still a possible suspect. Just like the rest of the people on his list. So he’d better remember to keep his fly up.

      The phone rang and he knew it was her because they were supposed to have met in the lobby ten minutes ago. He pushed off the edge of the bed and made it to the console table before the third ring.

      “Mr. Culver?”

      “This must be Ms. McGuire.”

      “Are we still on for this morning?” Her tone was all business.

      “Yes, ma’am. I do apologize, but I’m running a little slow. How about you come up and have a cup of coffee while you wait? Room service brought up a fresh pot less than half an hour ago.”

      “I don’t mind waiting here in the lobby.”

      “I have a suite with a nice big parlor.”

      “I don’t drink coffee before I run.”

      “Some water then?”

      She hesitated. “Frankly, I make it a policy not to go up to the guest rooms.”

      “I see.” Chase smiled wryly. That was lie number one. “I’ll be down in about five minutes.”

      “No problem.”

      He heard a click, and then slowly replaced the receiver on the cradle. He expected more enthusiasm out of her. Maybe he’d pegged her wrong. Nah, he didn’t think so. She’d admitted she’d come to New York looking for a singing career. Looks like he had to bait the hook again.

      He found his running shoes under the teak secretary where he’d kicked them off yesterday. Bending over to pull on the shoe hurt his ribs again and he cut loose a word his mama had literally washed his mouth out with soap for when he was twelve. He still remembered the day as if it were yesterday. Not just because of the nasty taste of the soap, but because of that first look of disappointment in his God-fearing mama’s eyes.

      How many times before that had she begged him not to turn out like his daddy, and in that one second, to her mind, he’d taken that fork in the road. To some degree she’d been right. Chase had disappointed himself too many times to think about. He’d done things he regretted, made promises he hadn’t kept. The true irony was that two months ago, when all hell had broken loose, sending his career as a cop up in smoke, none of it had been his fault. But that hadn’t seemed to matter.

      He pushed the thought from his mind, tucked it away in that dark corner that had already been too contaminated with hate and anger to make a difference. Today he had a job to do and it required all his concentration. The last thing he needed to do was screw up again.

      Besides, this was going to be an interesting run. He hoped Dana didn’t have another appointment after his because

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