“And if the super-large, extremely hard bulge that I sent him home with is any indication of the potential he has to rock my world, I’m signing up for a full membership.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. I pushed out a kitchen chair for her with my foot.

“My nosey fiancé was quite worried about how you two were faring. Even got out of bed once to see if Mike’s car was still here.”

Marie shook her head from the news. “We talked a lot. He knows I’m in the middle of dealing with something ugly. And he doesn’t want to push anything until I’m ready, which I thought was very . . .

thoughtful.”

Yeah, she had it bad for him.

Marie had only stayed for four days and in that time we spent every night with Ryan and Mike. I was glad to see that Marie had a renewed sense of hope. Gary couldn’t rip her heart out because she was well on her way to falling for another man.

Mike appeared to be genuinely sad to see her go. He had arranged for other security to cover Ryan so he could personally see Marie off at the airport. That scored major points for him in my book.

As we all hugged goodbye in the terminal, I smiled when Mike promised that he’d keep in touch with her.

Mike paid the toll to get us out of short-term parking. I watched his lips press down into a grumpy scowl. By the looks of it, he was majorly pissed.

“She’ll be all right,” I said softly.

He looked over at me and nodded once. “Yeah.”

I stared at the bumper of the car in front of us, feeling relieved that Mike had been a gentleman throughout, not playing the game to get Marie into bed for a quick hit-and-run.

Still, I could see he was all knotted up. “How are you?”

His jaw flexed and his expression darkened even further. He didn’t answer right away, but when he did he said, “Just tell me if shit goes down with her. I’m figuring she won’t tell me so I’m telling you I want to know about it, okay?”

I stared at him for a minute, sort of in shock. “You sure you want to make it your business?”

Mike flicked his turn signal on and was watching oncoming traffic until his eyes locked on to mine. His anger quickly dissipated, replaced with softened but adamant sincerity. “Yeah, I do.”

I recalled how it felt to find out your man was cheating on you. Was Marie ready for her “next” or did she need time to sort it out?

Some of his tightness came back. “You have a problem with that?”

Yeah, I do.

Instead, I said, “She’s not just my best friend, Mike. She’s just about the only family I have and I don’t want her to get hurt. She’s already got one guy breaking her heart. She doesn’t need two.”

He gave me another stiff nod. “Understood.”

Marie had told me that Mike held her while she cried in front of him last night. She hated that she broke down like that but they were talking and he was asking why she ever settled for less and it just happened.

Mike turned the radio off. “Don’t think me cold but I’m glad this happened to her. I mean, I’m not happy she’s getting hurt, but I’ve seen how that asshole’s been treating her and . . .” He slapped the gear shifter. “You don’t treat a woman like her like that. You just don’t. You get a woman like that, you cherish her.”

I couldn’t help but smile at him.

He glanced back over at me. “What?”

Yeah, he liked her a lot. The sooner she scraped off Gary the better.

Chapter 9

Act

Monday morning, eight o’clock, Ryan and I were promptly whisked away in a tinted window sedan for a breakfast meeting with Jonathan Follweiler and the principal cast of Slipknot. Mike was sitting up front in the passenger seat, looking all foreboding again, while another man drove us. He’d been in a funk since we dropped Marie off but the macho asshole wouldn’t admit it. I knew better.

I cast my eyes over at the driver; he had a really thick neck and no patience when it came to fending off sidewalk onlookers after he parked in front of the hotel entrance. It was moments like these that reminded me how far from normal our lives were. Normal people drove themselves places and didn’t have chauffeurs opening their car doors.

Jonathan’s wife, Anna, who was also an executive producer of this film as well, had arrived in town and requested that I come along.

She greeted me with a big, friendly hug and a smile and I couldn’t help but feel like we were being “fixed up” on a date. I presumed furthering our friendship was the only reason I was included in this breakfast icebreaker. I was most definitely being sized up as a potential shopping partner. Anna was planning on staying in Vancouver throughout most of the scheduled filming, and she had already mentioned in the first twenty seconds that we would have loads of fun together.

Honestly, I was glad. Her excitement was infectious and her complete acceptance of me was a huge relief. Making friends in Ryan’s social sphere was important.

I shook hands with producer Parker Shay, and then was introduced to Ryan’s next co-star, actress Nicole Devin. I actually didn’t know who she was when Ryan told me her name so I looked her up on Google prior to this meeting. That’s how I found out that her father is a L.A. talent agent and her mother an accomplished scriptwriter. Nicole had a recurring role on a cable series before landing this lead role opposite Ryan.

Though we were just about the same height, she had shoulder-length caramel-brown hair, pouty lips, and a professionally sculpted nose. She looked tired; slight purple circles surrounded her eyes. Instead of shaking my hand she held her arms out, welcoming me in for a hug that lingered a little longer than what was socially acceptable in my book. It was right about then that I realized her surgically enhanced breasts were causing dents to form in mine, and I backed out of the hug.

I gasped slightly when actor Bill Pullman entered the room. I knew he was cast to play the FBI agent, but it was still a shock to see him in the flesh, clad in jeans and a camel-colored sport coat, walking toward our table. It was hard not to feel giddy when he flashed those trademark dimples. Damn, I loved his movies.

While we were served coffee, I caught Nicole periodically gazing at me. She’d smile strangely, sniff a few times, then bat her eyes in another direction, often landing her view back on Ryan. Great . . . another attractive actress drooling over my fiancé and sizing me up to see how easy it would be to take out the competition. I felt my grip on my butter knife tighten.

I was trying to hold a conversation with Anna, but Nicole’s runny nose and her constant sniffing were quite a distraction. I dug in my purse to give the poor girl some tissues. I was hoping that she would feel better soon and be over her cold before Ryan had to do any kissing scenes with her, because knowing my luck, she’d end up passing it on to Ryan and I would end up with the flu or something.

I was wondering how someone so skittish-looking could become so famous when Jeremy Irons made his way to the table. Holy hell; this man is like a walking poster child for “successful actor.” Seeing him in person was quite intimidating.

I knew Ryan was nervous about working with such seasoned actors, especially since he had the lead role in this film. He was forever fearing his own acting skills might be inadequate. I had a small taste of how cynical and critical people in this business could be at the Reparation after-party, when I accidentally overheard some derogatory comments made about Ryan’s lack of acting skills. Thankfully Ryan didn’t hear them; he would have gone into a downward spiral if he had.

Still, he knew he was the new kid on the block and hadn’t fully earned his place. Ryan’s good looks combined with one successful movie role had garnered a lot of attention, but he’d have to prove his worth to his peers if he wanted their respect.