She sauntered out of the room, leaving both Josh and Robyn dumbfounded at her abruptness. Josh’s eyes were bugged all the way out. He’d never dealt with an (UN)known Diva before. These local pseudo-celebrities were worse than the true stars of Broadway.
“Wow! Elaine is going to be angry that I’m coming back without the information,” he said. “I think she wanted to start on alterations to the things she already had in the works for Michelle.”
“Sorry you met us yet?” Roby asked. “Or just sorry you offered to take the job?”
“Both. I’m sorry. That was bitchy. It isn’t your fault. I just wasn’t expecting that reaction. I mean it’s theatre, for one, and for two, I am so not interested in whatever she has going on under that frock of hers.”
Roby leaned back against the doorframe and laughed at his facial expressions. She’d hear about not doing more to work the situation out, but for the moment it was glorious to have someone who thought Lady Dred was a shrew, too, to commiserate.
“I’m guessing more than a few men have seen her in various states of undress. It wasn’t about that, believe me. Some people enjoy being difficult, and I think we just met the leader of that particular coven.”
“Well, I guess I better call in and share the good news. Oh, and give her highness Elaine’s card. I know she really is worried about deadlines, and the sooner they talk the better.”
The bellow made them both jump. His voice bounced off of the cinder block walls that went down the hallway leading to the dressing rooms.
“Robyn Renée Rose!”
“Shit! It was really nice meeting you, Josh, and I hope you keep helping Elaine out on the production. I’m thinking your going to be fun to have around.”
Joseph’s voice got closer, and Roby darted out of the room to catch up with him as she called a friendly goodbye over her shoulder.
“Nice meeting you,” Roby heard him say faintly as she hustled to catch up with Joseph.
“Did you not hear one thing I said earlier? Are you acting out, or what?”
She could hardly keep a straight face as she felt the anger bubbling up and her face contorting into one of contained fury.
“I’m the one who had to deal with her and explain her behavior to a poor assistant who didn’t sign up for verbal assaults. What are you so upset about?”
“Oh, I don’t know—a pouting, hissing woman who didn’t get measurements taken, hasn’t met our designer, and already hates some of the clothes. What did you do? What did you say?”
Before she could answer him properly, the alarm on her phone went off, signaling that their fifteen-minute break was over.
“You want an answer, or do you want to get back? Heaven forbid we keep her waiting.”
There was a moment of syncopation, when their eyes locked, and she knew her additional comments weren’t appreciated. As she passed him to cut across the stage toward the rehearsal studio, his hand connected with her backside with a distinct popping sound.
“I’m not a fan of your smart mouth. Reel it in.”
It was the second time her jaw had dropped in a five-minute period. Did he seriously just do that center stage? Sure the building was pretty much empty, and the theater itself was pitch black except for the ghost light sitting in the middle of the stage. It had certainly been enough illumination to guide his hand to her behind. With a flick of that same wrist, he motioned for her to go through the door. The swat wasn’t hard enough to bring tears to her eyes, but Roby knew her face had to be giving away something. She could feel how flushed she was. Moving about the room to set up for the next scene they’d be working on, she tried not to make eye contact with anyone, but especially Joseph. She didn’t want to reveal a feeling to him that she hardly had a handle on herself.
When rehearsal was done, he took both Katharine and Bosch into his office, and Roby reset for the next day. She was still putting things in place when he came back in with his bag thrown over his shoulder and keys in hand.
“It went well today. At this pace, we’ll only end up a few days behind, and not weeks. I’m glad Kat suggested we get the one-on-one scenes with them done first.”
“Huh.” Robyn rolled her eyes in conjunction with the snort. “I get the feeling her suggestion came across a lot like a demand.”
Joseph was determined not to rise to the bait. “Everything in order for tomorrow?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Okay. We’re leaving your car here tonight.”
“Why?”
“You’re coming back to mine tonight. We’ll work from the house tomorrow, and then come in for rehearsal.”
This couldn’t be his completely unromantic way of asking her to spend the night for something other than work.
“I’m really not sleepover ready, Joseph. I think I’m going to go home.”
“Not a request. Plus, we do have work to do. We can swing by a Walgreen’s to get what you need, and if you’re still feeling like sleeping in your own bed after we’re done, I’ll drive you home.”
“It seems like a lot of back and forth.”
Roby finally got what it meant to have thoughts racing all over the place. Spending the night could lead to exactly what she’d been hoping for, but she was also pretty certain that he’d be lighting a fire on her ass before he put the one out in her pants.
“And it seems like you’re avoiding,” he said.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
He had already gathered her bags and her water bottle. She continued to stare at him, and he could see the apprehension in her eyes. She wanted something, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. Robyn broke their intense stare first, and she briefly thought of them in the future, and figured she’d always be the one to break first. This was going to be a long night.
“Can we stop and get some food? I need French fries desperately.”
Slinging his arm around her he bent to her ear. “Naughty girls don’t get treats, and no one needs French fries.”
Chapter Thirteen
The drive to his house was peacefully quiet. It wasn’t the awkward silence of too much to say, but instead the quiet of introspective thought. A classical station played in the background, and although Robyn couldn’t name the composer, she found the piece soothing. A few times Joseph would look over and smile down at her as she reclined in the seat with her head turned toward him. Driving with one hand, for the most part, his right hand stayed on the gearshift, with the occasional pat, touch, graze of her own hand. Things felt right, and there was a calm that washed over her and settled relaxation into her bones.
Those hands were a study in perfection. They were ruggedly smooth, no baby soft skin on his palms, but instead the worn hands of a working man who had done his share of heavy lifting, but took the time to care for his skin. His fingers extended way beyond hers. She knew this because after a particularly long smacking over his equally hard thighs, she’d held her palm against his to check. She’d been convinced that his hand had to be twice the size of hers, or more, to cover so much of her hind end at one time. He proceeded to indulge the request, but added that his ability to do a thorough job in getting his point across had nothing to do with the size of his hand so much as it had to do with his personal conviction in seeing the job well done.
It wasn’t just his hands that were perfection, in her eyes. His persona in its entirety was a masterful carving. It was what her friend meant when she said, “He was created in love.” The striking, navy blue eyes set in the chiseled features were meant to be captured on celluloid. His cheekbones weren’t set high, but they were distinct, and his jaw had a small dimple in it that only showed up when he smiled. His was the essence of a man, one already standing in his own power and authority, as opposed to a boy working on growing into his. Looking at him from beneath downcast eyes, so as to not draw attention, Robyn let herself be just a little smitten with the fact that she was there at his request.
“Come on. Rise and shine, sleepy head.�
�
“I wasn’t sleeping. I was just thinking.”
He was already out of the car and headed around the hood to her side in order to grab the door. As he opened it, he asked, “Thinking about what?”
“Nothing specific. Life in general and how much can change in a year.” She certainly wasn’t going to admit that she’d been reviewing all of his finer points in tremendous detail.
“Well, how about we stop thinking about life, and go inside and start living some of it? I’ll grab the bags and come back for the laptops while you put your things away.”
“I don’t know why you insisted I get the jumbo size of everything at the drugstore.”
“Because this will not be the last night you spend here, and I don’t want you wasting money every week on travel size items.”
“Feeling pretty confident in your powers of persuasion are you?” Roby called as she crossed the mudroom into his enormous kitchen.
Her whole living room/dining-room/kitchen combo could sit in his kitchen, and still allow space for furniture. By the time she had dropped everything on the bed in his guest room, he was back in the kitchen putting the few food items they purchased away. Two large bowls sat on the counter, and a cast iron skillet sat on the stove.
“So, I see you already have a plan.”
“Quick chicken and veggie stir fry. Grab those two bags of precut veggies out of the fridge for me, please.”
“And he cooks! I guess I should be impressed.”
He simply laughed at her attempt at some unidentifiable accent.
She got what he needed, and for the next ten minutes, they moved around his kitchen as though it were their collective space. In her mind, Roby continued to tally the differences between Joseph and her ex-husband. The ex never cooked, but Joseph seemed to take great pleasure in seeing to her well being, and she loved the way it made her feel. He placed rice in the rice cooker on the counter, and left the bowl of marinating chicken pieces near the stove until he was ready to deal with it.
“Let’s go have a talk while this rice sets.”
“Why can’t we talk here?”
“Because I want to talk in the other room. Let’s go. Don’t be contrary just for the sport of it.”
He reminded her of her Gram. Grams always thought her questions were being asked just to be contrary, when, in fact, Roby really wanted answers. Knowledge gave her comfort, and if she knew where something was headed, she felt a world better. She took his outstretched hand, anyway, and let him lead her into the room. To hide some of her nervous tells, she immediately sat on her hands as he sat down on the coffee table in front of her. Her instant thought was, if he’d done that at her place, he would’ve gone through it. That made her smirk, and his arched brow and equally stern look let her know she better get rid of it, and quick.
“We cannot have a repeat of today.”
“What do you mean? You said rehearsal went great.”
“It wasn’t a train wreck. That’s a little different than great. Besides, I’m not just talking about time on stage. I’m talking about you and Kat. I don’t want you pushing her buttons.”
“Oh, my goodness! I did nothing of the sort.”
“I think you could’ve done any number of things to make that situation with costumes go better. Stop. Do not interrupt me. It’s not going to be easy with her. You knew that, and you continue to know it, so stop fighting it, and accept it. Cater to her whims, and scream into a pillow when you get home. Call your sisters and tell them what a shrew she is, but your job is to keep her happy and get her on that stage each night. You came close to not being able to accomplish that today.”
“It seems like all you can do is point out my faults. Do I do anything right?”
“You do plenty right, and you know it. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be here, and you know that, too. You also know it’s practically written into the job description of the stage manager to take the brunt of the bad. If you do a hundred things right, the only thing remembered is the hundred and first thing, the one you did wrong.”
“That sucks!”
“Sometimes. But you have me and a pretty kick-ass support system, so stop feeling the need to compete for my attention.”
“I’m not doing that. Am I? I guess maybe a little. I really hated walking into your office and seeing her make herself at home. I also hated seeing you be okay with it.”
“I know. A lot of that isn’t going to change. I will never allow her to take over what’s important. You are going to have to trust me on that.”
“I do. Sometimes I just get caught up. Gram says I can have a temper as hot as a flaming poker going through a block of ice. It burns hard, hot, and fast, and by the time it gets through to the other side, I’ve cooled off, but left a big ol’ hole in my path.”
“Gram E does turn a colorful phrase, but I get the point.”
“I’ll apologize to Katharine.”
“Just do your job where Kat and the show are concerned, and don’t get dragged into whatever drama off stage she tries to pull you into. This conversation and that tap on your backside this afternoon are your last warnings. I know how to work with Kat, and I’m learning quickly how to handle you, my girl.”
He kept her in his gaze and waited for some kind of reaction. Her hands slowly came from underneath her and she proceeded to twist them into knots in her lap until Joseph covered them with his own.
“What’s going on in that head, beautiful?” Joseph leaned in, reaching behind to release the ponytail that seemed to hold a thousand little braids that he loved having his hands in.
Roby leaned into his touch and took the deep breath that preceded confession. “I wasn’t exactly heartbroken that Kat was caught unawares. You’re right about my help being less than enthusiastic today.” She dropped her head.
“Chin up and look at me, please.”
“You could make this easier.”
“Um hmm, I could, but I won’t. You don’t need easy. You want to do this for the rest of your life. Well, Katharine Dresden isn’t even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to impossible to work with actresses. Get used to it.”
“That’s mean.”
“No, that’s being accountable. It’s much better when you come to it on your own. Continue.”
“She was trashing the costumes and Elaine before we ever got back to the scene shop. What if Elaine had been there? When she wasn’t, I didn’t want her dogging poor Josh, so I didn’t want to make it easy for them to get it done. It wasn’t crunch time, so—”
“So you thought, why not be a bit of a brat?” He was mildly amused, but he certainly wasn’t going to let on to that right then.
“You make me sound like a child doing something for attention,” she said. “Don’t look at me like that. I really was thinking about Josh, at that moment. Cruella being ticked off was just after glow.”
“Not funny or cute, and don’t pull away from me.”
“I didn’t tell you this so you could overreact. I wanted to be honest with you, since you’ve been so honest with me.”
“You’re right,” he said. “I’ve done my best to be upfront. That being said, you had to know what a confession like this would mean.”
“If I didn’t before, I do now. You’re not wearing your let’s hug it out look.”
“No, ma’am. Up you get.”
Joseph swapped spots quickly, in a manner that let Roby know he was no stranger in this dance. She was getting too familiar with the steps, herself.
Chapter Fourteen
Well, there’s no way to avoid something you went out of your way to earn, and then made sure to explicitly request. Standing in front of Joseph, her two hands clasped firmly in his single, ginormous one, these were Robyn’s exact thoughts. She really needed to start wearing pants with buttons and zippers. Honestly, anything to slow down the expediency with which he bared her would do. When she felt his hands shift to her waist in order to lower her ever-present leggings, Robyn did a li
ttle jump.
“Easy.”
His hand bypassed the elastic band momentarily so her left butt cheek got to be soothed by his gentle rubbing. Knowing this was the last moment of gentle touching she would get for the foreseeable future, she inhaled deeply and took in the comfort. As he felt the tension release and her gluteus muscles relax, he went back to his initial task of lowering her pants. He tipped her body over his left thigh and immediately tucked her legs beneath his right one. It had been long enough that he knew she was a thrasher. Her panties stayed in place until the spanking was about to begin. Just because he was working toward staying honorable didn’t mean he was a saint. As a man, her sexy, round, milk chocolate, tender flesh exposed to his itchy palm was enough to make him lose focus and forget to smack the daylights out of her tush.
“I want to believe that this is the last time I’m going to need to do this, but I think we both know that’s not likely the case. You cannot antagonize Katharine. I don’t want you antagonizing any of the actors. You are our glue. You keep this production going even more than I do. Once I get on a plane and leave, I’m leaving my show in your hands.”
He could tell she was trying to mask her sniffles. It wasn’t that he took any pleasure in making her cry, but he knew her tears meant she was actively listening to and taking in his words, and hopefully what they meant.
All Robyn could focus on, now that he’d said the words out loud again, was the fact that he would be leaving right after the show opened-as planned. She didn’t think anything he did to her backside could possibly hurt as much as her heart did.
“I’ll be depending on you. It might sound unfair, but that’s what it is. How you handle yourself and this show are what matter most to me. I need her to play this character, and she will, but I want the best of everything for you in this show, and for hundreds of shows beyond.”
Joseph didn’t think he needed to say more on the matter, and he wanted to move quickly from punishing to holding. Plus, he knew her daily eating was terrible, and he wanted to get dinner into her. Placing his hands on the lacy turquoise panties with little pink flowers, he marveled that when she found herself in this position, she always had the sexiest panties under her functional rehearsal clothes. He really did need to focus. As he slid them down, she shimmied a bit across his lap, voluntarily aiding in the removal. Cupping the under curve of the farther cheek, he secured her to him with his other arm and began delivering firm and thunderous-sounding smacks to her behind.
Taking the Stage Page 10