Her Red-Carpet Romance

by Marie Ferrarella

  Laughing, Lukkas promised, “I’ll give you a letter of recommendation when it comes time.”

  When it comes time.

  Yohanna rolled the words over in her head, wondering if her actual days of being in the producer’s employ were numbered.

  The next moment she decided she wasn’t going to think about that now. If that did turn out to be the case, it wouldn’t be anything she hadn’t already been through—and survived. For now, she intended to make herself totally indispensable to the man in every way possible, doing what she was good at.

  What she needed to do right this minute was to not react to the feel of his arm around her shoulders as he escorted her inside the actual theater where the huge IMAX screen was located. Shivers were moving up and down her spine, making every inch of her acutely aware of the man beside her.

  And she definitely wasn’t thinking of him as her employer at the moment.

  C’mon, Yohanna, focus. Focus.

  The house lights were beginning to dim. She felt Lukkas’s arm slip from her shoulders. One contact substituted for another. Before she knew it, he was taking her hand.

  Her heartbeat quickened even though she silently insisted that Lukkas was merely trying to make sure she didn’t stumble in the darkened theater.

  “Our seats are up front,” he whispered.

  As if on cue, an usher appeared in front of them. He led the way, using a flashlight to illuminate the path down the aisle.

  The theater was filled to capacity with not even standing room available, but as far as she was concerned, she and Lukkas were alone in the theater, making their way to the first row.

  Progress was achieved in slow motion. The journey down the aisle to the first row felt like an eternity. The only theaters she had ever frequented vied with medium-size living rooms when it came to square footage. This theater was so large it could have swallowed up at least a dozen—if not more—of those theaters. Possibly also a few of the smaller towns.

  And then, finally, they came to the row that matched the ticket stubs they’d been given, arriving just as the curtain was being drawn back. A giant dormant screen came into view.

  “Just in time,” Lukkas whispered, lowering his lips to her ear.

  She was acutely aware of his breath as it lightly glided along her cheek and neck.

  She struggled hard to keep a shiver from surfacing. She wasn’t seventeen anymore, Yohanna silently insisted.

  It didn’t help.

  “Just in time,” she echoed, hoping that Lukkas couldn’t hear the way her heart had started to pound. Threading her way into the row, Yohanna gratefully sank into her seat as the opening credits appeared on the screen.

  Another shaky sigh of relief escaped her lips before she could stifle it. She crossed her fingers, hoping that Lukkas hadn’t noticed.

  * * *

  “You never took your eyes off the screen the entire time,” Lukkas commented as, nearly two and a half hours later, they made their way up the aisle to leave the theater.

  Progress was slow going because it seemed as if every third person they passed wanted to congratulate the producer on the quality of the film he had shepherded into existence.

  She told him what everyone else was saying. “It was a good movie.”

  Rather than gloat, he allowed his natural humility to take over. “You have to say that.”

  Moving ever closer to the double doors the ushers had opened, she spared him a glance. Didn’t he know her at all? She would have thought with the man’s keen perception, he would have had a bead on her character—good and bad—by now. Obviously not.

  “The only thing I have to do is show up on time in the morning and put in a full day’s work before I leave for the night,” she pointed out. “Empty flattery was not in the job description. And how do you know I never took my eyes off the screen?” she asked. “Weren’t you watching the movie?”

  “I’ve seen it,” he told her drily, then added honestly, “I was looking around to gauge everyone else’s reaction to the movie.” His voice didn’t betray whether the answer to that had pleased him or had caused him concern.

  The lights had gone up some, but for the most part, the theater was still rather dimly lit. He couldn’t have been able to see far, she thought.

  “Kind of dark for that, wasn’t it?” she asked.

  “Which was why I spent a lot of time looking at you,” he told her simply.

  That wasn’t entirely true. Gauging Hanna’s reaction to the movie was only part of the reason his attention had kept being drawn back to her. Something about the young woman kept tugging at him, a connection of sorts that he was both hesitant to explore and yet felt almost compelled to.

  He was borrowing trouble, as his grandmother used to say, and his life was already too full. He didn’t need any extra complications being wedged into it.

  And yet...

  And yet nothing, Lukkas reminded himself sternly. People were counting on him for their very livelihood. He had no time to stray off a path he had set down for himself three years ago. A path that was the only thing keeping him sane.

  No sooner had he and Hanna finally reached the lobby than they were joined by a tall, blustery man who immediately took his hand and pumped it.

  “Judging from the bits and pieces I’ve been picking up,” Darren Thompson, the head of the studio that was set to distribute Lukkas’s film throughout the country, told him, “it looks as though you’ve got yourself another winner on your hands, Spader.”

  “We’ve got another hopeful winner on our hands,” Lukkas corrected. Aware of his abilities as well as the quality of what he produced, Lukkas was always cautiously optimistic in his statements. No one could fault a man for being cautious.

  But they could tease him about it.

  The studio executive shook his head. “For once in your life, Spader, cut loose, for heaven’s sake.” The man turned toward Yohanna with no warning. “Help me out here,” Thompson requested. “Tell the man how good his movie is.”

  “I already did,” Yohanna told the executive. “But Mr. Spader comes around at his own pace. Nothing anyone can do but wait until he catches up.”

  “I like her,” Thompson said, nodding in Yohanna’s direction as he clapped one wide, heavy paw of a hand on Lukkas’s back. “Where did you find her and are there more like her?” he asked brightly. “I could use a few level heads working for me at the studio.”

  Yohanna answered for the producer, sparing him a possible awkward situation. “He found me under a rock labeled Organizer, and I’m one of a kind.”

  Amused, Thompson laughed heartily. “I believe that, I surely do. Careful, Spader, or I’ll steal her away from you.” He punctuated the so-called threat with a broad wink.

  “Not anytime soon, you won’t,” Lukkas told him with a good-natured smile on his lips. “I still need her. She’s got a lot of organizing left to do before I’m close to being a done deal.”

  Was he telling the truth or just running interference for her? she wondered. She knew which she hoped it was. But this was work, not pleasure, and she needed to remember that and act accordingly.

  “We’ll see,” Thompson promised, his tone pregnant with self-confidence. “In the meantime, I’d keep her close if I were you.”

  Lukkas looked at her as they parted company with the studio executive. Close. Heaven knew the directive was appealing. He would have liked nothing better than to keep her close.

  Which was exactly why he shouldn’t.

  This was the first woman he was reacting to since he’d lost Natalie. He had no doubt that this situation constituted his version of a rebound. It would be insulting to his wife’s memory and it would definitely be unfair to Hanna if he allowed himself to begin what would only have an abrupt, unhappy ending in its future.

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nbsp; “Should I be worried?” he asked Yohanna, tongue in cheek.

  Not certain if he was being serious or not, she decided her best bet was to act innocent until she could piece his question together.

  “I don’t know. Worried about what in particular?” she asked.

  He put it as succinctly as possible. “That you’ll jump ship.”

  He watched in fascination as the corners of her mouth curved, forming a smile that was all but irresistible in his opinion.

  “Not while we’re out in the middle of the ocean,” she quipped. “Besides,” she added on a serious note, “there’s still too much to do and I never willingly leave a job half finished. So unless you’re planning on letting me go any time soon, just let me do my job and everyone’ll be happy.”

  They were in the theater lobby and discovered that even here the progress to the front doors was incredibly slow moving.

  She knew he didn’t like being forced to move at this pace. It couldn’t even be described as crawling.

  “Bet you’re glad that this evening’s over,” she commented. How could so many glittering, beautiful people be crammed into such a small space? she wondered.

  “You’d lose that bet on two counts,” Lukkas informed her. “I’m not all that glad and the evening’s not over.”

  She wasn’t sure if she’d heard him correctly. “It’s not?”

  “No.” He lowered his head to make sure that she heard him. The noise level had gone up again. “We still have a party to attend, remember?”

  She knew that there was an after-party, but she’d just assumed that he’d want to attend it without having her around. “I just thought—”

  “Premieres are always followed by parties.”

  His tone of voice didn’t leave any room for argument. She took her cue from that. Besides, Cecilia had said as much to her when they had gone shopping for her gown earlier. There was always a party.

  “Right. What was I thinking?” she quipped, hoping that Lukkas wouldn’t feel inclined to make a whimsical guess.

  Lukkas allowed himself a short laugh. “The Shadow knows.”

  Obviously confused, Yohanna paused to look at him quizzically.

  Lukkas realized the obscure reference had gone right over her head. “Sorry, that was way before your time—and mine, if you’re wondering,” he added quickly. “I was raised on old classic programs. The Shadow was an old, old radio program. The opening and closing lines were always—”

  Yohanna nodded. They were finally outside the theater. After being inside for so long, the cool night air felt almost downright chilly. She pulled her wrap closer around her, silently blessing Cecilia’s instincts.

  “‘Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows,’” she quoted.

  The completely stunned expression on Lukkas’s face pleased her.

  “You’re familiar with that?” Lukkas asked in disbelief.

  “Guilty as charged.” And then she admitted, “I’m a trivia buff.”

  Lukkas raised his hand, signaling their position to his limo driver. The same fans who had lined the streets earlier were still there, waiting to catch another glimpse of the film’s celebrities.

  “You are just full of surprises, Hanna,” he told Yohanna with a wide, approving smile.

  The limo pulled up, and rather than wait for the driver to hop out and open doors for them, Lukkas opened the rear door, gesturing for Yohanna to get in.

  “C’mon, let’s get this party over with,” he urged. “With a little luck, I’ll have you back, safe and sound, in your own bed by midnight, Cinderella.”

  “You’re the boss,” she said, sliding carefully into the limousine.

  “For now,” he agreed.

  Yohanna wasn’t sure just what he meant by that, but she thought it best to leave it alone. That way, she was able to put her own meaning to things without being disillusioned.

  * * *

  She had to admit she was pleasantly surprised that Lukkas remembered his initial promise to her even at the party. She’d expected him either to wander away or be drawn away by one of the myriad of people—men and most notably women—who were competing for his attention. But each time he did move on to talk to someone, Lukkas ushered her along with him.

  And if, by some chance, someone was talking to her at the time, Lukkas waited until she was finished and the verbal exchange was over.

  She caught herself thinking that it was almost as if they actually were a couple.

  Almost.

  But she knew there was a fine line between reality and make-believe—especially here, in the very birthplace of make-believe—and she knew the difference.

  Still, it was hard not to fall into the very tempting trap of pretending, just for a little while, that things were the way they seemed rather than the way they actually were.

  * * *

  The party continued until after midnight.

  Lukkas had checked with her a couple of times to see if she wanted—or was ready—to go home. But each time he asked, she convinced him that she was wide-awake and doing just fine.

  Until she was fading and tired.

  The next time he asked, she still made the proper protests, but this time he overrode her.

  “Save your breath, Cinderella. I’m taking you home,” he told her.

  She didn’t want to be the reason why he had to leave the party. As the producer of what was, by all indications, a blockbuster of a movie, this was his time to shine and she didn’t want to spoil that for him. After all, he owed her nothing. He’d already been far more thoughtful than she would have expected him to be.

  “No, really,” she protested with feeling, “I’m fine. We can stay—or you can stay and I can just get a cab to take me home.”

  But Lukkas shook his head. “I’m going home with the one I brung,” he told her.

  His grammar had always been impeccable. Had he had too much to drink? But she’d been with him all night and as far as she knew, he’d only had two flutes of champagne. Maybe she was the one out of kilter.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Never mind,” he laughed. “It’s just an old saying that used to make the rounds a few generations ago.”

  “What are you, a time traveler?” she asked, thinking of some of the previous remarks he’d made that sounded as if they had come from another era.

  “Sometimes,” he conceded. “Did you see One Foot in the Past?”

  He had just mentioned one of her favorite movies. “Yes, I did. That one really made you think,” she told him.

  Lukkas grinned with genuine pleasure. “I’m beginning to like you more and more with every passing hour, Hanna.” He looked as if he was only half kidding.

  Don’t get carried away, Yohanna warned herself. He was just going along with the party mood. In any event, she was certain he wouldn’t remember any of this on Monday morning.

  Still, she thought as he called for his driver, what he’d said to her did have a nice sound to it.

  Savoring it for a little while longer wouldn’t harm anything.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Would you like me to come back for you later, Mr. Spader?” the limousine driver asked as Lukkas stepped out of the vehicle and then took Yohanna’s hand to help her get out.

  Lukkas didn’t want to communicate the wrong idea to either his driver or to Yohanna.

  “No, Henry. Stay right here. This won’t take long,” he promised.

  Lukkas saw the way his driver eyed him and then slanted a glance toward Yohanna. It was obvious what was going through the man’s mind. His driver just assumed that he would be capping off the evening with a dalliance. There was no denying that the woman with him was gorgeous, not to mention approachably tempting.

 
; He knew Henry meant well, but the driver was also wrong. Nothing was about to happen other than his walking Hanna to her door.

  Yohanna smiled to herself. “I think your driver expects me to invite you in,” she said to Lukkas as he brought her to her door.

  He wasn’t about to explore that possibility. “I learned a long time ago not to concern myself with what others expect of me. I only need to live up to what I expect of me,” he told her. They were at her door already. It was time to wrap this up and gracefully take his leave. “Thank you for a very nice evening.”

  “I should be the one thanking you,” Yohanna pointed out. She’d had a really wonderful time.

  Yohanna suddenly remembered that she was still in possession of the card he’d given her to buy her outfit. “By the way, here’s your credit card back,” she said, taking it out of her purse and giving it to him. “I just want you to know that I intend to pay you back for the gown and everything else. Just not all at once,” she qualified. The bill had come to a figure that represented six months of regular expenses on her budget.

  Lukkas shook his head, dismissing her promise. “You wouldn’t have had to buy ‘the gown and everything’ if I hadn’t asked you to accompany me to the premiere, so don’t worry about it.” He flashed an easy smile at her. “I consider it an investment.”

  Yohanna caught her lower lip between her teeth, chewing on it as she looked down at her gown. She couldn’t have him paying for her clothes. “I don’t feel right about this,” she told him.

  “You might not feel right, but you certainly look right,” he heard himself saying, giving voice to the way her appearance was affecting him. “And I appreciate you doing this for me.”

  He made it sound like a sacrifice on her part when it was anything but. She couldn’t help the smile that rose to her lips. All evening she’d felt like a fairy-tale princess. “All my assignments should be so hard.”

  Initially, he was just going to bring her to her door and watch her go inside. But he found himself wanting to linger, to stay with her a little longer.

  Perhaps even go inside.

  But he was afraid of where that might lead, and he wasn’t ready to go down that path yet.