“I’m okay.”
“I stopped by to wish you good drugs and small scars. Sorry it’s late. I just found out they changed your surgery.”
“Better to get it over with, I figure.”
“Here’s something to kill the time.” He handed over the magazines.
“Excellent,” Kirk said, visibly cheered by the gift. “I don’t have either one.”
“So, listen, I need Dave’s number. You have it?”
“My intern? What for?”
“To fill in for you on the shoot.”
“But Eve said you were meeting with JJ tonight.”
“I’d feel better with Dave.”
“JJ’s good, Brode.”
“Oh, I’m sure she is. Just get me Dave’s number, okay?”
“She’s pretty hot. Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” That was part of the reason.
“His number’s on my cell. In my bag.” Kirk nodded at the bedside tray, grimacing, as if movement caused him pain.
Brody opened the messenger bag Eve had bought Kirk in an effort to organize the most laid-back guy on the planet.
“While you’re at it, could you do me a favor?” Kirk asked. “There’s a DVD in there I need dropped off.”
The phone in his hand, Brody picked up a generic brown plastic case. “This one?”
“Yeah. Could you drop that off to a guy who’ll be at the Xanadu? He’ll be at a conference there on Thursday—that’s your first night, right?”
He nodded. They launched each shoot with a couple nights at the Xanadu, a landmark resort popular for its proximity to LAX and its business amenities. Kicking off the run at the luxurious old place felt lucky to Brody.
“Freelance project?” Brody asked.
“More or less. I could courier it, but the guy will be at the hotel. His name’s Lars Madden. I’ll tell him to call you. I’d do it myself except for…” He raised his sling-covered arm.
“You just get better, my friend. I’m glad to do it.”
Kirk fell back against the bed, looking exhausted. “I’m sorry to let you down on the taping, Brode.”
“You fell. Not your fault. Just be more careful on the stairs.”
“Yeah.” A peculiar look crossed his face, then he shook it off. “I’ll be back as soon as they’ll let me.”
“No rush. And, listen, I understand they’re looking for an assistant director on that HBO project.”
“I heard about that, yeah.”
“So go for it.” He leaned in so Kirk would know he was serious. “It’d be a great opportunity for you.”
Kirk shook his head. “Too much pressure. Some good people already said no. I’d never leave you. I’m your cameraman.”
“Don’t get pigeonholed, that’s what I’m saying.”
“You know me, Brode.” Yeah, he did. And when Brody left the show, Kirk would be thrown big-time.
“I’m sorry it didn’t work with JJ,” Kirk said. “What was it? She say something wrong?”
How could he put it? She smells too good? She’s too smart, too Julia Roberts? “I didn’t get the right vibe.”
He said goodbye and backed from the room, thinking about JJ. She might have spiced up the shoot. Half his problem might be boredom. She had a great voice. Low and husky, but smooth, too. Like rough honey…
“Brody?”
He was startled to hear that rough honey voice say his name. He turned and there she was, as if he’d conjured her up. “JJ?” He was pleased to see her, no matter how strange it was. Had she told her driver, Follow that cab? “This isn’t, like, a stalking thing, is it?” he said.
“No. Not at all.” Even in the dim light, he saw she’d blushed. “You mentioned the hospital where you were going and I realized I could help with the red tape in San Francisco.” She held out a business card, her fingers shaking a little, so he knew she was nervous.
“That’s a woman in the city tourism office who’s a wizard at making things happen. Mention my name. I hope it helps.”
Her eyes moved across his face, her wavy hair quivered against her shoulders. She was breathing hard and her breasts rose and fell, appealing in a simple white blouse that looked as sexy as plunging silk.
“Thanks,” he said. He liked her green eyes, her steady gaze. Her smell, of course. Her voice. Her body, chest, legs. She met him eye-to-eye. He liked that, too.
Keep it up, Brody, and you’ll be the stalker.
“This job is really important to me.” She met his gaze, standing solid and steady, telling him what she wanted.
“It must be. You chased me all the way here.”
“There’s another thing,” she said, not even smiling at his joke. “I’m working on a documentary about…um…dating. I hoped we could fit in an interview.”
“You want to interview me?”
She nodded. “You’re something of an icon for single men.”
“I like sex and I talk about it on the air. I’m hardly statue worthy.”
“Men in bars all over the country play drinking games when you’re on the air. How does it go? Every time you say ‘The Doctor is in’ they all drink shots?”
“So you’ve seen the show?”
“Seen it? I’ve studied it.”
“I’ll give you an interview for your movie, JJ. You don’t have to work for me to get it.”
“I need to. For the perspective. We’d have more time. Please. I’m…desperate.”
“I’m not in the habit of turning down desperate women.” She’d come all this way. For a woman as no-bullshit as she was to beg meant something. He would like having her around, he realized. Maybe he needed a woman’s viewpoint—other than Eve’s, who seemed devoted to keeping everything the same. JJ was so…interesting.
He went with his gut on big decisions, but it had been his head that had insisted he not hire her. Now his heart wanted a vote. His heart wanted to see what would happen.
Maybe he could handle his plan and JJ, too. She was looking at him with her eager, steady eyes, hope shining in her face. How could he turn her down?
“You won’t bitch when I shift shots fifty times or drag you out in the rain at one in the morning or make you run footage until you want to puke?”
“I won’t. I swear.” She made an X with her fingers across her chest. And what a nice chest it was.
He sighed and dragged his eyes up where they belonged. “Anything to keep you from stalking me, I guess. You’re in.”
Her smile was so bright it lit a fire in her green eyes. “Thank you, Brody. You won’t regret this.”
He sure as hell hoped not.
“Eve will call with the details. We start Thursday at the Xanadu. First meeting’s around noon in my room.”
“Great. See you there!” She danced off to her cab.
Watching her ride away, he had the feeling he’d be better off grabbing the first joker