Amanda Berry - L A Cinderella

“You were in our apartment all weekend.” Rachel smiled as she released his hand.

Natalie choked back a groan and wished the paper would come alive and eat her whole right this minute.

“‘Our apartment’?” Chase raised an eyebrow.

“Natalie and I had a movie fest this weekend.” Rachel kept grinning. “We watched all your movies. Since it was newly released we watched Night Blooming, even though you weren’t in it. The award ceremony was spectacular. I loved your tux. Congrats on the wins.” She batted her eyelashes up at him.

Natalie pushed back her chair abruptly and stood. Her boss did not need to know that she’d ogled him all weekend. “We were just heading to lunch. We’d better hurry if you want to get back to work on time.”

Rachel turned bright blue eyes to her. “We don’t have to leave right now.”

Ugh. Natalie didn’t like the look on Rachel’s face as Rachel turned her smile back to Chase. Frustrated, Natalie blew her bangs out of her face and glanced at Chase. His teasing grin had returned.

“Thank you,” he said politely to Rachel before turning back to Natalie. “So, Natalie, which movie was your favorite?” His interest was far too intense. Was it because of Rachel or because he was interested in her?

Resisting the urge to shrink behind Rachel’s tall figure, Natalie quickly ran through the titles in her head, trying to remember which one he was completely clothed throughout the entire film. “Night Blooming.” Ha.

His eyes focused in on her lips and she realized she was smiling. His comment earlier froze the smile on her face. What if he really liked her?

“Don’t be silly, Natalie. Of course, she loves Riddle Beach. I mean who doesn’t.” Rachel’s eyes practically devoured Chase. “After all, how often does a woman get a feast for her eyes?”

Screw the papers; maybe the floor would swallow her whole. She tugged on Rachel’s arm, trying to get her to back off and just go, but Rachel jerked her arm back.

“I figured Natalie’s favorite would be If Only.”

Her eyes snapped up to Chase’s face in amazement. To be honest, it was her favorite. She loved the story. The love, the purity, it gave her body tingles just thinking of the kiss at the end. Such perfect buildup, such beautiful emotions. Such an unattainable love.

Her mouth opened, a thousand questions on her tongue tumbling over each other to find their way to the surface. She clamped her mouth shut before they spilled out.

She managed to get out, “We should go.”

“Natalie, stop being rude. Of course, Natalie loves that one, too. It never leaves the DVD player. That last scene…Natalie, what’s that last line?”

Natalie pressed her lips together. Not that Rachel would notice, as her full attention remained on Chase.

Rachel continued without even blinking an eye. “Oh, what is it? There’s that song going on in the background, and she’s almost out the door, but she stops when he says it? Natalie, you know what it is.”

“‘I can’t lose you.’”

Natalie’s head jerked up at Chase’s voice. He wasn’t looking at Rachel. He was looking at her. His green eyes touched her so deep. Her breath caught in her throat.

“Yeah, that’s it. But there’s more,” Rachel said.

Chase continued as if Rachel weren’t there. “‘I’d give up my entire world for one more moment in your arms. One more night by your side. I want it all. All of you. I want you to have it all. All my love, all my heart, all of me.’”

Her purse hit her foot, jerking her out of the moment. It felt like he was really saying it to her, not Elizabeth, the heroine in the movie. Which was ridiculous even to think. Actors acted. He was just acting. She pressed her glasses back up her nose and reached down to pick up her purse.

“Wow, you are good.” Rachel’s appreciation was too much for Natalie. This whole situation was too much for her.

“Let’s go, Rachel. Chase has more important things to do.” Again Natalie took hold of Rachel’s arm. “’Bye, Chase.”

“Okay, okay, I’m coming.” Rachel finally took the hint. “It was nice meeting you, Chase.”

“Natalie?”

She risked looking at him again. The flames engulfing her face hadn’t died down the entire time. “Yes?”

“Think about what I said.” He nodded to Rachel and headed down the hallway.

Think about what he said? How could she think of anything else? Even with Rachel prattling on across the table about how surprised she was that Chase looked that good in real life, she couldn’t get those words out of her head.

Maybe he didn’t mean to make her obsess about the ending lines that gave her that feel-good feeling when she needed a pick-me-up. Seriously, the man did not need writers making him sound romantic when he could just say “come here” to a woman and she’d be all over him. But if it wasn’t that, what else had he said?

Besides, the kind of love found on the movie screen was nowhere near what real life was like. Men like Chase didn’t go for women like her unless something more was going on, or it was part of a script.

“Oh, on the blogosphere this morning, Chase and Alexis were seen at Hyde on Friday night and at Spago on Saturday. Not to mention the Golden Globes. God, I wish I had her body and that dress. Wow.” Rachel took a bite of salad. “Mmm. Their reps wouldn’t comment on their relationship. You know what that means?”

Maybe it was lunch. That’s right. He’d asked her to lunch sometime right before Rachel had appeared. Probably a thing he did with all new employees. It wasn’t like she was special in some way.

“Natalie. Natalie!”

“What?” She focused on Rachel’s eyes. Rachel’s eyebrows were raised and she stared at Natalie like she was from outer space.

“Where are you?”

“What do you mean? I’m right here. With you. Having lunch.” Natalie glanced down at her plate, surprised to find it still full.

“No, you weren’t. You were in la-la land.” Rachel speared a cherry tomato with her fork. “Besides, you didn’t answer my question.”

Natalie sifted through the last bits of conversation she’d heard. Something about Alexis and Chase? You know what that means? “What does it mean?”

“It means that Alexis and Chase are on again. That’s the way of the world, you know. They break up, and then after their next big movie, they get back together and finally get married. Maybe have a kid, if it’s fashionable at the time. Then have a messy divorce where they swear they’ll stay friends for the children.”

“So, Alexis and Chase are an item again?” Natalie ignored the knot in her chest.

“Of course. But they won’t say anything about it for a month or so.”

“Oh.” She tamped down the disappointment that rose to the surface. She knew she’d been dreaming, but… Okay, so she’d hoped a little of his attention had been because of that spark in his eyes. Not that she was any good at reading men, but maybe, just maybe someone like Chase for two seconds thought of someone like her.

She stabbed her fork into a pile of lettuce and shoved the whole thing in her mouth. It tasted bitter.

Uh-oh. Natalie reread the numbers and double-checked the signatures. Uh-oh. She picked up the expense report on top of the other stack and lined up the signatures again. Not good.

“I’m heading out.”

She snapped the papers together and leaned over her stacks as Martin walked out of his office. Wide-eyed, she tried to keep her face neutral and forced a slight smile.

His eyes narrowed slightly. “Is there anything you need?”

“Of course not. Why would there be anything I need? I’m good. I’m real good.” Stop babbling! Clamping her lips together, she smiled tightly again.

“Fine.” He tucked a newspaper under his arm and narrowed his eyes on her again. “How’s the audit going?”

Realizing she was hovering over her work like a protective mother, she stiffly leaned back in her chair. Every night he asked the same thing and she was beginning to understand why. “Fine, I’m almost done with this stack and then I’ve got those over there to go through, but everything looks fine. Just fine.”

“Well, as long as you finish by Monday. Chase and Robert want a full report.” He locked his office door. “Have a good night.”

He disappeared down the hall. She breathed a sigh of relief. Glancing left and right down the hallway to ensure no one was watching, she picked up the last document she’d been working on.

After working through tons of documents with Martin Morrison’s signature and handwriting, she was confident she recognized his writing. Paul Alan, an extra, had similar handwriting and had been paid in cash per Mr. Morrison’s instructions.

So had another extra, Jan Robbins. The handwriting is what caught her attention. Both Jan and Paul had eerily similar handwriting, and it bore a strong resemblance to Mr. Morrison’s.

She needed to know how cash payments were handled. Glancing over her shoulder at the closed door, she knew she couldn’t ask Mr. Morrison even if he were here. If he were guilty of fraud, he’d know she was onto him, and she’d get fired. If she told him what she suspected and she was wrong, she’d still end up fired. Being fired a month into her first job would look really bad on her résumé.

It was after five-thirty on Thursday, which meant the office was practically empty with the exception of her. And possibly Chase. The office staff left early on Thursdays for happy hour.

She hadn’t been alone much with Chase this week. Even though she felt relieved, that little part of her couldn’t help being disappointed. The past few nights, Robert Addler had walked out with her and Chase, which was perfect for her. Chase couldn’t bring up lunch again if they weren’t alone. Unless it was purely business. So if he hadn’t brought it up, did that mean it was personal?