Only for You by Beth Kery Page A

to dig your heels in because you weren’t the one to orchestrate all the details of this particular part of your life, Gia.”
    Even her ears turned hot. She could feel the tips of them burning, just like the rest of her. He had
no idea
what she’d been going through for the past five months. But what was worse, her lungs had frozen at the sound of him saying her name in that familiar, quiet caress. For a few strained seconds, she remained locked in his gaze.
    Panther eyes.
    The charged thought was followed almost immediately by another unwelcome one.
    Why didn’t you call me, you bastard?
    Something gave slightly in his rigid features. Gia wondered if her thought had been so blistering, he’d caught the bitter gist of it. Besides, she had a pretty good idea why he hadn’t called. It was stupid to dwell on one misguided night of wild sex. She needed to move on. She
had
moved on.
    “And what about when I come out of hiding?” she asked levelly, facing the others. “It’s going to be a zoo all over again. Nothing will have changed.”
    “We’re not going to be able to alter what happens during the trial. We can do something about right now,” Charles said. “The smart thing to do now is to get
you
out of the fire, Gia.”
    Dan Arden checked his watch. “I have to be going. Madeline, will you
please
get my secretary the trial schedule you promised you’d give me tonight? We’ll need that to coordinate all these changes with as little cost and hassle to the studio as possible.”
    Madeline gave him a long-suffering smile. “I’m sorry I couldn’t give it to you tonight, Dan. Judge Halloran has about a thousand different factors he has to take into consideration before setting a date. I’ll get you a tentative agenda as soon as I can, but like I said, courtroom proceedings are
not
fixed in stone. We might need Gia at a moment’s notice, and she’ll have to be available.”
    The studio executive grimaced. Gia knew he was usually in the position of telling others they’d have to wait and be ready at a moment’s notice, according to his demands. Arden grunted farewell to Joshua Cabot and left the conference room, slamming the door behind him.
What a jackass
. Irritated by the studio executive’s pout over circumstances she couldn’t control, Gia suppressed her pang of guilt much easier this time around.
    Madeline didn’t bother to hide a sound of mixed disgust and relief when Arden vacated the room. Joshua Cabot gave her a knowing grin.
    “You should consider yourself lucky, Maddie. You don’t have to deal with him 24-7.” He sighed and checked his watch. “I should probably get going as well.”
    “Thank you for coming, Joshua . . . and for
everything
,” Gia said sincerely as he walked around the table toward her.
    “Don’t thank me,” Joshua said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “And don’t worry about the movie. Seth is right. It’ll get made. If Dan didn’t have such high hopes for it—and for you in the role—he wouldn’t have agreed to any of this,” Joshua assured her with a droll grin. “In the meantime, look at it this way: You’ve been granted an unexpected vacation. Try to use it to your advantage and relax a little. You look exhausted.”
    Madeline smiled broadly after Joshua left, seemingly more at ease with just the five of them left around the table. “I’ve seen your work before, Seth, and I know firsthand the miracles you can do. But do you really think you can make
that
look like an everyday woman on the street?” She glanced significantly at Gia.
    Gia’s eyes widened. It was bad enough that Charles, Alex and Madeline were all staring at her like she was under a microscope. The worst part was the way Seth’s stare moved over her face dispassionately. His gaze flickered down to her breasts. Gia’s spine stiffened in mounting annoyance. She all but bared her teeth.
    “I can do it,” Seth said definitively after a moment.
    “And
will
you?” Madeline