The Fixes (16 page)

168.

Paige met
at the Cactus Club, as discussed.

was there with his homeboys, a motley collection of B-list TV actors and, like, sleazeballs with money,
standing out like a Patek Philippe at the Walmart watch counter. She'd run into him on his way out of the bathroom, and he'd cornered her, chatted her up, bought her a drink—

(and Paige would be lying if she said she didn't go along with it).

(
might not be as gorgeous as he was when he was twenty years old and dodging icebergs, but he's still hot.)

Long story short,
invited Paige to an after-party with his boys in his suite at the St. Regis that night.

And Paige demurred, because one simply doesn't just go to hotel suites with a group of strange men, no matter how famous they are.

But she did get drunk and spill the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the scorched-earth situation going on at her home address—

(“My dad's going to jail. He embezzled a shitload of money from his real-estate partners. The government seized everything. My college fund included. So, like, you know, everything's up in the air right now. I was supposed to go to Yale. Now I'm, like, trying to learn how to make a résumé.”)

And she did give
her number.

And damned if
didn't call her the next day.

169.

“It's a great opportunity,” he told Paige. “People
kill
for these jobs. You're basically
living
the movies, sixteen hours a day.”

Paige was unimpressed. Paige knows movie people. Paige doesn't really want to
live
the movies, sixteen hours a day.

But still . . .

“How much does it pay?” she asked
.

And
laughed. “Name your price.”

So she did.

And now Paige Hammond is Paige the PA.

And now she's fetching
's coffee.

170.

There's a catch, though.

(There's always a catch.)

Paige knocks on the door to
's trailer. Hears him shout from inside,
Come in
. She opens the door and climbs into the trailer, and as soon as she sees
she can tell that coffee isn't the only thing on his mind.

“Come on in,” he tells her, and it's the gleam in his eye when he says it. “Shut the door.”

He's sitting on a couch along the wall of the trailer, and he does everything but pat the seat next to him as Paige brings him the coffee. He's wearing jeans and a simple white T-shirt, isn't even in makeup, and Paige has this fleeting thought like she isn't even sure
's on the call list today.

Paige sets the coffee down. She can feel
's eyes on her, even with her back to him, and when she turns around again, he's still checking her out.

“We never got to finish our conversation from the other night,” he says. “I've been thinking about it ever since.”

He slides over on the couch more, clearing a space, and Paige feels her stomach churn.

(Shit.)

(Is this what she's been reduced to? Sleeping with some asshole for a
job
?)

Paige debates this with herself for longer than she
would care to admit. Then she turns and picks up the coffee cup again.

“I forgot the cream,” she tells
. “I'll be right back.”