"And how was work today, darling?"

Beck looked up from his cell phone and at his wife, who was sitting across the table from him. She was staring at him, expectantly.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"How was work?" Diana repeated.

Beck shrugged, "Nothing new."

"You have been glued to that BlackBerry ever since we got here." Diana pointed out. "And since its your work phone, something must be going on."

"I got an e-mail from the director of one of the movies we're shooting." Beck said.

"That can wait." Diana held her hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Give me your phone."

Beck chuckled, "I'm not giving you my phone."

"Give me your phone." Diana ordered.

"No."

"Beck. You and I are out together. Can we please have a nice dinner?"

Beck put his phone in his pocket, "There. Happy now?"

"Yes."

"You should want me to work." Beck pointed to Diana's ears where a pair of platinum and diamond earrings were resting. "How else do you get $10,000 earrings?"

"Fine. Forget I said anything, Beck."

"Already forgotten." Beck mumbled, glancing at his menu.

"Excuse me?"

"What?"

"Did you say something?" Diana asked.

"Nope." Beck lied.

"Because I thought I heard something."

"Maybe it was the sound of your earrings dangling." Beck suggested.

"Would it make you happy if I took them back?"

"Keep them, darling, they make you happy. Let's just move on to a new subject."

"Great." Diana put her purse in her lap and pulled out her makeup bag. "I'm going to Barcelona tomorrow with the girls."

"Oh. Thanks for the heads up."

"Isn't that what I'm doing right now?"

Beck shook his head, "No, a heads up would have been a few weeks or even a month in advance."

Diana examined her blonde hair with her tiny compact mirror, making sure it stayed in place. "A month? Oh this was more of a spur of the moment thing, Beck."

"Weren't you just in Spain last month?" Beck asked.

"Yes, but that was Madrid. Two different cities."

"You complain about me checking a few e-mails from work, because its cutting into our time together, but I can't even keep you in the city long enough to spend one second with you."

"What do you suppose I do? Cancel the trip? That's selfish."

"Forget I said anything." Beck sighed. "Enjoy your trip."

"Thank you. I will."

"Beck?"

Beck looked up and saw Jade standing next to his table. She had her arms looped with a tiny red headed girl. A waiter was a few feet away from them.

"Jade! Hi." Beck greeted. This horrid night was finally starting to pick up. "What are you doing here?"

"Having a girl's night out with my friend, Cat."

Cat smiled, "That's me! I'm Cat."

Diana gestured to Jade, "See Beck, she sees the importance of a girl's night out."

"Yes, but as you can see, they're still in the country."

Jade and Cat exchanged confused glances, not fully understanding what was going on.

Diana rolled her eyes, "Why don't you introduce me to your friend."

"Diana, this is my new assistant, Jade. Jade, this is my wife, Diana."

"Oh, I remember you saying something about a new assistant." Diana said. "Nice to meet you."

"You too."

"Come on, Jadey." Cat urged, pulling on Jade's arm. "Crab cakes are calling my name."

"Okay." Jade pulled her arm out of Cat's. "Well have a nice night you two. See you at work tomorrow, Mr. Oliver."

"See you there."

Jade and Cat walked off, going to their table. Beck and Diana watched the two walk off.

After a few moments, Diana turned around. "You didn't tell me that your new assistant was so pretty."

Beck shrugged, nonchalantly even though he agreed, "Yeah and so is most of Hollywood."

"Most of Hollywood doesn't work for you."

"I am the president for a multi-billion dollar movie and television production company. Most of Hollywood does work for me."

Diana huffed, "You know what I mean, Mr. Oliver."

"Are you," Beck smirked, "jealous?"

"Of that girl? The assistant?" Diana shook her head. "No."

"You sure?" Beck asked.

"Positive."

"Okay then."

Across the dining hall, Jade and Cat were seated at their table.

Jade picked up her menu and absentmindedly glanced it over. She was too busy wondering about Beck and his wife. They looked tense, and when they spoke to each other, their voices were tense. What were they fussing about? Her curiosity had been piqued.

"Jadey?"

Jade snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her friend. "Yes?"

"What are you ordering?"

"I don't know yet. I'm still thinking."

"You were right. Your boss is a cutie."

Jade gasped, playfully, "What? I didn't even know you knew other guys existed besides Robbie."

"I love Robbie, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate someone else's looks."

"He is good looking. He could stand to be more likable, though."

"Who cares about how nice he is? Look at his face."

Jade laughed. She laughed so hard and loud that the people around her turned and stared. "Cat, I don't tell you I love you often enough."

"No, you do not."

Jade's attention was pulled away from her movie when her door bell rang. She sighed and grabbed her remote to mute the television.

"Who is it?" There was no answer. "I said, who is it?" Still no answer.

Jade stood up and walked to her kitchen. She eyed the set of knives sitting on her counter. "Gee, I guess I'll have to answer the door with the lovely butcher knife."

"It's me." Someone on the other side of the door, said. "Ryder."

Jade smirked and walked over to the door. "Ryder? I'm not sure I know a Ryder."

"Jade, open up."

Jade unlocked the door and pulled it open. Her on-again/off-again...(Lover? Friend? Friend with benefits?), Ryder Daniels was at the door. "Oh. Hi Ryder."

"Hi? That's all I get?"

"Yeah."

Ryder stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He grabbed Jade's face and kissed her cheek. "Wow. You're usually ripping my clothes off by now. I have to say I'm a bit offended."

"Sorry I didn't give you the ego boost that I usually do."

Ryder shrugged and walked into the kitchen. He pulled back the door to the refrigerator. "You don't have any beer?"

"I don't drink beer. Do you want a cape codder?"

"I'm not really in the mood for vodka, Jade."

"Oh." Jade frowned. "That's unfortunate."

"Sorry, I'm not a huge vodka fan."

Ryder closed the refrigerator door and walked down the hall to Jade's bedroom. Jade simply followed behind him. This is what they did. Invade each other's personal space.

Once in the bedroom, Ryder kicked off his shoes and flopped down on the bed. "Have I ever told you that I loved your bed?"

"You tell me all the time."

"Well it's true."

"Thank you." Jade sat down at the foot of her bed and crossed her legs Indian style. "What are you doing out here? I haven't seen you in forever." Ryder had been living in New York for over a year.

"I just wanted to come out here."

"Oh." Jade nodded.

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

"You couldn't pick up the phone?"

"You aren't the only one I wanted to see, Jade. I still have family out here."

Jade frowned, "Well, now I don't feel special. What did you want to tell me?"

"I was thinking that you and I should...we should...you and I could-"

"Goodness, spit it out!" Jade snapped. "We should what?"

"Go out on a date." Ryder finished.

Jade's eyes widened. Her jaw dropped, and her brain froze. She didn't know how to reply to that.

When her brain was able to fully register what just happened, she reached out and slapped Ryder. Not in an angry way, but in a "Snap out of it, idiot!" way.

"Are you out of your mind?" Jade shrieked.

"So, I'm guessing that's a no."

"You're damn right it's a no!"

"Why couldn't you just say that?" Ryder asked. "Why did you have to slap me?

"You need to snap out of whatever cliché friends with benefits movie you're living in and wake up. We promised each other that we would never date! We pinky swore"

"But-"

Jade put her finger up to Ryder's lips, silencing whatever he was about to say. "Don't you say another word. You and I are never going to date, so if that's what you came here to say, I suggest you leave right now."

"I get it. Sex only."

"We stopped sleeping together over a year ago. You've been in New York for the past year. Did you really come to the other side of the country for a booty call?"

"No." Ryder sighed. "Look, I'm pretty sure the only reason I asked you out was because me and my girlfriend just broke up."

"So I was your rebound?"

Ryder shrugged, "Your words, not mine."

Jade punched Ryder's arm, "You ass! How dare you try to make me your rebound."

"It was worth a shot."

"You should have known better. You know I don't like to be tied down in relationships. I like to be free."

"Like I said, it was worth a shot."

"Don't take anymore shots, Daniels. Or I will try my best to castrate you. Are we clear?"

"We're very clear."

"Good. Not that we have that behind us, we can move forward."

"How's your new job?"

"If you could take all of the stress in the world and shape it into one person, that person would be my boss."

Ryder chuckled, "Really? How's that working out for you?"

"It's rubbing off on me. He stresses me out. And I've only been working there for two weeks. I swear, by the end of the month, I'm going to have a head full of gray hair."

"Have you met you any famous people?"

"I met that chick from the one medical drama, Extreme Emergency. Um, Kelly Thorne!"

"You should introduce us."

"You asked me out like five minutes ago." Jade reached out and pushed Ryder off of her bed.

"And? You shot me down."

"You have problems."

"Leave me alone. I'm rebounding."

"Jade. Jade. Jade!"

Jade looked up from her computer screen. She turned to the direction of the voice. Beck had his head peeking out of his office door. "Yes?"

"Get your purse and coat, or whatever you have."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Jade got out of her seat and grabbed her purse, "Am I being fired?"

"No. Why do you always think you're being fired?"

"Because I-" Jade shook her head. "Never mind. It's nothing."

Beck eyed Jade, but didn't say anything. "We're going to lunch."

"What?"

Beck grabbed his jacket and slung it over his arm. He stepped out of the office, "You're asking too many questions. Let's go."

"You're so bossy." Jade mumbled, following behind Beck as he made his way to the elevator. Jill shot Jade a look of confusion, and Jade just shrugged and mouthed, "I don't know."

Once the two got in the elevator, Jade looked up at Beck. "Are you going to take me out to the middle of the woods and kill me?"

"No."

"Good."

"Only because that would require too much effort on my part." Beck added, smirking. "I mean, I'd have to kill you, drag you out to the woods, chop you up, put you in a garbage bag and then bury you. That sounds exhausting."

Jade smiled and nodded approvingly, "Good one."

About twenty minutes later, the two arrived at a hip bistro right in the middle of Hollywood.

Jade was still confused. She had no idea what they were doing. Was he taking her out? Was this a date? She quickly shook the thought out of her head. No. This was not a date. Beck was married.

They sat down at a table and grabbed their menus. Jade looked across the table at Beck and cleared her throat to get his attention.

"Why did you take me out to lunch?" Jade asked.

"You're helping me." Beck answered, not looking up. "We are meeting up with the potential star of a new movie and this lunch date is to help convince her to join on."

"Don't big, fancy production companies have casting directors?"

"Yeah. But the casting director is out of town because it is his mother's 90th birthday. This is Heather Vaughn's only free day, and since I have nothing important to do, I volunteered." Beck explained.

"Wait, the Heather Vaughn? Didn't she got nominated for an Oscar was she was like, seven?"

"Six." Beck corrected.

"She's a great actress."

"I know. And I figured you could connect with her. You guys are the same age. What are you, like twenty-three?"

"I turned twenty-five last month." Jade replied.

Beck shrugged, "Practically the same."

"How old are you?"

"Thirty-one."

"Gosh you're old."

"I'm old? Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

"You sound just like a twenty something...oh there here!"

Jade turned her head and saw two people headed their way. "Who's the guy?"

"Her manager. Look, all you have to do is order tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich."

"Why?"

"Because that's supposedly Heather's favorite. Can you do that?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"Beck Oliver." The guy standing next to Heather said.

Beck stood up and extended his hand, "Andrew. Wells. Heather. It's nice to see you." He pointed to Jade. "This is my co-worker Jade West."

Jade smiled politely, "Hello."

Heather sat down and stared at Jade, "You're really pretty."

"Thanks."

"And I love you name." Heather continued. "I've always wanted to change my name to something cool like that."

"I think the name Heather suits you." Jade complimented. "Don't change it."

"I'm still on the fence, but I'll take that into consideration, Jade."

"Jade West." Andrew said. "Are you of any relation to Richard West?"

"He's my dad."

"Wow, small world. He used to be a lawyer for our management firm. The man is absolutely brilliant."

"He loves being complimented. I will tell him you said that."

Heather picked up her menu, "I usually get grilled cheese and tomato soup. Jade, what are you getting?"

Beck looked at Jade, expectantly. Jade ignored him and focused on Heather. "They make really good baked potato soup. That's what I'm going to get. It tastes great in a bread bowl."

Beck nearly spit out his water upon hearing that. He couldn't believe it. He asked Jade to do one simple thing, and she managed to not do it. If looks could kill, Jade would be dead.

Heather nodded, "I'll get that too. I need to switch it up a bit."

"Okay guys, enough small talk. We need to get down to business." Andrew said, taking off his glasses and putting them in his briefcase. "Heather is still on the fence with this movie deal. And she's leaning towards declining the offer."

"Heather, this role is so different from your personality and from all the other movies you've been doing recently." Beck said. "We know you can act, but you've been playing it safe. I feel like this role could really show off your acting chops."

"But I don't think my fans would like it." Heather argued. "The role you want me in is dark and edgy. I'm supposed to be playing a killer CIA agent."

"Eventually your fans are going to grow up. They will one day love a movie like this."

Jade slowly raised her hand, "Can I say something?"

"No." Beck answered, quickly.

"Yes." Heather answered at the same time, shooting Beck a glare.

"I think you should do the movie." Jade said. "I agree with what Beck says about you playing it safe, and that's fine. But that's not what acting is about. It's supposed to be about pushing yourself. You need to remind everyone why you were nominated for that Academy Award. And yeah, some of your younger fans won't like it, but there's a chance you'll gain a new bunch of fans, too. And think of all the new experience you'll gain as an actress. It's a win-win situation if you ask me."

"Those are some good points."

"Thank you."

"I've never thought about it that way until now." Heather continued. "I like you, Jade."

Jade gave Beck a satisfied look, "I like you too, Heather. Now lets order some food."

"I'm conflicted." Beck sighed, walking back into his office. "I honestly don't whether I should be mad at you for completely aborting the mission, or happy because you convinced Heather to take the role."

"Happy, duh." Jade deadpanned. "You're welcome by the way."

"Thank you. You were brilliant."

"I know. I can be very persuasive."

"Well I appreciate your brilliance, Jade. And if Heather ever wins an Oscar, she should thank you. You should be one of our new casting directors."

"If that jobs pays better, I'll take it." Jade teased.

"Ha ha. You know what, you've done enough for me. You can take the rest of the day off."

"Great."

Beck stepped closer to Jade and wrapped his arms around her in a hug, "Thanks again."

Jade was a bit too stunned to react right away, but she eventually hugged Beck back. She could smell his cologne. God, he smelled good.

She snapped out of her thoughts and her arms left Beck's back and returned to her sides. Beck caught on and let her go.

"I'm sorry, that was not appropriate. I'm just a bit happy."

"It's totally fine. I like happy Beck. He lets me take off work early."

"Don't get used to it. It doesn't happen often."

Jade shrugged, "We'll see."

"Be here bright and early tomorrow."

"I'll get here when I get here." Jade said, walking out of the office.

Beck shook his head and sat down. Jade West was definitely something.

"You like her."

Beck nearly shot out of his seat at the sound of the voice. He looked up and Jill was standing at his door.

"Jill! I didn't even notice you."

"You like her." Jill repeated.

"Excuse me."

"Jade."

"Oh."

"It's okay. I like her too. She's different."

Beck nodded, "That she is, Jill."

"She's a keeper. Try not to fire this one."

Beck rolled his eyes, "Bye Jill."

"Okay, I get it. Conversation over."

"Exactly."

"I'll get back to work now."

"Thank you."

Once Jill left, Beck sat back. He did like Jade. But he'd never admit that to Jill. He'd never hear the end of it. That was one tidbit of info he'd keep to himself.

Thanks for all the lovely reviews! You guys are the sweetest.