Free His Every Defense by Kelly Favor Page B

his little girl.
    Riley’s brown eyes were wide and she grinned at Kallie, as if recognizing an old friend.
    “Is that Auntie Kallie?” Nicole cooed. “Is it?”
    “Hey cutie,” Kallie said, tickling Riley’s tummy. Her little feet kicked.
    “My gosh, she is so strong already,” Nicole said, shaking her head. “It’s ridiculous.”
    “My plan is to get her started on a weight lifting regimen ASAP,” Red joked.
    “One day she’ll be a gold medal Olympian. Won’t you Ri-Ri?”
    Riley just gurgled in response.
    “See? She’s already chomping at the bit,” Red said.
    “Honey, take Riley,” Nicole told Red. “I’ve got Kallie’s phone in my purse.”
    She handed the baby off to Red, who took her in his arms and twirled her around. Riley started giggling and squealing. He twirled again.
    “Easy now, Daddy,” Nicole said, as she looked through her purse and finally came up with the cell phone, which she passed on to Kallie. “Here you go. The iPhone 5. Newest model available.”
    “Oh, Nicole. You really shouldn’t have.”
    “Go on, you need it. And I want you to call your family. Okay?”
    “Okay,” Kallie said.
    “Promise me, Kallie. You’ll call them as soon as we leave?”
    “I promise, I promise.” She looked at her brand new phone and blinked away a tear or two. “Guys, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
    Red looked around. “Where’s Hunter, anyway?”
    “Working. It’s all he does, lately.”
    Red’s eyes narrowed. “What’s he working on?”
    “I don’t know. A book, I guess.”
    Nicole and Red exchanged looks. “You sure you don’t want to come back with us now?” Nicole said. “We’d love to have you, and we wouldn’t expect you to nanny until you’re fully healed.”
    “I don’t know. I kind of feel like I should stick it out for a little while longer here,” she said. “I think it’s important—I want to give this a chance.”
    “I understand,” Nicole said. “You need to go where your heart tells you.”
    Red held the baby close to his chest. “And apparently, your heart’s telling you that you’ve got a hot property on your hands.”
    Kallie cocked her head. “Hot property?”
    “The script. Nicole told me you’re pretty excited about it.”
    “Oh, the script. They call it a property?”
    Red laughed. “Some of them.”
    “Well, I guess I do have a hot property. And the thing is, Hunter doesn’t think romantic comedies are good for his production company.” She bit her lower lip. “I guess I was hoping maybe I could find someone else to take a look at it.”
    Red nodded, his expression growing serious. “I have a friend,” he said. “His name is Max Weisman and he’s head of Weisman Productions. They did Dirty Dogs and The Lone Star, and they also did Three Sisters.”
    Kallie perked up. Three Sisters was one of her favorite movies, and it had been a huge hit. It had starred Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Gosling and it was exactly in the same vein as Bryson’s screenplay. “You’re friends with the head of the company?” she asked, breathless.
    “I am. Good friends. And so when Nicole told me about your script, I put in a call to Max and asked him if he was looking for any romantic comedies.”
    “You didn’t have to do that!”
    “I wanted to,” he smiled. “Short story is, Max Weisman is going to speak with you on the phone this afternoon. I took the liberty of plugging his number into your new cell. It’s the only contact in there right now. And it might be the most important one you ever get.” He winked at her.
    “Don’t make her nervous,” Nicole chided.
    “Too late,” Kallie said, going to her contacts and seeing the name there in black and white.
    Red checked his watch. “He’s expecting your call at one-thirty on the dot.”
    “What do I say when I call him?”
    “Just be yourself. Max is a hard-ass, but underneath the hard exterior—“
    “He’s just an asshole,” Nicole said.
    “No, he’s a nice