Free Love Imagines (Sully Point, Book 6) by Nicole Smith Page B

Christopher this afternoon
if I can. I'm too angry to read lines now, Ben. Is it okay with you if I
leave?"
    "Sure, sure. I have someone I need to go talk
with, too. See you later."
    Lucretia marched off the stage, and Ben pulled out
his phone to discover that Rose had been the one calling him earlier. He
quickly dialed her number.
    "Rose?"
    "Hi, Ben. I tried calling earlier."
    "Yeah, I saw that. I need to talk to you. Could I
meet you somewhere? Your apartment?"
    "Uh...okay. I need to talk to you, too, so this
works. Do you want to eat lunch here?"
    "How about I pick up sandwiches at the deli?"
    "No, I'll run down and grab some rolls from the
Bakery. I have deli meats and cheeses here."
    "Sounds good. I'll be there in about fifteen
minutes."
    As he locked up the Playhouse with the key William
had given him, he tried to decide how much of the Suzanne story he should tell
Rose. After a few minutes of mulling, he gave a chuckle. He'd tell her
everything. There was no point in keeping any of it a secret from Rose. Whether
something developed between them or not, she deserved to know the truth from
the rumors that would surely start.
    * * * *
    Rose was nervous as she put the food out onto a
platter. She wasn't quite sure how to approach the topic of Ben and the
actress. Would it seem like prying to him if she brought it up?
    Before she could think further on it, Ben was
knocking on her door. She opened it to find him standing there with two
lemonades from Deb's.
    "My hands are frozen," he said with a grin.
    "Come in. Let me take those." She carried the drinks
into the kitchen.
    "Nice spread! I'm starved," Ben said, looking over the platter of meats and cheeses. "Is it okay
if I start building my sandwich?"
    "Yes, go ahead."
    Soon they both had sandwiches on the fresh Bakery
rolls to have with their lemonade. After a bite, Ben asked, "What did you need
to talk to me about?"
    "The actress who is saying you're her secret
lover," Rose blurted out.
    Ben choked on his bite of sandwich, and Rose was
about to do the Heimlich maneuver when he managed to breathe properly again.
    "What did you say?" He waved a hand as she opened
her mouth to speak. "Never mind, I heard you the first time. Damn, is there a
rumor already going around town like that?"
    "No, it's a rumor in L.A. that Beth heard after
talking to some people out there. She thought I should know, but told me she
didn't think it was true. I'm not sure what I believe, so I thought I should
let you have the chance to tell me about it."
    Ben sighed heavily. "This is a nightmare. Okay,
first off, it's not true. But over nine months ago, I did date her. I broke up
with her after several dates. And she took it badly, to say the least. She
began stalking me. Then it all stopped and I thought it was over. Until now.
She and her agent are the reason she's here. She talked William into hiring her
for the understudy job. So I don't know what to think. William brought her by
the Playhouse and she immediately wanted me to take her to lunch. William
smoothed that over by taking her out with him and Beth."
    Rose wasn't sure what he should do about the
actress, but she believed his version of things. "William can't keep her here,
knowing all this. Why did he hire her?"
    "He didn't know all this until he called me this
morning. To get her out of the contract he's going to have to pay heavily, and
I hate for him to have to do that because of her obsession with me."
    "But you have to let him, Ben. It's very unhealthy
for her to be around you, and it's probably not safe for you. I can't believe
she's telling people out there that she's your secret lover. That's
outrageous."
    "It's why I stopped dating her. I realized after a
couple of dates that she was...off, strange. I wasn't comfortable with how
obsessive she was about being with me after even just one date. I honestly
don't know what she is capable of, Rose."
    "You know, this reminds me of the situation my
brother Sam had when he and Anna first got