“You don’t have to apologize.”
“I…just couldn’t. I cleaned practically my entire house in order to avoid reading it.” Monty gave a half-hearted laugh.
Hilliard twirled his glass of tea in one hand. “Your maid will be pleased by that.”
Monty ran a hand through his hair. “I know it’s stupid, but there’s a part of me that keeps hoping that Ezra will change their mind.” He huffed out a breath. “So that was my day. Avoiding important things for silly reasons. How did your day go? You went to the studio, right?”
Hilliard paused in the act of taking a bite of food. “It went about as I expected.”
“Was it something to do with our movie?”
“In a way. Ezra wanted to speak with me.”
Now it was Monty’s turn to pause. “They did? Is everything all right?”
Hilliard set his fork down and Monty felt dread spike in his gut.
“They’re concerned with your public image.”
“Because of last night?”
Hilliard nodded.
“Shit,” Monty breathed. “After just one night?”
“Well…” Hilliard said slowly, “I think there were some concerns after the press tour, as well.”
“Oh.” Monty wiped his hands on his pants. “You think I was pulled from the musical as a punishment?”
“I think that was part of the reason, yes.”
“What was the other part?” Monty asked, louder than he intended. He realized he was leaning forward in his seat and had to make an effort to lean back.
“It’s a warning. Think of it as a probationary situation.”
“Probation—Hilliard, am I getting fired?”
Hilliard didn’t have to answer; his look said it all. Monty was glad he had finished eating. He pushed the plate away.
“Ezra hinted that if you don’t straighten up your act soon, your next contract may be in jeopardy.”
Monty opened his mouth to respond, but all that came out was something between a sob and an exclamation. He buried his face in his hands. “Fuck,” he murmured. “What the hell did I do?”
He didn’t hear Hilliard get up, but he was soon being pulled against the other man’s chest. He wrapped his arms around Hilliard’s neck and buried his face in the other man’s shoulder.
Hilliard rubbed a soothing hand up and down his back. “If it makes you feel better, Ezra isn’t the one deciding this.”
“I’m not sure that does make me feel better.”
“We’re going to fix this, sugar, I promise.”
“How?” Monty gasped into Hilliard’s shirt. “I don’t even know what I did on the tour that irritated them. I can’t change who I am, Hilliard.”
“No one’s asking you to.” Hilliard leaned back and wiped Monty’s face with a handkerchief. “You didn’t have to change anything about yourself when you came here tonight, did you? And here you are, being perfectly respectable, a model citizen.”
“I’m beginning to regret that,” Monty mumbled. “I could really use a drink now.”
Hilliard cupped his face with both hands. “If Ezra thought you were past the point of saving, they wouldn’t have cast you in a movie with me. Quite frankly, they might have even offered to loan you out to a smaller studio, or a producer with a smaller budget. So here’s how this is going to go. We’re going to take this as the opportunity it is. We’re going to be in a movie together. You’re going to knock ‘em dead with your superb acting skills. And you’re going to lie low for a little bit. If it helps, you can come to my place any time you want some company. And after a few months, everyone will forget about your behavior last night.”
