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Her eyes widened. “They take forever to put together.”
“I bet. But it’s worth it. It reminds me of Soderbergh. Or early Aronofsky.”
“Really? I was going for Godard, but I’ll take Soderbergh and Aronofsky anyday.”
“Godard,” he chuckled. “Of course. Back to the roots. Yes, I see the influence of Breathless.”
She smiled, meeting his eyes for the first time in the conversation. The sudden connection shocked him and they both looked away quickly.
“What’s the story?” he asked, returning to thefilm.
“Young woman stuck in a mundane life. She becomes obsessed with wanting tofly.”
“To fly?” He wasn’t expectingthat.
“A symbolism of her desire to be free. Free to do what she wants, free to follow her heart, her dreams.”
“She’syou.”
She didn’t reply and he realized from her downcast eyes that he’d said something too personal.
He moved back to safer ground. “What are you doing with it? Is it a short?”
“It’s full-length.” She stretched and leaned back in her chair. “I’m slowly putting it together whenever I have down time. I worked like crazy for years to save up for production and then I hired some friends real cheap and took some time off to shoot. That’s what I was doing while you were filming inL.A.”
So that’s why she joined the crew late. “And when it’s finished?”
“I don’t know. Enter it in festivals maybe.” She sighed. “It’s hard to find time to work on it. I don’t know when it will be done. If I could afford more timeoff...”
Her voice trailed off and Micah felt the yearning in her unspoken words. Not for the first time in his life he recognized how lucky he’d been to “make it” in the business, so to say. It hadn’t been easy, but some people—many people—didn’t ever get the chances he had. They worked and struggled and hit brick wall after brick wall. What obstacles had Maddie come up against?
He could help her, if he wanted to. He shouldn’t, he’d been burned before. But he could.
He leaned back against the arm of the leather sofa. “Have you tried to get some backers?”
She shifted, looking uncomfortable. “Uh, no.”
“Whynot?”
She shook her head. “Um, I just…I wouldn’t find anyone who’d invest. Trustme.”
He was puzzled by her response. Maddie worked with a lot of big names. Surely she could get interest from the directors she knew alone. Maybe she was scared. He could understand that. But she didn’t need to be. “It’s good, Maddie.”
She laughed, the light sound awakening his cock. “You don’t know that. You saw two minutes.”
He held his messenger bag in front of him to hide the protrusion in his pants. “More like ten. I was watching long before I said anything.”
She looked up at him through her long eyelashes, her eyes seeking affirmation, and suddenly he felt like a total dick. He’d pestered her and flirted with her, as if the most important thing in her life could be getting laid by Micah Preston. But all Maddie wanted was someone to tell her she wasgood.
He swallowed, then said the words he knew he shouldn’t. “I’d backit.”
She rolled her eyes. “Ha, thanks.”
Another woman would have taken advantage of his attraction to her and tried to weasel money out of him. But Maddie didn’t even take it when he offered. Was that her game? Was she playing him slowly?
No, he didn’t believe that. She hadn’t ever meant for him to see herfilm.
He tried again. “I’m serious.”
