Teresa Hill – His Bride by Design (страница 8)
“So, you and that designer get back together?” Vince asked.
“Not exactly.”
“Hey, come ’ere.” Vince motioned for James to lean over the counter, closer to Vince, who’d pulled out his cell phone and held it out in front of them.
“No!” James pulled away as the flash went off. He could only hope he’d gotten out of the way in time. “No pictures. Not today.”
Vince looked mightily disappointed. “I was gonna put it up on the newsstand. You know, to show people that I really know you.”
“Yeah. I’m just not ready for that, Vince. And I really hate having my picture taken,” he said.
“You date that crazy girl, you’re gonna get your picture taken.”
He hadn’t thought of that when he’d charged to her rescue, but he couldn’t really say he regretted it, either. Because he’d gotten to see her again, to hold her again, to kiss her. He’d gotten into her bed again. He grinned at that thought. Not in the way he’d really like to be back in her bed, but it was certainly better than not being anywhere near her bed.
“I gotta ask you,” Vince said, grinning wickedly. “Once you carried her off like that, what did you do to her then?”
“Nothing,” James claimed. “Absolutely nothing.”
“Yeah, right,” Vince said.
A gentleman didn’t kiss and tell, after all, and he prided himself on being a gentleman.
He got to his office to see Marcy waiting for him, looking as freaked out as he’d ever seen her and carrying a rolled-up copy of a tabloid.
“Let me guess.” James went into his office, Marcy following. “You’ve never worked with anyone who made the cover of a tabloid before?”
Her mouth fell open. “You’ve seen it?”
“If it’s the one I’m thinking of, I have. Please tell me I didn’t make the cover of more than one?”
“No, just the one.” She laid it down in front of him on his desk. “We’re probably going to start getting calls—”
“From the tabloids? They know who I am?”
“Suspect, at least. The Bride Blog piece yesterday did mention you by name in connection with Ms. Allen, and if we’re going to get calls, I need to know what to say.”
She waited, looking so eager and excited.
“You mean, you want me to tell you what happened yesterday?”
“Only so I can do my job,” she claimed.
“There is something seriously wrong with you, Marcy,” he said.
“I know. Believe me, I do. I’m so sorry. Everyone has a weakness, a dirty little secret, and this is mine.”
And Chloe was his.
His weakness, but not his secret. Not anymore. He didn’t think he’d left any room for doubt about how he felt about her.
“She was in trouble, and I helped her out. That’s it. End of story. I’m not going to stand by and watch anyone I know get attacked.” He made it sound perfectly reasonable, he thought, like he was some sort of freelance do-gooder.
Marcy didn’t look like she was buying a word of it. She’d seen him charge out of the restaurant like a crazy man to get to Chloe yesterday, after all.
“So, that Bride Blog thing yesterday … I never actually saw it.”
“You’re not going to like it,” Marcy warned, handing him a printout with the pertinent parts highlighted in yellow.
He scanned the article. It referred to him as Fiancé No. 2 and mentioned that stupid eligible bachelor list he’d been on, then got to the she-just-wanted-him-for-his-money part.
Well, that hurt.
He’d hurled that particular accusation at her after they broke up. Sometimes he believed it, sometimes he didn’t, but it still had the power to make him seriously annoyed.
“Well, I’ve never been happy being No. 2 in anything,” he said, handing that piece of trash back to Marcy. “And please tell me they’re wrong about that stupid bachelor list. I can’t be on that thing again!”
Marcy looked a little nervous. “The Single Woman’s Guide to Bachelor Hunting in New York? I called. I’m afraid you’re going to be on it again.”
James cringed. He’d made
“What do I have to do to get off that stupid list?” he asked.
“Lose all your money or get married,” she said, demonstrating that logical Marcy was still in there somewhere. “Or I guess you could leave New York.”
No good options there. “Maybe we could just buy the stupid magazine and do away with the list.”
Marcy paused, pen and pad in hand, like she wasn’t sure whether she should write that down or not.
“I’m not that desperate yet. Still, there has to be something we can do.”
“Well, it seems obvious. You need a girlfriend,” Marcy advised.
“No, I don’t.” He was still smarting from the last one.
“A very public girlfriend,” Marcy insisted. “Take her out, smile for the photographers, just as that stupid list comes out. That way, women will think you’re taken and leave you alone.”
No, they wouldn’t. He was painfully aware of that. Of course, it might be even worse, even more women, more aggressive, if he appeared to be completely available.
“I guess that would be less of a hassle than buying the damned magazine. When does the issue come out?”
“Next week. You’ll have to date fast.”
One of those women who needed three hours to pull herself together to walk out the door, who wanted every moment of her life gossiped about, speculated about and, best of all, captured on film.
Which made him think about Chloe. Vince had said that morning,
Chloe as his very public, fake girlfriend.
As if reading his mind, Marcy continued. “You’ve already got a good start on it. Your rescue of Ms. Allen was like something out of a fairy tale.” She sighed heavily. “It played very well in the blogs today, the way you took her in your arms and fought to get her to safety. People already want to know about the two of you.”
Marcy got a particularly dreamy look on her face. James didn’t want to admit that Chloe’s behavior might be attributable to a slight blow to the head that left her disoriented. It would ruin the whole fantasy–fairy tale element, and he’d seldom seen Marcy look so happy—and maybe a little goofy.
He feared he’d looked the same way when he’d finally seen Chloe the day before—just plain goofy-giddy-stupid with happiness. Hopefully Chloe was too confused to remember.
“Marcy, come back to me,” he said.
“Sorry. I was just thinking, from that photo, you might be able to convince people you and Ms. Allen have been seeing each other for a while, and that maybe she wasn’t engaged to that secretly gay photographer.”
Okay, James couldn’t deny that would be useful, if his purpose was truly to keep Chloe’s business from going under and maybe … to get to spend some time with Chloe while doing it. And he wanted some time with her. No lying to himself about that anymore. Or he was just nuts right now. Chloe Derangement Syndrome. He’d had it before.
“If anyone asks about Chloe and me, don’t deny it,” he told Marcy.
Marcy brightened instantly. “That you and Ms. Allen are involved?”
“Right. Tell them that we have been for a while.”
Marcy was positively rapturous now. James wouldn’t be surprised if Marcy had suggested this whole scheme because he and Chloe would end up in the tabloids some more. Marcy would love every moment of that.
“I want a full briefing on how the riot played in the blogs, the gossip sites…. You know, all that stuff.”
“Of course.” It was a dream-come-true assignment for Marcy.