As Good as the First Time

by Altonya Washington

  As Cortez already had an offer from a major network, he wasn’t nearly as excited by the prospect as Renee was. “You straighten this out or I will. Tell everyone you realized I wasn’t the man for you. Then you come out on top. I don’t care.”

  Renee fumed at his stubbornness, but she declined to argue.

  A knock sounded on the door and Cortez whispered a fierce curse. “Who is it?”

  “Sorry, Cortez, but Jerry in Production needs to see Renee!”

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes!” Renee told the production assistant. “Sorry, baby, but duty calls.”

  Cortez hesitated for a moment. “I won’t ask again, Renee,” he warned.

  Renee patted the side of Cortez’s scruffy cheek before she stepped around him.

  “Damn it,” Julia breathed, when she spotted the security station just inside the entrance of WPDM. Bracing herself for the confrontation, Julia smoothed her hands over the clinging material of her stylish black cotton dress. Stepping forward, she silently rehearsed the story she had concocted on her way to the station.

  The four guards behind the tall silver counter stood a bit straighter. Their eyes gleamed with interest. The dark beauty walking toward them had their complete attention.

  Julia gave the men a dazzling smile and pulled a card from the small black purse she carried. “Hello, gentlemen. I’m Julia Kelly. I’m with Outlook TV in Los Angeles. I’m collaborating with one of your reporters, Cortez Wallace. We’re supposed to meet this morning.”

  The men were more than happy to assist Julia.

  “Yes, ma’am, that’s no problem at all,” one of them assured her.

  “This place can be pretty confusing though.” Another told her.

  “Can I show you to his office?”

  Julia’s smile widened, as she shook her head. “Thanks, but I can find it myself if I can just get some directions?”

  “Sure. It’s on the twelfth floor. You take a left as soon as you leave the elevator. His office is four doors down. You’ll see the receptionist.”

  Julia thanked the guards and made her way to the elevator.

  The elevator ride was swift. When the double mahogany doors slid open, Julia found herself looking into vaguely familiar territory. Little had changed since her copyediting days there eight years ago. Of course, the station appeared no less busy than hers in L.A. It was perfect, since Julia wanted to retain as much of a low profile as possible.

  She followed the directions and found the correct hall to Cortez’s office.

  “Excuse me?”

  Lea Marquez, the receptionist for that floor, looked up from her magazine and smiled. “Hello. May I—? Julia?” she inquired.

  Julia smoothed her hand across her hair. “Hey, Lea,” she replied, laughing at the surprise and delight on the woman’s face.

  Lea rushed round to hug her. “So how can I help you today?” she asked after she and Julia had indulged in a bit of small talk.

  Julia leaned forward. “Well, I’d like to see Cortez if I could. Do you know where I could find him?”

  Lea looked down the hall. “Cortez’s office is through the last door on the left. You’ll come to another hall and you should find Sara down there. She’ll be able to help you from there.”

  Julia gave Lea a quick hug. “Thanks a lot,” she whispered, before sauntering down the hall.

  In his office, Cortez reclined in his desk chair, stroking his light beard in deep thought. The situation with Renee was almost as unsettling as the one with Julia. Almost. In truth, Renee Scales was perfect for him. Sweet, caring and willing to do whatever it took to make him happy. He doubted he’d ever come home one evening to find her bags packed and no trace of her. They could probably have a fantastic life, if only… No! Cortez commanded silently. He would not let Julia Kelly creep into his thoughts. Not now. He’d left her behind in L.A., and there she would remain.

  Turning to his desk, Cortez snatched up the script for the noon broadcast. A few seconds later he was on his way to the copy department.

  Julia arrived outside Cortez’s office two minutes after he had left. She spotted his assistant and headed over.

  “Good morning. May I help you?” Sara McBride asked, her blue eyes twinkling gaily as she smiled. “Julia?” she whispered slowly.

  Julia returned the woman’s smile with a dazzling one of her own. “You always were good with faces.”

  “Lord,” Sara breathed, immediately pushing her chair away from the pristine oak desk she sat behind. “Oooh, you look so good,” she marveled while pulling Julia into a tight hug. “So what are you doing here?” She quizzed, her blue eyes sparkling with delight.

  Julia shrugged, smoothing her hands across the fabric of her black dress. “My calendar was clear, so I thought I’d come see my parents. Everyone’s abuzz about Cortez’s engagement,” she tacked on in a sly manner, deciding to keep quiet about her plans to lure WPDM’s top anchor away from the fold.

  Sara’s eyebrows rose. “Ah, yes, the hot topic of the last several days.”

  Tilting her head a tad, Julia offered a tiny smirk. “Sounds like you’ve had to field more than your share of inquiries.”

  “Hmph.” Sara cast a quick glance across her shoulder. “Inquiries from the general public as well as my boss.”

  “Oh?”

  “He wasn’t thrilled when that story broke,” Sara said, sounding as if she’d been dying to share her confessions with someone. “He acted like it came out of nowhere.”

  “He couldn’t have been surprised.” Julia celebrated Sara’s talkative nature and ordered herself not to inquire too deeply and cause the woman to clam up. But Sara was too thrilled to be discussing it all to notice she was being grilled.

  “Most reporters don’t like to see their own private lives turned into an open book.”

  Considering Julia’s words, Sara leaned against her desk and then waved her hand to challenge the statement. “I don’t know about that one, Julia. He was angry enough to spit nails, demanded to see Ms. Scales and everything’s been pretty hush-hush since then.”

  Julia watched Sara absently toying with her bobbed blond locks and steeled herself against asking any further questions.

  “So are your parents here?”

  Julia smiled and shook her head. “No. They’re going to meet me in town for dinner later, but I stopped by to say hello to Cortez, actually.” Casually, she slipped her hands into the pockets on her dress and glanced past Sara’s shoulder. “Do you think it’d be okay to wait around and surprise him, if he isn’t going to be away too long?”

  Sara pushed away from the neat desk she leaned against and stood. “I don’t see any problem with that. I don’t think he’d mind, if you’d like to wait in his office.”

  “I’d love to,” Julia said, following Sara to the double doors behind the desk.

  “Can I bring you anything while you wait?” Sara asked, clasping her hands together.

  “Oh, thanks, Sara, but I’m good,” she replied, toying with the small gold hoop earrings she wore while taking in her surroundings.

  Sara smiled and was gone from the office a moment later.

  Alone in the room, Julia spent the next few minutes reading some of the plaques that covered the paneled walls of the office. It was obvious that Cortez had made a well-known, well-respected name for himself. Stepping around behind the large, imposing mahogany desk, she noticed a picture of Cortez and a woman. Renee Scales, Julia silently surmised. She could not ignore the small ache in the center of her chest as she studied the photo of the anchors accepting an award together.

  Sara smiled at Cortez as she watched him head to his office. “Someone’s waiting for you in there,” she sang.

  Cortez’s hand paused over the doorknob and his chocolate stare slid over to his secretary. “Are they here to aggravate me?” he asked in a wicked tone.

  “I think you’ll find her too pretty to be aggravating,” Sara confirmed, without looking away from her filing.

/>   Sending Sara a strange smile, Cortez headed into his office.

  Julia gasped when the door opened unexpectedly. But when her eyes landed on Cortez she quickly recovered. “Corky,” she greeted perkily as she leaned against his desk.

  Lord, now I’m hallucinating about the woman, Cortez silently thought. His long lashes closed over his eyes and he ran one hand across his face. Julia was still there, clear as day. She looked good. Too good. Helplessly, his deep gaze caressed every dip and curve of her body. Cortez realized what he was doing and cleared his throat.

  Julia couldn’t have been more pleased. She enjoyed his unease and slowly pushed herself up from behind the desk. “Aren’t you going to say anything?” she softly asked, walking closer to him.

  “What are you doing here?”

  As though it were nothing out of the ordinary, Julia slid her arms around Cortez’s neck and nuzzled her face against the base of his throat. “I’m here to do anything you want,” she whispered into his ear.

  Weakened by the sudden flood of arousal, Cortez let his eyes flutter closed. If possible, her perfume was even more intoxicating than it’d been in L.A. Julia could feel him responding to her and pressed her body closer to his hard, muscular frame.

  Cortez finally gained control over his raging hormones and pulled away from her. “I asked you a question, Julia.”

  Sighing lightly, Julia smoothed her hands over her dress and followed Cortez to his desk. “I just got into town and I thought I’d stop by and say hello,” She explained, a look of surprise crossing her face when she spotted the knowing smirk on Cortez’s lips. “What?”

  Cortez massaged the back of his neck, as his eyes narrowed. “You came out here to change my mind, didn’t you?”

  Pretend outrage and shock crossed Julia’s beautiful, dark face. “Change your mind?”

  Cortez folded his arm across his chest and observed her closely. “Kenrick called. He said you guys weren’t backing off and that you really want me out there. So they sent you to persuade me, hum?”

  Julia’s lips twitched into a smirk “You actually think I’d expect you to change your mind on something you feel so strongly about?” Julia smiled and sauntered closer to the desk. “Actually, my motives are purely honorable.”

  “Honorable?” Cortez repeated.

  “I want to take you out for lunch. To celebrate.” Julia explained, her narrow gaze watching him steadily. “Celebrate?”

  Julia snapped her fingers as if trying to get him to return to reality. “Your engagement.”

  Cortez rolled his eyes even as his wide mouth tilted upwards in a knowing smirk. “Right.”

  “So why didn’t you tell me about it?”

  “Was it your business?” he asked, focusing on his desk then.

  “Well,” Julia propped a hand to her hip. “Considering all the little incidents that passed between us in California…” she bit her bottom lip and let her lashes flutter at the memory. “I never would’ve let it go so far if I’d known.”

  Cortez raised his head finally, allowing his disbelief to shine through in his smoky stare.

  Shaking her head, Julia sighed. “I hope you won’t hold what’s happened against me. What I said in California…telling you I still loved you…” she probed. “I shouldn’t have said that, especially when you’re about to walk down the aisle.” Her gaze was subtly coy.

  Cortez felt his body responding to Julia, and he looked away. In response, Julia propped herself against his desk and waited.

  “Julia, lunch isn’t a good idea. I need to be back on the set in a few minutes, so—”

  “Maybe tomorrow then?”

  “I don’t think so,” Cortez grimly replied, shuffling through some papers on his desk.

  While his gaze was averted, Julia allowed herself to drop the vampy act. Her eyes wandered helplessly over Cortez’s smooth, caramel skin, his handsome face, the long thick eyebrows, deep-set eyes, long nose, wide mouth and the light beard that shadowed his face. She could imagine herself leaning back against his powerful body, his arms encircling her waist, while his hands rose to—

  “Julia?”

  Her onyx stare shifted back to Cortez’s face and she saw him watching her strangely. Sighing, she slid off the desk and walked around to perch herself right next to him. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then?” She whispered.

  A suspicious frown darkened Cortez’s face. “What for?” He asked.

  Julia laughed at the tone of his voice. “You’re right. The guys did send me out here to persuade you. I feel awful because you turning this opportunity down was my fault. I want to see if I can change your mind before I have to go back.”

  The muscle twitched so fiercely in Cortez’s jaw that it could be noticed even beneath his beard. “Julia—”

  “Just give me another chance to sell you on this. It’s about nothing more.” She cleared her throat on the lie. “Your fiancée shouldn’t have a problem with that unless you haven’t told her about me,” Julia added, her eyes studying him closely. “And if you haven’t, I wonder why?”

  Cortez had no reply and simply stared at her.

  Julia watched him for a moment longer before a wicked smirk crossed her face. She cupped the side of his face, her fingers caressing the crisp whiskers of his beard. When she pulled him close and pressed her lips onto his, he groaned. Julia increased the pressure of the kiss, sliding her tongue just past his lips to stroke the even ridge of his white teeth.

  “Juli…” Cortez groaned beneath the onslaught of the kiss.

  Julia ended the kiss by suckling his bottom lip between hers. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she promised, moving away from the desk.

  “Julia,” Cortez called, just before she made it to the door. “Whatever you’re planning, don’t.”

  Giving him a serene smile, Julia turned and left the office.

  Chapter 8

  “And cut! All right, that’s a wrap, folks!”

  The studio instantly filled with conversation and com motion. The afternoon broadcast was finished and everyone on duty was ready to tie up last-minute details before leaving the station for the day.

  “As soon as I make a few calls I’ll be ready to hit the road,” Renee sang as she gathered folders, pads and pens. She moved away from the news desk and noticed that Cortez wasn’t following. “Hey. You okay?”

  Cortez seemed to be in another world. He leaned back in his chair and sat turning it to and fro. Stroking his beard methodically, he stared into space.

  “Cortez? Cortez?” Renee called, frowning until his brown gaze met hers. “What’s wrong with you?”

  Cortez sighed and buried his face in his hands. “I’m just worn out.”

  “Well that’s probably because you haven’t eaten today,” Renee guessed, smiling as she patted his shoulder. She knelt beside his chair and gazed up at his gorgeous face. “Hey, why don’t we go grab something? My treat.”

  “And how would that help to dispel all the rumors of this engagement nonsense?”

  Renee’s smile tightened. “You know we’ve shared plenty of business meals together. I’m sorry all of this is agitating our friendship, but there’s little we can do to change it right now. And you’ve still gotta eat,” she fixed him with a smug smile as he stood.

  “To you, girl. As crazy and devious as you are. To you.”

  Julia frowned a bit as she clicked her tea glass against her sister’s. “Thanks, I think.”

  Monique took a sip of the herbal iced-tea blend and shook her head. “You’ve got nerve, little sister. I have to admire that.”

  “I’m taking off the gloves this time,” Julia said, shrugging. “Cortez is playing this engagement thing to the hilt. I’ll have to play my cards just right, too.”

  “And you really believe it’s a sham?” Monique asked, thoroughly intrigued.

  Julia smoothed her hands over the soft material of her clinging dress. “It has to be.” Monique winced.

  Julia noticed and leaned close
to soothe her sister’s concern. “Listen, I don’t intend to pit myself against Renee Scales. But I will remind Cortez of what we had—of what we could have if he can get past his fears.”

  “Baby, are you sure that’ll work?” An uneasy look crept across Monique’s face.

  “Mo, Cork hasn’t even told the woman about me. I think that’s because he’s had no reason to.”

  “Well, you really haven’t been around,” Monique said after sipping her tea.

  “You didn’t see him in L.A.” Julia chewed her thumbnail and debated.

  Monique laughed. “Cortez is no fool. And you won’t be able to use business as your ticket in for long.”

  “I agree,” Julia said, not offended by the statement. “But Cortez doesn’t trust himself around me. He doesn’t trust me. I have to find a way to change that.”

  “Come again?”

  Julia smoothed her hand over her sleek, short hair. “In California he told me that he couldn’t survive taking me back just to lose me again. So I know this engagement is a sham, Mo. I’ve got to prove to him that I don’t want to go anywhere unless it’s with him. So I’ll see how far he plans to drag out this engagement lie while I remain my usual sexy self. He won’t be able to resist me, and then he won’t even know what hit him.”

  Monique threw her head back and laughed. “Girl, you are too much.”

  Julia’s only reply was a shrug and smug smile.

  Just then, Cortez and Renee were arriving at the same restaurant where Julia and her sister were dining.

  “You’ll feel a lot better after you eat something,” Renee assured Cortez as they walked through the heavy mahogany doors of Luchini’s Italian Eatery.

  “Right,” Cortez grunted, as he followed Renee to the hostess booth. As Renee talked to the young woman about a table, Cortez looked around the spacious yet crowded restaurant. The atmosphere was very cool and laid-back. Rays of sunlight beamed in through the huge windows, showering the casually set tables with warm light. Cortez was feeling better just standing there and taking in the view. That all changed, though, the instant he saw Julia Kelly. His heart slammed against his chest as he watched her. He’d never met a woman so confident, or one who could pull his strings so fiercely.