by Vi Keeland
I grinned. “Probably not. But go anyway.”
When he returned, the line was just about gone. I stood. “We should get going.”
Bennett lifted his own carry-on box and then grabbed mine.
“I can carry that.”
“It’s fine. I have an ulterior motive, though. I’m accidentally going to drop it and kick it around a few times—see how good your 3D model holds up.”
Such a wiseass.
When we arrived at the end of the gangway to step onto the plane, I asked, “What row are you in?”
“The same one as you. We’re both in aisle seats, across from each other. I told Marina to put us together so we could work if we wanted to.”
“Oh. Okay.” I was afraid of that.
Bennett stored our presentations in the overhead, and we took our seats in row eleven. After I buckled in, I decided to just come out and tell him my little problem.
“Umm… Just so you know, I’m a nervous flyer.”
His brows dipped. “What does that mean? You’re going to narrate the entire flight? Taxiing down the runway. Hitting a takeoff speed of a hundred-and-fifty miles per hour. Tucking my head through my legs to kiss my fine ass goodbye…”
I let out a nervous laugh. “No. I just get panicky on flights, so I use an app that helps keep me calm. It’s a combination of meditation, music, and guided breathing techniques. If we hit turbulence, I can push a button, and a therapist walks me through calming exercises.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“I’m not sure how much work we’ll actually get done on the flight.”
He grinned. “Screw work. This is way better. I can’t wait to watch you freak out.”
Great. Just great.
Five minutes after takeoff, I opened my eyes and found Bennett watching me with a grin.
I shook my head. “Am I amusing you?”
“You are. And the way you gripped that armrest during takeoff, I’m glad I’m sitting across from you so you don’t mistakenly grab for something else if we hit turbulence. You had that thing in a death grip.”
I laughed. “Takeoff is the worst part for me. Once we’re in the air, I’m not usually so bad, unless it gets bumpy.”
“So is it all modes of transportation you don’t like, or just cars and planes?”
“Very funny.”
“You said you had an accident that made you a nervous driver. Did something happen that made you nervous to fly? Like a bad flight or something?”
I put on my best solemn face. “My dad was a pilot and died in a plane crash.”
Bennett looked freaked out. “Shit. I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
I tried to keep a straight face, but the look on his was just too funny. My smile snuck out. “I’m just screwing with you. My dad sells insurance and lives in Temecula.”
He laughed. “Nice. You got me.”
After we leveled out, it was a short flight over to L.A., and once Bennett and I started joking around, the time flew by. All flights should be that easy on my nerves.
Once we landed, the captain came on the overhead and said we were a few minutes early, so we needed to wait to pull to our gate. I turned off my flying app and took my phone out of airplane mode. Emails began to fill my inbox. Noticing one from Tobias, I opened it.
Crap. I turned to Bennett. “I just got an email from Tobias. He said he had an urgent situation pop up that needs to be dealt with, and he had to push back our lunch meeting.”
“Until when?”
I frowned, knowing what he’d think. “He said he had a meeting that got rescheduled, and he can fit you in at five tonight.”
“Just me?”
I nodded. We’d blocked him for two hours, planning to each take an hour. “He’d like me to meet him for dinner tonight at eight.”
The muscle in Bennett’s jaw flexed.
“I know what you’re thinking. But even if it were true, I’m a big girl and can take care of myself. And the fact that you’re here with me right now should tell you that I want to win this account fair and square, based on my work.”
He nodded. We were both quiet as we disembarked the plane. Once we rented a car, I realized I needed to change my return plans. If dinner was at eight, there was no way I’d be catching even the last flight of the day back. I needed Marina to book me a hotel and push my return flight to tomorrow morning.
Bennett was busy navigating through the Hertz rental parking lot, so I broke the ice. “I’m going to have Marina change my travel plans. Do you want me to have her change yours?”
“No. It’s okay. I’ll handle it.”
He didn’t speak again until we merged onto the highway and started to head toward Star Studios. “We have a whole day to kill now. You want to hit a coffee shop and set up to work?”
Neither one of us had brought our laptops, since we had presentation materials to carry on. Although we did have our phones to at least answer emails and stuff. But that wouldn’t take up an entire day. Tobias’s email had left some lingering tension between the two of us, so I thought maybe a little relaxation might actually be in order.
“I have a better idea.”
“What’s that?”
I grinned. “Foot massages.”
Chapter 24
* * *
Bennett
She had to be screwing with me.
“What are you doing?”
Annalise’s eyes fluttered open. We were sitting side by side in oversized chairs as two women rubbed our feet.
“What?”
“You look like you’re about to start moaning.”
Her eyes were actually glassy and hooded. She leaned in to whisper to me. “Honestly, I probably could…you know…from a foot rub. It’s my favorite thing to relax ever.”
Jesus Christ. I looked down at her feet. I’d never sucked a woman’s toes before, although I hadn’t been opposed to it. The right opportunity just never presented itself. But right now, I was absolutely positive I’d totally been missing out. If a little foot rub felt that good to a woman, I might have even been neglectful. I needed to remedy that shit right away, and I knew just where I wanted to start. Wonder what the two masseuses would’ve done if I’d gotten up and bumped one out of the way, replacing her hands with my mouth.
Annalise shut her eyes and went back to her happy place. I watched her for a long moment and then leaned over to whisper in her ear.
“If that’s your favorite thing to relax ever, then the douche did you a favor by breaking things off. I can think of a few things that would leave you feeling spineless.”
She laughed. Only I wasn’t kidding. And I had the strongest urge to be the one to prove that to her. I tried to relax and enjoy the rest of my rub, but it was too late. The next thirty minutes basically consisted of me fantasizing about all the things I could do to the woman sitting next to me that would make her think a foot massage was child’s play. Well, that and thinking of all the disgusting feet with funguses that the woman rubbing my feet had rubbed right before mine. I needed some way to keep the constantly threatening hard-on at bay.
After our massages were over, we walked next door to an Asian noodle house for some lunch. Annalise’s phone started to buzz while we looked at the menu.
“It’s my mom. Excuse me for a moment.”
She didn’t get up from the table, so I listened to one side of the conversation.
“Hi, Mom.”
Pause.
“Yeah, that sounds great. I’ll bring dessert.”
Pause.
“We just had dinner the other night. She said something about going to her sister’s for the weekend. But I’ll ask anyway.”
Another pause. This time, her eyes jumped to meet mine. “Umm. I doubt it. But I can ask him, I guess.”
She talked for a few more minutes and then hung up.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
Annalise sighed. “Yeah. My mother just can’t help herself. She’s having a pr
ivate wine-tasting party with the first bottles of the season next weekend. She told me to invite my best friend, Madison, and then she told me to invite you. Once she locks on to the scent of an eligible bachelor for her daughter, she’s like a pit bull. I’ll tell her you’re busy.”
“Why? I don’t have any plans except work this weekend.”
“It would be…I don’t know…weird for you to come.”
“No weirder than sitting next to you watching a five-foot-tall Asian woman almost give you an orgasm.”
She laughed. “I guess you have a point.”
“Plus, we both know the truth.” I winked. “Your mom inviting me isn’t really for her daughter.”
“I told her we were competing for a promotion, not to keep our jobs here in California. I haven’t mentioned the possible move to Texas because I figured there was no point in making her worry. But if I told her the only interest you have in her daughter was to have me shipped off eighteen-hundred miles away, I think you’d be surprised how much her friendliness changed. She’s super protective of me.”
Definitely not the only interest I had in Annalise. But she had a point, and if her mother knew about Texas or any of things I’d fantasized about doing to her daughter, I was pretty sure she’d be chasing me out with a corkscrew in her hand.
“Are you an only child?”
“Sort of. My sister died when she was eight.”
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. She was five years older, so I was only three when it happened. She had neuroblastoma—a childhood cancer that’s really aggressive. I wish I remembered her more. Although, at least I don’t remember too much about her passing. But to answer your question, I don’t have any other siblings. My parents started to have trouble with their marriage after that. What about you? Any other full-of-themselves Foxes running around out there I should look out for?”
I shook my head. “Just the one. My dad died when I was three—heart attack at thirty-nine. Mom never really got over it or remarried. Although, she moved down to Florida to be near her sister two years ago, and lately she’s been mentioning she goes for walks with some dude named Arthur. Figured I should probably take a trip down there soon, see if I need to be kicking Artie’s ass.”
“That’s oddly sweet.”
“Yeah, that’s me. Oddly sweet.”
The waitress came and took our lunch order. Annalise ordered a soup, appetizer, and lunch.
“You sure as shit can eat for a little thing.”
“I didn’t eat anything this morning because of my nerves about flying. And I won’t be eating until eight tonight, so I figured I better stockpile.”
The reminder of her dinner with Tobias tonight ruined my appetite. “So where is this date tonight?”
She frowned. “It’s not a date.”
“Oh, that’s right. Let me rephrase. Where is the business meeting with the guy who wants to get in your pants?”
She folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t want to tell you.”
“A romantic little Italian bistro with candles? Maybe a corner booth next to the fireplace.”
“Jerk.”
“French? Maybe Chez Affaire.”
“It’s at the same place we ate last time. The same exact restaurant where both of us shared a meal and discussed business with the entire team from Star. The same place that seemed like a logical and convenient choice for a meeting just two weeks ago. Yet I’m sure you’ll be convinced that now he has an ulterior motive by picking it.”
I’d been teasing her, but fuck, the thought of the two of them having dinner at the hotel she’d be staying at really yanked me. And I wasn’t even going to attempt to convince myself it had anything to do with business. I’d already admitted once that I was jealous. There was no point in exposing my weakness to the competition a second time. So I sucked it up. At least I tried to.
“It is a convenient choice. Very convenient.”
***
Maybe I hadn’t given the guy a chance.
Tobias patted me on the back as we left the office of the Director of Film Acquisitions. He’d raved about the marketing plan I’d come up with, including the new logo and taglines. And now it was the third office he’d walked me around to that seemed to love my ideas.
“I’ve been here three weeks, and that was the first time I saw Bob Nixon smile. You either hit it out of the ballpark, or that guy started on new meds recently.”
“Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. I know you had something come up earlier today, so I appreciate you still fitting us in.”
We walked back into his office. “Anytime. Glad I can help. Now that I’ve seen some of your great ideas, I’m really looking forward to seeing your final concepts when we come up to tour your office in a few weeks. I’ve heard great things about your work from Annalise, and now I know why.”
I was beginning to feel like a total idiot. I’d let my personal feelings get in the way of business—let it cloud my judgment toward Tobias—and God knows I’d ridden Annalise hard about this guy. And here she was building me up to the guy who was going to pick the campaign that would go a long way toward keeping my damn job.
“I’m sure her presentation will be just as on point, if not more so. She’s incredibly talented,” I said.
Tobias’s office phone rang. He picked it up and told whoever was on the line that he needed a minute and then held the receiver to his chest. “Why don’t you pour us two celebratory drinks?” He lifted his chin, pointing to a long credenza positioned under the windows. “Middle cabinet has a nice brandy and some glasses.”
While he talked on the phone, I took out two crystal highball glasses and a decanter filled with amber-colored alcohol. The top of the cabinet had a bunch of framed photographs, so I perused while I waited. One had a little blond boy and an older girl sitting on a rock somewhere in the mountains. A few were of various celebrities and Tobias at different movie premieres. The last was a photo of a woman with the same two little kids from the first framed photo, only they were older in this shot, and all three had their hands up in the air as they barreled down a drop on a rollercoaster. Their smiles were huge.
I shook my head. I’d been really blinded by jealousy. This guy was obviously happily married, and had a nice little family. I’d totally misread the situation last time.
Or…maybe I didn’t.
Tobias hung up as I set down the last framed photo.
“You have a beautiful family,” I said.
He came around his desk and took one of the glasses of brandy I’d poured, then lifted the picture I’d just set down. Swirling the liquid around in his glass, he stared down at it.
“Candice is beautiful alright. Too bad she’s a fucking bitch on wheels. We separated nine months ago. With all the #MeToo crap going on, figured it would be better to keep up my façade as a happily married man in public.”
He lifted his glass and clinked it with mine. “Speaking of beautiful women, I’m looking forward to seeing what your colleague came up with later.”
Chapter 25
* * *
Annalise
He’s such a jerk.
I continued to wear my big, fake, happy face as I said goodbye to Tobias. But the moment he pushed through the revolving door, I pivoted on my heel, scowled, and headed to the bar to look for my stalker. A feeling of déjà vu came over me.
“Excuse me?” I called to the bartender. “I’m looking for the guy who was sitting down at that end of the bar just a few minutes ago?”
He nodded. “Drinks Corona and looks like someone ran over his dog?”
“That would be him.”
“Paid his tab and left a minute or two ago. Not sure if he’s a guest here since he paid cash. Didn’t catch which way he went when he took off.”
“Oh, he’s a guest here alright,” I mumbled and started toward the front desk. “That I’d bet my life on.”
The front desk had two employees, and both were help
ing people already, so I got in line. But while waiting, it dawned on me that they might not give out another guest’s room number so easily. So instead, I walked back to the lobby, dug out my cell, and looked up the phone number of the hotel.
“Hi. I’m trying to reach a guest there. He’s my boss, actually. He gave me the direct telephone number to his room for a conference call we’re about to have, but I seem to have misplaced it.”
“I can connect you. What’s the guest’s name?”
“Ummm… Could you possibly just give me the direct number again? He gave it to me because I’ll be calling with a few other people on a conference line, and for privacy reasons, he doesn’t like to give out the name of the hotel where he’s staying. The operator says the name of the hotel when she answers at the main number. He’s going to kill me for losing it.”
“Sure. No problem. What’s the guest’s name?”
“It’s Bennett Fox.”
When I’d given my direct-dial phone number to Marina earlier today, I’d noticed that my room number was the last four of the phone number. Either that was one hell of a coincidence, or they all worked that way.
I heard her clicking some keys before returning to the line. “That direct number would be 213-555-7003.”
“Thank you very much.”
“No problem. Have a good evening.”
I swiped to end the call. Oh, I’m going to have a good evening alright—chewing out the asshole in room 7003.
***
Was it possible that blood could actually boil? I started to sweat on the elevator ride up to the seventh floor. It felt like heat was pouring from my pores—I was that pissed off.
Not only had I made sure the jerk had a chance to present his ideas to Tobias, but I’d never said one bad word about him, never tried to manipulate my friendship with Tobias to gain an advantage. And what does the jackass do? He makes up lies about me so I look like a dumbass talking to the client.
The elevator doors slid open, and I marched down to room 7003. Without taking a minute to calm myself, I banged on the door. When it didn’t open in three seconds, I banged some more—this time louder. The door swung open mid knock.