Climax: The Publicist, Book Three

by Christina George

  Kate got up from the couch and walked towards the kitchen. It was at least as big as her own.

  “So tell me about this apartment you’re thinking of buying,” Kate said, scooting up on one of the bar stools. A benign topic. Good girl, Kate.

  Nick smiled. “It’s a great place. A recently renovated building just off of Fourteenth Street. I was just coming from there the day—”

  “We ran into each other,” Kate finished for him. Awkward alert.

  Nick nodded. “Right. Anyway, it’s fantastic. Four bedrooms, lots of kitchen space, and an easy walk from the subways.”

  “You’re already such a New Yorker,” Kate added. The kettle started bubbling. Nick leaned against the counter.

  “Well, you learn a thing or two. All the trips back and forth to see Uncle.” His eyes drifted off. Nick missed him, too. It was something they shared.

  “How do you like living in New York so far?”

  Nick shrugged, “It’s odd, you know. I mean the energy and excitement of the city is a bit addicting but also exhausting. I mean, California is considered a state that’s always open, but New York gives new meaning to that.”

  “The city that never sleeps.” God, she was sounding like a tourist ad. Maybe Nick had some brandy to put in her tea to help sooth her nerves. Between the crazy author surprising her this morning, her spat with Mac, and now this, Kate felt like she was unraveling faster than a cheap pair of pantyhose.

  The kettle boiled and Nick poured two cups. “I miss my house, though, and the yard. I love space. I miss that here.”

  Suddenly, she did, too. Nick’s house was in San Marino, only twenty minutes from the beach—barring traffic, of course. San Marino was a fairly exclusive part of Los Angeles, nestled in a tree-lined street with a huge front and back yard. She recalled the hours they’d spend working in the yard, planting new flowers and vegetables. Nick always said yard work was therapeutic. He had been right.

  “Your sister really saved me this morning,” Kate said quietly, trying to push the memory aside.

  Nick added dash of sugar for her. “I assume that’s how you still take it?” he smiled.

  Kate nodded.

  “So,” he said, taking their cups back over to the couches, “it’s a great thing that she’s signing with you,” Nick said.

  “No, that’s not what I meant.” Kate settled herself on the couch and grabbed the steaming cup of tea. She sipped it carefully.

  “An author we rejected came by my office with a gun.” Kate could see Nick’s face darken.

  “God, are you alright?” Nick’s voice was hard.

  Kate was surprised that she started shaking. Nick took the cup from her and set it on the coffee table.

  “What did he do?” Nick’s voice grew in urgency as he leaned towards her.

  Kate couldn’t look at him; if she did, she thought she might cry. Probably not the best move. “I was alone in the office,” she said finally. “He just showed up—mad as hell that I’d rejected his book.”

  Nick leaned towards her even more and rested a hand on her shoulder.

  “Did he hurt you?” His voice was gentle; she could melt into his arms right now if it wasn’t, you know, wildly inappropriate.

  She shook her head. “No, I think he meant to, but Vivienne showed up and called the police.”

  Nick’s hand was still on her arm. “Viv?”

  Kate looked up. Nick’s eyes were warm and caring; somewhere in there was her friend from long ago. “Yes, she called the police and they showed up, wrestled him to the ground, and it was over.”

  “Are you okay?” With that very Nick-like warmth, it was all she could do not to drop into his arms and cry.

  She wasn’t at all okay. Mac’s wife was dying. Wait, ex-wife. Why was it hard to remember that minor detail? Their wedding that had waited a year to happen was postponed. They’d fought over the very man she was now sharing tea with, and an author had dropped by with a handgun.

  “I’m fine,” she lied, but her voice still shook. “I’ll be fine. It’s just, you know, jarring.”

  “I could kill him,” Nick blurted out. His hand was warm on her arm, warm and comforting. “What did he want? I mean he couldn’t have known you were alone.”

  Kate shrugged, “He wanted us to publish his book. He fancied himself being the next Allan Lavigne.”

  “How did Viv deal with that?” he asked finally, pulling his hand away. Kate almost regretted it.

  “She was fine, you know. It was scary, but she held it together.”

  Kate picked up her cup and sipped her tea. Nick watched her carefully. He could see the slight crack in her composure, and he had a feeling it wasn’t just from the author showing up in her office with a handgun. Something else was up, but he avoided asking what.

  This was a meeting for Vivienne; he’d invited Kate in so they could start to bridge something that wouldn’t make Viv feel like she needed to rescue him from Kate for the rest of her life. And Kate was going to be a big part of Viv’s life from now on, so passing through all of the issues from their past was probably a good idea.

  “Her book is brilliant, Nick, but I really want her to write under the Lavigne name. I think a penname diminishes her talent. She’s a Lavigne. She should be proud of this legacy.”

  Nick nodded, “She is, but she wants to be known for her own talent and not constantly compared to her uncle’s.”

  “She will be, anyway; someone will find out. This book is going to be a huge hit, and regardless of what name she puts on there now, down the road someone will realize it’s her. And for a first time author, having the Lavigne legacy isn’t a bad thing.”

  “I see your point, but it’s her decision.”

  “I know it is, and I respect that. I just think that whatever edge an author can have these days she should take. I get that she doesn’t want to be compared to Allan’s work. Hell, every book we’ve published gets compared to After the Fall, but that’s just the way it is. People want something to measure.”

  Nick looked at her and half smiled. “Are you asking me to talk her out of it?”

  Awkward alert. “No, not at all. I’m sorry. That’s not why I mentioned it. We were here talking about Viv, and I just thought…”

  Kate set down her cup. “Nick, I’m sorry. I’m not good at this. I know I’m here because you want us to get along for Vivienne’s sake and I’m trying, but I just feel like I’m walking this tightrope and I’m not that good at it. I’ve never been that graceful.”

  Nick started laughing. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I am not laughing at you, but when you said graceful I remembered when we took that dance class. Remember? We got that Groupon for ballroom dancing.”

  Kate smiled. They had decided to take up ballroom dancing because she’d always wanted to learn, but Kate couldn’t master the steps. Any of them for that matter, so she’d consistently make up her own with Nick often tripping over her ungraceful movements. They’d get into laughing fits right there in the dance studio, disrupting the lesson and upsetting the instructor. Finally, one day he asked them to leave and Kate and Nick had laughed so hard that they’d infected the entire class, and several students left with them. The instructor had muttered something about never doing another Groupon again as they walked out the door. This was a good memory.

  Kate laughed, too. “I so much wanted to learn how to dance,” she said, her eyes pricked with happy tears. “Who knew I had seven left feet?”

  Nick could hardly breathe he was laughing so hard. Just then the front door slammed, startling them both.

  “What’s going on in here?” Vivienne asked. Her hands flew to her hips as she watched her brother and Kate almost falling over with laughter.

  CHAPTER 27

  The sound of Viv’s voice startled Kate and broke the spell. Nick tried to pull himself together, but the laughter felt good. It was as though someone had loosened a pressure valve, letting out all of the discomfort between them.

  “I�
�m sorry, Viv,” he said finally, slightly out of breath. “Kate and I were just talking about something…funny.”

  Vivienne did not look pleased. “Clearly.”

  Nick stood up and walked over to her. “Viv, it’s okay. I invited Kate to come in. She was here dropping off your contract.”

  Kate stood up, too, smoothing out her skirt and trying to suppress her giggle. The memory was still vivid in her mind, rolling over and over, almost causing her to burst into laughter again. No, that would not be good.

  Vivienne stepped inside tentatively, eyeing both of them. Nick quickly grabbed the envelope and handed it to her.

  “Here you go, Vivy. Open it.” He smiled down at her. Kate could see the glimmer of excitement overtake the look of startled suspicion. Her first publishing contract—it was finally starting to sink in.

  Kate reached for her purse. “Well, I should go,” she said.

  Nick spun around. “Kate, stay for a bit. Really, it’s okay.”

  It didn’t feel okay. Not in the least bit.

  “Vivienne needs time to go over the contract,” she insisted, walking towards the door.

  Vivienne opened the envelope and lifted out the stack of papers. “No, I don’t,” she said quietly. “I’ll sign it now if you want to wait.”

  “Vivienne, you should have Jane go through this with you so you know what you’re being offered.”

  Vivienne shrugged, “Nick said to trust you, and I trust my brother.” She walked over to the dining room table and sat down. “Now where do I sign?”

  Kate looked at Nick and then followed her over and sat beside her.

  “Vivienne, I’d feel much better if you discussed this with Jane, or, at the very least, let me go through this with you so you know what it entails.”

  Viv just looked at her.

  “Humor me,” Kate said.

  Nick sat down next to his sister. With Kate on the other side, she went through every line of the contract, explaining Vivienne’s deal in as much detail as she felt the girl could handle. Contracts were always confusing; no matter how simple she had tried to make them.

  “That’s a lot of money,” Vivienne said when Kate pointed to her six figure advance.

  “Yes, it’s huge.” Kate smiled. “But you deserve it. This book is stunning. In fact, I spent the morning going over marketing ideas that I’ll want to talk with you about sometime soon.”

  Vivienne turned to Nick. “I think I should use Dad’s pen,” she said softly.

  Their father had cherished the pen given to him by his older brother Allan when he’d graduated Harvard. The pen was never far out of their father’s sight. When he died, he left it to Nick.

  Kate remembered the pen.

  The last time she’d seen it was when Nick had signed off on his uncle’s book when she won the rights back from her former publishing house.

  “A very special pen indeed.” Kate smiled. Nick got up, went to his office, and returned with it. It was in a small wooden box. Kate wasn’t at all surprised that he kept it with him. He treasured his father’s pen. Although New York wasn’t a permanent move, she knew he would always have it with him.

  “Here you go, Vivy.” He handed her the box. She opened it, and Kate showed her where to sign.

  When Viv was done, she looked up, her face glowing.

  “I can’t believe this.” Her voice was heavy with emotion.

  Nick leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Kate stood up and stretched out her arms. Maybe it was the moment or the emotion, but Vivienne did not hesitate to let Kate hug her.

  It was a start, Kate thought, a start to breaking down the wall that Vivienne had built around herself.

  “Let’s have champagne!” Nick stood up without waiting for them to agree.

  “Nick, I should be going,” Kate said. She hadn’t checked her phone, but she was sure that Mac had tried to call or text her, no doubt wondering where she was. If he’d known she had been at Nick’s for the last hour, he would blow a head gasket.

  “Stay,” Vivienne smiled, a smile that still glowed with that new author feeling. “I’d like you to stay.”

  Kate nodded, “Okay, but just for a minute.”

  She heard the pop from the kitchen and turned to watch Nick pouring three glasses of champagne.

  “I had a bottle waiting for just this moment,” he said, returning with the flutes. He handed one to Vivienne and the other to Kate. Nick held his up.

  “To my brilliant little sister and her soon-to-be bestseller.”

  Vivienne was giddy as they clinked their glasses.

  Kate sipped her champagne and said thoughtfully, “And here’s to Allan, who started it all.”

  Nick raised his glass and smiled at Kate.

  “Yes,” he said. “Here’s to Uncle Allan.”

  Kate took another long sip. The champagne tasted good, although it was barely noon.

  Setting her almost-empty glass on the table she said, “Now I really need to go. I’ll call you later today, Vivienne, and we’ll schedule a marketing meeting. Sound good?”

  “Yes, it does. Thank you.”

  The glow. Kate loved the glow. This was the moment she loved, with the ink still fresh on a contract and the possibilities endless.

  “I’ll walk you out,” Nick offered.

  He walked her through the short hallway and to the front door. Maybe it was the champagne or the fact that she’d had a drink on an empty stomach, but part of her—a big part—did not want to leave. Kate walked towards the door and turned. Nick was standing right behind her, and when she turned, she was dangerously close to his face and his impossibly perfect mouth.

  “It was nice spending time with you, Kate,” Nick said cautiously, all too aware of how close she was standing to him.

  Kate nodded. “It was. I’m glad…I’m glad we…” Kate stopped. She smelled the sunshine again, sunshine and ocean air. Nick was too close. She wanted to step back, but something rooted her to the ground. They were out of eyeshot of Vivienne, but she was certain not out of earshot.

  “I am, too.” Nick just stood there, half smiling.

  The moment heated up ever so slightly—the champagne, the shared memory. Something flickered between them, something long ago but not that long at all.

  Finally, Kate grabbed the doorknob and turned it.

  “I’m glad we did this.” Her body felt tense. She needed to go. The last thing either of them needed was an added complication. Plus, didn’t Vivienne tell her that Nick had moved on? She wondered with whom. What was she like? Was she deserving of Nick in a way that Kate had never really been?

  Kate slipped through the door and left without waiting for Nick to say goodbye.

  She knew. They both knew. There was something there—the spark of a thing that had not quite died.

  The moment weighed heavy between them, and then when she was gone, it was left to peter out in the hallway.

  CHAPTER 28

  “What was that all about?” Vivienne pinned her brother with a stare he always found difficult, if not impossible to ignore.

  “I thought it would be good, Vivy. You know. It’s time Kate and I buried whatever issues we still had.”

  “Seems like you were well on your way to doing that when I walked in.”

  Nick picked up Kate’s teacup and walked it into the kitchen. He picked up the champagne bottle, looking for a stopper.

  “We should finish this later. Champagne never stays good that long.”

  Vivienne followed him into the kitchen. “You’re ignoring me.”

  Nick pushed the stopper a little harder into the bottle than he needed to.

  “I’m not. We shared a memory, a good one. We laughed. That was it.”

  Vivienne narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, obviously determined to not let her brother weasel out of this.

  “You’re still in love with her.”

  “I’m not,” he insisted, setting the bottle in the refrigerator. But the truth of her words s
tung him. Being with Kate, having her in his apartment, had seemed like a good idea at the time, but less so as he remembered what it felt like to be around her again. And when she’d told him about this crazy author coming into her office, he wanted to just pull her into his arms. However, the sparkle of her engagement ring, and the fact that making that kind of a move was just generally a bad idea stopped him cold.

  “I’ve moved on,” he said flatly.

  Vivienne rolled her eyes. “Stephanie is not moving on. I’m sorry, Bro, but you need to face the fact that you are not over Kate. Not even remotely.”

  Nick looked at her without responding.

  Vivienne walked over to him and hugged him.

  “Be careful, Nicky. She’ll break your heart again if you let her, and if she does, I’ll have to kill her. Book or no.”

  Nick wrapped an arm around his sister and smiled. His heart pricked with the pain of Vivienne’s observation. The faster he got out of this city, the happier he’d be. He needed to put several dozen states between them before he could breathe again. Maybe some loves were never meant to be overcome, just dealt with. If that was the case, that’s exactly what he intended to do.

  CHAPTER 29

  The elevator slipped silently down twelve floors, and Kate watched mindlessly as the numbers decreased. The time with Nick had been unsettling in one way and riveting in another. To distract herself, Kate pulled her phone from her purse. Three text messages.

  One from Lulu, Rebecca’s here!

  God, what time was it? After one. No, wait, almost two thirty. Hell, she’d lost track of time, too.

  Then one from Rebecca, Is the boss off today? :-) Getting settled in. Can’t wait to see you!

  She needed to send a message to Jane right away and let her know that Vivienne had signed. She’d be pissed, of course. Agents usually have the last word on contracts, but Kate had worked with Jane before and she was well aware of her hot buttons when it came to negotiations. She sent Jane a quick text and then continued to cycle through her messages.