by Jessica Gray
Carla’s eyes lit up at the mention of star attraction. “You’ve come to the right person; I totally can do that. Did you know that my popularity index…”
Rock stopped listening.
“… and the way I see it we can have a lot of fun together during the next weeks.” Her hand squeezed his knee and moved up from there.
“Carla. Stop that.” He continued to smile for the onlookers, and lowered his voice so only she could hear him. “I’d like to make sure we’re both on the same page. I’m not looking for a girlfriend, pretend or otherwise. I’m sure my agent spoke with yours about the details, but this is purely business. You help me with the fundraiser and I help you clean up your reputation.”
Carla rolled her eyes and pouted. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Do you have any idea how much more publicity your little race would get if the press photographed us in a slightly risqué situation?”
“Look I’ve worked hard all my life to become who I am and I’m not going to throw it away for the wrong kind of publicity. Better you take your charms elsewhere, because nothing is gonna happen between you and me. Understood?”
She nodded.
“I want to increase awareness about my charity and to gain donors,” he said in a mollified tone. “Nothing more and nothing less.”
“Your charity? I don’t give a damn about your charity, or your triathlon. Or even that stupid retirement home. I’m doing this because my agent demanded I clean up my act or I’m out of the industry. I just thought this could be fun,” she said, spearing him with a glare that bounced off his body as if he’d been clad in armor.
It’s not a retirement home, you stupid bitch! Rock captured her hand, the one lingering on his thigh and put it on the table. Even though he hadn’t noticed any reporters, he knew they were somewhere. Probably outside peeking in through the windows with their telephoto lenses. Whether he liked it or not, he had to play the game.
He hid his anger and smiled at her, changing the subject and spending the rest of their luncheon discussing things like the weather and her favorite fashion designers. Not a topic he was well-versed in, but Carla didn’t seem to mind. She talked incessantly and Rock sighed a breath of relief when they finished eating and could leave.
“Let’s not make the paparazzi wait any longer,” he said and waved at the waiter for the bill. Then they left the restaurant side by side.
Just as he wanted to say goodbye, she turned around, slung her arms around his neck and kissed him with the passion of a woman newly-in-love.
“Good-by, tiger!” she said, her sexy voice carrying throughout the classy restaurant, and then left with a bounce in her step.
Rock slipped behind the wheel of his vehicle, burying his head in his hands. What would Vivian feel when she saw pictures of him and Carla kissing like lovebirds?
Chapter 15
It took all of Vivian’s effort, to shut Rock out of her mind and focus on her work. She couldn’t afford a single error in her transcription of the happenings at court.
During a ten minute recess called by the judge, she stood in front of the bathroom mirror and lectured herself. A crush on some random guy – he’s not random – couldn’t interfere with her work. It was imperative that she stay focused on what was being said and by whom, otherwise, she ran the risk of misrepresenting the facts. An error that could very well cost her job and potentially ruin the life of someone. Focus. Pay attention to who is speaking and record exactly what they say. You can do this.
Thirty minutes into the next segment, she puffed up with pride at her renewed focus and ability to stay on task. She was a professional, after all. Still, a sigh escaped her lips, when the judge suspended this case until another date.
She slipped out of the room and headed for the nearest exit. A bit of sun and fresh air would do wonders to her mood, before returning inside to report the next case. Vivian stormed down the marble flight of steps, taking two steps at a time, because she’d seen the ice cream truck parked on the other side of the street.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a man in her way and swerved to avoid crashing into him.
“Sorry,” she shouted a breathless apology, without stopping her pursuit of the ice cream truck.
“Wait,” a well-known deep voice said. Vivian stopped cold in her tracks and turned around to gasp at Rock.
“Trying to run me over again? It’s becoming a habit,” he joked, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.
Her own smile faltered as she observed his serious look. Something was terribly wrong.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered, the joy at seeing him all but gone.
“Hi. Do you have time to talk right now?”
Serious worry hit her gut. I bet he’s here to tell me this has all been a big mistake and he never wants to see me again. I totally messed up yesterday…
He looked at her, waiting for her answer, so she nodded and pointed to her left. There was a small private courtyard, designed for attorneys and clients to use, but it was blessedly vacant today.
Rock followed her and then looked at her with so much guilt, she almost doubled over. He’s going to tell me he already has a girlfriend.
“I have to tell you something you won’t like. Can you please listen to me and not make any judgments until I’m done.”
“Okay.” That sounded like really bad trouble.
“My manager was very upset when I told him about my broken ankle. Part of the reason the triathlon does so well at raising funds is because of my personal involvement. He’s just sure that without my participation we’ll lose sponsors. We might not even be able to continue construction of the rehab center.” Rock took a deep breath, pleading with his eyes for her to listen.
This is not what I thought he was going to say.
“Anyway, he’s convinced we need another big celebrity to participate, to help draw advertisers and donations.”
“That kind of makes sense.” Vivian was thoroughly confused. “You come here and scared the hell out of me to tell me this?”
“Well, no.” He scratched his beard. “It’s…look…I don’t know how to sugarcoat it.”
“I don’t need sugarcoating,” she said and tried a smile, but the queasiness in her stomach increased.
“It’s about the celebrity he found to sort of take my place.”
“They can’t be that bad.” Vivian smiled at him encouragingly.
“Yeah, they can.” Before she could say anything else, he continued, “But that’s not the part that has me upset…I met with her today for lunch…I had totally forgotten about the meeting until this morning when Tommy called to remind me.”
“Who’s Tommy?” Vivian asked, getting a bad feeling about what he was going to say next.
“My manager. Anyway, I met her for lunch and she came onto me in a big way. When we stepped out of the restaurant, she kissed me, knowing full well that there were paparazzi waiting for us.” Rock cast his eyes down.
Vivian felt like someone had punched her in the solar plexus. “You came here to tell me you’re kissing someone else? What for? You want my approval? Or you came here to say I was a mistake?” She barely kept herself upright and tears threatened to spill.
“I didn’t kiss her; she kissed me, and –” Rock ran a hand through his hair.
“You want me to believe that you met with a gorgeous woman, who all but threw herself at you, and kissed you against your will?” Vivian scoffed.
“That’s what happened. I came here to tell you before you saw it in the magazines,” he said, trying to mollify her.
Vivian shook her head. Why on earth did she have to deal with this shit? They weren’t exclusive, so he could do whatever he pleased. Including kissing other women. She turned away because he didn’t owe her any trite explanations and she didn’t want to listen to them.
“Please, hear me out…” His voice pleaded.
“Who is the woman?”
“Carla Dawson.”
“What
?” Vivian asked, the pain ripping right through her heart. “You have awful taste.”
“I know. Believe me. After today’s meeting, I know.”
Hearing him confirm her assessment left her speechless.
Rock continued, “Look, I was hoping she was young enough that she wasn’t going to be caught up in the Hollywood games, but she seems like she could have written the book.”
“I made it clear to her that this was only for publicity and that any interaction we have is strictly for business. For the charity, which, by the way, she couldn’t give a damn about. Her words, not mine.”
“She sounds like an entitled bitch.” Vivian squinted her eyes at him.
“And then some. But please, please, can you believe me? I really care for you and I would never cheat on you. She surprised me with the kiss; unfortunately right in front of a bunch of paparazzi. If you give me another chance, I’ll promise I won’t let her kiss me again.”
“Stop seeing her!”
“I can’t.” Discomfort oozed off of him in waves. “I have to do it. We need the publicity for the race. To raise the funds for the rehab center. Tommy, my manager, said it was the only way to get the donations we need.”
Vivian sighed, thinking about Preston and all of the problems he had encountered with the press in the past. As a billionaire, he was constantly being followed and hounded by one reporter or another. And the photographers that made their money off sneaking around and taking pictures of people were the worst kind of piranhas.
Chuck’s girlfriend Linda had also had her share of problems with the media. As the daughter of an A-list actress, Evangelina Ross, she’d often been the target of the paparazzi.
“Vivian, say something.” His dark brown eyes pleaded with her. He seemed to be honest, at least that’s what she read in his eyes. But she could be wrong. It could all be part of his game.
“This isn’t some game, is it?” she whispered. “I don’t like playing games.”
“Sweetheart, no. Never. I’ve never cheated in my life.” He took a tentative step toward her but stopped at the scowl she sent him. Her expression nearly ripped his heart out. His body stiffened and he fisted his hands at his sides to keep from reaching out.
“I believe you, but I really wish you wouldn’t see this Carla person again.”
“I have to. But it’s only for business, promise.” He wrapped one strong arm around her shoulders and she melted into him.
“Still, I don’t like that she kissed you.”
Rock squeezed her tight, relief flowing over him. At least she was going to remain open to the possibility of moving forward in spite of Carla. “Can I hope that’s because you want all my kisses saved for you?”
Vivian nodded and felt blood flushing her face.
“They are all yours. Only yours.” He demonstrated by kissing her, wiping away the last few moments and brightening up her day once more. “Thank you for believing in me.”
Vivian sighed and hugged him, resting her cheek on his chest, loving the way he made her feel. She basked in his presence for a moment more, and then looked up saying, “I need to get back inside.”
Rock nodded and then brushed her hair back, tucking it behind her ear. “Okay. I spoke to the construction site manager and have arranged to give you a tour of the rehab center tonight after work. Can I pick you up?”
“That sounds great.” Vivian smiled.
“Good.” Rock kissed her nose before he grabbed his crutches with both hands again and they walked side by side back to the marble flight of steps. He took her hand and led her back to the entrance from which she’d exited. “Have a good rest of the day. Think of me.”
As if I have the power to do anything else. It’s going to be a long afternoon at this rate.
Chapter 16
Rock used the afternoon to rest his ankle and clean out his inbox. Since he wasn’t training, he suddenly had plenty of time on his hands and he even started working on new promo material for the charity.
Just before five o’clock, he pulled up in front of the courthouse and saw her walking down the marble steps. As soon as she noticed his car, a bright smile appeared on her face and she dashed down the remaining steps, too fast for him to get out and hobble to the passenger door.
He stood in the no-parking zone, but that didn’t impede him from stealing a breathtaking kiss before starting the motor.
“How did the rest of your day go?” he asked.
“Nothing interesting. One petty theft, two traffic offences. How about you?” Vivian raised a brow at the no-parking sign in front of them.
“I did things I haven’t had the time for in years. Cleaning my inbox, working on a marketing strategy for the charity, sending personal invites to sponsors. That kind of stuff.”
“You know the saying: If you don’t have time, break a leg.” Vivian said, giggling, and then put her hand over her mouth. “Sorry, I didn’t mean…”
“It’s okay.” He thought for a while before saying, “I guess it’s true. I actually enjoyed not having to rush through my day. Because I’m much slower at doing things, I concentrate on what is important. Although I was stuck several times. Like when I wanted to grab a coffee from the kitchen and carry it to my office.”
“Why didn’t you ask your housekeeper to bring it?”
“It didn’t occur to me I could do that.” Rock chuckled.
“So what did you do? Drink your coffee in the kitchen?” Vivian asked with a smug grin.
“Come on! Do you really believe I give up that easily?”
“Given your track record, probably not,” Vivian scrunched her nose. It looked so cute, he resisted the urge to stop in the middle of the road and kiss her.
“I tried holding the mug in one hand and walking with only one crutch, but spilled most of the coffee even before reaching the kitchen door.” He chuckled at the memory, though it hadn’t been funny when it happened. “Then I made another coffee and poured it into one of those travel thermo-mugs and hooked the holder into my belt.”
“I would have liked to see that,” she said with another giggle while Rock exited the highway and took a left toward the rehab facility.
“By the way, I spoke to your friend, Linda.”
“You did?” Her voice sounded surprised – and annoyed.
“Yeah. She’s going to meet us at the construction site.”
“What? This must be some plot my family thought up to check you out.” She groaned.
Rock glanced over for a moment and saw her glaring daggers at some imaginary person. “I’m sorry. I should have asked you.”
“No. It’s not your fault. You couldn’t know. And Linda is really good at what she does. The patients are raving about her, sending her Christmas cards and such.”
“I have done some checking myself, and she has a good reputation in the industry,” Rock said.
The drive across town went quicker than he thought, and soon he glided the luxury car to a halt in front of a huge construction site. Rock recognized one of the two cars as the site manager’s truck. From the other one, exited a tall, thin woman with blonde hair, whose face looked surprisingly familiar. But Rock couldn’t quite put his finger to it.
While the women hugged one another, he retrieved both crutches from the back seat and then shook Linda’s hand.
They were prevented from saying anything else when his site manager arrived. Introductions were made and soon the foursome was walking around the partially finished building. By the end of the tour, Linda was already making plans to see how she might open up her own practice inside the clinic.
“Let me know what I can do to help. We don’t have anything even close to what you do coming in and I think it would be a huge asset to what we’re trying to accomplish,” Rock said to her.
“I’ll get back to you shortly.” Linda shook Rock’s hand, thanking him profusely.
“No hurry.”
Linda smiled and then turned to Vivian to say, “Can I give you a l
ift back?”
“No thanks. Rock will take me.”
Linda waited until Rock pretended to look somewhere else and then she winked at Vivian. “I see. Have a good night, you two.”
Rock had planned to take her to dinner, and if things worked out well for him, they would end up at his place. He was fantasizing about how he’d seduce her, while moving along at a snail’s pace behind a sea of other vehicles. Rush hour in L.A.
But as he entered the turn-off lane to the highway, traffic came to a complete standstill. Ten minutes later, with no movement or sign of movement in sight, he turned on the radio and he and Vivian listened as the radio announcer detailed what had caused gridlock. A multi-vehicle accident had closed the highway in both directions, and there was no timeframe being announced for when the roads would be opened again. People were urged to avoid the area and find other routes to get themselves home for the evening.
“This doesn’t sound good,” Vivian said, but Rock smiled and put his signal on. He rolled down his window and managed to maneuver the vehicle to the far left-hand lane, where he pulled a U-turn and headed them in the opposite direction.
“I’ve got this handled. Just sit back.” He grinned.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“My house.”
“Your house?”
“We can have dinner there and I can drive you home when the situation has resolved, if that’s okay with you?” He baited his breath for her answer.
“Sounds good.” Vivian smiled at him and settled back against the seat.
He snagged her hand and held it against his thigh, his mind working furiously as he planned for their arrival. The minute he parked the car, he made his way around the car and ushered her into the cool interior of the house. It had been an awfully hot day today, and the construction site had been full of dust.
“Where’s your housekeeper?” Vivian asked as they passed the pool house.
“Alexa doesn’t live here. She’s gone until tomorrow,” Rock answered, hoping she’d left enough food for he and Vivian.
Vivian nodded and followed him inside, looking longingly at the pool.