Tempted

by Anthony, Alexandra

  “You look beautiful without the make-up, Savannah,” Nick said. He sat against the edge of his desk and pushed his sleeves up over his strong forearms. “I hope Julia didn’t scare you off. She’s a ball of energy and tends to be a little over zealous at times. She tends to take liberties and I always let her slide. She’s the closest thing I have to a mother.”

  “I don’t scare that easily. I just woke up in a strange bed. I’ll get my bearings,” I assured him. His unexpected compliment didn’t go unnoticed. It made me a little self-conscious that he was so observant.

  Nick nodded and rose to his full height. He looked too delicious for words. Dressed in a tight gray sweater and faded, slightly worn in the knee jeans, it was difficult for me to concentrate. Again, I found myself wondering how I was going to get any work accomplished if he was going to look this good everyday.

  “I hope you feel like going out. I figured we needed to get to know each other and I’d help your friend out in the process. I’ll take you out to lunch and we can pick up supplies while we’re out. But first, sit down. Let’s talk for a bit.”

  I started to sit down when I heard a knock on the door again. Nick’s dark eyes went skyward and he sighed heavily. “Come in, Julia.”

  She stuck her head in the door. “Mr. Nick, there’s an issue I need to discuss with you.”

  Nick nodded and sauntered towards the door. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Make yourself comfortable.”

  He left the room and my eyes took in the spacious, airy room. One wall was completely covered in books, the opposite wall lined with various guitars, both acoustic and electric. Curiosity won out and I headed towards the wall of books first. They were in alphabetical order by author and the subject matter was surprising. The titles varied from various religions: Buddhism, Christianity and Judaism were a few of the topics covered. I noted a healthy offering of self-help books, books on legends, conspiracy theories, mythical creatures and several books on genealogy. A red flag flew up. Either he was one of those celebrities that were on a constant mission to ‘find himself’ or he was extremely anal. Possibly both.

  Who was this man?

  I’d been so wrapped up in the scrutinizing the books that I hadn’t heard him return. His hand on my arm caused me to jump and gasp in surprise for the second time. I spun to face him, my pulse racing.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, Savannah. I see you’ve found my books. I started collecting them years ago. I can’t bear to let any of them go.” Nick squeezed my arm softly and led me back to the chair in front of his desk. “Let me tell you what I expect from you and then you can ask me any questions you have.”

  Instead of sitting behind the desk, he chose to sit in the chair beside of me. He lounged back in the black leather chair, stretching his long legs out in front of him. “You can come and go as you please. You’ll be dealing with Elliott and my PR rep, Isabelle Kelley. She’s a pro at orchestrating PR opportunities, but she’s a fucking nightmare, so heads up. I’ll need you to plan my day-to-day functions, prepare my calendar and keep me on track. But most of all, I want you to feel comfortable here.”

  I’d inadvertently cringed at hearing Isabelle Kelley’s name mentioned. She was notorious in Hollywood. As far as handling public relations, she was a master at the game of smoke and mirrors. She could turn a pile of shit into gold. She could also single-handedly demolish a career faster than you could blink an eye. She’d been key in having my previous employer’s extra-curricular activities revealed to every media outlet possible when she was representing a rival musician. Her services didn’t come cheap either. Nick was apparently loaded.

  He chuckled at my negative response to her name. “I take it you’re familiar with Isabelle from your reaction?”

  “Yes, unfortunately. It sounds easy enough, Nick. I’m not a novice at this. I grew up here and I know how things work. My father is a well-known divorce attorney. He’s represented most of the A-List celebrities. Doing this is like second nature for me,” I replied brusquely. I was used to being treated like I was just another bubble headed blond. Obviously Nick looked at me the same way.

  Nick ran his long fingers through his hair and shook his head. “Jesus, I’ve insulted you again. I just keep digging a deeper hole with you. I didn’t mean to sound like you couldn’t handle it. I’m not fucking good at idle chit chat. My psychologist will have a field day with this.”

  My ears perked up at his mention of a psychologist. I wisely said nothing, only watched him raptly, waiting for him to continue.

  Noticing my interest, he laughed softly to himself and rubbed his palms over his thighs. “Yes, I see a psychologist. I bet you’re probably wondering why you decided to take this job, right? I promise, I’ll do better. I won’t constantly stick my foot in my mouth.”

  “I should apologize. I didn’t mean to get an attitude. I’m just used to being looked at like I’m just another dumb blond.” I sighed and picked at my fingernails, quickly switching gears. “How did your previous assistant handle things?”

  Nick cracked his neck from side to side and his face twisted into a grimace. He stood up and retrieved a notebook from the desk, placing it on my lap. “This is the part I was dreading. Julia was handling things for me. She has…family issues that are taking up her time. She’s having problems with her youngest son. He’s having difficulty adjusting. He seems to take after her older son, Ian.”

  A-ha! That’s why Julia looked so familiar to me. She was the bodyguard’s mother! I put my coffee cup on his desk and glared at the notebook in my lap. He was handling his day-to-day affairs out of a steno notebook pad? How had he managed to make it to any appointment on time?

  “This is what you used to handle your schedule?” I waved the ragged notebook between us. “You used a steno notebook?”

  Nick puffed his chest and his face took on a look of defiance. “It worked. Obviously I need more than that or you wouldn’t be sitting here.”

  “Obviously.” I flipped through the pages. It would take days for me to make heads or tails out of the numerous phone numbers scrawled on the cover and the various schedules Julia had hastily jotted down. “You realize this is a clusterfuck, right?”

  Nick snickered dryly. “Welcome to my world, Savannah.” He relaxed back in the chair and rubbed his chin as his dark eyes sparkled. “Call Siobhan. Tell her we’ll be at The Grove around noon today. Tell her to have her photographers ready.”

  “You want me to call Siobhan?” I repeated woodenly. If he was planning a public outing, I knew this would likely involve me being photographed with him.

  He leaned forward and rubbed my knee. Once again, I felt that magnetic pull to him through the denim of my jeans. “Yes. We have errands to run and I promised you lunch.”

  Nick handed me his cell phone. I stared at it until I felt his fingers nudge my knee again. Sighing, I grabbed it and dialed Siobhan’s number.

  I didn’t even say hello to her when she answered. My voice came out as a squeak. “We’ll be at The Grove at noon today. Nick said to give you the heads up.”

  I pressed ‘end’ on the phone and passed it back to him. “Happy?”

  “Extremely. Grab your things. We have a date to keep.”

  ***

  We made it to The Grove in Los Angeles from Malibu in record time, more than likely due to the speed Nick chose to drive. Afraid to look at the speedometer, I stared straight ahead, holding on to my seat belt with an iron like grip. I felt his eyes on me a few times, but he said nothing as we sped down the highway in his Ferrari.

  When we’d walked to his garage, I’d eyed the car appreciatively. It looked as if metal and leather had merged and had an expensive baby. He’d watched me with obvious amusement as he opened the door for me.

  “It’s a Ferrari F12berlinetta. Wanna drive?” He dangled the keys in front of me seductively, waggling his eyebrows.

  “No way. Knowing my luck I’d wreck it. It’s your baby. You drive.” I swung my legs in the car
and pulled the door closed.

  I’d heard his dry laughter as he walked around the car and slid in beside of me. I looked at him nervously and shoved my hair behind my ear.

  “Savannah? Hello. Are you ready for this?”

  Nick’s voice brought me out of my memory. Taking in a deep breath, I adjusted my sunglasses in the visor mirror. “As ready as I’ll ever be. The big question is are you ready?”

  He scowled and shrugged his broad shoulders. “Not really. But this is a good thing. Ian will be tailing us while we’re out. You won’t even know he’s there, but that’s why he’s good at his job. Let’s do this thing.”

  We both drew in a heavy breath at the same time. It broke the tension and we both laughed. It seems we both had the same opinion of the paparazzi.

  I’d no sooner than closed the door to the car and joined Nick when the paparazzi converged on us in a fast moving mob. They snapped photo after photo, the flashes nearly blinding me, even in the sunlight. Their rapid-fire questions rang out, so fast I couldn’t make out who was asking or from what direction they were coming from.

  “Nick? Is this your girlfriend?”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Are you dating? Is it serious?”

  Nick grabbed my hand and pulled me along. I shot an anxious look up at him and his answering smile of support bolstered me, offering me temporary strength to ignore the cameras and the prying questions. They followed behind us, snapping away. One photographer finally recognized me.

  “It’s Savannah Wood! Savannah, are you dating Nick Hart?”

  Nick dropped my hand and wrapped his arm around me protectively, steering us through the relentless swarm of photographers.

  “How long have you been seeing each other?”

  I was never so happy to see the front door of the Apple Store. Nick had called ahead and the store manager was waiting for us. He waved off the photographers and escorted us inside the busy store.

  “It’ll be on every social site in the matter of 20 minutes that we’re dating you know. Jesus,” I muttered under my breath as Nick perused the various laptops.

  He shot me a look out of the corner of his eye. “I don’t give a fuck what they say. So what if they say we’re dating? It could be worse, right?”

  Now it was me that had stuck my foot in my mouth. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way, Nick. I don’t know what your personal situation is…”

  “Hold that thought.” He interrupted me and motioned to the store manager. He pointed out the laptop he wanted and wandered off to the iPhones. He gestured to the newest model and nodded to the manager, handing him a black American Express card. He leaned against the slick glass display table and smiled deviously. “I don’t have a situation. I may have a personal agenda, but it’s not entirely up to me.”

  I stepped closer and bent over the shiny glass table across from him. “The mysterious Nick Hart has an agenda? Stop the press. Who’s the lucky girl?”

  He rolled his chocolate brown eyes to the ceiling. “Don’t be naïve. You know damn well who’s on my list. I just need to convince you to take a chance.”

  I gulped and tapped my fingernails against the glass. “Nick, I don’t date my bosses. If things go bad, so does the job.”

  He put his sunglasses back on, shielding his eyes from me. He didn’t seem convinced. “We’ll see.”

  The manager hurried towards us with a bag that held the computer and phone. The manager handed Nick back his credit card and Nick scrawled his signature on the receipt. He glanced out the window of the store. “It appears our fan club from earlier is gone. Lunch?”

  I managed a feeble smile. “Sure.”

  “Excellent.” Nick led me out of the store and we walked a short distance to The Fat Cow. The hostess immediately recognized Nick and led us to a spacious booth versus one of the communal tables. I glanced through the menu, quickly reading through the choices. I’d just closed it when the waiter approached.

  “I’ll have the Organic Salmon and ice water.”

  “Just a Boddington’s for me.” Nick pushed his menu aside and fiddled with his fork.

  I frowned and crossed my legs under the table. “You aren’t eating?”

  He smiled wanly as his eyes met mine. “I’m on a special diet. I have a lot of food allergies.”

  Julia’s words about a medical delivery once a week floated through my mind. I’d looked at Nick a lot, but this time I truly focused on him. He looked healthy. His skin, while pale, almost seemed to glow. His black hair was shiny, his brown eyes sparkling and perfectly clear. He didn’t seem like he could be ill. Maybe it was something as simple as severe allergies.

  “We didn’t have to stop for lunch. I had no idea,” I gushed. Unconsciously, I reached across the table and grasped his hand. When I realized what I had done, I attempted to pull my hand away. Nick was faster than me and held on tightly, rubbing his thumb over the top of my hand.

  “This is nice, Savannah. According to CMN, we’re probably house hunting and planning a million dollar wedding.”

  His cool fingers danced across my skin. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy his touch. In fact, I enjoyed it a little too much for my liking. “You’re probably right. If they don’t have facts, they make it up. I can attest to that,” I grumbled. I sipped my water and met his gaze across the table.

  “I hate to bring up a sore subject, but what happened with Clark Cline? I remember seeing the ads at the time. You were beautiful…I mean you’re still beautiful…” His fingers combed through his hair and gave me a sheepish grin. “You...you do something to me. I can’t seem to get it right with you.”

  I laughed quietly and inhaled deeply. “Do you want the long or short version?”

  He flashed me a dimpled smile that could melt the hardest of hearts. “Tell me the version you feel comfortable telling me. That’s a good place to start.”

  “My mother and father had just divorced. I was 15 and my mother dearest thought it would be fun to live vicariously through me. She pushed me into modeling and I landed a contract with Cline. At the time, I wasn’t comfortable with it, but I was tied into a contract.” I hesitated and he squeezed my hand softly, urging me to continue. “When the photos were released, children’s advocate groups said it looked like child pornography. I was thrown into the middle of a controversy I didn’t want or ask for. And the media was relentless. I’ve been there.”

  The waiter approached and placed Nick’s beer down in front of him with a glass. His hand curled around the can and he slowly poured it into the tall frosty mug. He ran his index finger over the rim, deep in thought.

  “Fuck. No wonder you were like a deer in the headlights today. I didn’t think about what you went through.” He shook his head and glanced down at the table. He looked up at me through his eyelashes. “I take it you aren’t close to your mother?”

  I shook my head. “No. I went to live with my father and haven’t spoken to her in nearly eight years. She blames me for the media attacking her.” I shrugged and spread my napkin across my lap. “Enough about me. Tell me about you.”

  Nick leaned back in the booth and stretched his arm along the curved back of the leather booth. “What you see is what you get, love. I’m rather boring. I write songs, I sing and I go home.”

  Crossing my legs, I shifted my weight and propped my chin in the palm of my hand. “C’mon. We both know there’s more to Nick Hart than that. Even I know that much. Tell me something about yourself no one knows.”

  Both of his black eyebrows raised and he quickly downed half of his beer. “I don’t think you’re ready to hear my secrets, Savannah.”

  “Try me.”

  A heavy silence hung between us. The din of the restaurant buzzed around us and I could see the turmoil in his dark eyes.

  “I was rebellious when I was younger. I didn’t want to listen to anybody and spent many years out of control. Music became my outlet when I decided to seclude myself from the world. I went through a dark
period.” His eyes narrowed as he rubbed water circles from his glass over the wood of the table. “Once I came to grips with who I was, it was easier. I found myself again and here I am.”

  Once again, the waiter approached the table with my food. I thanked him and picked up my fork, studying Nick’s expression. He wasn’t focused on me, or his drink for that matter. His mind was elsewhere. I could see it by the blankness of his stare as he gazed at the wall of the restaurant.

  “Nick?” I murmured softly. I wanted to pull him back to the present with me.

  He shook himself, a haunted look marring his handsome face. “I don’t like to talk about my past. It sucks me back in, takes me where I don’t want to go. With the exception of Julia and Malcolm, I’m on my own. I prefer to not attach myself to anyone. That makes this situation extraordinarily difficult for me.”

  “This situation?” I echoed. I picked at my salmon, glancing between Nick and my plate.

  “Yeah. I like you, Savannah. That’s not news. I know you have your reservations and your moral code about working relationships. I can appreciate that. I don’t understand it, but I respect it. But here’s the crux of my problem. I don’t have the same moral code. I’ve made it a habit to avoid women, yet I’m sitting here with you. I’m not going to give up on what I want, Savannah. I don’t care if it takes two weeks or two years. I’m going to keep trying just like you’re going to keep resisting. The cycle will continue until one of us backs down.”

  I admired his cockiness and arrogance. He managed to pull both off effortlessly. “Nick, I’m stubborn. I’m sure it won’t matter what I say, but I don’t plan on caving in.”

  If only my resolve had the same strength as my words. He was already worming his way into my life. After spending the afternoon with him, many of my earlier preconceived notions about Nick went flying out the window. Seeing him with Julia, watching his protective nature with the photographers and his pain made him seem more human…and less like the untouchable Nick Hart the public saw.

  “Then it’s a challenge. I accept.” Nick picked up his glass and toasted me. He downed his beer and slammed the mug back on the table, his eyes glittering with renewed vitality.