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"Hi, Uncle Director!"
I laughed and picked her up. "Uncle Director, huh? I kinda dig that."
She shrugged, her grin not totally unlike Tennyson's wry one. "Daddy says you're a—um, he used a bad word and great director and Julian is Uncle Piano Man 'cuz Daddy says he is great at that and—"
"And you need to breathe, Ivy," I chuckled.
"Oh." She giggled.
Sophie's assistant came over to us at that point and lured Ivy and Kayden away for snacks and a movie back at the hotel.
It wasn’t long after that Sophie reemerged from her bedroom with her phone in hand and an apologetic look on her face.
I folded my arms over my chest. "Mix-up?"
"Yeah…" She smiled sheepishly. "Sage's going all out. National magazine, huge spread, seven couples. You and Julian are one of them. The good news is it's for the December issue, so there's time if you want to back out." She paused. "If not, a journalist and a crew will be here the day after tomorrow."
It didn’t seem like a smart idea to back out if we'd eventually need some kind of publicity anyway, but I had to talk shit over with Julian first.
"It's a casual interview, Noah." She appeared to believe I was worried about being interviewed. Or maybe exposing Julian…? "This is a highlight, with a focus on your relationship. There won't be any interest in digging for sensitive information, and if there's any question you're not comfortable answering, you simply decline."
She was cute when she was being all reassuring and motherly. I grinned and kissed the top of her head. "I've been interviewed before, babe. Lemme talk to Julian and then I'll get back to you." I took a step back, and she nodded. "You know anything about the other couples?"
"Some from the music business, some from our industry." She shrugged. "I think one couple is polyamorous. One producer is into BDSM, and she's being interviewed with her submissive husband or something."
Unconventional love, eh?
"All right." I ran a hand over my head and scratched my neck. "For now, I gotta get back to work."
*
Julian was nervous, but he agreed to the interview without much hesitation, so two days after my talk to Sophie, he and I found ourselves at another hotel in Paris. The hotel's own bar, to be exact, and it had been cleared out for the interview.
The stylist wanted me in a suit, but that wasn’t me. I compromised and agreed to some designer slacks and a fitted pullover. Julian, on the other hand, looked like sex in dress pants, a snug shirt, and a skinny tie. The photographer tested the lighting as I stuck my feet into polished shoes and a makeup artist finished with the powder.
"I'd expected an interview over email or Skype," Julian admitted.
I smirked, and the stylist returned to me with a fancy watch. There was nothing wrong with my own, but product placement was a thing.
"If there hadn't been a photo shoot, it probably would've been," I said.
We were shown to the booth where we were supposed to sit, and the rustic feel of the place was hardly a coincidence. It looked almost like a British pub, and I supposed it set a more masculine tone.
I sat down, placing an arm along the back of the booth, and Julian got comfortable next to me. We'd talked about this all morning. I was somewhat familiar with this part of the job, but it had taken some coaching from Sophie—who was a pro—for Julian to know a bit more of what to expect.
Felicity, the journalist, knew what she was doing. As she took her seat across from us, an assistant brought us beers and snacks, and Felicity eased into a casual chat about Paris and the filming. It was evident her goal was to relax Julian, and it was working.
She hit the jackpot by mentioning museums. It got Julian going, and the interview as well the photo shoot began without him even knowing it. If the recorder on the table hadn't been on, I barely would've known, either.
"You're in the city of love," Felicity said with a smile. "Have you had any spare time in between filming for romance?"
I smiled and took a sip of my beer while Julian launched into the story of when we visited Sacré Coeur.
*
Our time together in Paris was easy to cover without many questions. It was memory after memory. Once we were past that, though, Julian took the back seat when Felicity asked about our family.
She cleared her throat and glanced briefly at her little notepad. "Noah, what was your first impression of Julian? He and his father came into your sister's life, and they quickly became a family. Were you ever the overprotective brother?" She winked.
Subtle way to put it out there that Julian and I weren't related. It made me smirk.
