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“And that’s Reed for you,” Kat says, her blue eyes twinkling. “And Josh, too. Both of those guys are so generous.”
“Why don’t they want Keane to know they helped him? Wouldn’t Keane want to know, so he could thank both of them for helping him out? If someone helped me with my career behind the scenes, I’d want to know about it, so I could thank them profusely.”
“Josh and Reed don’t want to take anything away from Keane. Especially Reed. He never wants the spotlight for himself. He loves pulling strings behind the scenes.”
Ping.
That soft cotton ball from earlier poofs softly against the back of my head again. A fuzzy idea is once again trying to sharpen and take root inside my brain. But before the amorphous thought crystallizes, Kat speaks again.
“And Keane is just another example on a long list of them. When Hannah first moved from Seattle to LA to be closer to her then-boyfriend, Henn, do you know what Reed did for her, simply because she was Henn’s girlfriend?”
“He helped her get a job?” I throw out.
Kat looks surprised. “Actually... yes. I was going to say Reed gave Hannah a smoking good deal on an apartment in one of his buildings. But, yes, Reed also helped Hannah get her current job, too. I guess he knew someone who knew someone, and that got her in the door for an interview. Oh! He also got Zander an interview with Big Barry, when Zander first moved to LA, too. That’s how Zander became Aloha’s personal bodyguard.” Kat grabs her club soda off the ledge and takes a long sip. “Seriously, if you’ve got Reed Rivers vouching for you, you can’t lose.”
“The Man with the Midas Touch,” I say.
“Exactly. But, see, most people don’t realize Reed’s golden touch extends to far more things than music. Oh! Maddy is another example. Reed brokered the distribution deal for one of her documentaries—the one she did with Aloha—and he also introduced her to one of his producing partners for her next project. And, boom, Maddy’s very next film, she wound up getting nominated for an Oscar!”
“Wow.”
“The same kind of thing happened with Isabel Randolph. Josh told me Reed brought Isabel to one of Josh’s parties, way before she was famous. Josh said Reed introduced her as a ‘rising star’ and ‘one to watch’... and, well, you know how that turned out. I’m telling you, Reed is never wrong about spotting talent. He can spot it better than anyone.”
I force a smile, but my stomach is tight.
“Oh, crap,” Kat says. “I did it again, didn’t I? Put my foot in my mouth. Georgina, Reed and Isabel are ancient news. You have nothing to worry about there. I don’t know if this is public knowledge yet, so don’t post about this, but she’s getting married. In fact, Josh said she’s bringing her fiancé to the party. And, regardless, Reed has no interest in her. Josh says Isabel is the one who’s always carried a torch for Reed. Not the other way around. So, now that she’s getting married, I guess that’s that, right?”
Jesus Christ. Does everyone at this little pre-party know I’m having sex with Reed? Do the three guys of 22 Goats, who I’ll be interviewing, know? Do they think I got this job, thanks to Reed pulling strings for me behind the scenes, the same way he did for Keane and Zander and Hannah?
Ping.
That cotton ball knocks me in the back of the head again... Only this time, it’s a tiny pebble. But before another pebble hits, and the thought takes shape, a hurtling body cannonballs into the pool, immediately to my left, dousing Kat and me with a virtual tsunami that makes us squeal.
I didn’t see the cannonballer, but I’m instantly assuming it had to be Keane Morgan, or maybe his best friend, Zander, since those two have been goofing around like kids in the pool for the past twenty minutes. But, to my shock, it’s Reed who suddenly breaks the surface of the water next to me, like a great white shark breaching the ocean’s surface to nab a frightened seal in its gaping mouth. Laughing at my shocked reaction, Reed swoops me into his arms and plants an enthusiastic kiss on my mouth, right in front of his entire group of friends.
For a split-second, I’m aggravated. I’ve been adamant with Reed that I don’t want anyone knowing we’re sleeping together. But then, I remember Kat almost certainly already knows about us, which means Josh and everyone else probably does, too.
And just that fast, I realize I’m feeling electrified, not upset, that Reed wants the people closest to him to know about us. In fact, I couldn’t be happier about it. With a swooning sigh, I wrap my legs around Reed’s waist and my arms around his neck and kiss the hell out of my gorgeous man, so everyone he cares about can plainly see I’m every bit as attracted to him, as he is to me.
