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“Costello Public Relations,” she answered. “How may I direct your call?”
“Melanie? Is that you?” Adam’s warm, familiar voice did peculiar things, sending both excitement and nervousness pumping through her veins. “I hope your receptionist is out on a coffee run. The boss should never answer her own phone.”
“I don’t mind it every now and then.” How she hated hemming her answers. “Did you lose my cell number?”
“I guess I just pressed the number for your office. Would you prefer I call your cell?”
“I want to make sure you can reach me.”
“I take it you spoke to my dad?”
“Yes. About an hour ago.” She wondered whether she should let him know that his dad had essentially asked whether or not they’d slept together. Surely it wouldn’t make Adam feel better about their father-son relationship to know that the distrust when it came to that topic was so deeply ingrained.
“I told him about Julia.”
“So I heard. He’s very excited.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I suppose I should’ve warned you. He’s thrilled by the prospect of me spending time with Julia. Don’t worry, though. I gave credit where credit was due. It’s all your brilliant idea.”
I’m a veritable mastermind. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“I wanted to let you know that I’ve worked everything out with Julia. We had coffee this morning.”
“Instead of dinner tonight?” Apparently he just couldn’t wait to start spending time with her.
“No. We’re still having dinner. That’s why I’m calling. I wanted to let you know where we’ll be going and what time we’ll be there.”
“Oh. I see.” She steeled herself. This was going to be her reality for the next several weeks, whether she liked it or not. Best to get used to it now.
“That’s how this works, right?”
She shook her head to extricate herself from unpleasant thoughts. “Yes. That’s right.” She grabbed a pen. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”
“We’ll be at Milano. Reservations are for eight.”
Only the most romantic restaurant in the city. “And Julia’s publicist is okay with this?”
“Yes. Julia doesn’t have another movie coming out for over a year. She’ll do anything to stay in the papers, just so producers and directors don’t forget about her. She’s going to be thirty soon. That’s ancient for an actress.”
And yet she’s still absolutely stunning. “Okay, then. I’ll leak this to a few photographers.”
“Great. Thanks, Melanie.”
“And Adam, please don’t...” Her voice cracked, breaking before the words she really wanted to say, which were “do this.” “Please don’t flip off any photographers.”
“Don’t you trust me to do the right thing?”
At this point, the person she didn’t trust was herself. Her miracle fix for dazzling Roger Langford while making Adam less of a temptation was burning a hole through her stomach. Every time she thought about it, which was every moment since she’d told Adam her idea, it made her uneasy. Something about it was wrong, and she had an inkling as to what it was, but it was no fun to go there. If money and career were extraneous factors rather than center stage, she never would’ve asked Adam to spend more time with another woman. Focus on the work. “It’s just a reminder.”
Melanie hung up the phone and sat back in her chair, rubbing her now-throbbing forehead. If she was so brilliant, why did she feel like the biggest dummy on the planet?
* * *
Adam tapped away at his laptop, trying to fully express his ideas for a new app he wanted his development team to explore, but he was writing in circles. He dropped his elbows onto the desk and ran his hand through his hair. This entire workday had been a waste. He couldn’t get his mind off Melanie.
How was he going to make the Julia thing appear real, and if he did, how would that impact his relationship with Melanie? His ego had been bruised in the mountains, but now that he’d had a chance to heal, he had to admire her tenacity, her devotion to doing her job well and aboveboard.
His assistant, Mia, leaned into the doorway of his office. “It’s six thirty, Mr. Langford. You’re supposed to be picking up Ms. Keys at seven and your car is waiting outside. With traffic, you’ll be cutting it close.”
“Thanks. Guess I’d better change.” And I need a drink before my first public outing with Julia.
Adam closed the door to the private bathroom in his office and changed into a fresh shirt. He grabbed his matching suit coat from its hanger on the back of the door, and put on a black-and-gray-striped tie. Here goes nothing.
