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The woman hangs up and folds her hands in front of her. "I'm sorry. Brittany doesn't answer. Let me contact one of her coworkers to see if she's in a meeting." She picks her phone back up and dials a number. "Romeo, it's Ruby. I have a gentleman at my desk wanting to see Brittany. I called her office, but she didn't answer. Is she in a meeting?" The woman pauses as she listens, then whispers, "Dane Evans," as if Dane can't hear her. She hangs up and turns to Dane. "Someone will be with you shortly." Her gaze shifts to the side door.
Now even more uncomfortable, Dane is about to ask her whether Brittany is there or not when the door flies open, and a dark-haired gentleman in brown slacks and a peach dress shirt appears.
"It's about time you showed up." The man wags his finger at Dane as he scolds him. "Brittany has been a complete mess since she got back. She thinks you want nothing to do with her. You could have contacted her days ago, which would have kept her from walking around here feeling so miserable."
"Wait. Who are you?" Dane says, his head spinning.
"Romeo. I'm a good friend of Brittany's and someone who cares a great deal about her. Now follow me. We need to talk." Romeo spins around with a swish of his hip and goes to the side door. He holds it open. "Well, are you coming?"
At a loss for words, Dane looks over at Ruby. She shrugs a shoulder, and he can see a smidgen of a smirk on her lips. He flips his attention back to Romeo.
"Hold on. I don't know you, so I have no idea what we need to talk about. I only want to know if Brittany is here, and if so, I'd like to talk to her."
Romeo rolls his eyes. "Do you care about Brittany?"
"Of course I do. That's why I'm here."
"Then I suggest you follow me. I'm trying to help you."
Dane lets out a low growl. Romeo has him so frustrated he's about to snap.
"I can see why Brittany likes you already," Romeo says with a grin. "To be fair, I should explain. Brittany is not here and won't be back for the remainder of the day. She had an emergency and had to go home and has a function to attend this evening. Brittany told me what happened on her trip, and I know how hurt and confused she is. So I can offer my help or not. Your choice."
Dane's eyes narrow. "What kind of emergency did she have? Something didn't happen to her, did it?"
"She's fine. She was giving a presentation and dropped the remote clicker for the laptop. In typical Brittany fashion, she bent to pick it up and ripped the seam of her pants. She left so she wouldn't flash everyone in the office."
Dane stares at Romeo for a few seconds and then shakes his head as he grins. "I swear, the craziest stuff always happens to that woman." He can imagine the look on Brittany's face when she realizes her rear is hanging out.
Romeo chuckles, seemingly egged on by Dane's grin. "Ripped pants are nothing compared to some of the other things she's done, like giving a presentation to the wrong meeting and having her heel break while running down some stairs only to crash into our city's mayor during his news conference. As I'm sure you know, life around Brittany is colorful and unpredictable, not to mention hilarious."
Dane's stress slowly eases as he pictures her crazy mishaps, his chest shaking with laughter.
Romeo joins in the merriment. Then his fingers shoot to his cheekbones. "Stop, stop, stop. You'll make me wrinkle."
Dane rubs his forehead, trying not to lose it all over again at the ridiculous image of Romeo holding his face. "Does that even work?"
"Supposedly. And it's better than looking like a prune, so don't get too entertained at my expense. Now, follow me. We have Brittany to discuss."
This time, Dane follows. After rounding a corner, they reach a sizable workspace. Romeo sits at the desk and motions Dane to take a seat in one of the chairs. He does so, wondering what the hell he just got himself into. He's about to ask Romeo how he plans to help when the door across from them opens, and twowomen dressed in power suits step into the corridor. They halt when they see Dane.
"Ladies, may I introduce Dane Evans?" Romeo says.
The tall red-haired woman on the left cocks her head at him as she purses her lips and stares.
The brunette on the right seems to smirk. "How interesting. I'm Katherine Gates, Brittany's boss. Is there something we can do for you, Mr. Evans?"
"He came to see Brittany, but she left," Romeo interjects.
"Of course she did." Katherine waves her hand. "We couldn't have her walking around in a pair of torn pants."
The redhead takes a step closer. "I'm Natalia Bergen, the magazine's editor-in-chief." Her voice has an edginess, and her expression appears to be a mixture of curiosity and dislike. "Are you aware you cost Brittany a promotion?"
"Uh, excuse me? Besides that question being grossly unfair, I didn't come here to have you chastise me. And to set the record straight, Brittany and I metbefore the cruise, and neither of us knew who the other was. I'm sure she explained that to you."
"She did, and it doesn't change what happened. And I am not chastising you. I am simply pointing out there were negative consequences to your and Brittany's actions. One is that we spent time and money on a story that could no longer come to fruition. So tell me again, Mr. Evans, why are you here?"
"He's trying to win Brittany back. She has no idea he's in New York," Romeo says conspiratorially.
