AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her gaze cuts to mine, a shaky smile on her lips. “I thought I was on the Tate Ramsey team.”
Roger chuckles, letting go of her hand so he can point at her. “That right there? Absolute gold. You will win over anyone with that kind of attitude.”
“You’re laying it on a bit thick, Rog,” Simon warns him.
I move so I’m standing to Scarlett’s right, slinging my arm around her shoulders. “We are definitely a team.”
She stiffens beneath my arm, her entire body seemingly frozen, and I give her shoulder a gentle squeeze, trying to get her to relax. “Yes, we are.”
“Should you two have a ship name?” Roger’s gaze bounces back and forth between Scarlett and me. “Is that still done? I came up with one—Tartlet. Tate plus Scarlett equals Tartlet. Don’t you love it?”
I fucking hate it. Scarlett is frowning.
“That’s bloody awful, Roger.” Simon shakes his head. “Shall we sit down and get the process started? Hope you brought your signing hand, Scarlett. There are lots of pages where we need your initials and signature.”
“I’m ready.” She walks away from me, my arm falling to my side, and I watch her go, my gaze latching onto her long, shiny legs.
She seriously has great ones.
“The video you posted earlier was nothing short of brilliant,” Roger gushes as we all settle at the table, Scarlett’s lawyer sitting directly to her right while I sit across from her. “I fucking loved it.”
“Thank you. I filmed it yesterday. Thought I may as well embrace the situation, right?” She casts her gaze around the table, the worry on her face obvious. “I hope that was okay.”
“It’s more than okay. It’s fucking amazing. You got so many views.” Roger checks his phone, his expression one of pure concentration as he taps away at it. “Over seven hundred thousand views already.”
“Oh, wow.”
“Don’t act so shocked. You know what you’re doing.” Roger slaps the edge of the table. “This shit is so good! I’m excited. Aren’t you all excited?”
“Definitely excited,” I agree, scooting my chair closer to the table.
“Then act like it! You’re all so somber. Especially you.” Roger points at Scarlett’s attorney. “This isn’t a funeral.”
The lawyer sits up straighter, annoyance in his gaze. “I’m here to make sure you’re not taking advantage of my client.”
“She’s being well taken care of. Don’t worry,” Roger says breezily.
“Your client went a little off script, but nothing damaging,” Simon says. “If she keeps that up, it might be a problem.”
“A problem? I made that video in support of Tate, and you consider it a problem?” Scarlett’s cheeks flush a deep pink, and I know Simon just pissed her off. “I thought you would appreciate the video.”
“We do,” Simon adds hastily.
“We definitely do,” Roger says, his voice smooth as he speaks right over Simon. “We just need to make sure we’re all in agreement with everything that’s said publicly. This is a publicity machine, you see. And every move we’re about to make is carefully calculated. You need to do your part, Miss Lancaster, and then it should work without a hitch.”
“Hey.” Everyone glances over at me, even Scarlett’s attorney. “Could we have a minute? Alone? Just the two of us?”
“Of course.” Simon doesn’t even hesitate as he jumps to his feet, sending a meaningful look at Roger, who also reluctantly stands.
“I don’t think that’s nec—” starts Scarlett’s lawyer, but she rests her hand on his arm, and he immediately goes quiet.
“It’s okay. Give us a few minutes,” she murmurs.
Within seconds Simon’s got his hand around Scarlett’s lawyer’s elbow and is steering him out of the office, the door falling shut behind all of them.
When they’re gone, I rise to my feet and make my way around the table so I’m standing closer to where she sits. “They shouldn’t have done that.”
Confusion swirls in her dark eyes. “Done what?”
