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“John said he’d be by later today with an update. She’s claiming that you’ve ruined her livelihood and wants to sue for some kind of compensation. It all seems so flimsy. But who really knows. John and his PR team are launching some massive offensive. I’m guessing your sit-down with Kasey Belmont is supposed to be the final nail in her coffin.”
“I’m not looking forward to that interview.”
“It will be fine.”
They finished lunch and Reese tackled product invoices. Their small accounting department took care of it all, but she liked to check in, see what their costs were, and what they were selling to retailers. She was reviewing online sales when John and Marnie breezed into her office with Daria dutifully following behind. Reese closed the lid of her laptop and watched John’s serious expression for any idea of what was to come.
“How is it going?” Reese asked.
“It could be worse. It seems the final major stumbling block in this whole Jennifer debacle is her idiot lawyer. He clearly craves the limelight, and getting Jennifer as a client seems to have made his dream come true. Despite all the evidence we’ve obtained from your email address and text messages from your old phone, he insists on making this public. That means we’ve reached a crossroads.”
Reese took in a deep breath. She knew she wasn’t going to like what came next. “Go on.”
“He wants to ride this out as long as possible, and that’s not good news for us. Now if we go on the attack, she may be looked at sympathetically, so this has become one of those damned if you do, damned if you don’t situations. The consensus is to stay the course, continue to show you in a positive light, and when the time is right, we do the interview with Kasey Belmont. We’re still going to have to deal with Josh Semple, but we’ll try to neutralize him somehow.”
“I was hoping this would be over soon,” Reese said with a groan.
“So were we. In the meantime, keep up positive appearances. I know Grady does a lot of charitable work, and since your favorite charities are a little leery of having you around, I’m going to see if Grady’s organizations are okay with having you attend a function.”
The way he said it made her sound like a pariah. “I don’t want them to feel like they are obligated to.”
“It’s worth a chat.”
“And my plus-size launch? Is that back on the calendar?”
“Not yet. We want to feel out public opinion first.”
“We are sitting on thousands and thousands of dead stock. It should already be on sales floors. John, if we don’t get this out soon, it could break me.”
He nodded grimly. “I know. I will have an answer for you by the end of the week.”
The thought of having to dump the stock to liquidators for pennies on the dollar made her stomach flip-flop. It would most certainly ruin her business.
John droned on about a few loose ends, before rising and leaving as fast as he’d come. Maybe sensing Reese’s mood, Daria stayed behind when John and Marnie were gone.
“It will be fine,” she said again. “You are going to overcome this. You’re a fighter, and you’ll fight your way through this.”
“I hope so. But why do I feel like I’m about to lose everything?”
* * *
Reese had forgotten about rush hour. As downtown traffic limped along, she called Cam on her car’s speakerphone. He’d called her earlier that afternoon, but she’d been in the meeting with John and Marnie.
“Long time no chat. How are you doing?” he said in his always cheerful voice.
“It’s only been a few days.”
“I know, but I figured you’d get bored with the hockey hunk and start texting me. You must have had fun.”
“It was relaxing, and I did have some fun.”
Cam was silent for a moment. “What happened there?”
Even over the phone, he could read her perfectly. They’d always been so finely in tune with one another, a trait that kept them from any on-ice accidents. But spending all that time together had also given them the ability to know each other better than anyone else in their lives.
“I had sex with him.”
Cam hooted all the way from London. “I knew he crazy about you. And I figured the feelings were mutual. So now what?”
