“Sounds like a plan.”
“The crowds really seem to love Harlow,” he says as we enter the bar, already crowded with people who look like they are grabbing a drink before they head out to enjoy the resort’s extravagant pool area.
“So it seems,” I murmur, still trying to figure out what this fishing expedition is about.
“And how are you with that?”
“With what? People loving her?”
“Mm-hmm. It must be hard for a man like you to share the spotlight when you’re used to being the one it shines on.”
I angle my head and consider his comment. “Not hard, no. She’s going to shine whether she’s in the spotlight or not. She’s just that kind of person.”
“Hmm.”
Robert falls quiet and fuck if his silence isn’t an indicator that something is wrong. So I wait him out. You never show your cards unless you have to.
He sighs. We get our drinks and still he’s silent. Then he stares at me long and hard. “You know, sometimes travelling together can test a relationship.”
I take my time with my nod. “Definitely.”
“It makes you fight when normally you wouldn’t. Teaches you what each other’s pet peeves are and how to use them to irritate the other. Allows you to have great make-up sex.”
I smile tightly. “What are you getting at, mate?”
He leans back in his chair and purses his lips. “I’m just trying to make sense of something I saw today.”
“Okay . . .”
“I’m trying to figure out if I’m being played by you, if you’re who you purport yourself to be . . . or if you’re just a down right sleazy son of a bitch.”
With our eyes locked on one another, I take my time lifting my bottle of beer to my lips and then setting it back down before I speak. I need a minute to try and figure out what his angle is. “I’m assuming you’re going to fill me in on what you’re talking about.”
“When I was checking into the hotel earlier before my first meeting, there was a mix-up with my reservation. Since we’re holding the event here, I used the business account and lo and behold, they told me I’d already checked into my room. That one Harlow Nicks had taken it last night.”
“That’s a mix up. I called this morning to put my card on it and—”
“So she stayed in the hotel and you stayed in the coach? The very coach that I was walking out to this morning to discuss some things with you when a very gorgeous woman just happened to be leaving it? One, I might add, that wasn’t Harlow.”
“Robert—”
“No.” He holds his hand up to cut me off and prevent me from explaining. “Don’t dig the hole, Zane. Give me the respect I deserve by not giving me some bullshit excuse.”
My temper roils beneath the surface. “It’s not what you think,” I say, thinking of the knock I got on the door this morning from one of the bar bunnies from last night.
“Can I help you?”
“Do you remember me from last night? From the bar? Wow, this is an incredible bus.” I didn’t respond but took in the perfectly done make-up and hair and already knew she was lying through her teeth. “I partied all night and now . . . now my phone is dead. I was wondering if maybe I could trouble you, you know, to get off my feet for a few seconds and use your cell to call a cab.”
She batted her lashes, stuck her tits out as far as possible, and tried to do the let-me-touch-your-arm-so-you-know-I-really-like-you routine. I’ve seen it a million times and it’s old and desperate.
“I’m not interested, but there’s a perfectly good hotel you just made yourself look pretty in at your back. You should go back there and ask them to use their courtesy phone.”
“C’mon, I’m just looking for a good time.” She tried to step into the tour bus but I just stood there, her body brushing against mine, the perfume she drowned herself in filling my nose.
“And I’m not.”
Just my fucking luck Robert happened to walk up when she was walking away.
“Robert. You’re being ridiculous. It wasn’t what you think it was.”
“All I know is that I have the two of you picture perfect on stage. Almost too perfect really. You’re selling the brand. You’re doing the song and dance . . . but for such a high profile couple, there’s nothing else out there. No midnight dinners at In and Out. No pictures of you kissing in a bar somewhere. Nothing.”
“I wasn’t aware that part of your marketing plan was to exploit my relationship outside of SoulM8’s canned promotion.”
“That’s not what I implied.”
“Like hell it is.” Now I’m pissed. No one tells me what to do, how to do it, least of all, Robert. Fuck yes, I need his connections to help to win this goddamn bet but I don’t need him looking over my shoulder every step of the way. “You may be a partner in this venture, Robert, but you don’t get to tell me how to run my relationship. You changed shit up already once when I didn’t want to.”