“I don’t know them, and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. I don’t want to get anybody fired.” She plopped down into the chair across from his desk. “Everything’s going wrong.”
“Welcome to my world,” Red chuckled as he made two drinks at the bar. “Extra dry Martini,” he said carrying both glasses over and handing one off to her.
“I can’t drink during a workday,” she complained, but took it anyway.
“This isn’t just any workday.”
“True.” She sipped it and made a face. “Yuck.”
“Keep drinking, you’ll get used to it,” he said, taking a sip of his own and smacking his lips contentedly. “In the old days, ad men drank about ten of these a day and nobody blinked. Different times.”
“You weren’t an ad man during those times.”
“True, but I’ve heard stories, believe me.” He smiled and sat on the edge of the desk like he had that first day they met.
“Why aren’t you upset?” she said.
“First of all, I’ve had a long time to get used to this stuff.” He took another gulp of his martini. “And secondly, I can’t allow myself to get pulled into the drama of what people are saying about me. About you and me. I won’t let myself get dragged into the mud—that’s what these people want. They want to hurt me—have me calling up their offices with a rebuttal story. They want my attention. And I’m not going to give them what they want.”
“You make ignoring their insults sound easy.”
“Well, it’s not. But I’m a good actor.” He smiled at her. “You have to understand, Nicole. You’re in my world now, and it’s a pretty rough place.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to figure that out.” She shivered.
He stood up from the desk and moved behind her, started to massage her shoulders. His strong hands felt so good, so incredibly safe, and her nipples grew stiff and the blouse tightened across her breasts. “I remember the first day you walked in here and I could hardly contain myself. I wanted you so badly.”
She closed her eyes and smiled as his hands continued to work. “It didn’t seem like you wanted me.”
“You couldn’t tell by the way I was looking at you?”
“I thought you were annoyed.”
He laughed. “Hardly.”
Red’s hands moved down from her shoulders and started to drift beneath her dress. “Red…” she moaned. “We shouldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because…” She was having trouble remembering why. And then her eyes fluttered open. “Because I’m supposed to be working. You said before that you didn’t want me taking advantage of our relationship. Remember?”
He laughed again. “At the time—“
“No.” She stood up and faced him. “Do you realize everyone down there hates me now?”
“No, they don’t.” He wasn’t taking any of this seriously. His face wore a bemused smile and it was upsetting her a little.
“They do, Red. They look at me like I’m the lowest piece of garbage. That story in The Rag, and you promoting me all in the same day…Do you realize how bad it makes me look?”
His smile faded. “I know it’s difficult,” he said. “I should have warned you more about what might happen, what you might have to deal with being engaged to me.”
She nodded. “A heads up would have been nice.”
“I wouldn’t blame you for backing out,” he said softly.
“Backing out?”
“Pulling out of our engagement. This is going to be a nasty business in the press—the tabloids, your coworkers downstairs. Everyone’s going to say things, they’re going to be jealous and bitter and make up stories about you. About us.”
“I would never break our engagement.” She stared into his eyes. “Are you having second thoughts? I mean, maybe I’m more of an embarrassment than you realized when you first proposed.”
Red looked into her eyes and grabbed her shoulders firmly. “You’re not an embarrassment to me. I’m the one who feels embarrassed right now, because the way I’ve lived my life has brought about a situation that causes you pain. I’ve lived my life in front of cameras, encouraging the media to report on my private life, fostering a certain image. While it might have made me some money and given me a bit of fame, nothing is worth causing you even the slightest discomfort.”
She believed him. She put a hand up and caressed his cheek. “I’ll be stronger, Red. I won’t complain about the stories from now on. I just…I was caught off guard by all of it.”
He nodded. “Of course you were. I should have talked to you about it, but I’ve grown accustomed to this sort of thing. It was wrong of me not to think of you.”
She smiled up at him, knowing that they were in this together now—a real team. It was the first time in her entire life that Nicole had truly felt like there was someone on her side, battling with her and for her.
Because of Red’s words, and the way he held her, a horrible day had been turned into something magical.
“I love you, Nicole,” he whispered, kissing her ever so softly on the lips.
After the beautiful kiss, she looked at him. “I love you too. Thank you.”
“Stay a moment longer,” he said.