CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
“I’m Drake, by the way,” he said, gallantly offering his hand as the elevator doors closed on the lobby. He wore a sleek grey suit and no tie. His gleaming loafers were the color of rich caramel.
Paige bent at the waist to catch her breath. Anger was rolling through her system like a thunderstorm, and she didn’t want to take it out on the man who’d saved her from further on-camera humiliation.
She straightened up and accepted his hand.
“I know who you are.” She shook his hand, noting that though it wasn’t callused like Gannon’s, there was still strength in his grip. “Network dream boat and New York realty king. I’m Paige.”
“Paige, welcome to the seventh circle of hell.”
She laughed and was surprised that she was able to with rage coursing through her blood. She leaned against the back wall of the elevator. And took a deep breath. “Thanks for your help back there.”
“I’ve worked with Meeghan before. I know the warning signs of cat and mouse.”
Paige shook her head. “I’m a producer. I didn’t sign up for this.”
“No one signs up for that. She’s a narcissistic, unhinged nuclear explosion waiting to happen. Her show cycles through PAs faster than John Mayer cycles through girlfriends.”
“Do you make it a habit to swoop in and rescue damsels in distress?”
The elevator doors opened directly into the penthouse, an airy space of light and concrete and stainless steel. The quintessential Manhattan billionaire’s bachelor pad.
A waiter wandered by with a tray of champagne, and Drake snagged two glasses.
“The only thing I saved you from was a very public civil suit that she would have filed against you for breaking her nose. It would ruin the nose job she got last year.”
Paige lifted her glass. “Meeghan’s plastic surgeon thanks you.” He mirrored her toast, and she drank deeply. If Drake hadn’t stepped in, she very well could have done something epically stupid. One season of too much exposure to Gannon King, and he’d turned her into a reactive, temperamental woman.
“Can I offer you a piece of unsolicited advice?” Drake asked.
“I feel that I owe you. Advise away.”
“Don’t take it personally. Yeah, the network’s pulling strings to make you dance, but they’re not doing it to hurt you or humiliate you. They’re just doing it to drum up ratings and sell more advertising. They use everyone as they see fit. It’s nothing personal.”
She knew it. Just as she knew not to take her mother’s constant judgment personally. But knowing it and not letting it eat away at her? Two entirely different things.
“I appreciate the advice,” she said, not willing to delve further into it.
There were photographers and cameramen mingling in the crowd, and Paige felt exposed. There was no sign of Gannon or Meeghan, but she didn’t want to look too hard.
“So what do you think of the place?” Drake asked, sweeping his hand toward the glass and metal staircase that led to a second floor.
“It’s impressive,” Paige said diplomatically. Her tastes didn’t run to industrial formal. She preferred warmth, character.
He leaned in conspiratorially. “You can tell me it looks like a James Bond villain’s lair. It won’t hurt my feelings.”
She bit her lip. “That’s exactly what it looks like.”
“I’ll tell you a secret. This place belongs to the network president. He bought it and decided he wanted it gutted, and what better way to save a buck or two than have your own network handle the labor?”
“Angus Pearson made you renovate his place?” Paige gasped.
Drake looked around them and suppressed a shudder. “I tried to guide him in a more human direction, but he was insistent, and he has horrific taste. So I went with it with a dose of irony. There’s a concrete urinal trough in the master.”
“There isn’t!” She laughed and then covered her mouth when she noticed a photographer turn in her direction.
“Oh, there is,” Drake insisted. “I’ll show it to you.” He guided her toward the monstrosity of a staircase, a warm hand resting lightly at the small of her back. She felt it, that tingle, that awareness, that crept up her spine and knew.
He was there at the foot of the stairs, hazel eyes boring into her with heat and frustration. A day or two’s worth of stubble graced his excellent jaw. Gannon’s broad shoulders gave shape to the navy blue blazer he wore. The white Oxford shirt was tucked into jeans tight enough to display his muscular thighs to their full advantage. He was so raw, so male, that even dressed in business casual, there was a predatory air about him.
She felt like he sucked all of the air out of the room, and she was left struggling for oxygen.
“Paige,” he said, leaning in and brushing a kiss over her cheek. His lips singed her skin.
“Hi, Gannon,” she said weakly. Cameras clicked away in the background.
Drake offered his hand. “Gannon King. I don’t think we’ve officially met at any of these things. I’m Drake Mackenrowe.”
“I try to get out of these things whenever possible,” Gannon said. His tone was light, but Paige felt like the weight of his gaze was crushing her.
“Do you ever do any commission pieces? I’ve got this idea for a buffet and no knowhow,” Drake said raising his flawless hands.
“It depends on the customer.”
“It’s for my grandparents. Fiftieth wedding anniversary’s coming up.”
“Gannon has a soft spot for grandmothers,” Paige said quietly.
“I’ve got a soft spot for a lot of people,” he countered, eyes boring into her.
“Liar.” Cat shimmied up in a designer dress worn with her typical careless perfection. “My brother doesn’t like most people,” she told Drake with a wink before she wrapped Paige in a warm hug. “Miss you, Paige. When are we going shopping?”
“When you start shopping at Target,” Paige said, returning the hug.
“Lunch then. I hate not seeing you every day. Paige is not just a brilliant field producer. She’s also a wonderful human being,” Cat told Drake.
With Cat joining them, even more photographers began to circle, and Paige felt her skin flush.
“Cat, do you know Drake?” Paige began the introductions, and the two began to chat animatedly. Her entire system was on fire with Gannon standing so close, staring at her. His eyes telegraphed messages to her.
I’m sorry. I miss you. We need to talk.
She needed to escape. She’d shown her face, let the network have its little fun, she’d even given the photographers shots of her with Gannon and Drake. No one could ask her for more, and if they did, she had two middle fingers itching to be used.
“Would you two excuse us for a minute? I’d like to talk to Paige alone,” Gannon interjected.
Cat and Drake shared a look, and Paige started to shake her head, but his hand was closing around her wrist, and if she resisted it would be one more scene for the cameras.
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Gannon felt her working up the urge to fight free as he tugged her up the ugliest staircase he’d ever seen in his life. It looked like the result of a drunken one-night stand between an escalator and a glass elevator.
“Keep it together, princess.” He nodded at the photographers shooting from below. Cat, his favorite sister in the world, had blocked them from climbing the stairs after them.
Beyond the glass railing, an acre of nearly black carpet stretched out in some useless open gallery area that housed a few pieces of ugly art. There were two bedrooms and a handful of people touring both. Gannon tried a door at the far end of the loft and, finding it empty, dragged Paige inside.
“Are you kidnapping me?” Paige yanked free and tried to get away from him in the cramped space.
“It’s a linen closet, not a secret passage,” Gannon argued. “You look incredible by the way.” She did. He’d spotted her the second she’d walked in, taking in the view like a fist to the solar plexus. She was gorgeous in everyday shorts and tank tops with no makeup and sloppy hair. Now, she was downright stunning.
“What the hell are you doing?”
There’d been a time when he’d teased her just to see a flash of anger, curious to see what was below that calm, frosty surface. And now he needed to put the beast back in the cage.
“I’m explaining.”
“What’s there to explain? You lied to me, and I fell for it. Lesson learned.”
He grabbed her, gripping her arms. He couldn’t keep his damn hands off of her. “No, you’re listening, and I’m talking. Meeghan and I were never in a relationship—”
“But you still had sex.”
“Paige.” The deep breath he took wasn’t helping his blood pressure out of the stratosphere, and when she lunged to get around him, he moved first and thought later.
He spun her around, wrapping her in a bear hug from behind and pinning her against the empty shelves. “Goddamn it. Listen to me. I went on one date with her. The network set us up and sent us to some stupid party just like this one.”
She stopped struggling in his arms.
“It was a publicity thing. The show was getting ready to film, and they were trying to build the hype. I went from Googling bankruptcy to taking my first ride in a limo and standing on a red carpet. The booze was flowing, and when she put the moves on me, I didn’t stop her. I thought…” He shook his head, embarrassed at the memory. “I thought my big break had finally come. I could save my grandfather’s business and enjoy a piece of the good life. But I didn’t know.”
He released his hold on Paige and let her turn around.
“I left immediately after. She’s fucking terrifying. Needy and mean and—it never happened again. But the press, the viewers, they ate up the idea of some kind of relationship. We showed up at a couple of events together and kept the ‘relationship’ alive. But the whole thing was a fucking lie. And I never touched her again.”
Paige bit her lip and clasped her hands in front of her.
“Meeghan knew it was fake, but she’s used to getting her way. She’d come at me every time we went somewhere together, expecting me to go home with her. She’d threaten, beg, try to seduce me. But once you know what’s under all that shit on the outside? You don’t ever have the desire to go back. I felt… ashamed of myself.”
She reached toward him and then pulled her hand back, but he saw the gesture, took comfort in it.
“Gannon, why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Honey, I tried. I was stirred up when it all happened. I was so fucking pissed at Meeghan for coming at you like that. For trying to lay this fake claim on me, for trying to humiliate you in front of your friends and co-workers. I was livid. I freaked on her on set, and Andy told me to get her out of there and get it sorted. So I took her back to the hotel away from cameras and attention and told her to get out of my life and yours.”
Those beautiful blue eyes welled with tears. “Why didn’t you tell me this?” she asked again.
“I tried,” Gannon insisted. “But you went all me on me and wouldn’t listen!”
She gave a sad little laugh. “You taught me well. I almost took a swing at Meeghan downstairs when they ambushed me with her on camera.”
Gannon’s fingers closed in a fist. His jaw tightened. “They did what?”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. It’s over. It’s all over. I can’t keep working for people who think humiliating me is worth ratings.”
He felt the panic well in his gut. “What about one more season?”
She crossed her arms in front of her as if she were cold. “I can’t do it. Not here. Not with them. Not with you.”
“Why not with me? Why can’t we start over?”
She was already shaking her head. “I was never looking for a relationship. I just fell, you know? Let’s just chalk it up to working in the industry we work in. There are casualties every day. This time it was us. We were a mistake.”
“Fuck that, Paige. You’re not a mistake to me. You’re my future.” He cupped her face in his hand, and for a second, she closed those beautiful eyes. “Give me a chance, honey.”
Her eyes opened, and in them, he saw only sadness. “I can’t trust you, Gannon.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the whole story earlier. I just didn’t want to put that experience into words. It was such a low point for me. It made me reevaluate everything. I didn’t date anyone before you—”
She put a hand on his chest. “I understand. I really do. And I’m sorry that you had that experience.”
He covered her hand with his.
She looked heavenward, her eyes still brimming why tears. “Why is this so hard?”
“Because we have something worth fighting for. I can’t lose you.”
She looked down at her sexy gold sandals that wrapped up her calves. “You hurt me. And I just keep getting humiliated over and over again.” Her voice broke, and Gannon couldn’t take it anymore. He pulled her into his arms and pressed her face against his chest.
He’d hurt her deeply, and the truth combined with a simple apology wasn’t going to be enough. He needed time to convince her.
She sniffled against him, and he pressed his cheek to the top of her head, breathing in her scent.
“I’m not looking for this kind of attention. Cameras, interviews, strangers thinking that they know my business. I have things I want to do, need to do, and this might cost me my chance at that.”
He pulled her in tighter, held her there, and wished she’d admit that this felt real and right. “I’m not going to let that happen,” he whispered against her hair. “Meeghan is never going to get her claws into you again. I’ll make sure of it.”
Paige was shaking her head again. “There are other reasons I can’t be with you Gannon. Reasons that aren’t your fault.”
“Make me a list, and I will fix or remove every single obstacle.”
She sighed, pulling back, and ran a finger under each eye. She straightened her shoulders, pulling herself back together again.
“You’re too much. Too overwhelming. Too consuming. How can I focus on my dreams and work if the only place I want to be is your bed?”
“Honey, that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. You know me. You know how I feel about you. I love you. I want to be there to watch you accomplish your dreams, and I sure as hell want to be there for everything else.”
“Gannon, we just don’t work. Maybe we would if we both were willing to put in the time, the effort. But right now, I need to find a new job. If I can find something now, a special or a short series, Becca and I can start our project early next year, and I feel like I can finally start my life. No more ‘one more season,’ no more humiliation by the network. I can call the shots. I can tell the stories I want to tell.”
“I want all of that for you. I can help you, or I can just stand on the sidelines and cheer you on. Whatever you want.” He was begging, but this mattered. Paige mattered. Her hopes and dreams were his.
“I’m so sorry, Gannon. I know this isn’t all your fault. I know it. But we’re just never going to work.”
Fuck. She wasn’t going to budge. She wasn’t ready.
“Friends then.” He was desperate. He wasn’t going to let her close this door.
“I don’t know,” she said, looking at her feet again. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“You’re friends with Cat. We’re bound to see each other from time to time.” And he wasn’t willing to let her cut him out of her life completely. It wasn’t happening.
“It doesn’t seem fair to you,” she argued. “You have feelings for me.”
She fucking had feelings for him, too. She was just too damn stubborn to admit it.
“It would be more unfair to me if you just disappeared from my life,” he countered.
She paused, and he could see the debate rage in her eyes.
“Fine. We’ll try friends. But not ‘go out to dinner and have sex’ friends,” she warned him.
“We’ll try platonic and see how that goes,” he promised.
She gave him a sad smile. “Thank you for wanting to be my friend, Gannon.”
He pulled her in for another hug. “Anything you want, princess, it’s yours. That’s what friends do.”
“I’m sorry you can’t have what you want.”
“There is one thing…”
“I’m not giving you a blow job in a linen closet.”
“You’re hilarious. You should be in comedy,” Gannon shot back. “No. The last time we kissed, you were crying. I don’t want to remember us that way. Give me something to remember, Paige.”
She cocked her head and gave him the look. She knew exactly what he was up to. But she wasn’t saying no.
“One kiss?”
“One kiss,” he promised.
“Nothing else?”
“No hands, no blow jobs, no orgasms,” he teased.
Paige put her hands on his shoulders and rose up on her tip-toes. She brought those rosy lips to his, laying them over his mouth and kissing him softly, sweetly.
The spark that lit in him reignited embers in a slow burn. He brought his hands to her slim waist and forced himself to keep them there. Gently, he opened her mouth and tasted her. Slowly savoring, he teased and tasted as the heat between them built. She was losing herself to the kiss, letting go and just feeling. And he had to end it now before he broke a promise.
Carefully, as if she were fine crystal, he brought his hands to her face, gentling the kiss and then finally pulling back.
She looked dazed and dazzled. Satisfied he’d gotten his message across, Gannon ran his thumb across her lower lip. “Now that’s a memory worth having.”
“Friends,” she reminded him, taking a shaky breath.
“Friends,” he repeated.
She looked down pointedly. “Do you have this reaction to your other friends?”
He looked down at his very evident erection and adjusted himself. “Oh, yeah. When Flynn kisses me, it happens every other time.”
She gave him a light shove and, even better, a husky laugh. “Thanks for telling me the truth, Gannon.”
“I was lying about Flynn.”