Effortless

Once the opening music sounded and the final countdown given, I was in full-on producer mode. Robbie sat to my left, diligently working.

During a pre-packaged piece toward our final segment, I noticed the floor director motion for someone to walk on set. I watched curiously as Brent moved into view. I hadn’t seen him since our unexpected meeting at dinner in New York. Tall, broad shouldered and, yes, handsome, he made his way to the chair. Piercing, hazel eyes darted around the set as he waited to get mic’d up. Wavy chocolate brown hair framed his angular face. There was no hard edge to him, no hidden agenda, just a powerful energy that radiated off him.

“Thank you for coming in today, Mr. Garrison. I appreciate it,” Julian greeted him with a smile.

“My pleasure. I hope I can enlighten your audience.”

Hearing his rich Scottish accent come through my headset caught me off guard. I’d only ever talked to him at a normal, human distance. This seemed a little too intimate for a guy who despised my fiancé. Shaking off the weird feeling, I glanced at the clock. The show was coming back live in one minute and I needed to focus.

“Okay, Julian. We’re coming up on you cold in sixty. You have three minutes, then toss to the package.”

“Thanks, Lia. Oh, be sure either you or Robbie get in my ear when we’re thirty away. I don’t want our guest to be cut off mid thought.”

“Will do.”

Robbie nodded in my direction to signal he’d take care of the timing.

“That was Steve Berman reporting. We’re pleased to be joined now by Brent Garrison, owner and CEO at Summit Enterprises. Good evening, Mr. Garrison. Thanks for being here.”

“Mr. Archer.” He nodded politely.

The two men chatted about the changing climate in the real estate industry and how it was affecting jobs in the city.

“Have any of your properties suffered due to the sluggish economy?”

“Not at all,” Brent answered. “Fortunately, people still enjoy going out on occasion even though they’ve tightened their belts, so to speak. I look forward to opening a few more establishments in the coming year. New businesses mean more jobs.”

I sort of zoned out a little during their interview. Finances, business plans and all that weren’t my cup of tea. When Julian tossed to the package on job growth in Glasgow and throughout Scotland I made a mental note that we’d be off the air in less than ten minutes.

“Lia,” Julian’s voice floated through my headset.

“Yes?”

“How much longer is this?”

“One-thirty.”

“How does it look from in there?”

“Fantastic. You’re doing a great job. Although…”

“What? Although what?”

“Your tie is crooked.”

“Bloody hell,” he grumbled. “Jim, punch me up on two.”

Julian preened and fixed his tie while staring into the monitor mounted beneath camera two. Robbie cued him at ten seconds for the remainder of his interview.

“You founded Summit at such a young age and broke out onto the business scene rather quickly. To what do you credit your success?”

“Success is subjective. I look at where am I now and think there’s always room for improvement. But I do credit the success I’ve had so far to my dedicated team at Summit and to the support of my family.”

“You’re constantly listed with other notable young businessmen in Great Britain, including Alastair Holden. Obviously your background is quite different from his but do you see his success as something you’d like to emulate?”

I sat immobile, clutching a pen. That question wasn’t listed on our sheet of talking points. Sneaky bastard.

Brent smiled slightly. “As you said, our backgrounds are quite different. I wasn’t born into an established, worldwide conglomerate but I can certainly appreciate how he’s contributed to the ever-changing atmosphere of the media industry.”

“Tragic childhood aside, he’s had it pretty easy when it comes to his career. Do you see your success as more satisfying because you weren’t handed a company like he was?”

It took every ounce of my strength not to leap out of the chair and run into the studio. Livid was too weak of a word to describe what I was. This is what he wanted the extra time for? Ass.

“Now Julian, we all work hard at what we do,” Brent answered smoothly. “Nobody’s success is more satisfying than another’s. Alastair Holden is a smart and savvy businessman. Being handed a company or building one from the ground up has no bearing on whether or not one’s success is more deserved.”

Breathing out slowly I was thankful and more than a little shocked at Brent’s diplomatic answer. When the interview concluded and the show went off the air at six, I relaxed.

“Great show, Lia,” Robbie said, patting me on the shoulder. “I could tell you were caught off guard by those last couple of questions. Not many people would have handled that with such grace.”

“Don’t be so sure about that,” I muttered, rising to my feet. Visions of Julian being catapulted toward the sun put an extra spring in my step as I walked into the studio. Brent stood just to the left of the desk, waiting patiently to have his lavalier mic removed. A broad smile curved his mouth.

“Hello, Lia.”

“Hi, Brent.”

“I heard you’d started working here. How’s it going so far?”

“Fine.” I plastered on a fake smile. “Thanks for coming in for the interview. You did a great job.”

He shrugged, fixing his suit jacket once the mic was removed. “Interviews are generally boring. I could recite all that in my sleep.” He angled toward me. “Those last questions were Archer’s way of goading me. Regardless of my history with your boyfriend, I hope you know I’d never embarrass him or myself like that in the press.”

His admission came as a surprise. Nodding, I thanked him. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a business card and handed it to me.

“If you ever get tired of Julian, give me a call. I’m always looking to add good talent to my media relations team.”

I took the card and stuck it in my notebook. Standing here chatting with him like it was no big deal felt weird.

“I’m having a few people over to my place tonight. You and Alastair should come. I’ve already invited some of the staff at Finley’s, so your friend Stephanie will be there. Nice seeing you, Lia.”

More than a little suspicious at his invitation, I thanked him again. Tonight? Stephanie didn’t say anything about this earlier. I decided to text her after I dealt with Archer. He was still at the anchor desk, writing intently and ignoring my presence. Laying my hand on the paper, I blocked his furious scribbling. He looked at me with a noticeable level of dread.

“If you ever pull a stunt like that again without telling me, I will sound a foghorn into your IFB. Are we clear?”

The right corner of his mouth ticked up. “It wasn’t intentional. Lots of people have thought the same thing.”

“Leave Alastair out of your on-air curiosities unless he’s sitting in front of you. And even then, keep your mouth shut.”

“You are fiery,” he assessed, leaning toward me. “And protective. That’s admirable.”