Cover Girl

Juliette ran her hands down the sleeves of his gray wool windowpane suit and patted Alex on the shoulders. “I pronounce you ready.” She looked up into his eyes. “However…”

“However…what?”

“You look nervous. You already got the check and can buy any midlife crisis convertible you want, so relax.”

He exhaled. “It’s not the book deal. It’s this whole deception thing. I just feel like it’s going to come back and bite me in the ass.”

“They bought your work, not your equipment. Trust me, when the publisher makes a fortune off the book they won’t care if you’re a cross-dressing hermaphrodite.”

“Still, it worries me. And…”

She nodded and smiled. “Ah, the redhead. I forgot how powerless you are around them. I do remember what you called them in college.”

“Kryptonite girls.”

“Well, relax, I could tell she likes you.”

“She looked at me more businesslike last night than she did at breakfast.”

“Because you had me on your arm. You tell her we’re platonic friends and the barrier will fall like the Iron Curtain.”

Keira watched the staff all snap to attention, smile and stand up straight like they were in Catholic school. The horde of short skirts, low-cut tops and stiletto heels parted like the Red Sea as a smiling Gretch led Alexander through the babe gauntlet to her office and left a dozen hanging jaws in their wake. Keira’s heart got caught on her tonsils as she stood to greet them. “Right on time,” she said. “We like people who respect deadlines.”

“When you work in TV, you can never be late,” he said, as he shook her hand.

“Can I get you anything?” asked Gretch. “We’ve got coffee, soda, and some killer cheese Danish this morning. Unless my boss ate them all.”

“Hey!”

He laughed. “I’m good.”

“Then I’ll leave you two to talk.” Gretch headed for the door, then stopped and turned back to face him. “Oh, Alexander, before I forget…”

“Yes?”

“This is probably a stupid question for a guy, but do you happen to know where your girlfriend got that dress?”

Keira’s eyes grew wide as her pulse spiked.

He furrowed his brow. “Girlfriend?”

“Yeah. The girl you were with last night. What was her name… Juliette?”

His face relaxed. “Oh, she’s not my girlfriend. We’ve known each other since college and worked together at the network. She’s actually my best friend. But it’s strictly platonic.”

Gretch smiled and shot her an I told you so look at Keira. “Oh. I just assumed she was your significant other.”

“Nope, we’re just great friends. As for the dress, I have no clue. But I’ll ask her for you.”

“Great, thanks. Oh, Keira, after you guys are through, don’t forget to put in the paperwork for that raise you promised me.” Gretch playfully batted her eyes at her boss.

“Yeah, I’ll take care of it.” Gretch left the office and closed the door behind her. While her assistant had cleared up the situation with the hot blonde, it still didn’t shed any light on whether or not Alexander was attached.

“She must be a good assistant if you’re giving her a raise.”

“You have no idea.”

Chapter 6 (#ulink_2b317655-17dd-5434-8899-7125cb6b2c44)

“For such a smart guy, sometimes you can be a complete idiot.”

Alex furrowed his brow as he took off his necktie and looked at Juliette. “What’d I do?”

“You failed to tell her you didn’t have a girlfriend.”

“I just told you I did, or were you acting like a man and not listening? Her assistant asked me about you and I said that you and I are platonic friends.”

Juliette shook her head as she rolled her eyes. “Duh-uh! That still doesn’t tell her you’re available. Just because you aren’t dating me doesn’t mean you aren’t dating one of the other four million women in this city.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Alas, the light bulb goes on.”

“You know how nervous I get around women I’m interested in.”

“Well, luckily you’ll be spending lots of time with her, so you need to clear that up.” Juliette pointed at her mouth. “Read my lips and repeat after me. I’m not dating anyone.”

“I’m not dating anyone.”

“I can’t HEAR you!”

“Okay, okay, I get the point. But how do I do that without being so obvious?”

“Since I cannot trust you to take care of a simple task, why don’t you call your agent and have her do it? She told you she knows the editor very well.”

Gretch folded her arms as she stood in front of Keira’s desk. “I don’t know why you continue to doubt your assistant. You should know by now that my romantic radar is always spot-on.”

Keira leaned back in her chair. “Fine, you were right about the blonde. Thank you for clearing that part up.”

“See, you got all frazzled for nothing. Now aren’t you glad I sent you home to dress up?”

“Yeah, but he still might be attached.”

“I’m betting no.”

“And to what do we owe this bit of intuition?”

Gretch took a seat across from her. “The way he looked at you. I could tell he wants you. I caught him checking out your legs.”