“Uh oh, I know that look. What’s going on?” Genevieve crossed to the cupboard and retrieved a mug for herself, but she didn’t wait for the piercing whistle of the kettle. She turned instead to the Keurig machine and popped a pod in. “You know this makes tea too and it’s faster than your kettle method,” she said as the machine began its familiar warm up groans and gruntings.
Ava shrugged. “It’s not the same.” The kettle elicited its shrill cry at that moment and she turned the burner off, dropped a tea bag in the mug, and poured in the water. Then she picked up the mug and cradled it in her hands, enjoying the warmth emanating from the ceramic sides. “It’s Justin. He got a call from his sister last night. It seems his brother needs a bone marrow transplant and wants to know if he’s compatible, but he refuses to even get tested.”
“What?” Gen picked up her mug, blew lightly on the brew, and then braved a sip. “Why?”
Ava sighed and shook her head. “Evidently his brother is the Botox doctor his second wife ran off with.”
Genevieve let out a low whistle. “Whoa, that’s pretty heavy.”
“Yeah,” Ava bit the inside of her lip and watched the amber liquid swirl in her cup. “They haven’t spoken in years, but I feel like they need to. Like maybe forgiving his brother will help Justin move past his anger and his hatred of romance.”
Gen’s eyebrow arched. “Are you hoping they’ll reconnect for his sake or for yours?”
“What?” Ava pushed herself off the counter and headed back toward the main office, making sure to keep her eyes on her drink and away from Genevieve’s prying gaze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, yes you do. You’re developing feelings for this guy, aren’t you?”
Ava set her mug down at her scratched and scarred desk. It had been a hand-me-down from her father when he upgraded his office equipment, but Ava loved it. She held fond memories of writing at this desk while her father spoke with clients in the other room. Her initials were still engraved on the side though he had been peeved the day she had done that.
She pulled out the ergonomic chair - that she had splurged on - and sat down. “No, of course not. It would never work out. He doesn’t even attend church, and you know a relationship with God is important to me.” Ava glanced up but Genevieve had her head cocked in the ‘uh huh, I don’t believe you’ expression that she used whenever she thought Ava was lying.
“And if he did?”
Ava sighed. “Okay, I don’t know. I mean I know I shouldn’t be attracted to him for all the reasons I just gave, but...” Ava shrugged as she let the statement trail off. She had spent last night dissecting the dilemma. She wanted to believe her desire to help Justin was altruistic and had nothing to do with her, but the truth was she did feel something for him. She just wasn’t sure if it was friendship or something more.
Genevieve sat down at her desk across the room. “Well, I think you better figure that out before you go in trying to Dr. Phil things you may not understand.”
Ava’s breath exited in a small sigh as she turned back to her screen. Gen was right of course. She was the more rational one. Ava tended to leap first and ask questions later, and on more than one occasion, that had landed her in hot water. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling she was supposed to do something especially after the weird way they met in the first place.
Justin punched the ignore button and pocketed his cell phone as he stepped into the office he and Peter shared. Garrett had been calling all morning, but Justin had nothing to say to him. Not now. Not ever.
Peter looked up from his computer as Justin entered. “I watched the show last night. She’s good.”
Justin sat down and punched the button to turn his laptop on. A tiny hum filled the room and the screen blinked to life. “Yeah, she is, but that was just one show, and Kevin wasn’t entirely convinced. It’s going to take more than that to turn the image around.”
“It may not take as long as you think. Check the headlines.”
Justin pulled up a browser and clicked into the URL bar. He typed The Evening Show and hit enter. The screen blanked and then a picture of Ava and him smiling at the camera filled the screen. Underneath was a short article with a bold heading. “Has the Grinch found his mate?” he read aloud. His eyes flicked to Peter’s. “I’m not sure that’s exactly helping my image. They’re still calling me The Grinch.”
“They are,” Peter said with a wave of his hand, “but they’re talking about the two of you. And they’re not the only ones. The article ran on Star Weekly and Hollywood Today.”
“That’s good.” Justin’s attention returned to his computer screen. He had loaded his email and now stared at one from Garrett. Did he read it? Delete it?
“Good, huh? What’s going on with you?”
Justin looked up, sighed, and raked his hand across his chin. The stubble scraped like sandpaper across the palm of his hand. He didn’t normally skip shaving but last night he’d lain awake so long thinking about Candy and Garrett and Ava that he’d slept through his alarm - another thing he rarely did. “Liz called last night.”
“Uh oh.”
Justin nodded. He’d known Peter long enough that Peter knew his background and that a call from his sister rarely proved a good thing. The relationship between his sister and him remained tentative at best. “Yeah, evidently Garrett is sick and needs a bone marrow treatment. They want me to get tested.”
Peter’s chair groaned as he leaned back in it. They both agreed it was time for new furniture, but neither of them had made the first move to look for any more. Justin no longer knew if it was because neither of them liked shopping or if they both held a fondness for the furniture that had been with them since the beginning of the journey.
“And what do you want?”
Now that was the question of the day. What did he want? He wanted to pretend Garrett didn’t exist, but he couldn’t really do that. Even though they were only half brothers, they were still brothers. It was one thing to ignore him but it was another thing entirely to let his brother die. Justin didn’t even know if they were a match, but could he live with himself if they were and he did nothing to help?
After all, he’d grown up taking care of Garrett. Justin had been six when his parents divorced, and he’d been eight when Garrett was born. Though the age difference was significant, Justin had always wanted a brother, and he’d let Garrett join him in all the neighborhood games. It had been Justin, not his mother, who cleaned up Garrett’s first skinned knee when he fell off his bike, and it had been Justin who iced his eye the time Garrett tried to catch a fly ball with his face.
And honestly, the whole Candy thing wasn’t even completely Garrett’s fault. Justin had fallen prey to her charms as well, so he knew how convincing she could be. And Candy had been much younger than Justin. In fact, she was just a year older than Garrett. They’d probably had more in common. It didn’t make what he did okay - Garrett should have put his foot down and turned away Candy’s advances - but he hadn’t. Still, though Justin didn’t agree with what happened, he could see how it happened.
“I don’t know. Ava says I should give him a chance to explain, but I don’t know if I want to hear it.”
Another loud squeak filled the air as Peter leaned forward. “You told Ava?”
“She was with me when Liz called. I couldn’t very well not tell her.” But Justin knew what Peter was thinking. He had dated few people after Candy and none of them knew about Garrett. That subject was off limits even to Peter most of the time.
“Are you falling for this girl?”
It was a simple question and one Justin should have been able to answer no to quickly, but the truth was that he wasn’t sure. The last two weeks had been a roller coaster of emotions and his insides felt like they had been ripped out through his stomach and shoved back in through his mouth. Yet Ava had been there with him through all of it, and he liked the thought of her being around. And that thought scared him.
“No,” he lied, “this is just business.” He cringed as he thought back to his harsh words to her the previous night. “Besides, she’s way too different from me - a believer.” He shook his head. “It would never work long term. Honestly, I’m surprised people are buying this relationship now.”
“If I remember correctly, you were a believer once.”
“Yeah, once. Before God took Carol and then decided to twist the knife in further with Candy and Garrett. He’s probably enjoying watching this predicament unfold.”
“Somehow I doubt that,” Peter said. He looked as if he wanted to push the issue further, but they’d had this discussion before. “Anyway, finding love again wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”
But it would be because in order to find love, he would have to open his heart again, and every time he had done that, it had been torn apart. No, he needed to take these feelings for Ava, whatever they were, and forget them. She was a means to an end, a new career, and that was it.
Chapter 15
Ava stared at the screen and ran a slender hand across her chin. Why was this book proving so challenging? Was it the looming deadline? The fear that her last book’s success had been a fluke and she wasn’t really talented? Or was it Justin? She’d thought of little else all day though she still hadn’t thought of a way to help him and his brother.
Her phone vibrated beside the computer and she picked it up sighing as her mother’s name flashed across the screen. Of course her mother would be calling, she had probably seen or heard about Ava’s appearance on The Evening Show and was calling to find out who the new man was and why Ava hadn’t told her about him. Could she ignore it? She hadn’t practiced her words yet, and she hated lying to her mother.
With a sigh, Ava punched the button and mentally prepared herself for the onslaught of questions. “Hey mom.”
“Hey yourself. When were you going to tell me you had a new boyfriend? I had to find out from Elaine who saw you on tv.”
Elaine was her mother’s best friend and an avid tv watcher. Even when Ava had lived at home, she would often come over and regale them with information about the newest show on TV. She spoke of the characters like they were her friends, and Ava often wondered if she did anything else when she was home.
“I’m sorry Mom, but we just started dating.” Ava had no intention of bringing Justin to meet her parents. One, they would never approve once they found out his feelings about God, and two, they would probably see through the facade and then get on her case for ever taking the deal in the first place. She was even beginning to wonder if the delusion remained beneficial. Her book still lay unfinished, her mind still refused to cooperate, and the ride back to her house last night had been stilted and stiff, almost like the first day they met.
“So, you’ll tell the whole world on national television, but you won’t tell your mother?”
Ava rolled her eyes and spun away from the computer screen. No way she could concentrate on the words with her mother’s voice in her ear. “He’s a tv show host, Mother. People wanted an interview with him when they found out about us.”
“Well, can’t you tell me anything about him?”
“His name is Justin Miller and he hosts a reality dating show.”
A knock sounded at her door, and she crossed the room. She had no idea who would be showing up on her doorstep at this time, but the distraction was welcome. She peeked through the spy hole and bit her lip.
“Is that all you can tell me? Are you sure you two are even dating?”
“Mom, I have to go. Justin’s here. Call you later.” Without waiting for her mother to respond, Ava punched the end call button. She would deal with her mother later, when she had more to tell her and had the story more practiced.
She opened the door and leaned against the frame. “I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon.”
“Good. I wanted to surprise you. I got reservations for Genaro’s tonight.” His eyes scanned her face. "I’m not interrupting anything am I?”
Ava sighed. “No, I was trying to write but not succeeding.”
Justin’s eyes flicked over her shoulder as if making sure he really wasn’t keeping her from something important. “Well maybe this will help. Get some food to power that creativity.”
“Sure, it’s not like I’m getting any work done here.” Ava grabbed a jacket before locking the door and following Justin to his car.
As she pulled her seatbelt across her chest, Ava glanced over at Justin. He looked a little different today, but she couldn’t place her finger on what. His jeans still sported the perfect pleat and his shirt was nicely pressed too. Her eyes traveled upward and she gasped. His hair. It looked... not perfect.
“What?” He asked as he caught her staring at him.
“You looked more relaxed and I was trying to figure out why. It’s your hair. It’s not perfect.”
“Uh, thank you?”
Ava laughed. “Sorry, that didn’t come out the way it sounded in my head. It’s a compliment, and it looks good. It’s nice to see you relax a little.”
He flashed her a small smile. “Maybe you’re rubbing off on me.”
Was he flirting with her? Or was this still part of the act? He was so hard to read sometimes. Every time she thought she had him figured out, he would do or say something to contradict her thinking.
As the silence settled in the car, her mind drifted from his possible flirtation to his definite problem. Had he talked to his brother? Should she broach the subject with him? She wanted to help, but he had seemed so resistant last time. “Anything new in your world?” Ava tried to sound nonchalant, but he could probably see right through her.
He glanced away from the steering wheel long enough to fix her with a pointed stare. “I’m not calling Garrett if that’s what you are referring to.”
“I understand he wronged you, but he was your brother long before your ex-wife came into the picture.”
Justin shook his head and rolled his eyes. “No offense, but seeing as how you’ve never been married, I’m not sure you’re the person to be doling out advice.”
Ava blinked at his harsh words. “Just because I haven’t been married doesn’t mean I don’t know about betrayal.” Her gaze fell to her lap. “I was engaged once.”
Justin shot another glance her direction but no venom existed in this one. “You were? What happened?”
“College,” Ava said with a shrug. “I thought we would end up together, but he was a year ahead of me in college, so he graduated first. He threw himself into his work and decided it was more important than me and called off the wedding.”
“I’m sorry, but it was his loss. If he could see you now, I doubt he would sing the same tune.”
Ava wasn’t sure of the truth in that, but there was no sense ruining the date by arguing with him.
When they arrived at the restaurant, the hostess whisked them back to a secluded booth. She stayed just a little too long shooting longing glances at Justin under lowered lids that he seemed not to notice. Or perhaps he was so used to them that he just ignored them. Ava wondered if this happened often.
Unable to elicit a response from Justin, the hostess finally slinked away and Ava picked up the menu. “Everything looks delicious,” she said as she scanned the offerings.
“Italian is my favorite kind of food though I don’t eat it often,” Justin replied. His menu lay unopened in front of him. Either he wasn’t eating, or he had the menu so memorized that he knew what he wanted without looking.
Well, that was one more thing they had in common. Italian was her favorite food too. Too bad that brought the grand total of their commonalities to about three. Still, pretending to date him wasn’t as bad as she’d thought it would be. True, they had only been on three dates so far counting this one, but they had all been…. nice. In fact, they had been nicer than the last few dates she had been on with men she had more in common with. Could there be something to that opposites attra
ct saying?
“So, how is the image remake going?” She glanced up at him from the corner of her eye to gage his reaction.
The corners of his lips twitched. “It’s going well. You impressed Peter with your performance on The Evening Show, and while we still need to be careful, the first responses have been favorable. Another solid few weeks and some more exposure might be enough to turn the tide in my favor.”
“That soon, huh?” The thought of just another few weeks hit her hard. She shouldn’t care. It wasn’t like they would end up together, but a few weeks seemed too short. “I thought you said a month or two.”
His brow lifted as he gazed at her. “I did, but I didn’t know how much of a natural you would be. How about you? How are book sales going?”
“I don’t really know,” Ava said. “I don’t see the results for three months, but I’ve definitely seen a rise of engagement on my author page.”
“That’s great news. Oh, hang on.” His face clouded slightly as he pulled out his cell phone. He swiped the screen and his frustration faded to a look of confusion.
“What is it?” It was none of her business but watching his face was like watching a game of charades and not being able to guess. She picked up her water glass and took a sip.
“It’s a friend request. I don’t get them often. I only set up the page because the show’s publicist said I needed to. It’s from someone named Selene McDermott. Do you know her?”
Ava coughed, nearly spewing out the water she had just swallowed and her wild eyes met his gaze. It couldn’t be. She grabbed for the phone in his hands. “Let me see that.” She turned the screen to her and groaned even as a flame of embarrassment licked up her neck. “That is my mother. She called just before you picked me up asking about you. I had no idea she would stalk you, but I’m sure the friend request was an accident.”
The Producer's Unlikely Bride Page 10
