London (International Guy Book 7)

by Audrey Carlan

  “And you are?”

  “Annie, Annie Pinkerton.” She holds out a shaking hand. Her eyes keep flickering to Skyler, and her voice shakes as she responds. “I’m the temp from Canton Global. Andre sent me to fill the personal assistant position for a couple of months.”

  “Ah, yes. Welcome to IG.” I turn around. “And you are?”

  A petite brunette with intelligent dark eyes and straight cappuccino-colored hair stands up from the waiting area and approaches with her hand out. She’s standing no more than five feet two, wearing a simple but perfectly fitted sheath dress and an intricate gold necklace, which serves as a nicely placed statement piece on her neck. On her feet are expensive but stylish ballerina flats that match her Coach purse. The woman exudes confidence and straightforwardness tied into a small but pretty package.

  “I’m Amy Tannenbaum, literary agent to Geneva James. I have a meeting with you.” Her tone is direct and professional. No hint of exuberance or fanfare over seeing a celebrity A-lister standing before her. I like her instantly.

  “Thank you for waiting, Ms. Tannenbaum. Let me get my girlfriend settled, and I’ll be right with you,” I offer, moving toward the hallway where my office is.

  “Actually, I’d like to speak with you both, if you wouldn’t mind. My business proposal and request involve you both in a manner of speaking.”

  I frown, and Skyler tips her head up to me. “I’m cool with it if you are,” she says.

  “It’s very unorthodox—” I start.

  Amy rushes to add, “It’s my understanding from my cousin Gabriel Jeroux’s significant other, Sophie Rolland, that everything you do is unorthodox, is it not?” She smiles flatly and waits calmly as I digest what she’s said.

  Sophie. That girl. From a princess to a literary agent. What’s next, a rich magician? I wouldn’t put it past her. Which reminds me once again I need to get in touch with her. It’s been too long, and I still haven’t found out whether or not she’s got a ring on her finger from her French scientist.

  “All right, well, come on back. Annie, please tell Royce I’m here and if he needs me, we’ll be in with Ms. Tannenbaum.”

  “Absolutely, Mr. Ellis.” She beams and sits quietly, turning back to her, or rather, Wendy’s desk. I clench my teeth and squeeze Sky’s hand.

  She runs her hand down my arm as Amy follows from behind.

  “She’s okay and will be back at work in no time. You’ll see,” she whispers, and I inhale fully, letting her words sink in. Wendy will be back. It’s only a matter of time. We will get through this rough patch without her.

  I open my office door and offer the seating area so that Skyler and I can sit side by side and Amy in the solo chair. Once we’re settled in, I clap my hands and wince as I bang the two broken fingers together.

  Skyler grabs my forearm, and I place my hand over hers and focus on Amy. “How can International Guy be of service to you, Ms. Tannenbaum?”

  Amy opens up her briefcase and sets on the table between us a half-inch-thick ream of paper that’s clipped together. “That is the first half of the last book in the coveted A-Lister Trilogy.”

  Skyler’s mouth falls open as she sucks in a fast breath. “No way . . . ,” she gasps.

  Amy nods. “I see you’re familiar.”

  “With Geneva James . . .” She swallows, and her words slip out in a dreamy quality I’m used to hearing in the bedroom, not in my office when talking about an author. “Only one of the best romance authors ever. I’ve read everything she’s written.”

  Amy smiles and nods, pride filling her body language. “I’m glad you’re a fan. It makes what I’m about to ask for easier.”

  I frown and pick up the novel, allowing the pages to float by as I scan them. There’s nothing here I recognize. Though I’ve heard of this author before. Many of her books are turned into romantic big-budget films. “What is it that I’m looking at again?” I hold up the fat stack.

  “As I said, it’s half of the third and final book in the A-Lister Trilogy. The other two novels have been on the New York Times bestseller list for over a hundred weeks. This book, this was supposed to be published a year ago. The fans are furious, and the longer it takes to release, the more we risk losing followers. We’ve already sold the trilogy rights to Paramount Pictures, and they want to get started on creating the first film but are leery about doing so until the last book is completed.”

  “Okay. I’m following you, though I’m not sure why you’re here.”

  She purses her lips. “Geneva is suffering from a case of writer’s block. Career-ending writer’s block. She keeps saying she doesn’t know how the story ends. Her characters are no longer speaking to her.”

  Sky nudges my shoulder. “You’ve dealt with that before.” She smirks.

  I tilt my head. “It’s not quite the same thing. I was dealing with your own personal muse and internal issues, not an author’s story line. I’m not sure I can help with this.”

  Amy pulls out her checkbook. “My company is willing to pay you two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to try to fix our author. Get her out of her funk. Help her see what we all see . . .”

  “Which is what?” I lean forward, focusing on Amy’s words and the honest sincerity in her tone.

  “That she’s incredibly talented. Her gift is in the words and the stories she tells. Unfortunately, the publishing house that worked on the last project treated her horribly. Abused her trust and left her feeling less than. Now the pressure to finish this final book in something that’s becoming an empire, a household name, has thrown her completely off. She’s paralyzed with the fear of failing her readership at large and herself.”

  Skyler’s hands go to her chest. “What? No. That’s awful. She’s an amazing storyteller. Honey, you have to read the first two books in the trilogy. They’re amazing.”

  “I find it interesting that you think so, Ms. Paige, since you were the inspiration for Simone Shilling, the young blonde A-list actress in the book. The woman who millions of readers around the globe love to love, when the poor thing can’t find love of her own. Until . . .”

  Skyler’s entire face lights up with excitement, and she finishes Amy’s sentence. “She meets Dean Briggs, a businessman not in the industry, nor does he have any interest in dating someone who is.”

  Amy smiles wide, and her face goes from pretty to beautiful in an instant, her straight dark hair falling into a silky sheet down the sides of her face. It’s a perfect contrast to her olive skin tone and tasteful makeup. If I had to describe this woman using two words, I’d say she was the epitome of confident elegance.

  “I see you’ve read the story.”

  “Yes, yes, a million times yes! I’ve got my agent on the lookout for any new movies of hers that I might fit in the lead role.”

  “And therein lies what I’d like to request.” Amy doesn’t exactly smirk, but I can tell she wants to. She’s got Sky in the palm of her hands.

  Finally. I think it, but don’t say it. “I’m all ears.”

  “If it would interest Ms. Paige, I’d like it if you and she could go to London to meet up and spend time with my client. She needs to finish this book, but there’s something holding her back. I want you to figure it out and clear away her writer’s block. There is a lot riding on this. And Ms. Paige, if you accompany him, I will ensure that Paramount understands that you were the inspiration for this character and are best suited for playing the part. The contract alone would be a multimillion-dollar take home for you.”

  “I’m in! Sign me up!” Skyler says enthusiastically.

  “Peaches, I’m not sure you understand what this means. You have to skip work, which I know Tracey will be unhappy about. And I thought you had press junkets for the Angel movie coming up?”

  She purses her lips and waves her hand. “I’ll figure it out. Even without the possibility of doing a book-to-movie script, I’ll get to meet and hang out with one of my all-time-favorite authors. Do you have any idea how
cool that is? You have to let me come!” She pouts and pushes out her bottom lip to the point where all I want to do is kiss and bite that lip in retaliation.

  I glance at Amy and sigh. “Two hundred and fifty thousand and two weeks. Nothing more. If I can’t get her out of her funk, there’s no harm to me, my company, or Ms. Paige’s option to work the movie once she eventually finishes the book. Agreed?”

  Amy sits up straight and holds out a small hand. “You drive a hard bargain. I respect that.”

  I take her hand and shake it. Skyler does the same.

  “When do you need us in London?”

  She stands up and runs her hands down her sheath, removing any wrinkles. “I’ve taken the liberty of having both of your flights booked first class on British Airways leaving at ten a.m. tomorrow morning.”

  “A bit risky there, don’t you think, Ms. Tannenbaum?” I grin, loving the ball-busting side of this woman.

  “Life is full of risks. When you have something worthy, the risk suddenly seems small. I look forward to regular reports on how my author is doing, Mr. Ellis.”

  “Then I shall give them to you. Provide your contact information to my assistant, and we’ll be in touch,” I offer.

  “It was good meeting the two of you.” She shakes both of our hands. “And Ms. Paige, you’re a very talented actress. I love your work and hope to see you on the big screen bringing the A-Lister Trilogy to life.”

  Classy. Now that’s how you present your appreciation for someone’s work. She didn’t make a huge deal about being a fan, just coolly shared her enjoyment of my girl’s talent.

  “Thank you, Amy. We’ll do our best to get your author’s creative juices flowing again,” Sky says rather breathlessly.

  Amy closes her eyes for a moment, smiles, and then opens them. “Yes, well, that would be lovely. Take care and safe travels.”

  The second the door closes, Skyler hops and does a jig, dancing around my office. “Do you know how badly I’ve wanted to meet Geneva James!”

  I chuckle. “No. I figured Sylvia Day would be your unicorn author.”

  She shakes her head. “No, because I’ve already met her, and she’s super cool. Geneva James doesn’t do signings or fan events at all. Word is she’s turned into a bit of an introvert. Now I get to meet her and be considered first for the movie trilogy! This is one of the best days of my freakin’ life!” She jumps up in the air. “We need to celebrate. We need to go out and have champagne. Oh no.” She frowns for a moment. “We need to pack!” She shakes her head and paces the floor. “Nah, forget it. I’ll have my personal shopper send clothes to London for me and just take the essentials. This is sooooo great!”

  I stand up and come around to her and scoop her into my arms. “I love seeing you happy. It reminds me of when we first met, and I took you all over New York. Do you remember that?”

  She smiles. “Yes, I’ll never forget it. And now I can show you London! I’m very familiar with the city.” She wraps her arms around my neck and focuses on my eyes with a contented look. “We get to work together, honey. How cool is this?”

  I grin and kiss her pink lips. “It’s very cool. Just remember, we still actually have work to do. We need to help this author, so on the plane tomorrow, I want you to give me the lowdown about what you know. Tonight, I’ll start reading the series and hopefully have it completed by the time we get to London.”

  Her eyes widen. “We’ll read it at the same time! I’ll do a reread, and we can talk about it. This. Is. Epic!” Sky’s entire body vibrates with excitement under my hold.

  I’m glad she thinks so, but a warning tingle picks up at the back of my neck. How the heck am I going to get a worldwide-bestselling author with millions of fans and an A-list celebrity around the city of London without dealing with some serious fan issues?

  On the list tonight, phone call with the Van Dykens to put a plan in place for Skyler and Geneva’s safety.

  I can feel the shit storm coming, I’m just not sure what’s going to bring it on.

  4

  Skyler’s phone rings at the same time there is a soft knock on my office door. Skyler puts the phone to her ear as she walks over and opens the door for Annie.

  The new girl.

  I wince and look back at my computer, not wanting to see a blonde receptionist instead of my fiery redhead who’s become far more than an assistant or a receptionist. In the several months Wendy’s been here, she’s become not only part of the team, but part of our small extended IG family.

  “Hey, Flower, I’m glad you called. You’ll never believe where I’m headed tomorrow and who I’m going to see when I get there!” Sky walks over to the couch and flops into the seat, a veritable ball of excitement.

  Annie glances at her and walks over to me with a stack of envelopes and folded papers. “Um, sorry to bother you, Mr. Ellis. I’ve opened your mail and gone through the ones that are bills and sent those to be paid, and the rest here are requests for proposal for you to review. And this one on top, I didn’t open because it has ‘confidential’ marked on the front.” She hands me the stack.

  I shuffle through the RFPs and hand that stack back to her. “You’re going to have to give these to Royce. I’m headed to London tomorrow for the Tannenbaum job.”

  “Okay. Uh, do you need me to book you a flight?”

  I shake my head and look at the nine-by-twelve yellow envelope. It has only my name on the front, no postmark, which means someone dropped it off to the building. “Did this come directly to the office or with the stack of mail?” I hold up the envelope.

  “With the mail from the business carrier.”

  “No, I will not need a flight booked. Skyler and I already have flights that were booked by the client. However, my girlfriend needs her security team, Nathan and Rachel Van Dyken, to be on that same flight. First class. If you cannot confirm it, we’ll need the four of our tickets rebooked and billed to the client.”

  “Yes, Mr. Ellis. Should I contact the Van Dykens for their personal information?” she asks, but Sky’s voice rising across the room has us both focusing on her.

  “Tracey, remember you’re not only my agent, you are also my best friend. I need this time with Parker. You know. You know what it was like . . .” She lifts her gaze to where I’m sitting, and the pain that rips across her gaze flashes for an instant. It’s enough for me to figure out what she’s referring to. She’s talking about when we were on the outs recently.

  “I don’t care what you want, I’m going to London for the next two weeks. This could mean a three-movie contract deal working with Geneva James. You want to talk press . . . there’s your freakin’ press. Make it work. I’ll do one or two of the junkets while I’m in London, but I won’t go to the other countries until after the two weeks are up.”

  Annie’s eyes widen at the tone in Sky’s voice, and she twists her fingers where she stands in front of my desk. “Ms. Paige seems awfully mad. Is there anything I can get for her that would help? Tea or coffee?”

  I nod. “Yeah, why don’t you use the company card and visit the lobby coffee station, bring her a caramel latte and a large coffee with cream for me and a variety of muffins and bagels for the team. Check with Royce and Bo to see if they want anything.”

  After she smiles softly and nods, I watch her walk away. Annie is sweet, timid, and dresses well. She’s wearing a midnight suit I’ve seen before—the lapel and pocket details are intricate, and I distinctly recall fingering one of the dangling gold zipper pulls over Skyler’s collarbone. By the time Annie reaches the door to leave my office, it hits me. It’s the same suit I remember Sky wearing in one of the interviews we did together. Sky pulled it off better, but Annie’s got a nice form. Toned legs, tight ass. She’s not Skyler Paige, but I’m sure the woman turns quite a few heads.

  “Thank you, Annie, and there should be a file on the Van Dyken Security team in Wendy’s documents along with their personal information.”

  She flicks her long hair over her
shoulder and shoots me a beaming smile. “You’re welcome, Mr. Ellis. I’ll get right on it.”

  I finger the envelope and then slide my letter opener through the glued flap. I pull the sheet out and turn it over. There are only six words typed in a big black font.

  I AM HER. SHE IS ME.

  Odd. I have no idea what this means. I flip over the paper, and there’s nothing on the back. I look for any descriptive marks on the envelope that will explain who sent the strange note. Nothing. No return address, not even personal handwriting on the front, just my name and the company name and address typed on an address label, as well as a red-stamped “CONFIDENTIAL.”

  Skyler groans, leans forward, and runs her hand through her long tresses. “Tracey, I’m sorry if this puts you in a bind, but I’m doing this project with Parker. I’ll be doing junkets on and off over the next three months in preparation for the film release. In between them, I’m going to be spending a lot of time in Massachusetts, so you’re going to need to get used to not being able to drop in on me in Manhattan. I’m where I want to be and happier than I’ve ever been.”

  Suddenly she smiles, and the rigidity of her body relaxes against the couch. “I love you too. Don’t worry about me. I’m in good hands.” She grins and then ends the call, saying, “Bye.”

  I drop the weird note into the bin I use for miscellaneous crap I don’t have time to deal with right now, and go to my girl. “You definitely are in good hands. Come here.” I sit down, and she crawls over my legs and straddles my lap, pressing her face into my neck.

  She feels so good in my arms, it’s hard to believe she’s still mine. After the shit with Johan, I really believed I’d never have this again. Never feel this content, warm, at peace. I run my hands up and down her back and massage her neck. “Everything okay?”

  Sky nods. “It is now. Tracey’s not happy, but she’s never happy. I think she needs to get laid. The woman is growing cobwebs between her thighs.”

  I tip my head back and laugh heartily. “Getting laid, the answer to the world’s problems.”