Set In Stone

by K. M. Scott

  Killian looked at me and smiled. “Life-sized picture of me. Are you ready for that?” he joked.

  As if she just noticed me standing by his side, Sherilyn turned her head to face me and with a big, toothy grin I felt quite certain was forced and may be causing her pain, she said in a far less excited voice, “Oh, hi, Tressa. I didn’t realize you were coming tonight. Killian’s told me how much you hate these promotional things. I thought you might beg off since this one surely would have more cameras and press than others because NYCBest! is a media outlet.”

  I didn’t need to have spent the last five years at my father’s side learning the ins and outs of business to know that hadn’t been an enthusiastic greeting. I felt Killian take my hand in his and give it a gentle squeeze, and the desire to explain to his publicist that I supported him no matter how many cameras and reporters were around faded away.

  That didn’t mean she’d get anything more than the icy Tressa that always existed inside me for just these occasions, though.

  “It’s so nice to see you, Sherilyn. Are you here with someone or alone?” I asked with my nicest smile in my sweetest voice.

  Killian brought my hand to his lips and kissed my finger while I watched her eyes grow big at my comment. I took that as approval for how I’d acted and simply smiled when she said something about being there to work and not socialize before she made some excuse about needing to speak to someone and hurried away.

  “Wouldn’t all a PR person does be considered socializing?” I wondered aloud as we walked toward the life-sized picture of Killian and the inaugural cover of NYCBest! Magazine.

  Pulling me close to him, he leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Most women would want me to say something to Sherilyn, but I like how you handle it all by yourself.”

  I saw in his green eyes that he had approved of the way I dealt with her and stood on my toes to kiss him. “I don’t need anyone to fight my battles for me, Killian. I don’t understand why she doesn’t like me, but as long as you like having her as your publicist, I’ll have to be around her. She gets from me what she gives, so I promise if she ever becomes nice, I’ll be as sweet as pie with her.”

  “No way. Only I got sweet as pie Tressa,” he said in a hurt voice I knew wasn’t genuine.

  “Well, then she’ll get cordial Tressa. How’s that?”

  “Perfect. Brace yourself. There are about to be two life-sized me’s in front of you. Are you ready for that?”

  I giggled at his joke and walked with him into the room to see the other version of him that graced the cover of the magazine. I stopped dead as it came into view, surprised to see Killian not in his uniform or in a tux or anything like that. The picture they’d chosen showed him in a pair of jeans slung low on his hips and barely hanging on and wearing nothing else.

  Everywhere it seemed was his naked and tanned skin.

  His muscular shoulders. His broad chest. His perfect washboard abs.

  That spot just below his belly button where I dragged my nails across when I went down on him because it drove him crazy.

  I knew it was silly, but seeing him so exposed like that to all those people milling around us felt embarrassing, like they shouldn’t see him practically naked right there in life-sized form.

  Opening my mouth to say something—anything about how great it looked—I couldn’t get a single word out. They were trapped somewhere between my brain and my mouth, spending time with a fair dose of shock at what I was looking at.

  Sherilyn came bouncing toward us with a smile that spread from ear to ear and clamped her hand down on Killian’s left arm. “Isn’t it great? I know you weren’t sure, but at least it’s not nude like they first wanted. I personally don’t see why you didn’t want to do it nude since they were never going to just show all of you on the cover anyway. But this still looks incredible, doesn’t it?”

  Nude? He was supposed to do that photo shoot nude? He never mentioned that when he told me about it. Granted, that was only a few weeks after we began seeing one another, but I’d remember if he told me the magazine wanted to take a picture of him nude and put it on a cover where millions of people would see him.

  I felt my fingers involuntarily squeeze his hand as the thought of Killian on that cover in front of so many people made my head swim. When he’d told me about it, I had in my mind him in his uniform or something classy like a suit or a tux. The man could wear anything and looked fantastic, so naturally I assumed he’d be wearing clothes. Or at least something other than the hint of a pair of jeans that looked like his hipbones were doing their very best to keep them hanging onto his body.

  “Nude wasn’t ever going to happen, Sherilyn. I told you that the day you pitched me the cover. A pair of jeans worked out fine anyway. The cover looks great.”

  As my brain grappled with my boyfriend, the man I loved and slept with, being out in the world with practically no clothes on, I had a sense that his statement about how great the cover looked was directed toward me. Looking up, I saw him staring down at me like he was waiting for me to finally say something about that cover.

  Opening my mouth, I squeaked out, “It’s nice. Very nice.”

  “Nice? I think you can come up with a better word than nice. It’s spectacular!” Sherilyn gushed far too loudly for my comfort. “There’s not going to be a woman in this country who doesn’t love Killian Brenton after this magazine cover starts appearing everywhere.”

  I had a feeling my smile had faded and a look of disgust had settled into my face, so I forced the corners of my mouth up high and nodded. “Spectacular. Definitely spectacular. Will you two excuse me? I need to find the ladies’ room.”

  Killian’s hand clung to mine, but I tugged my fingers from his hold and hurriedly walked through the crowd hoping to find an exit that wouldn’t be clogged with people waiting to take someone’s picture. I needed some fresh air and peace and quiet for a few minutes while I convinced myself that the cover of a single magazine wasn’t a big deal.

  I found a door at the back of the club and pushed it open. Outside there was a small place to stand on top of a set of stairs, so I shut the door behind me and closed my eyes. This wasn’t a big deal. I wasn’t sure, but I had a feeling many people had seen Killian in various stages of being dressed.

  Of course they had. The man had been photographed thousands of times. This wasn’t any different.

  But all I could see when I closed my eyes was that cover and all of him out there for the world to see.

  “You don’t own him, Tressa. He’s a grown man with a great body. He can show it off to whoever he likes,” I mumbled to myself.

  But I didn’t want him to be showing it off to anyone but me.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Everyone knew how he looked before this cover. Not everyone has what you have with him.”

  I opened my eyes and hoped I wouldn’t see anyone standing nearby who could hear me. I knew how stupid my reaction to this cover was. I didn’t need some stranger knowing too.

  Behind me, the door opened and Killian walked out to join me on that tiny landing. The look in his eyes told me he was worried, but that only made me feel worse. I didn’t want to make this about me. This night was about him, not my stupid reaction to some picture because I was possessive and jealous.

  “Why did you walk away like that?” he asked as he pulled me to him. “Everything okay?”

  I wrapped my arms around him and leaned my head against his chest. “I just needed some fresh air. Nothing big.”

  “Something’s wrong. Tell me.”

  “No nothing’s wrong,” I lied, praying to God he dropped this so we could go back into the party.

  Killian tilted my head back so I had to look at him. “Tell me what’s wrong and I’ll make it right.”

  “You can’t make it right because it’s me. I’m wrong. Let’s just go back in and have a good time. I’m sure people are noticing you’re not in there. Sherilyn will be tracking you down any moment now.”

>   He put his hand against the metal door to hold it shut and turned his focus back to me. “No she won’t, and I don’t care who notices I’m not in there. I’m out there where I need to be. So tell me what’s wrong.”

  There was no way I could avoid telling him what the problem was, whether now or later, so I blurted out the truth. “I’ve come to realize I’m a possessive woman with a streak of jealousy a mile wide. That’s what’s wrong.”

  He smiled and nodded like he already knew what I thought I’d newly confessed. “I’m pretty impressed with how long you took to come to that conclusion. Most women realize that before we get to the second date. It’s the cover, isn’t it? You don’t like it.”

  Avoiding his gaze, I nodded. “I hate it. The only thing that would make it worse is if you were naked, and I think I’d have to hire a crew to buy up all the copies of the magazine if that were the case.”

  Instead of being upset at my pettiness, he laughed. “It’s an online magazine, Tressa.”

  “Then I’d have to hire someone who could disable their server.”

  “Look at me.”

  I did as he ordered and saw him smiling down at me. “This body is just the outside. It’s the stuff that gets on magazine covers. You get to see it all the time, but you get all the inside stuff from me too, and no one gets that but you. That’s the important part of me, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. I know that. I know you’re only with me, Killian. I just never realized how the rest of the world looks at you.”

  “Pretty much like you did the night you first saw me at that auction.”

  I cringed at the memory of my staring up at him on that stage and thinking of how much I wanted him. “That doesn’t help. Not one bit does that help.”

  Killian cradled my face in his strong hands and gazed down at me like he only did when it was the two of us alone. “I love you, Tressa. I haven’t been able to think about anyone else since the night we met. Still to this day, you’re all I think about when I’m not out on the field or practicing. I am completely and utterly yours in all the ways that count, and even in the ways that don’t count, like how I look on that cover. You have every part of me all to yourself. You don’t have to worry what the rest of the world thinks because the only person I care about is you.”

  I took a deep breath in and felt a sense of calm come over me. Everything he said was right. I’d been jealous and stupid about this cover, but even now he didn’t make me feel foolish.

  The rest of the world could have their pictures of Killian. I had what mattered.

  Chapter Twenty

  Killian

  I held Tressa’s hand in mine as we walked back into the party and began to mingle with the other guests. Her jealousy had surprised me at first, especially since she never showed me any hint that my popularity bothered her like that. As we chatted with some executive at NYCBest! Magazine, I wondered if that’s why she hated coming with me anywhere the press was.

  She didn’t have to worry. Whatever I showed the world in pictures or interviews, no one ever saw the private me. Only Tressa got that.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sherilyn practically running across the room toward us. She didn’t have her usual smile on, and by the time she reached me, I wondered if she was in pain by the expression on her face.

  Tugging me by the arm, she said, “We need to talk.”

  “About what?”

  “There’s an issue we need to handle.”

  “Whatever it is, I’ll handle it tomorrow. Tonight, we’re enjoying ourselves. Go get a drink and try to have a good time for once.”

  Sherilyn shook her head and tugged on my arm again. “No, we need to handle this now.”

  What the hell was she talking about? The fear written all over her face combined with the fact that my publicist would never consider me passing up a chance to be seen in public told me something serious had happened. But what could it be?

  Relenting, I began guiding Tressa toward a quiet spot at the back of the club, but Sherilyn stopped me. “I think this is something we need to handle alone right now. Maybe you should send Tressa home.”

  Already tired of her cryptic bullshit, I stopped her right there. “No. Whatever’s going on, she’s part of it, so let’s go.”

  My publicist didn’t argue anymore and followed us to the corner where we could talk. I held Tressa’s hand and quickly explained Sherilyn had something she needed to tell me.

  “I promise this will only take a minute.”

  Tressa nodded and then Sherilyn pulled me down to her level to say in my ear, “A reporter just asked me for a comment about a story some gossip website released about an hour ago. Eden claims you two were together for a rendezvous the weekend of the LA game.”

  Eden? My ex-girlfriend Eden Mitchell? Why would she say that?

  I waved away my publicist’s concerns. “We haven’t even spoken since we broke up last February. It’s bullshit. Don’t worry.”

  Sherilyn began searching on her phone and a few seconds later held it up for me to see. “She gave them pictures to prove it.”

  Staring at the screen, I saw some website named Dirt had posted about Eden’s claim we were together again. Quickly, I scanned the article that mentioned my relationship with Tressa and said I’d cheated on her with Eden. Scrolling down the page, I saw the pictures they claimed prove we were together. Grainy and slightly out of focus, they showed a man and woman naked in bed together that I had to admit looked a lot like Eden and me.

  But that was impossible. I hadn’t been with her for nearly a year.

  I pushed the phone away and shook my head. “It’s a scam. I don’t know why Eden would do this, but I’ll find out tomorrow.”

  Sherilyn’s gaze shifted from me to Tressa standing behind me. I turned to explain to her about how this wasn’t anything important and things like this happened all the time to athletes like me and felt my heart skip a beat when I saw the look of horror on her face.

  “It’s nothing, Tressa. I’ll get this cleared up tomorrow and it will disappear. I promise.”

  Shaking her head, she held up her phone and I saw she’d read the article already. She pointed at the screen and said, “She says you two were together the night before the LA game. That was in September, Killian.”

  My heart sank as I listened to her voice crack as she said those words. She thought I’d cheated on her.

  “She’s lying. I don’t know why, but she is. I’ll find out tomorrow. Don’t worry. Nothing happened.”

  Tressa turned the phone to face her and looked at the pictures, enlarging them on the screen. I watched in horror as it became obvious that was me in them with Eden. I didn’t know when they were taken or how they’d gotten shots of such an intimate moment between us, but I couldn’t deny the pictures were real.

  “She says these are pictures taken that night. You cheated on me and had someone there taking shots of the whole thing?” Tressa asked as she continued to stare at those fucking pictures.

  I turned to Sherilyn and grabbed her by the shoulders. “I want this handled, so get on it right now. Find out what the fuck is going on and why. I’m taking Tressa out of here, so call me when you have something useful to tell me. Until then, don’t fucking call me. Got it?”

  By the time I turned back, Tressa had disappeared into the crowd. I barked out a repeat of my instructions to Sherilyn and took off, pushing past people as I searched for her. After looking everywhere at the club, including that little porch thing we’d stood on outside, I rushed out to the street to look for any sight of her, but she was gone.

  I knew where she’d run to, so I broke into a sprint down the street and headed to the penthouse. If I was lucky, I’d catch her before she told that damn security guard to keep me out. I didn’t have the time or patience to schmooze with him tonight, so if she beat me back to the hotel, I’d just have to use brute force to get past him.

  Thankfully, some problem with a hotel patron made slipping past securit
y easy. By the time I reached the penthouse floor, my stomach had twisted itself into a tight knot. I had no idea why Eden was lying, but I saw in Tressa’s eyes as she looked at those pictures nothing but pure sadness and pain. She’d always worried about being with me because of my fame, and now that very fear had come back to haunt us.

  I opened the door and saw her standing by the window staring out at the city. I practically felt her running away even as she remained in the same room with me.

  “Tressa, I want to talk about this.”

  As I made my way across the floor toward her, she shook her head. “I don’t. There’s nothing to talk about.”

  The flatness in her voice made me stop dead in the middle of the room. My chest tightened as the distance between us made me feel like I’d never be able to reach her again.

  I couldn’t let that happen. Every time she ran, I chased. I never minded doing that. Tressa was worth every step I took to have her, and this time wasn’t any different.

  “Tressa, this isn’t a big deal. I know it seems like it is, but things like this happen all the time with athletes. I have to admit I didn’t peg Eden for one of the crazy ones, but obviously I was wrong. I promise I’ll get to the bottom of this tomorrow and we’ll never have to think about this again. But tonight, I need you to talk to me.”

  I waited, but no words came. I took a step toward her and slid my arms around her waist as my fears rose inside me that she had already run too far for me to catch her.

  “Please talk to me, Tressa. Please.”

  She shook her head but remained silent. In the window’s reflection, I saw her fight back tears, so I hugged her to me, hoping to do something to make her understand I wasn’t the man she thought I was.

  “I would never cheat on you. Never. I’ve never cheated on anyone in my life, and I certainly wouldn’t start with you. I love you, Tressa. You’re everything to me. Please say you know I wouldn’t do what that article claims I did.”

  In an icy voice, she answered, “I think it would be best if you got your things and left.”