Gage’s heart thundered harder, rage pounding through him. “She didn’t.”
Lily put her hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, you know your sister better than I do, if you say she didn’t, she didn’t. But now that it’s out like this … there’s very little we can do to fight it. It’s going to be everywhere. Even if she were to come back with her own version of the story, which I think she should do in the future no matter what, this is going to hit like an explosion. William Callahan is so high-profile … and his wife—soon to be ex-wife—is more famous than he is.”
Gage was familiar with the man’s trophy wife. She’d come on to him at several industry parties, and, despite the fact that she was a world-famous model whose looks had, literally, been memorialized in song, he’d never even been tempted. He didn’t poach other men’s wives. He didn’t need to. But she was definitely open to playing around behind her husband’s back, and clearly Mr. Callahan was no better. And they were trying to drag his sister into their sordid lives.
“Infamous is more like it,” he bit out. “I’ll ruin him for this.”
“I don’t blame you, Gage, I don’t, but before you engage in serious ruination, we need to figure out how we’re going to handle the media firestorm Madeline is about to get hit by.”
Lily had met Maddy on a few occasions. She was a pretty brunette, petite and fine-boned, delicate and small, none of the height Gage had inherited passed down to her. She looked young, and in some ways seemed younger. It was obvious that Gage doted on her, and that, despite that, Madeline made an effort to be independent, which Lily completely respected.
She also understood the kind of dilemma she found herself in. It was hard for a woman to be taken seriously in business. It was hard to find the right balance. Dress up too much, men make assumptions about what you’re there for … not enough and you would get torn apart by the other women.
“We can create our own distraction.”
Lily narrowed her eyes. “No. I don’t know what you’re thinking, I just know it’s probably going to create a big cleanup for me.”
He shook his head. “It won’t. But it will take the focus off of Maddy. If we can bury this story with one of our own, it will at least soften the blow.”
“You have a valid point, but I seriously doubt you’re going to magically stumble upon something that overshadows a scandal of this magnitude.”
“I thought I might announce my impending marriage.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Marriage? You aren’t getting married.”
“No. But don’t you think it would make a nice headline?”
She let out a completely undignified, involuntary snort. “No one would believe it.”
“You don’t think so?”
“No. You’re not exactly the marrying kind.”
“And why is that?”
“Marriage requires monogamy,” she said. At least it was supposed to require monogamy. She’d witnessed all the drama that came when people strayed. Her mother had thrived on the drama, the jealousy.
“I don’t cheat on women. If I’m attracted to someone else, I end the relationship I’m in. I see no point in pretending to want one woman if I want another.”
“You seem to change the woman you want with alarming frequency.”
“And that’s why it would be such a big story if I were preparing to get married. I’ve dated enough actresses and models to have serious headline appeal with the tabloids.”
“Okay, yeah, I’ll give you that. But where are you going to find a woman who won’t want to marry you for real? One who will keep her mouth shut about the arrangement.”
She looked back at Gage—his blue eyes were trained on her and a slow smile spread over his handsome face.
“Lily.”
She didn’t like the way he said her name, with intent, his low voice rolling over it, making it sound like a verbal caress. And it made her stomach tighten and her breasts feel heavy. Like last night. Like when he’d held her in his arms.
“I want you to marry me.”
She could only stare at him. Words were failing her, which was virtually unheard-of. She always knew what to say. She always knew how to respond in every situation, quickly and efficiently, cutting if necessary. She was never speechless. Except she was now.
She opened her mouth, then shut it again, trying desperately to think of some kind of sharp, witty response. Instead she settled for simple. “Not really, though.”
A short chuckle escaped his lips. “No. Not really. I just want you to be my fiancée.”
“No.” She shook her head. “No! Absolutely not.”
“How much do you value your job, Lily?”
She locked her teeth together. “It’s everything to me. I’ve worked very hard to get where I am.”
“It would be a shame to have any of your hard work compromised, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes,” she bit out.
“I don’t want Madeline’s hard work compromised because she got tossed to the wolves. I don’t want her to lose all of the progress she’s made, all of the confidence she’s managed to gain.”
The threat, though he didn’t state it explicitly, was certainly implied. If she wanted to keep her job, she had to play by his rules.
“And it has to be you,” he continued. “You and I were seen together at the gala last night, and we were definitely breaching the boundaries of professionalism.”
“We were well within normal boundaries of a boss and employee attending an event together,” she said, even as images of him holding her close flashed through her mind.
He raised his eyebrows. “Really? What else do you consider within normal employer-employee boundaries? Gotten engaged to any of your other bosses?”
“I haven’t even agreed to get engaged to this one,” she said through clenched teeth.
On a personal level, she was horrified by the idea. She didn’t want to spend more time with Gage. She didn’t want to pretend to be his adoring fiancée. But if she pushed that aside and looked at it objectively, she knew that this was the best way to throw the spotlight off of Madeline without completely compromising Gage’s public image.
“You’re right,” she said finally. “I hate it when you’re right.”
“This will be simple for you, Lily. You’re the consummate professional.”
“If you think I’m going to fall for that, you’re sadly delusional.”
“What is that?” he asked, leaning back in his chair, hands behind his head, showing off his wonderful arm muscles. He knew.
“You’re turning on the Forrester charm. It doesn’t work on me,” she said, even as her stomach tightened a little bit.
“All right, then forget the charm. We don’t have another choice. If I go down, you go down with me. We have to fix this. If you walk away, it only gets worse for you. No one will hire you if they find out you left a client in the lurch when a massive scandal was breaking that related to his family. If you help successfully diffuse this, though …”
“I know.” She would most likely be sworn to secrecy about the fine details, but she imagined she would earn herself an extremely glowing reference. And the best record for a PR specialist was, without a doubt, a smooth history with the press. More than a hint of scandal and her career was in serious danger. “Fine. Yes.”
“Excellent.” Gage picked up his mobile phone and punched in a number. “Dave? I need an engagement ring. I don’t know.” He looked at her. “What size ring do you wear?”
“A six.”
“Six.” He paused. “It doesn’t matter. Make sure it’s noticeable.” He snapped the phone shut.
“Did you just call poor David at five in the morning to have him buy me a ring?”
“You already know the answer, why did you even ask?”
Annoyance rolled in her stomach, along with nerves that refused to be calmed. She flexed her fingers, imagining the weight of a ring there. His ring. It made everything in her feel jittery. I
t was such a symbol of ownership. Like he was marking her as his. Which was silly because they weren’t in a real relationship and they were never going to be. But everything about marriage and relationships severely unnerved her, and it was hard to shake the anxiety that was coursing through her.
“I was just incredulous,” she snapped.
“So, what’s the story?”
Right. Work. This she could do. Create a press release, get the right spin. She was good at this. She grabbed her notebook of the desk. “We’ve been working together for a while. We’ve grown closer, friendship, then, well … more. And then you proposed last night after the gala, which is why I didn’t have a ring yet. Because that detail would have been noticed.”
“Good. Take care of it. The ring will be in your office in less than an hour then you can make the announcement.”
She could tell by the way he was sitting, looking at her, that she was dismissed. “As proposals go,” she said, unable to resist, “that one ranks right up there with a ring in the food.”
“I thought women liked that,” he said, his slightly amused.
“No. It gets the ring messy and if you don’t find it you might break a tooth.”
“I’ll keep that in mind should I ever stage a real proposal.”
“Do you actually plan on doing that?” she asked, not able to picture it.
“I don’t plan to, no.”
“I didn’t think so.”
“What about you? You’re impervious to wedding bells, so you say, but do you have a boyfriend you’re going to have to explain this to?”
“No. And even if I did, I told you when you hired me, work comes first. I was serious.”
“You would ditch your boyfriend to further your career?”
“Yes,” she said, without hesitation. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t do the same to any of your past lovers.”
“Of course I would. But most women don’t see things that way.”
“I’ll ignore the most comment for now and just say, then maybe some women don’t have a problem with someone else having so much control over their life, but I do. My career is important to me. It comes first. If I was with someone, he would have to understand that.”
“No man is going to understand you playing fiancée to someone else.”
“Then I guess there isn’t a right man for me,” she said, smiling tightly. “Not in a permanent sense anyway.” She couldn’t resist adding it, because the last thing she wanted was to betray the fact that she didn’t do relationships of any sort, at all, full stop, ever. And why should it matter if Gage knew? She didn’t usually worry about it at all. In fact, she was extremely secure in her antirelationship status.
“I don’t see there being a right woman for me in that way, either. Which, ironically, makes us perfectly compatible.”
A reluctant smile tugged at her lips. “I suppose, ironically, that’s very true.”
“Now go, prepare a statement. We’ll make a formal announcement this morning. Start calling media outlets and let them know we have a story. The more of them we can distract the better.”
She nodded once. She could do this. It was her job. That was all. It was only business, nothing more, there was no reason why it would feel like anything else.
She clenched her hands into fists, trying not to imagine what the weight of the ring would feel like, then turned and went back to her office.
The frenetic energy of a press conference was usually something Lily thrived on. She loved everything about them. The noise, the chaos, the low hum of excitement that pulsed through the crowd. She was never nervous. She always knew just what she was going to say, or what her client was going to say.
But this morning, she felt as if she was going to throw up.
Gage took her hand and a flash of heat raced up through her fingers and into her whole body, warming her core, making her heart beat faster. She wished she could blame that on the press conference, but she couldn’t. Gage had an unexpected, unaccountable effect on her body. One that made her feel like she was out of control, which she hated more than anything.
He tugged on her lightly and led her up the stairs and to the podium. Gage held her hand up and moved it out toward the light so that the massive ring, which she had placed on her own finger only a few minutes earlier, caught the light. The noise in the crowd quieted, everyone staring at them, their eyes expectant, hungry for a story.
“Thank you all for coming this morning,” Gage said, lowering their hands. “Before any rumors started flying, we wanted to make a formal announcement. I’ve asked my public relations specialist, Lily Ford, to marry me and she’s accepted.”
Then, like an invisible barrier was broken, flashes from cameras went off and questions started flying at them from all directions.
“Mr. Forrester, is this in any way related to the news story about your sister this morning?”
She could feel Gage tense, his hand squeezing hers tightly. Reflexively, she reached over with her other hand and traced her fingers lightly over his knuckles.
“We are not discussing my sister or the blatant untruths that were printed about her, any more questions along that line and we’re finished here.”
The sound of his voice acted like a high beam in the fog of her brain. She jerked her hand away from his, horrified that she’d touched him like that. Like she had permission to do it, like it was natural.
“Do you have a date set?” This came from a woman in the crowd.
“We’re still looking at venues,” Lily responded.
“And what does this mean for your dating life?” one of the men asked.
“This means he’s through with dating,” Lily said sharply. Usually she was very cool in these situations, but she greatly resented the excessive interest in the lives of public figures anyway, and being at the center of it only added to the resentment.
“She’s right about that,” Gage said, drawing his thumb over the back of her hand, sending little ripples of sensation through her. “I never thought I would get married. But when I met Lily … Well, she’s all that I want.” He looked up, his blue eyes intent on hers. Her breath caught. He looked like he meant every word he’d just spoken, his expression sincere, his eyes trained only on her. No mystery why he scored so many beautiful women with such ease. He could do romance without breaking a sweat, and he could sound completely honest while speaking words that were nothing more than beautiful lies.
And the worst thing was that, even knowing that, even having a complete and total man embargo, it affected her. Her heart was thundering, her stomach tight, her breasts heavy.
And when his eyes dropped and his focus moved to her lips, she was silently hoping he would lean in and close the distance between them.
She shook her head sharply and tried to force the image out of her mind. She didn’t want to kiss him. He was charming her. Like he’d done to thousands of other women multiple thousands of times. But she wasn’t like those other women. She had standards. She knew what happened when you let a man in like that, when you gave someone else so much power in your life. She would never make that mistake. Her life was just as she liked it. Well-ordered and entirely in her control.
The rest of the questions went by in a blur and she stood there, smiling, her face placid, her manner serene. She was a professional at projecting calm when her thoughts were churning beneath the surface.
Everything in her was concentrating on ignoring the place where Gage was touching her, on where he was moving his thumb over the sensitive skin on her hand. On the heat that coursed through her from such a simple, nonsexual touch.
“Thank you, we won’t be taking any more questions. We both have some work to get back to, and I’d hate to have to fire my fiancée.” The crowd laughed softly at his joke. Lily tightened her lips to try and avoid grimacing.
He led her off of the stage and the minute they were safely ensconced in his limousine she jerked her hand away from him, rubbing at the spot he’d b
een brushing with his thumb.
“Try not to act like my touch offends you next time,” he said.
She tilted her head up to face him and immediately wished she hadn’t. The impact of him, his blue eyes narrowed, his expression hard, was more than she’d anticipated. After working with Gage for four months she should be used to him by now, but, while he was always in charge, no doubt about it, he didn’t usually give off that level of intensity. He was completely serious about his work, but beneath it all was a definite security. He wasn’t the kind of man who had to posture and get worked up over every minor detail in order to project his power. Never had she felt a hint of the intensity that she knew was just beneath the surface right now.
She knew he loved his sister, knew he was protective of her, but she hadn’t realized just how much.
“I didn’t act like your touch offended me,” she said, looking out the window at the harbor, watching the white boats blur together. “I was perfectly composed.”
“And stiff.”
This was not a new refrain. She couldn’t even recall the number of times she’d been called frigid, on those ill-fated, unwanted dates that had been concocted by her well-meaning friends.
Stiff was actually a little bit nicer, but she imagined the sentiment was much the same.
“Sorry, I’ll work on my fawning.”
“Do that,” he said, his voice icy.
“No one else could tell. And if they could they would attribute it to nerves from being in front of a crowd.”
“You make statements to the press on an almost daily basis.”
“True,” she admitted, “but not personal statements. Maybe I’m private.”
“You are very tight-lipped about your personal life.”
Personal life? That would be a fun conversation. The gym four nights a week. A health-conscious meal for one, and then whatever show she felt like watching on TV since there was never anyone there to complain. If she didn’t have issues with pet hair she would probably have a cat, which would at least give her companionship, but would give him unfair ammo against her.
“That’s why they call it a personal life, Gage, although clearly you didn’t get the memo.”
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