Atlantis

by Jessica Rosberg

  Her jaw dropped. An hour and a half? That meant she'd have to wait another whole hour. She didn't want to hang around that long. "If you like it so much why don’t you just buy one of your own?" she snapped.

  "Well, I suppose I could, but then I wouldn't get to talk to attractive women like you." He winked.

  Wow. This guy is so arrogant, she thought. Candace rolled her eyes and turned to walk away. It was obvious she wasn't going to get to use the machine today so she would just go for a run with Sloane instead. She cast a dirty look over her shoulder and the man as she made her way toward one of the weight machines. Despite her annoyance, she couldn't stop from looking at him. He really was sexy. Too bad he was so cocky. That was such a turn-off to her. Confidence was one thing. Blatant arrogance was another.

  Irritated, Candace left the workout room and headed for the locker room where she quickly showered and changed back into her clothes. She still couldn't believe the nerve of that guy. Maybe a smoothie from the juice bar would calm her a little. Candace put her bag over her shoulder and walked the short distance to the juice bar that was next door to the gym. Thankfully, the place was empty. She walked up to the counter.

  "Hi, what can I get for you today, Candace?" the young girl behind the counter asked. Her name was Lucy and she was working her way through college. That was another reason Candace liked this gym – it was small and everyone pretty much knew everyone else, except for when there was a new member…like that guy on the elliptical. He must be new because she'd never seen him there before.

  "Um…" Candace stared up at the large menu board. "I think I'll have a strawberry mango smoothie with extra strawberries."

  "Coming right up." Lucy smiled.

  While Candace waited, she pulled a ten dollar bill from her wallet and set it on the counter. Lucy returned a moment later with Candace's smoothie. "There you go," she pushed the money across the counter, "keep the change."

  "Thanks," Lucy said.

  Candace found a table in the corner near the window and sat. She pulled out her cell phone and checked her messages. There was a text from Sloane that read, changed my mind, no running today. Going to shop. Candace smiled and sipped her drink. "Mmm." It was exactly how she liked it. Taking another drink, she dialed her voicemail and listened to her two messages.

  "Hi, Candace, this is Mr. Rosenberger, your attorney. I've looked over the contract Sloane dropped off and everything seems to be in order. It's a standard royalty based agreement and if you two want to sign it, I don't see any problems. Feel free to give me a call with any further questions."

  She pressed seven to delete the message and listened to the next one. "Hey Candace, it's Becky. I got a message from Sloane that you two needed to speak to me about an urgent matter. I'll be back to the office around three today. Meet you there?"

  Candace was pleased that Sloane did exactly as she said she would. Things were coming together. Once they had a chance to talk to Becky this afternoon, Candace would call Maddox and let him know that they were ready to sign on as the face of MadHunter Swimwear. It would be nice to do some more modeling again – real modeling and not those tacky enthusiast clubs they'd been forced to do for so long.

  "Mind if I sit here?"

  She looked up to see the man from the gym pulling out a chair and sitting across from her. "I guess not," she said sarcastically.

  "I didn't catch your name earlier," he said.

  "I didn't give it to you," she retorted.

  He sighed. "Okay, I know we got off to a bad start. I'm sorry about monopolizing the machine and for my attitude. My name's Harvey." He extended his hand across the table.

  Reluctantly, she shook his hand. "I’m Candace."

  Harvey smiled. "Nice to meet you, Candace."

  She smiled politely while silently wishing he would go away and leave her alone. She continued to look at her cell phone, hoping that he would get the hint that she wanted to be alone. He didn't.

  "So, what do you do?" he asked.

  "I'm a model," she said, setting her phone on the table. It was apparent he wasn't going to leave, so she might as well be civil. He did apologize, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have a conversation with him.

  Harvey snapped his fingers. "Candace Parker." He laughed. "I thought you looked familiar. I've seen your work, very nice."

  "Thank you." She smiled and took another drink of her smoothie. "What about you? What is it you do?"

  "I'm a lawyer. I spent the last five years in L.A. working for a large firm that did mostly entertainment law, but recently moved back to New York to work for my father's company."

  She was impressed. He was good looking and successful. "Your father is a lawyer, too?"

  "He's got his hands into a lot of different things." Harvey laughed. "I've always provided him with any legal advice he needed, but now I'm officially the attorney of record for him and all of his businesses."

  "You two must get along pretty well to be able to work together like that."

  "If my memory serves me correctly, don't you work with your sister?"

  She was once again impressed. "Yes, my sister and I are a team. We do all of our modeling jobs together. It's nice to have someone to travel with."

  "Do you travel a lot?"

  "Yes. In fact, we were just contracted for a job that will require us to travel to Fiji, Cancun, Jamaica, Bora Bora, and Hawaii."

  "Wow. You're going to be busy aren't you?"

  Candace laughed. "Yeah, you could say that." She swirled her straw around in her smoothie. Talking with Harvey wasn't so bad after all. He was smart, successful, funny, and nice to look at. She was glad he imposed on her. After a moment, she said, "Well, it was nice meeting you, Harvey, but I really have to get back to work." She stood.

  Harvey stood. "Okay, well, thanks for letting me sit with you."

  "You really didn't give me a choice in the matter," she joked.

  He chuckled. "No, I guess I didn't, did I?"

  "That's okay. It wasn't so bad." Candace winked, and then reached for her cell phone. Only, it wasn't on the table where she'd left it. Puzzled, she checked her chair and the floor around the table. Then she checked her purse, even though she knew she hadn't put it in there.

  "Looking for this?" Harvey held up her cell phone and grinned.

  She sighed with relief. "Thank you." She held out her hand, expecting him to hand the phone back to her. He didn't. "Can I have it back, please?"

  "No."

  "No?" She narrowed her eyes at him. What was this guy's deal? He was a jerk in the gym, a gentleman while sitting and talking with her, and now he was back to being a jerk. Candace huffed with annoyance. "I really don’t have time for this. I have a meeting I need to get to." She reached for her phone, but he pulled his hand out of her reach. She frowned. "Seriously, Harvey? Are we in high school again?"

  "Have dinner with me tonight and I'll give it back," he said.

  Okay, that's not what she expected. "I can't tonight."

  "Then tomorrow night."

  "I'm busy tomorrow night."

  "Okay, how about an afternoon cocktail then?"

  Man he was persistent. She knew if she didn't agree, he wouldn't give her phone back. Finally, she agreed, just so she could get her phone back and make it to her meeting with Becky on time. "Fine. Dinner tomorrow night."

  He smirked. "I thought you were busy tomorrow night."

  Her patience was gone. "Do you want to have dinner with me or not?"

  "Yes." He put his number in her phone and then used her phone to call himself so that he had her number as well. Then he finally handed it back to her. "I'll call you later with the details."

  Candace took the phone from him. "Thank you." She said a quick goodbye and left. God, he annoyed the crap out of her. But…she was intrigued by him. Still, there was no way she was going to go out with him. In fact, when he called, she would simply ignore his calls. She just had too much going on right now to worry about getting involved in a relati
onship. Plus, how could she possibly date when she'd be traveling the world for work? As she made her way back to her office, her cell phone dinged with a new text message. It was from Harvey. Great, so he was a stalker on top of everything else. That was just perfect. Sorry for being a jerk. My behavior was unacceptable. Please forgive me and I hope you were serious about dinner tomorrow night.

  Candace stopped walking and re-read the message, a faint smile pulling at her lips. How could she be angry with him when he went out of his way to apologize like that? She tucked her cell phone back into her purse and continued on toward her office, deciding not to respond right away. Let him hang for a while, let him wonder.

  Chapter Seventeen

  "That went so much better than I thought it would," Sloane said once Becky left the office.

  "I know. I think she's more excited about this opportunity than we are." Candace laughed. "So, tomorrow we'll meet with Maddox, sign the contracts, and then pack for Fiji."

  Sloane squealed. "Yay! I'm so excited for this. Fiji!"

  "I know! I've always wanted to go there." Candace flopped down on the couch in the office and sighed. "So, I met a guy at the gym today."

  "You did?" Sloane sat next to her sister, her eyes wide. "Spill it, sis. Give me the details."

  Candace laughed again. She spent the next few minutes telling Sloane all about Harvey and how they met. Then Candace said, "I feel like we're on a roll here. I say we call Johl and have another meeting with him. I want to sing him, Sloane. I think we can do this."

  "I'll call him right now."

  "Wait." Candace put her hand on Sloane's, stopping her from dialing his number. "Before you do, I want details."

  Sloane laughed. "I thought you didn't approve of me and Johl."

  "It's not that I don't approve, it's just…" Candace sighed. "It's unprofessional to sleep with a potential client and I just don't want it to backfire on any of us."

  Sloane rolled her eyes. "You worry too much. It's not an issue, I promise."

  "Okay." Candace listened with interest as Sloane recounted her date with Johl. From the animation of her voice, and the twinkle in her eyes, Candace knew that Sloane really liked this guy and Candace really wanted things to work out for her sister. After what Nate did, Sloane deserved to be happy.

  "He's amazing, Candace. He texts and calls every day and he makes me laugh. I think he could be the one."

  Candace smiled. She'd heard that before. "Well, give him a call and let's sign him."

  Sloane called, but then hung up and frowned. "I forgot, he left today for a shoot in California. He won't be back until the middle of the week."

  "Okay, well, leave a message for him and let him know that we'd like to meet with him when we return from Fiji." Candace leaned her head back on the couch and closed her eyes. A few months ago, things seemed hopeless, and now, they were on top of the world again. It felt great!

  *****

  "You did what?" Sloane shouted, slamming her palms on top of the desk.

  "Easy, Sloane," Candace said, gently touching Sloane's arm.

  Sloane stood up straight and blew out a breath. Her hands were shaking, so she folded them over her chest, hoping no one noticed. She and Candace had returned from Fiji late last night and first thing this morning they'd met with Johl. Last time Sloane had spoken to him on the phone, he sounded like he was ready to sign with Parker, Inc., but now…

  "I don't understand why you're so upset," Johl said calmly. "It's not like I lied to you, either of you." He looked back and forth between Sloane and Candace. "I was very honest with you that I was considering other offers."

  "We're not saying you did," Candace said, "but we were under the impression that this was a sure thing, that you'd be signing with us."

  "And I had every intention of doing so. But when Balmain Models approached me with an offer, I couldn't refuse." Johl stood and paced the office. He stopped and looked at Sloane. "I'm sorry, but I have to do what's best for my career, and right now, Balmain is my best option."

  Sloane looked away from him, the sting of tears sharp in her eyes.

  "I'll give you two a few minutes alone." Candace excused herself and left the office.

  Johl approached Sloane and put his hands on her upper arms. He looked her in the eyes. "I like you, Sloane, and I want to continue to see you."

  She jerked out of his hold. "Our business here is finished." Sloane grabbed her purse and stormed out of the office, ignoring both Johl and Candace as they called after her. She couldn't believe Johl would do this to her. She thought they had something good going on. How could he go and sign with a rival agency without bothering to tell her first? Maybe if he had mentioned that he was considering signing with Balmain, she could've convinced him not to.

  *****

  Sloane had locked herself in her apartment right after she found out Johl wasn't going to sign with Parker, Inc. Candace and Jason had called repeatedly, but she'd ignored them. Unfortunately, the banging on her door couldn't be so easily ignored. She shuffled to the door and yanked it open. "What?"

  "We need to talk." It was Johl.

  She tried to close the door, but he put his foot in the way. "There's nothing to talk about, Johl. You made your choice."

  "Stop it," he yelled. "Yes, I made my choice about which agency I signed with, but that decision has nothing to do with how I feel about you."

  Sloane turned and walked into her apartment, leaving him standing in the doorway. He followed her inside and closed the door.

  "Look, I know you're upset, but I've told you from the beginning that my choice would be based on the merits of the offers and what it could do for my career."

  She kept her back to him. He continued talking.

  "I like you, Sloane, a lot, and I want to keep seeing you." She still didn't respond. Johl walked up behind her and put his arms around her stomach. He rested his chin on her shoulder. "Please forgive me."

  "You hurt me, Johl."

  "I know," he whispered.

  "I feel used." Sloane stepped from his embrace and turned to face him. Her cheeks were wet with tears. "I think it's best if you just go."

  "Sloane, please…"

  She shook her head. "Just go."

  Without another word, Johl nodded and left. Sloane slumped down on her couch and cried. Why did she have such bad luck when it came to men? Was she destined to date men who were sneaky liars?

  Chapter Eighteen

  Candace read her message again and smiled as she texted a response to Harvey. Her plan to ignore his calls had lasted all of one day. He was definitely persistent, and the more she talked to him, the more she liked him. Harvey had a really great sense of humor. They hadn't had a chance to have dinner or drinks yet, but he kept saying that they had to when she returned from her photo shoot in Jamaica. She was looking forward to it.

  Beside her, Sloane groaned. "Jeez, you've had your face shoved in your phone all day. Why don't you and "just some guy from the gym" get a room already?"

  Candace laughed and tucked her phone away. "Sorry. And his name is Harvey." She had been preoccupied recently and decided to make it up to her sister by talking about her favorite thing – Sloane. "So, how're things going with Johl?"

  "They're not." Sloane pouted. "I've run into him a few times and we're polite, but…" She sighed. "I don't know. I really liked him, but I feel betrayed."

  It was on the tip of Candace's tongue to say, "I told you so," but she refrained. That would only make Sloane angry. Instead, she said, "You really shouldn't let his career choices affect your relationship with him. He clearly likes you. Even I could see that."

  "Yeah, maybe you're right. I guess we're going to try being friends for a while, get to know each other a little better; then we'll see."

  Candace smiled sympathetically. It was clear that this whole thing had been hard on Sloane, even if she was being a bit melodramatic about the entire situation. "So, Harvey asked me to go to a fundraiser with him when I get home."
r />   "A fundraiser for what?" Sloane lowered her sunglasses from her head onto her face and lay back in the lounge chair.

  "Some charity that helps the homeless…or animals…I don't know. I've never heard of it before. He said it's a black tie affair."

  "Are you going to go?"

  "I don't think so." Candace picked up her strawberry daiquiri and took a long drink. "Don't get me wrong, he's nice and all, but I'm not looking for a relationship."

  "You always say that. I've seen the way you smile at his text messages. It's like you're a damn teenager again. Go to the stupid fundraiser with him and have some fun." Sloane waved her hand as if her response settled it.

  Candace gave her sister a dirty look. Sloane was upset about Johl, but did she have to sound so snotty about everything? Jeez. Settling back in her own chair, Candace closed her eyes. She would go to the fundraiser with Harvey, and she would have a good time. And not because Sloane told her to, but because Candace wanted to.

  *****

  Candace's heart jumped into her throat at the sound of her doorbell. That was Harvey and he was here to take her to the charity event. Taking a deep breath, she walked toward the door, her chiffon dress swishing around her legs as she walked. She opened the door and was stunned. Harvey stood in front of her dressed in a very expensive black tuxedo and holy hell he looked so good. This was the first time they'd seen each other since they met in the gym. Had he been that sexy then, too? She knew she was staring, but couldn't bring herself to stop. He was gorgeous! Candace quickly pulled herself together and smiled. "Hi."

  "Wow, you look absolutely stunning, Candace."

  She felt herself blush. "Thanks." Harvey held out his arm and she took it. He escorted her outside to where a sleek, black, stretch limousine awaited them. She looked at him. "You didn't have to go to so much trouble."

  "It's no trouble," he said, motioning for her to get in first. "Besides, I'm still trying to make up for my behavior at the gym."

  Candace laughed. "I'd almost forgotten about that."

  Harvey took her hand and placed a kiss to her knuckles. "I don't know what got into me that day. That's not how I normally act. Please forgive me."