Harlequin Desire June 2021--Box Set 1 of 2

by Katherine Garbera

  “Uh...” Lila began.

  “I know the gossip, but that’s all publicity. What I’m trying to say here is that if you know each other well then Zach can lead you to the topics,” Bree said, turning to look at him. “My man ZB is an expert at directing the conversation where he wants it to go.”

  Lila let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She hadn’t expected that there would be people who would just dismiss the gossip about the two of them. But she should have. It made her feel better to know that most people weren’t going to be thinking of them doing the nasty each time Zach tagged her in a photo.

  “I do. And I’m going to be pretty strict about not talking about Candi. I think I already mentioned that to Mandee’s people. We are on the show to discuss the Soiree and of course all things fab.”

  She smiled, but she knew him well enough now to hear the edge in his voice. Zach wasn’t prepared to discuss his affair with a married woman. He hadn’t mentioned it to her, either, and she honestly wasn’t too sure she wanted the details. But she did wonder how he was going to keep Mandee from asking about it. She was known for getting the dirt she wanted.

  Bree left her with a few more tips and Lila told her she would do her best to implement them. Zach closed the door behind Bree and then turned to face her.

  “Ready for this?”

  “No. I’m so nervous, but I will give it my all.”

  “I know you will,” he said. “I don’t want any of the scandal from my life to touch you. I’m going to let you take point on the interview. Just be your besotted boyfriend.”

  “Is that what you are?”

  * * *

  He had no idea. The longer Zach was in Royal and with Lila, the less clear a lot of things were. Even his online life had started to take a back seat to this time he was spending with her. He’d been trying to stay focused and ignore the emotions that Lila stirred in him and so far he’d been shooting above par. Which wasn’t good. He wanted to at least be on par.

  “Isn’t that what you want me to be?” he asked, pulling her into his arms because he’d been wanting to kiss her since he’d walked into her office. Her new glasses suited her face and when he’d entered and seen her sitting there, he had a few racy fantasies involving her and that desk of hers.

  She put her hand on his chest to keep some distance between the two of them. “Don’t be glib. I want to know how you see yourself.”

  Glib. That was his life. It was how he managed everything and normally no one dared to call him on it, but he might have let Lila get too close. He wasn’t even sure how he’d done that. After all, he’d been making her over, dammit. But at the same time, without him being aware, she might have made a few changes in him. Because he knew he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Didn’t want to say something that was going to make those big brown eyes of hers regard him the way so many disappointed people had.

  “Brown Eyes, please. I’m doing my best here.”

  “I’m not sure that you are,” she said. “I’m going to be honest and lay it all on the line, Zach. I’m not an influencer, and those pictures I post? Well, as much as I’m following the tips that Dawn gave me, they are my life. I’m not tagging you to get followers but because I like the pictures of the two of us. And before you say anything, I do know that it’s for show. In my mind, I know that. But I’m also starting to buy it. To buy us.”

  Zach took a deep breath. Was that it? Were they both starting to buy into the image they created to build her followers? Was he falling for the ruse the same way that she was? This was fun. But he knew that if he said that to her right now, she wouldn’t appreciate that.

  “I don’t know what to say. This is so not my normal scene. Royal is different. You are different. Maybe... I have to be back in LA soon. Why don’t you come with me?” he asked.

  She turned out of his arms and walked around behind her desk, sitting down. She was thinking about his offer. He remembered how the blonde—he couldn’t even remember her name now—had just jumped in his car when he’d asked her to come with him to Texas. But Lila didn’t make decisions that way.

  Zach leaned against the wall. He could only imagine what she was thinking, probably running the pros and cons of the trip.

  “It will be a lot of fun and I’ll introduce you to more people who you can invite to the Soiree. The kind of people you need to get on board if you want this to be a big international event.”

  “Are you bribing me?” she asked.

  He held his hands out to his sides. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get you to come to my home with me.”

  “Just ask me,” she said.

  That honesty.

  Damn.

  She killed him with that. Just ask her. Well, now he couldn’t because he knew if he did, she’d know he wanted her there. Yo, idiot, she knows. His subconscious was giving him a hard time lately.

  “Come home with me,” he said, forcing the words out as fast as he could.

  “Okay.”

  What?

  That was it?

  “Seriously, that’s all you needed to give up your lists?”

  She shook her head and smiled at him. “How do you know I was making a mental list?”

  “It’s you. That’s what you do.”

  She stood up and came around the desk, leaning back against it as she looked over at him. “You’re starting to know me.”

  “I am,” he admitted thickly. Which was why he had to get them back to LA. Back to the place where the world made sense and he could forget about these feelings that were stirring inside him.

  “So we can leave tomorrow... Do you have to clear it with someone here?”

  She groaned. “I do. In fact, you should leave because I have to do some work before the interview, and I want to try to get an appointment with Abby Carmichael. Do you know her?”

  “Uh, no. Serious documentary filmmakers don’t dig my scene,” he said. But he’d heard of her and knew she’d do a great job when Lila convinced her to come and film the event.

  He knew Lila would get Abby on board, too. She was good at getting people to do what she wanted. He left her office and went to the coffee shop across the street but was mobbed by his followers and left after agreeing to a few selfies. Then he found himself driving away from Royal until there was nothing but flat Texas landscape on either side of the road.

  He pulled over.

  Had Lila been manipulating him? He had to wonder about that because he wasn’t acting like himself. It was easy to say she was making him feel things. Really, he had to figure out his emotions and stop referring to them as something he couldn’t define. But this was the first time he’d experienced them.

  And it was down to her.

  Was that part of her plan?

  Hell. He didn’t know or care. He liked her. He liked the time he spent with her. He knew it would end; everything did. So he was going to enjoy the ride for as long as he could. He knew that once she saw him in LA her opinion of him would change. She’d fall in love with the lifestyle and forget all about the man who had introduced her to it.

  * * *

  Mandee Meriweather was very attractive and sort of made for the spotlight. Lila was in the greenroom by herself waiting for the show to start. Zach had texted he was on his way.

  “Oh, all alone?” Mandee asked. She wore a black sheath sundress with large straps that left her shoulders and neck bare. She was followed by a cloud of Chanel No. 5 as she entered the greenroom and looked around expectantly.

  “ZB is on his way. And his team are looking for a parking spot.”

  “Sorry about that. I didn’t know there would be so many different vehicles. So exciting about the Soiree. I know that you have been on the planning committee from the beginning. Quite the coup for you. Little, shy Lila Jones.”

  She’d known Mandee
in high school...well, more like known of her in high school, as the other woman was popular and had run with a different crowd.

  “I don’t think it was anything like that. I mean it is my job to promote Royal at the chamber of commerce.”

  “Of course it is, silly. So when did you say Zach would be here?”

  “Now,” he said, walking in and coming straight over to Lila and giving her a one-armed hug. “Sorry for being late.”

  “That’s okay,” she murmured, glad that he was here. Mandee was the kind of person that Zach was an expert at dealing with.

  “Mandee, you look gorg tonight,” he declared, turning to her.

  “Thanks, ZB—is it okay to call you that?”

  “Only my closest pals do,” he said, flirting with her. “So of course you can.”

  “Ooooh, thanks for that. How about a selfie before the show?” she asked.

  Lila was trying not to be jealous of the way Zach was flirting with Mandee. A part of her knew it was just the way the two of them interacted, but at the same time, Lila couldn’t help thinking that the flamboyant reporter was more the kind of woman that Zach was used to.

  “The Benningnites will love seeing me with you two,” Zach said, pulling Lila along with him.

  Mandee got in close on his other side. “Maybe it would be better if Lila snapped the pic?”

  Lila smiled to herself. “It would be. You two get close.”

  She had to give it to Zach—he looked like he was really interested in being photographed with Mandee, and she knew that was part of his charm. He loved this life. It wasn’t something he was doing for a lark. As he chatted with Mandee and his team arrived to touch up her makeup and do some final details on Zach’s hair, she saw him sort of getting even more electric. Everyone in the room wanted to talk to him and be near him.

  He had a real gift. She might think this was all an illusion, and for her, she reminded herself, it was. But for him this was real.

  Mandee had to leave to go and prep for their segment, and the team departed along with her. When a production assistant came to get her and Zach a few minutes later, Lila realized her hands were sweating.

  She wiped them on her hips and he caught the movement. “Don’t worry. You’re going to be great. Just remember to smile, to breathe and that I’m right by your side.”

  Impulsively she hugged him. “Thank you.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  But it wasn’t nothing, she thought as she sat next to him on Mandee’s guest couch to talk about the Soiree. She got in the information she’d practiced with Bree and a few other facts, as well. The crew for the show all responded to her stories so she thought that went well.

  “So word on the street is that you two are Royal’s hottest new couple,” Mandee said.

  “Lila is a gem,” Zach replied, flashing his trademark grin. “I came to town because of the event and that is down to the hard work of the committee, but especially Lila. She has a way of making Royal seem like the only place I want to be.”

  “We are pretty special here.”

  “Yes, but it’s also Lila herself. She’s got the kind of Southern charm that I’ve always heard about but found in short supply,” he said, reaching over to take her hand in his and lifting it to his mouth to kiss the back of it. “It’s easy to fall for her appeal.”

  Fall for...

  Her heart stuttered in her chest. Was Zach telling her how he felt? It would be just like him to do it in the spotlight, but at the same time, the Zach she knew was very private. This had to be for show. To keep the numbers of her followers up because she appeared to be special to him. That was all it was.

  She had to be very careful not to fall for this silver-tongued rascal. He was merely doing the job she’d asked him to do.

  “Of course, ZB’s pretty special, too. I can’t wait for everyone to meet him at the Soiree on the Bay,” Lila said, trying to bring the conversation back to the event and to force herself to remember that was the real reason he was here.

  “It will be one hot July on the bay,” Zach declared. “And I can’t wait.”

  “I think we all want to be there,” Mandee said. “Ticket and festival information is available at the website shown on the screen right now, and make sure to follow Lila Jones and ZB on all social media platforms for behind-the-scenes deets. Until next time, this has been Royal Tonight!”

  The closing music played and they all stayed seated and smiling until the stage manager called cut.

  “Thanks for having us on your show,” Lila said.

  “It was a blast,” Zach added.

  “I hope you will come back again closer to the event,” Mandee said. “Want to grab a drink?”

  “Love to, but can’t,” Zach replied. “We are heading to LA in the morning and I promised Lila we’d have a quiet night.”

  “Lucky girl,” Mandee said.

  Zach slipped his hand into hers again and now she wasn’t sure if this was all for show or for real. She knew that she needed to figure it out, however, because she was starting to fall for him.

  TWELVE

  “Welcome to my home,” Zach said as he swept into the large foyer of a huge mansion in Beverly Hills. “I am throwing a party in Malibu in a couple of days, but for today it’s just us. I want you to have a chance to get used to the time change and all that.”

  Lila stood next to him, her Birkin bag over her shoulder, just turning slowly in a circle and taking in the entryway of his house. The marble flooring was Carrara and had been flown in from Italy. And the art on the walls were some of his favorite modern artists, including a print on canvas of Edvard Munch’s Vampire, or as it was originally titled, Love and Pain. It was a conversation starter when people came to his home.

  For the first time he saw the image through different eyes. He had hesitated to say he was in love, but seeing the couple bound together in the image made him think of himself and Lila.

  “I’m not sure about this painting. It’s so dark but also so sensual,” Lila said when she came to a stop in front of it.

  “That’s why I picked it,” he said, coming next to her and returning his attention to the portrait of the couple. The man had his head in the lap of the woman as she cradled him. He knew from his study of the artist that Munch had been dealing with his own psychological issues, but this portrait had spoken to him.

  Next to it was one of his favorite pieces—a bright neon sign that spelled out You Wish You Were Me!

  “Nice. I guess it takes a humble man to hang that up.”

  “It was a gag gift from a friend. It makes me laugh and not take myself too seriously.” Zach knew that he could come off as totally self-centered, but he also didn’t really take himself too seriously. He wanted the chance to show Lila his world. To see if what he felt for her was just a Royal thing or if those feelings were something different, something deeper and more intense than he wanted to admit.

  They stowed her bags in the master bedroom. “Are you tired or do you want to go sightseeing?”

  “I don’t know! I’ve never been to California before. Did you grow up here?”

  “I did. In Bel Air. It’s not too far from here,” he said. Thinking of his childhood always stirred bittersweet memories. His younger self hadn’t realized everything wasn’t about him, and it wasn’t until it was too late that he cottoned on to the reality of his parents’ marriage.

  “Oh, do you want to show me your childhood home? I like that idea. And then you can take me somewhere super posh for lunch and we can try shopping again,” she said.

  “I’ve created a monster,” he joked. His childhood home wasn’t a place he went to often and it was odd that he had brought it up now. But there was something about Lila that made him feel and remember things that he’d ignored for too long.

  “Ha. You wish,” she said. “Should I change?
”

  “Yes. Put on that cute BCBG Max Azria outfit you modeled for me,” he suggested. “It shows off your arms and makes your legs look a mile long.”

  “Oh, I will.”

  She dashed into the bathroom and got changed while he waited. Normally he would be on the phone going live for his followers trying to drum up a crowd to follow him that day, but he realized he wanted this first day in LA with Lila just for himself. He loved her excitement and wonder when she experienced something new and couldn’t wait to see her face when they drove past the Hollywood sign. He knew she’d love it.

  She liked all those things that people were jaded about out here. Lila got riveted by a pretty sunset or the way the bluebonnets smelled. She was just so genuine in liking the little things and well, let’s be honest, the expensive things, too. But he wanted this day for them.

  And he knew why. He wanted to see if the hollow aching part inside him would be satisfied with just Lila. This trip wasn’t just to see if his feelings were real outside of Texas, they were to see if Lila fit in here, too. He wasn’t sure if he wanted her to. If she did, how was he going to deal with that? He was so used to hiding his emotions behind the flashy lifestyle. If he had someone to share it with—if he shared it with Lila—he’d have to be real all the time. He’d never been able to quiet that need to find the spotlight and draw strangers to him, but with Lila he suspected he had a chance.

  “How do I look?”

  Drop-dead gorgeous. She had on a sleeveless knit top that came to a deep vee over her breasts and a pair of wide-legged trousers and some wedge sandals that made her seem even taller than normal. She’d pulled her hair back at the sides and her old fall of bangs were back. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed the woman he’d first met until now.

  “Fab. Ready to take LA?”

  “With you by my side? Always.”

  She pulled out some large shades from her Birkin and put them on before looping her arm through his. He walked her to the garage and she pulled her sunglasses off as the motion sensor lights slowly came on, illuminating the five cars he kept there. She pulled her arm from his and turned to him.