“It would be…I don’t know…weird for you to come.”

“No weirder than sitting next to you watching a five-foot-tall Asian woman almost give you an orgasm.”

She laughed. “I guess you have a point.”

“Plus, we both know the truth.” I winked. “Your mom inviting me isn’t really for her daughter.”

“I told her we were competing for a promotion, not to keep our jobs here in California. I haven’t mentioned the possible move to Texas because I figured there was no point in making her worry. But if I told her the only interest you have in her daughter was to have me shipped off eighteen-hundred miles away, I think you’d be surprised how much her friendliness changed. She’s super protective of me.”

Definitely not the only interest I had in Annalise. But she had a point, and if her mother knew about Texas or any of things I’d fantasized about doing to her daughter, I was pretty sure she’d be chasing me out with a corkscrew in her hand.

“Are you an only child?”

“Sort of. My sister died when she was eight.”

“Shit. I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. She was five years older, so I was only three when it happened. She had neuroblastoma—a childhood cancer that’s really aggressive. I wish I remembered her more. Although, at least I don’t remember too much about her passing. But to answer your question, I don’t have any other siblings. My parents started to have trouble with their marriage after that. What about you? Any other full-of-themselves Foxes running around out there I should look out for?”

I shook my head. “Just the one. My dad died when I was three—heart attack at thirty-nine. Mom never really got over it or remarried. Although, she moved down to Florida to be near her sister two years ago, and lately she’s been mentioning she goes for walks with some dude named Arthur. Figured I should probably take a trip down there soon, see if I need to be kicking Artie’s ass.”

“That’s oddly sweet.”

“Yeah, that’s me. Oddly sweet.”

The waitress came and took our lunch order. Annalise ordered a soup, appetizer, and lunch.

“You sure as shit can eat for a little thing.”

“I didn’t eat anything this morning because of my nerves about flying. And I won’t be eating until eight tonight, so I figured I better stockpile.”

The reminder of her dinner with Tobias tonight ruined my appetite. “So where is this date tonight?”

She frowned. “It’s not a date.”

“Oh, that’s right. Let me rephrase. Where is the business meeting with the guy who wants to get in your pants?”

She folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t want to tell you.”

“A romantic little Italian bistro with candles? Maybe a corner booth next to the fireplace.”

“Jerk.”

“French? Maybe Chez Affaire.”

“It’s at the same place we ate last time. The same exact restaurant where both of us shared a meal and discussed business with the entire team from Star. The same place that seemed like a logical and convenient choice for a meeting just two weeks ago. Yet I’m sure you’ll be convinced that now he has an ulterior motive by picking it.”

I’d been teasing her, but fuck, the thought of the two of them having dinner at the hotel she’d be staying at really yanked me. And I wasn’t even going to attempt to convince myself it had anything to do with business. I’d already admitted once that I was jealous. There was no point in exposing my weakness to the competition a second time. So I sucked it up. At least I tried to.

“It is a convenient choice. Very convenient.”

***

Maybe I hadn’t given the guy a chance.

Tobias patted me on the back as we left the office of the Director of Film Acquisitions. He’d raved about the marketing plan I’d come up with, including the new logo and taglines. And now it was the third office he’d walked me around to that seemed to love my ideas.

“I’ve been here three weeks, and that was the first time I saw Bob Nixon smile. You either hit it out of the ballpark, or that guy started on new meds recently.”

“Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. I know you had something come up earlier today, so I appreciate you still fitting us in.”

We walked back into his office. “Anytime. Glad I can help. Now that I’ve seen some of your great ideas, I’m really looking forward to seeing your final concepts when we come up to tour your office in a few weeks. I’ve heard great things about your work from Annalise, and now I know why.”

I was beginning to feel like a total idiot. I’d let my personal feelings get in the way of business—let it cloud my judgment toward Tobias—and God knows I’d ridden Annalise hard about this guy. And here she was building me up to the guy who was going to pick the campaign that would go a long way toward keeping my damn job.

“I’m sure her presentation will be just as on point, if not more so. She’s incredibly talented,” I said.

Tobias’s office phone rang. He picked it up and told whoever was on the line that he needed a minute and then held the receiver to his chest. “Why don’t you pour us two celebratory drinks?” He lifted his chin, pointing to a long credenza positioned under the windows. “Middle cabinet has a nice brandy and some glasses.”

While he talked on the phone, I took out two crystal highball glasses and a decanter filled with amber-colored alcohol. The top of the cabinet had a bunch of framed photographs, so I perused while I waited. One had a little blond boy and an older girl sitting on a rock somewhere in the mountains. A few were of various celebrities and Tobias at different movie premieres. The last was a photo of a woman with the same two little kids from the first framed photo, only they were older in this shot, and all three had their hands up in the air as they barreled down a drop on a rollercoaster. Their smiles were huge.

I shook my head. I’d been really blinded by jealousy. This guy was obviously happily married, and had a nice little family. I’d totally misread the situation last time.

Or…maybe I didn’t.

Tobias hung up as I set down the last framed photo.

“You have a beautiful family,” I said.

He came around his desk and took one of the glasses of brandy I’d poured, then lifted the picture I’d just set down. Swirling the liquid around in his glass, he stared down at it.

“Candice is beautiful alright. Too bad she’s a fucking bitch on wheels. We separated nine months ago. With all the #MeToo crap going on, figured it would be better to keep up my fa?ade as a happily married man in public.”

He lifted his glass and clinked it with mine. “Speaking of beautiful women, I’m looking forward to seeing what your colleague came up with later.”

Chapter 25

* * *

Annalise

He’s such a jerk.

I continued to wear my big, fake, happy face as I said goodbye to Tobias. But the moment he pushed through the revolving door, I pivoted on my heel, scowled, and headed to the bar to look for my stalker. A feeling of déjà vu came over me.

“Excuse me?” I called to the bartender. “I’m looking for the guy who was sitting down at that end of the bar just a few minutes ago?”

He nodded. “Drinks Corona and looks like someone ran over his dog?”

“That would be him.”

“Paid his tab and left a minute or two ago. Not sure if he’s a guest here since he paid cash. Didn’t catch which way he went when he took off.”

“Oh, he’s a guest here alright,” I mumbled and started toward the front desk. “That I’d bet my life on.”

The front desk had two employees, and both were helping people already, so I got in line. But while waiting, it dawned on me that they might not give out another guest’s room number so easily. So instead, I walked back to the lobby, dug out my cell, and looked up the phone number of the hotel.

“Hi. I’m trying to reach a guest there. He’s my boss, actually. He gave me the direct telephone number to his room for a conference call we’re about to have, but I seem to have misplaced it.”

“I can connect you. What’s the guest’s name?”

“Ummm… Could you possibly just give me the direct number again? He gave it to me because I’ll be calling with a few other people on a conference line, and for privacy reasons, he doesn’t like to give out the name of the hotel where he’s staying. The operator says the name of the hotel when she answers at the main number. He’s going to kill me for losing it.”

“Sure. No problem. What’s the guest’s name?”

“It’s Bennett Fox.”

When I’d given my direct-dial phone number to Marina earlier today, I’d noticed that my room number was the last four of the phone number. Either that was one hell of a coincidence, or they all worked that way.

I heard her clicking some keys before returning to the line. “That direct number would be 213-555-7003.”

“Thank you very much.”

“No problem. Have a good evening.”

I swiped to end the call. Oh, I’m going to have a good evening alright—chewing out the asshole in room 7003.