“That's not usual, right?” I felt an inkling of something darker at work. His secretary was one of the only people that actually knew about the two of us. I thought of the look of horror on her face when she heard my moans from his office. I remembered how awkward she looked when she saw James and I come out of the closet at the coffee shop. “Could it have been her?”
“For her sake, I hope not.” The muscle in James' jaw twitched and his eyes narrowed. His phone rang and he immediately picked it up. “Hello? No, I'm not ready to give a comment. How did you get his number?” He turned off the call and stared at his phone in disbelief.
“What's going on, James?” I asked.
“Damn reporters,” he replied. “I don't think Lauren's picking up for anyone. That's a real problem.”
His phone started to ring again and he just hit silence this time.
“Do you have someone else you can use?” I went to my bag and pulled out some clothes and started to get dressed. “A backup secretary?”
James shook his head and sighed. “Lauren would have handled that.” His phone rang again. “This is not going to work. I need someone to do her job, but I don't know who should do it.”
I slipped a blouse over my head, pausing as the soft fabric brushed against my stomach. “Just call someone at your company.”
He rolled his eyes and silenced his phone for a third time. “Who? Who can I trust? The only places where an incriminating photo could have occurred were my office, my home, or a hotel room. The most likely is the office or the hotel rooms- both of which my employees would have access to. I need someone who I can trust and I can't trust anyone right now.”
I hopped on one foot as I put my leg into my pants, nearly losing my balance as I got an idea. “I know someone you can trust. Someone who has proven they're trustworthy. And local.”
“If you say Tessa, that's not going to happen,” James replied, not looking up at me as he turned the ringer on his phone off completely.
“Not Tessa,” I scoffed. There was no way I'd even think about that- not with the weird way Tessa was convinced James was hiding something. “Audrey.”
“Audrey? Audrey Lipman?”
I nodded. “She has held up her NDA, even though she could have made a ton of cash by selling you out. Plus, she already knows your lawy
ers because she's worked with them. And she's all of two miles away.”
A slow grin spread across James' face. “You're amazing, but then again I already knew that. I heard you got Oliver to give you the full amount and then some for the NDA.”
I blinked, not quite following. What did James' driver have to do with Audrey and finding him a new secretary? “Um, yeah?”
“If I wasn't so worried about a sexual harassment suit from you, I'd hire you,” he replied, standing up and taking me in his arms. His confidence was coming back. “You've got this business thing down to an art.”
Chapter 45
Where the fuck are you?
My phone chimed with a new message. It was from Nicole. I wrote her back a text immediately.
Some place safe. I'll talk to you later.
Bing. Her text arrived just seconds after I sent mine.
Seriously, where are you? There's reporters all over the place. Wtf, Allie? You should have told me.
For a moment, I almost felt bad. I thought of all the sexual pictures she had sent my brother and how embarrassed she must feel right now knowing that he was boinking me the whole time.
I didn't feel that bad, though. She deserved it. She shouldn't have sent him those pictures. I sent her a message back.
I can't tell you. I'll explain everything later. Don't tell them anything.
I waited a moment and after a long minute, the phone finally chimed.
Fine.
I let out a long breath. That was going to be an awkward conversation later. Hopefully, she'd forgive me and we'd laugh about it later. Hopefully. I wasn't going to hold my breath, though. As long as she kept her mouth shut to the reporters, or at least had them focus on her, I wouldn't have to kill her later.