I blushed as red as a fire engine, while Mitchell painfully closed his eyes. A second later, and after several sharp kicks from me, Nick finally blinked open his eyes.
“Good morning.” He gave me a sleepy smile, still not registering much of anything around him. “You know, I could have sworn that—DAD!”
He jumped in his skin like someone had shocked him—reaching automatically for the sheets just as I’d done. Then, for the first time in his life, he did something that neither I nor his father had ever seen him do before.
“Turn around!” he demanded, throwing a protective arm in front of me. “Have you lost your fucking mind—she needs clothes!”
I froze, staring at him in shock.
How many times had I walked in on him and some girl in exactly this state? How many times had his father? How many nude pictures were plastered all over the internet of him and some random woman in the throes?
And yet...did he just defend my honor?
For a split second, even the great Mitchell Hunter was thrown. He froze in shock, just as I had, then turned around for exactly three seconds—just long enough for me to grab a robe.
“I see the two of you have decided to fully commit to this professional arrangement,” he said dryly, when he turned back around. I blushed a million shades of scarlet, but for one of the first times, Nick held his gaze. “That actually makes this next part a little easier.”
“Next part?” Nick repeated, sensing trouble not far ahead. “What are you talking about?”
If only he hadn’t asked.
“I just got a call you see, from a cameraman working for the Post. It seems he has a flash drive with some rather incriminating photos of my son in a boxing ring. Not boxing.”
His blue eyes swept over me. “I’m assuming the woman in the photos is you?”
An unnatural chill fell over me, bowing my head to my chest. “Yes, sir.”
“You’re in public relations for goodness sake. You get him out of these sticky situations all the time, yet, you join him on this one? How could you sink to his level? You should’ve stopped him and demanded he take you to a proper location. Having sex in public is unacceptable. Steady girlfriend or not! This won’t help our cause!”
“Nobody was there.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“It was the heat of the moment. And I know that’s not a very good excuse, but it’s the truth. I swear it will never happen again, sir. Nothing like this has ever happened between us, I assure you of that. We were nothing but friends, and then things recently changed.”
“Nick hit on you when you were first hired and you stayed strong. I had high hopes he could never taint you. But two years later, he did it. Did he keep chipping away at you, little by little?”
“No, not at all.”
“Then how did he break through your titanium armor? At first, I thought you two were pretending to date. But it’s real?” He shook his head. “And having intimacy in public when anyone could take pictures and sell them to just about any trash magazine? Nobody should know that better than you and Nick. How the hell do I keep my son out of trouble? Out of the spotlight? Hiring you was supposed to stop this kind of shit.”
I’d never felt so low. Never. “I’m so sorry.”
At this point, even Nick had the decency to look ashamed. Yes, he was in a relationship like his father had commanded, but the entire point had been to clean up his image for the company. Having sex on the floor of a boxing ring was hardly what the board had in mind.
Mitchell rewarded each of us with a long look.
“Fortunately, I was able to reason with the man and obtain the flash drive for myself.”
Both Nick and I blinked up in shock. But it was Nick who asked the question.
“...how?”
“By promising him an interview,” Mitchell replied. “Every news cooperation on the planet will be fighting for the inside exclusive on the wedding. I promised it to him.”
Nick and I both started nodded in automatic compliance, but then stopped at the same time, frowning at the one word that didn’t fit in with the rest. Again, Nick took the lead.
“I’m sorry,” he shook his head blankly, “whose wedding?”