Cover Girl. Nic Tatano
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Keira bit her lip, felt a demon start to dance in her head, then quickly shoved it aside. “We’ll see.”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to bring up old wounds, but it’s about time for you to rip the band-aid off. You’re way overdue.” Suddenly her eyes widened. “I just realized something.”
“What?”
“Well, you said this Alexander guy seems to be the Jamison character. Remember what you said about the heroine when we were reading the book yesterday?”
“Yeah. It sounds…” her eyes widened to match Gretch’s. “…like me.”
“Tall, skinny, girl-next-door, smartass, freckle-faced redhead chocoholic. If that’s not you, I don’t know who it is.”
“So if the writer based her male character on Alexander—”
“Maybe she knows him so well she based the heroine on his type.”
Keira shook her head. “Nah, that’s too much of a stretch.”
“Did he say anything that indicated he was interested?”
“He mentioned that my hair was such a pretty color.”
“There ya go. You’re livin’ it, honey.”
“Living what?”
“The book. Ring Girl. You’re Lexi to his Jamison.”
“We’ll see. So, you wanna go out to dinner and celebrate tonight?”
“We’re not going back to the Greek diner, are we?”
“Nah, I think the company can spring for something a little more upscale.”
“While your loyal assistant is flattered you want to celebrate with her, don’t you want to spend the evening with a man? C’mon, we’ll go down to the bar and I’ll be your wing girl. Find someone hot you can ravish.”
Keira shook her head. “Not interested.”
“This guy really shot an arrow into your heart, huh?”
She shrugged. “Maybe. In any event, I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Keira nearly choked on her champagne. “Oh my God!”
Gretch’s eyes grew wide. “What?”
Keira leaned forward and lowered her voice. “He’s… here.”
“Who?”
“Jamison. I mean Alexander. Him. Mister Right from Ring Girl at three o’clock.”
Gretch looked to her right. “Where? All I see is a fat bald guy.”
“Sorry, my three o’clock. Your nine. At the table in front of the big fountain where the waiter is standing.” Gretch whipped her head one hundred eighty degrees. “Gretch, don’t be obvious!”
She spotted him and nodded. “Whoa. Damn, you weren’t kidding. He really is the guy in the book and definitely your type.” She craned her neck to get a better look. “Who’s he with?”
“Can’t see. Waiter’s in the way.” The waiter finished taking the order and moved on, leaving both with a clear view of Alexander’s dining partner. Keira’s face dropped. “Sonofabitch. Check out the smoking-hot blonde.”
“Her? Eh, she’s okay.”
“Stop trying to soften the blow. She’s stunning.”
“Fine, she’s hot. But you said he worked in TV news and that business is loaded with peroxide babes. Maybe she’s a co-worker.”
The blonde reached across the table and patted Alexander’s hand. “Shit, they’re together.”
“Will you stop it? For all we know she’s a relative.”
“Yeah, right. A four-hundred-pound cousin and a supermodel sister? Damn, she’s gorgeous.”
Alexander turned his head and spotted Keira, smiled and waved. “Shit, he saw me!” she said, talking through a clenched smile as she waved back. She felt her pulse spike as he got up, grabbed the blonde by the hand and headed in their direction. “And he’s coming this way. Sonofabitch.”
Gretch sipped her wine and leaned back in her chair. “Relax, maybe we’ll find out the deal with the blonde.” She pointed at the beads of sweat forming on Keira’s forehead. “You’re glowing, sweetie.”
“Dammit!” Keira quickly ran her hand across her face as Alexander and his companion arrived. She stood to greet them as she wiped her damp palm on her dress.
“We’ve gotta stop meeting like this,” he said.
“New York is a small town.” Keira smiled at him before giving a quick glance at his petite date, who was even more spectacular up close. The woman was flawless. “Hello, I’m Keira.”
“Juliette.”
Keira gestured at Gretch. “And this is my right-hand girl, Gretch.”
“Short for Gretchen. Everyone calls me Gretch.”
Keira turned back to Alexander. “So, out celebrating?”
“Yeah. My, uh, cousin told us we had carte blanche tonight considering the big check you dropped today.”
“Couldn’t get her out even on a day like this?”
Alexander shook his head. “Nope. But I had a lobstergram sent to her.”
“That’s nice.”
“Well, just wanted to say hello and thank you again. Tomorrow morning at ten-thirty, right?”
“We’ll see you then.”
The blonde flashed a warm smile and actually seemed sincere. “Nice meeting you both.”
They turned and headed back to their table. On the way he put his arm around her shoulder.
“So much for me living the book,” said Keira, watching the couple as they sat and Alexander flagged down a waiter. “Good God. Look at the body on that woman. She’s not just hot, she’s ‘stripper hot’. And her skin was like porcelain.”
“Hey, we still don’t know the deal about the blonde. There was no ring on her finger.”
“Thank you for checking, but I don’t think it matters.” Keira grabbed a bread stick, disgustedly took a bite and talked through the dry crumbs. “Sonofabitch. I can’t compete with a girl who looks like that.”
“Not always about looks, sweetie. For a girl who edits romance, you’re supposed to get that part. And you’re extremely cute.”
“Hot trumps cute every time.” Keira picked up the wine bottle on the table to get a refill and found it empty. “I need another round.” A waiter carrying a bottle of champagne in a silver ice bucket was heading in their direction and she waved at him. He arrived at their table and smiled. “We’re gonna need one more bottle. Who knows, maybe two.”
The waiter laughed as he placed the bucket on the table. “Good timing,” he said, then pointed at Alexander. “From the couple seated next to the fountain.” He popped the cork on the bottle and poured the champagne into two fresh glasses.
She looked at Alexander as he and his companion raised glasses in their direction. She and Gretch smiled and did the same as the waiter placed the bottle back in the bucket and moved on.
Gretch turned back to Keira. “Class act.”
“Only