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“That’s right.” This time, Zachary answered. “This is Jessica Cole and Destiny Dane, two up-and-coming stars.”
“How exciting.” Stacy’s gaze sharpened as she parried between the men and women. “I sensed something between you guys. Anything we should know?”
Zachary’s grin widened. “Well Stacy, you – and your billions of viewers on neighboring planets – would be the first to know, of course.” He winked to laughter. “But in this case, even I’m not sure where I stand. Ms. Cole, have you agreed to go out with me?”
Jess blushed deeply. A second later, she regained her composure and beamed. “I believe I just have, Mr. Thompson.”
Stacy laughed as the crowd roared in approval, yet surprise stole Julian’s mask, for just a moment. Zachary rarely revealed his personal life to reporters, yet he’d just spilled all on national television. What had Jess done to elicit such a response?
Perhaps the same thing Destiny was doing to him.
“And what about you, Julian? Is there anything special between you and Ms. Dane? Don’t think we haven’t noticed the matching outfits. Are you guys an item?”
Total silence ruled.
He opened his mouth and paused…
How should he answer?
CHAPTER 7
Damn.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
This was bad. Not merely “I’m having a bad hair day” bad, but “There’s been an alien invasion and they think humans taste like chicken” bad. It would only take one word, three little letters – Y-E-S – to blow months of intel. If he said yes, she could forget about ever being targeted by the criminals. Hell, it could destroy her entire undercover career. And there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
Why wasn’t he saying anything? Didn’t he know not saying anything was as good as climbing to the top of the Eiffel tower and screaming yes?
“Actually, now that you mention it…”
She held her breath.
“We have a wonderful professional relationship.”
Cheyenne barely stopped herself from pumping her fist into the air and yelling “Bring on the human-loving aliens because I can conquer anything today!”
“I just met Ms. Dane a few days ago. You might see us working closely, but that’s because she’s my new personal assistant. It’s her job to attend to my needs.”
Cheyenne ignored the words.
“Ensure my every desire is satisfied,” he continued.
Okay, a little harder to ignore.
“Answer to my every whim.”
Was it breaking character to kick the hottest movie star on Earth?
“Put toothpaste on my toothbrush.”
That was it. Just as Cheyenne crafted the perfect retort, the reporter, along with everyone else, broke into laughter. She relaxed. Of course, he was joking.
“What do you think, Destiny?” Stacy thrust the microphone in her face. “Is Julian an easy boss?”
Do not panic. Do not betray your cover. You are Destiny Dane.
But it was hard to keep cool under the camera’s unrelenting glare. When the captain saw this, and no doubt he would, he’d kick her to traffic duty so quickly she’d get road burn. Still she had to say something. “Sure.”