Page 4 of Catch Me (Townsend Legacy #4)

I vy

What. Is. Happening?

Those are the only three words that echo through my mind. One moment I’m being fired while simultaneously calculating how I’m going to cover this month’s portion of the rent with Mya.

The next moment, Andreas Knight is intervening?

What is going on?

Rebecca and I both stand there stunned into silence as Andreas Knight makes his unapologetic declaration.

“What did you just say?” Rebecca asks as if daring him to repeat his words.

Andreas doesn’t hesitate. “I believe you heard me.”

My mouth falls open when Andreas backs his bold claim up by fully entering and closing the door behind him.

“Even if you were firing someone at the moment, which you’re not, you could’ve at least closed the door for privacy.”

Rebecca stands there for a beat, looking just as stunned as I feel. There’s no hint of humor or joking in Andreas’ voice. Gone is the guy known as one of Hollywood’s most charming and affable young actors.

He’s replaced by a man who takes no shit. It’s as if, within a matter of seconds, this office has transformed from Rebecca’s office to his space.

Andreas owns this room.

But Rebecca isn’t one to give up her spot easily. “I beg your pardon?” She folds her arms across her chest in a move meant to convey her level of pissed off.

“We don’t have to do this,” Andreas says cooly. “You and I both know it was her,” he nods at me, “who saved you during this morning’s fitting.”

My skin burns from the scathing look she sends my way. Geeze, you would’ve thought I’d stolen this woman’s boyfriend or something.

“No,” Andreas continues. “Don’t look at her. She didn’t tell anyone that it was your mistake that the intern had the wrong shirt delivered for today’s fitting. But it was your assistant …” He stops and then looks at me.

I blink and blink again.

He’s still staring.

It takes way too long for me to realize he’s waiting for me to fill in the silence with my name.

“Ivy,” I finally say.

His green eyes flicker with something I have no words for.

“Ivy,” he says, as if testing it out. “Like the poison.”

An odd tremor courses through me.

“No, not poison, just …” I trail off because I don’t even know how to end that sentence.

“Your assistant, Ivy, was the one who picked up on the errors. Not your intern and not you. So, in what world does it make any sense to fire the person who fixed the situation before it even became a problem?”

He pauses, the silence demanding an answer from Rebecca.

My heart sinks even further than it already had. I know she’s going to take whatever this conversation is out on me.

“I’d think you would want to promote her, or hell, give Ivy a raise for saving your ass down there.”

Rebecca inhales sharply, but I’m too busy fending off the butterflies that suspiciously started at hearing him say my name again.

He’s an actor. He’s acting, I remind myself, though the question of who or what he’s acting for immediately comes to mind. I don’t have an answer to those questions. There aren’t any cameras in here. No one to play a role for.

“She’s only a week into her probationary period,” Rebecca tersely replies.

“Two weeks,” I correct, earning myself another harsh look from her.

I barely restrain my shoulders from shrugging. I mean, if it’s going to be my last day on the job, the least she could do is get it right. I’ve been working as her assistant for two weeks.

“Two weeks on the job and she’s already saving your ass.” Andreas whistles and shakes his head before turning to me. “Nice work.”

Those damn butterflies.

I was never one to go googly-eyed over famous people. Maybe because I never envied actors or performers. While I adored the stylists and costume designers, I knew the actors were just playing a role, not being their authentic selves.

I knew what that was like.

Playing the role assigned to you and not being able to be who or what you truly wanted. No, acting and the people who did it never appealed to me because I’d been forced into a role I never asked for before I was too young to choose.

“Andreas, this is a professional matter between my assistant and I?—”

“One that I’m more than happy to leave you to, as long as it doesn’t end up with you firing her. That,” he pauses, looking at me before turning back to Rebecca, “would be the biggest mistake of your career.”

Rebecca is left speechless, which in the two weeks I’ve been here, I’ve ascertained is pretty difficult to do.

Andreas smiles down at Rebecca but he’s not even attempting to make it appear genuine.

“Anyway, it was great catching up with you, I’ll see myself out.” And with that, he takes one final look my way and heads out of the office.

An uncomfortable beat of silence holds between Rebecca and I before she pivots on her heels to look me up and down.

“I have a meeting.”

I take that as my cue to leave, not bothering to ask her if I still have a job or not.

“Oh,” I blurt out when I round the corner to head toward Lillian’s back office only to run directly into the path of Andreas Knight.

He doesn’t move out of my way. In fact, he steps fully into the middle of the hallway, taking up additional space. Andreas isn’t particularly wide. At six-foot-two, however, he does loom over my five-foot-ten height in these three-inch heels, in a way that just borders on inappropriate.

“Mr. Knight,” I say, feeling more than a little awkward.

The smile that had been playing on his lips drops instantly. “Mr. Knight?”

I clear my throat. Did I say something wrong?

“I know your name, Ivy.” Did he make a special point of saying my name? “It’s only right that you use mine.”

“That is your name,” I remind him.

A slow shake of his head. “Mr. Knight is what my accountant calls me. All three of them,” he amends.

“You have three accountants?” Why, oh, why is that the question I decide to go with?

He shrugs a shoulder. “Three that I have direct contact with. There’s plenty more, though.”

How did I end up discussing accountants with Andreas Knight?

“Anyway,” he pivots. “The name you call me is Andreas.”

He says it as if we’ll be seeing one another again and again.

I shake my head at the thought.

“Okay, well.” I clear my throat, trying to bypass the lump in it, but his name doesn’t come out. Something about calling him by his first name feels way too intimate. Not after having barely just met this man.

Although, he may have just saved my job.

“How … um, how did you know about …” I trail off.

“How did I know it was you who saved your boss’ ass?”

I jut my head backward at his directness.

He continues looking at me as if awaiting my response.

“Yes. That.”

The smile he gives me does even more strange things to my insides. “Some secrets are meant to be kept.”

One of my eyebrows immediately quirks upward. “Come again?”

That dangerous smile widens. I recall back to the few episodes of Heartbreak Academy that I watched. Andreas, originally meant to only be a featured guest on the hit show, ended up becoming the breakout star of the teen drama.

It wasn’t really my thing, but I don’t know any woman in my age range who hasn’t seen at least one episode.

This smile was one of his signature expressions. Is he acting?

With a cock of my head sideways, I watch him, the look he’s giving me. There’s a smile at play on his full pink lips, but the look in his green eyes reads dangerous, yet inviting.

All too inviting.

I drag my gaze over his handsome features. His arresting green eyes and beautifully tanned skin speaks of his interracial heritage, one of the few things about himself that he’s acknowledged in interviews.

From the few interviews I’ve seen, he doesn’t reveal a lot about his personal life. Even when he was dating that actress Amber Jones.

When my eyes once again meet his, there’s laughter in his gaze. A sparkle that hadn’t been there a second ago.

Then I remember who he is and where I am.

I take a step back upon realizing how close our bodies have become.

“No.” I didn’t mean for the one-word reprimand to slip out, but I had to remind myself that this man is a famous Hollywood actor.

I don’t need that type of complication in my world.

Not that Andreas is interested in anything, anyway. It’s my imagination that’s running away with me.

What did my coworker say earlier about Andreas?

Right. That he’s incredibly charismatic, loved by just about everyone on the sets he works on. From the director to the staff who keeps the lunch tables stocked and the restrooms cleaned.

That’s all that’s happening here. Andreas is being his affable self. He’s playing the role. Who knows how he truly is when no one’s looking.

If that’s the case, what the hell just happened in Rebecca’s office?

I acknowledge the question my mind conjures up. That definitely wasn’t charm he used on Rebecca. He seemed pissed at her and offended on my behalf.

“What’s happening in that pretty head of yours?”

His voice pulls me out of my thoughts and sends me right back into the orbit of his intense gaze.

Did he just call me pretty?

I shake my head. It’s the charisma thing. He probably passes out compliments like the ushers used to pass out those strawberry candies at church when I was growing up.

“I should go.” I raise my chin, silently daring him to detain me any further.

Andreas slow blinks, shuttering whatever emotion had just passed through his hypnotizing eyes.

He looks as if he was about to say something but the ringing of his phone interrupts. I release a breath, feeling like the title of that 90s teen sitcom starring Mark Paul-Gossalaar.

His expression drops when he looks down at the phone screen.

“You should get that,” I say. “Enjoy the rest of your day, Mr. Knight.”

With that, I quickly pivot on my heels and start for the opposite end of the hallway to continue on with the remaining thousand tasks I need to complete before the end of my workday.

Assuming I still have a job.