Page 26 of The Price of Scandal

10

Derek

The smile Emily slapped on her face was just this side of frozen. “Give me your bag,” I insisted, taking her purse from her so she could hold her coffee and donut for the unruly crowd awaiting their glimpse.

The billionaire with drive-thru coffee and distressed jeans looked miles more approachable than she had yesterday.

“Emily!” There were two dozen photographers stationed on either side of the entrance to the building. Security kept them from blocking the door with sawhorses and ferocious frowns.

My charge cleared her throat, and I realized beneath that glossy layer of bravado, she was nervous. “Hello,” she called weakly.

“Emily!” More photographers jockeyed for her attention, shouting her name as they lined her up in their camera bullseyes. I gave her a little nudge forward. Jane and I flanked her as she approached the front door.

“Do you feel lucky you avoided an arrest?” a woman bellowed from the front row.

Emily’s smile wavered, and I felt a rarely used protective instinct flare to life. Most of my clients brought their shitstorms upon themselves. But my instincts were telling me that this wasn’t her fault.

“What kind of donut is that?” someone else called.

Emily turned to the man. “It’s a cinnamon sugar vanilla donut from Carbs ’n Coffee,” she said, holding it up proudly. “Breakfast of champions.”

There were a few titters of laughter. But it was enough to embolden her.

“If I’d known you all would be here loitering, I’d have brought some for everyone,” she said.

“Tomorrow!” a jokester in the back yelled.

Emily beamed in his direction.

“Emily, whose shoes are you wearing?” someone on the right called.

“Mine.”

I hid my smile and gave her a subtle elbow.

“Mine via Sophia Wang. She’s relatively new,” she corrected.

“Who’s the hottie?” a woman demanded from behind the camera that was documenting every millisecond.

“I’m Jane,” Jane deadpanned.

The crowd cracked up.

“Nice to meet you, Jane. How about you, handsome?” the woman tried again.

I pointed to myself, feigning confusion and looking over my shoulder. “Me? Oh, I’m just one of Emily’s dear friends.”

Emily turned to look at me and arched an eyebrow. I grinned at her, fully aware of the picture we were making.

“None of my friends look like you,” another woman called from behind her camera.

“I’m just here to carry her purse,” I assured the crowd.

Emily’s smile tightened. “If you’ll excuse us, we’ve got a big day at Flawless today, and I’m excited to get started,” she said, only a hint of tightness in her tone.

“Is the IPO still on?” someone yelled.

“Are you and Derek dating?”