‘A distraction. Right.’
He listened carefully as her brilliant plan unfolded with all the careful arrangements and attention to detail. And then she told him his role in the plan. ‘I know you have no problem looking rakish and getting the attention of the opposite sex, and we’ll be counting on that Friday night.’
He burnt his tongue on his coffee. ‘Excuse me.’
‘Garrett, everyone knows who you are and what your reputation is. You’ve counted on that for a long time to distract people from the truth, so now we’re going to count on it some more. You are going to be stunning and charming and every woman there, and every woman watching you on television, is going to want you.’
He braced himself for the insult that didn’t come. Instead, she continued, ‘And Tess is going to be totally enthralled with you, which will give the press something else to focus on rather than her appearing out of nowhere. Everyone loves a love story, right? Especially if there’s a hint of scandal with it. And the very involvement of Garrett Thorne will give that hint and then some.’
He wiped unusually sweaty hands on his jeans. ‘You’re going to be totally enthralled with me?’
She shook her head and a wisp of a smile brushed her lips. ‘Tess Delaney is going to be totally enthralled with you. You’re her date, Garrett, and the more into each other we appear to be the more attention will be drawn away from Tess Delaney.’
‘You really believe that?’ Garrett said. He figured he could very easily pretend to be into Kendra Davis. He just wasn’t sure how safe it would be.
‘If I didn’t believe that, then we’d be doing something different. Garrett, you have to trust me.’ She ran a hand through her hair. This time she wore it loose around her shoulders. It looked silky and golden, and it was hard for him not to want to follow suit. ‘Look, I know you’re having trouble getting past the rough relationship we’ve had so far, and I can certainly understand that. But I’m a professional, and I would have never taken this job if I didn’t believe we could work together.’
‘You thought you’d be working with Tess Delaney,’ he said.
‘I am working with Tess Delaney.’
He scrubbed his hands over his face. ‘God, it’s all so confusing.’
She patted his arm. ‘Don’t worry. It’ll all be over by this time Saturday, and Tess can go back to keeping her private life private.’
For a second the two sat in silence, him staring down into his half empty coffee cup, her taking notes on her iPad. At last she spoke. ‘Mind if I ask you a personal question?’
He shifted uneasily. ‘You can ask.’
She lay the iPad aside and smiled up at him. ‘Why don’t you want anyone to know that you’re Tess …?’ She backtracked. ‘Why don’t you want anyone to know your relationship to Tess Delaney? I mean, it’s got to be tough to know what people are saying and thinking behind your back when you know none of it’s true.’
‘Just because I’m gainfully employed doesn’t make me a hero, Kendra. It’s better this way, for Tess to take the credit. Besides, I get a much more intimate view of the world when no one takes Garrett Thorne too seriously.’
She held his gaze, and he wasn’t sure what happened, or how, but suddenly there was no doubt it was Kendra Davis’s eyes he was looking into, and it was like looking into fire. ‘Oh, I take you seriously, Garrett. Believe me I do.’
The sudden urge to kiss her was visceral, almost overwhelming, and he might have very well done it if she hadn’t broadsided him with a question that took him almost as much by surprise as her slap had. ‘Garrett, I need to know what you want me to say if Tess wins the Golden Kiss. After all I’ll be taking kudos for you … For the two of you.’
Garrett scratched the stubble on his chin. ‘Honestly, I don’t think there’s any chance of that happening. Did you see the names of the authors Tess is up against?’
‘I did, yes.’
‘They don’t mean anything to you? I mean, they’re huge. They’re the biggest names in the business.’
She blinked. ‘Oh, I know that. I’ve researched them all, and I’ll be very familiar with their work by Friday night.’ She offered him a self-deprecating smile. ‘I never read romance before Tess Delaney, and she’s the only one I’ve read until now.’ Before he could say anything, before he could even let his feelings about that fact sink in, she continued. ‘I’ve researched the other four authors you’re up against well enough to know that your chance is as good as anyone else’s.’