TWENTY FIVE

Ryder

Therefore, Kim employed a dummy to shadow me. The obvious stupidity was immediately apparent to me. He was parked directly outside the entrance gates of my community, and when he went on the road behind me, he didn't even allow me a head start to get around him. In order to let him know that I was aware of what he was doing, I gave him a quick wave in the rearview mirror. I saw a smile expand across his broad face as the corners of his lips pulled his cheeks up into round scoops. He was brave enough to wave back, and I saw the smile spread across his wide face.

I expressed my disgust by shaking my head. Kim obtained the services of a low-cost private investigator who followed me on the highway and approached my clients to get autographs. I was considering giving her a call and making an offer of one hundred thousand dollars to find someone who is less bothersome. The moron trailed me all the way to my place of employment and even attempted to follow me into the parking garage directly beneath my building.

I instantly conveyed to Frank, who was in command of the garage, "Don't let that guy into the building." "My ex-wife paid him to research terrible stuff about me," he stated, referring to the individual in question.

Frank nodded, unaffected. He was accustomed to being questioned on a wide range of peculiar topics. He has been employed with the city of Los Angeles since the 1970s.

As opposed to my typical practice, I did not proceed to the executive floor upon exiting the elevator. Instead, I decided to take a break in the lobby. As soon as I approached the counter, the woman who was working there jumped back and stared at me with wide eyes. I was trying to think of the last time I came down here, but I couldn't. Even when I was leaving, I made sure to leave through the back alley that stars used to leave through to avoid the media.

"Greetings." I only gave her badge a cursory glance, but it was already in the wrong position. I had a new intern start today, so I wanted to make sure that everything was in order before they arrived.

She swiftly went through a pile of paperwork that she had grabbed and looked at. I was aware that I was making her anxious, but I was clueless as to what was happening. When I bought out my dad and took over the business, I made it a point to get to know everyone involved. At the company's happy hours, each and every employee, from those who worked in the mailroom to those who were in upper management, participated. At this point, I was just as uninterested as my father was. I made a mental note to take care of this problem when Kim wasn't available.

"Lexie Anderson?" She reached into the middle of the stack and pulled out a blue file folder. "A yearlong internship, perhaps? brand consulting: just getting your feet wet?"

"That sums it up nicely. Is there nothing left to do before she arrives?"

"Yes, sir. When she arrives, we are going to..."

"I'm here!"

It was behind me when I heard Lexie's voice, which had the cheerful lilt that I've grown accustomed to hearing. I became enraged and regretted going directly to my office to deal with the situation. Unpredictably, the recollection of her body being in close proximity to mine resurfaced in my mind. Her voluptuous contours brushed against my chest, and her long, slender arms wrapped themselves around my waist. I could smell the vanilla scent that stayed on her skin, and I could feel her silky hair brushing against my neck and chin again. I could also smell the vanilla scent that was on her skin.

Despite my best efforts, I was forced to turn around and face her. She looked really put together in her lavender dress, which she paired with a blazer and high heels. She appeared to be heading off to work, but the light that was coming in from behind her made it appear as though her gauzy skirt was made of plastic instead. I was able to make out the shape of her thighs and hips. I could see the contours of her legs. My mouth started to feel dry as a result of her cheery smile, which she wore oblivious to the effect it was having on me.

Nothing. She was in no way connected to me in any way. I pulled my lips together more. "Good morning, how are you? I just wanted to make sure that you had everything that you required. To the attention of Lexie Anderson..."

Shit. I had no idea at the time.

"Helena Upchurch." The receptionist immediately informed me of my error when I showed hesitation. She got to her feet and extended her hand to Lexie. "I'm pleased to see you. I'll let the security staff know that you've arrived."

“Security?” The pupils in Lexie's eyes became larger, and she shifted her attention to me..

I spoke to him in a hushed tone and said, "For your badge." Why did she keep looking at me with those gorgeous blue eyes that were so wide open as if she thought I could save her?

It wasn't my intention to save the day for her or anything like that. I did what I do every time and rapped my knuckles on the desk. I'd been attempting to alter it ever since Griffin pointed out to me that it was a tell in poker that I had.

When you find yourself in a difficult situation, you should begin tapping your foot. After that, it dawned on me that I had committed the same error when I was negotiating a contract. It appeared as though Lexie was trying to force me into a corner at this point.

I spoke the words "I have to go" in a hurry. "Helena, are I correct in assuming that you are in command now?"

The intelligent woman with the black hair gave a small nod. As I waved farewell, Lexie smiled and began to offer her thanks once again, but by that time I had already turned to leave. When the doors of the elevator finally shut behind me, I let out a sigh of annoyance of relief. I couldn't remember the last time being around a lady made me feel this itchy. It was simple the majority of the time. When I was interested in her, I pursued our relationship. When my interest level began to decline, I decided to stop. The demands of my company and my daughter left me with no time to put on a pleasant front even when I didn't feel like it. The amount of ladies who captured my attention for an extended period of time and compelled me to tell Samantha about them could be counted on one hand.

In the elevator, I was able to freely acknowledge to myself that Lexie had captured my attention. I didn't understand why. Although she was attractive, I had to go to work in Los Angeles. I didn't care where I looked, all I saw were stunning women. There was something innocent and gullible about the way she carried herself. Consider the example of the embrace. If it had been any other woman, I may have suspected that there was some sort of plot. Because I would have realized what was going on, I would have laughed at the situation and then walked away. When I was with Lexie, on the other hand, I didn't get the impression that anything was phony. She gave me a hug not only because I had assisted her, but also because I was the father of her closest companion. She was under the impression that the compliment would travel right to my dick.

The issue was that I was unable to carry out the activities that were typical for me. I wanted to get to know Lexie better, but there was nothing I could do about it. In addition to this, I was unable to carry out my normal routine, which consisted of going to bed with her. She was only a year older than my daughter, so it didn't worry me too much that she was older than my daughter even though it was a certain way to lose my attention. In terms common to sororities, her "little sister."

In the very back of my throat, I had the sensation of something revolting rising up. It wasn't quite as satisfying as ignoring the problem, but it was definitely an improvement over doing nothing. I raged at myself the rest of the way to work in an attempt to convince myself that I should feel this way. She made an effort to block out the memory of how the sun had bleached her hair and nearly completely transparent her clothes.

I had a good performance for the majority of the morning. I was still working on negotiating top billing for one of my clients, and I was attempting to convince a major studio to cast a somewhat unknown actor in a significant role, which is never an easy thing to do.

I informed the producer, "You said she did the best reading," while cracking my pen on my desk in a manner that I only did when I was about to bite someone's head off. "You said she did the best reading," I replied. "I signed her myself. Do you believe that I waste my time on folks who aren't the best?

A male voice on the other end of the line commented, "She's not beautiful." "She can act like garbage all the time, but her face is..." "She can act like trash all the time." He paused for a few seconds to consider how he could phrase it more kindly. He said over and over again that it was "not pretty."

"Not pretty?" I spat on the desk, and then I banged my pen against the glass with such a resounding bang that Mina whirled around in her chair to stare at me. I demonstrated to her that there was no need for concern by raising my hand and spoke more softly. "There must have been something that was overlooked when writing the script. What does the way she presents herself have to do with the fact that she helped spark a worker's revolution in the United States at the turn of the 20th century?"

"In America, everything is about how you look," he said with a smirk, not fazed by my righteous anger. "Even more so when it's on a big sign in Times Square."

"Pierre, you're a fuckwit if you don't cast her."

Over the phone, I could almost hear him shrug. I got a better hold on my pen. I had to find a different way in or he'd hire a Kardashian for the part and my client would be back to being the second lead in another rom-com. I'd promised her better.

I shook my voice out and cleared my throat. "Let's talk about this at lunch. When do you have time?"

He groaned. "I'm not sure. I'll have my assistant talk to yours and set up something."

I said, "Something this week." I wouldn't be surprised if he planned something for next month, after the role had been given to someone else and main filming had started.

"Something this week," he reluctantly agreed. “But I—”

“Great.” Before he could say anything else, I hung up the phone and called Mina. She got up from her chair and turned it around again to look at me through the glass. She had her hand on her very pregnant stomach to remind me that I needed to get a temperature in as soon as possible, especially after the false alarm the day before.

I said, "Get in touch with Pierre's assistant right away. Arrange a lunch as soon as you can. He wants to mess with Sienna Birch for that movie about a factory fire."

Mina gave a disapproving shake of the head. She cared about our clients as much as I did. "I'm on it."

I leaned back in my chair and put my arms over my head. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I could see Sienna in that part so clearly that I knew I couldn't choose anyone else.

She would make a great script even better, and her success would help her get roles with strong characters. Pierre was right about how she looked. She would never be the typical leading lady, but she was very good at what she did.

When my phone rang and I saw that it was Mina calling, I eagerly picked it up. I thought she would tell me the lunch was set.

She told me, "Samantha is on line one," which surprised me.

I took a look at the time. 11:15. Samantha should be leaving her morning class, if I remember her schedule right.

"What's up, Sam?" I asked Mina when she put us in touch. "Why didn't you call my cell?"

"I wanted to start by talking to Mina."

I made a funny face. "Oh yeah? "About what?"

"Your schedule." Samantha almost hummed the words, which made me think she was lying right away.

"Sam, what about my plans?"

"If you were free, I thought it would be nice if you took Lexie to lunch. Which you are, by the way."

Even though she couldn't have known, I glared at Mina's back.

"Why would I go to lunch with Lexie?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from sounding annoyed. The last thing I wanted to do was talk nonsense with the woman I was trying not to think about. We didn't have anything in common besides Samantha, and I didn't want to think about that in the least.

But Samantha was ready for that question, and she went on a five-minute rant about how Lexie was her best friend and how she didn't know anyone, and if she were Lexie, wouldn't I want someone to take her to lunch?

I thought, "Not someone like me."

"That's not a good idea," I said to Sam. "She needs to talk to new people and find some new friends here. The idea of having lunch with the boss gives off the impression of giving her special treatment. It's possible that she already has plans in any case. Brand development is a group of nice people."

Although they were snakes, the fact that they were there did not bother me. Lexie's employment with them was only going to last for a little over a month. Following that, she planned to look for another internship, this time in the field of media rights.

When Samantha stated, "She doesn't have plans," she said it with such conviction that it made me even more dubious of her.

"How do you know?"

"Because I told her you wanted to take her to lunch!" The tone of Samantha's voice had a lot of phony enthusiasm. "Well, I've had to go. Daddy, I appreciate you making my best friend feel at ease. You are great. Love you much. Byeeee!”

She ended the phone before I had even a chance to take a deep breath before beginning to rage at her. I was so angry that I slammed the receiver into the base of the phone and then pushed away from my desk, ready to take my frustration out on someone else.

But before I had time to figure out who it was, Lexie was already standing in the doorway of my office.