Danny glanced around his publicist's new office. It was a closet, but a nice one. His bathroom was bigger than this room. It was quite a change from the twelve‐hundred square foot room he'd leased in San Diego. Robert had been insistent though. If Danny was moving to New York City, he was following.
“Danny.” A jovial light came into Robert's eyes. He stood up from his desk to shake his client's hand. Danny felt a twinge of guilt as he returned the shake. The warm friendliness was about to change.
“I broke up with Nia.”
The smile on Robert's face froze.
“Oh?” His publicist perched himself on the edge of his desk. The glare he leveled at Danny beating down.
“How long ago?”
“About five months.”
“And you're just telling me now? Danny, I've got speaking engagements lined up for you and Nia.”
Danny swallowed. “I will make every last one of them, by myself.”
The older man's shoulders slumped.
“All that hard work for nothing. Nia was your comeback story. Without her, what do we have?”
“I didn't come just bearing bad news. I've got good news as well.” He leaned back in the chair and raised his head. “Marnie!” She entered the room. Her auburn hair was piled atop her head in a loose ponytail, highlighting her high cheekbones and striking eyes. Her button nose begged to be kissed. She was decked in skinny jeans and a thin graphic top, her slender feet hidden in a pair of sexy ankle boots. A leather shoulder bag hung from her shoulders. She hid her violet irises behind his shades. He'd been meaning to ask when she would return them, but she looked better in them than he ever did.
“Robert, this is my new assistant, Marnie.”
“Assistant?” Robert frowned and snapped his stare in her direction. He quickly masked his surprise and clasped her hand in two of his own. “So this is the girl I've been emailing.”
“Yes, and if you need any help with anything, Marnie's the one who will provide it.”
Robert reached into his drawer and pulled out a rolodex weighted down with cards. “Splendid. She can call these people, and tell them you're going and Nia's canceling.”
“Which ones?” Marnie asked.
“All of them,” Robert said. “In the meantime, how about you and I have lunch? We can talk about harebrained ideas and what we can do to avoid them in the future.”
Danny gritted his teeth at the jab. He supposed he deserved it. Ending it with Nia had been necessary, but it also put his comeback plans in jeopardy.
They walked two blocks and entered Gary's. After placing their orders with the waitress, Danny tried his best to refocus the icy glare Robert was giving him. “Look, it's not all bad.”
Robert stirred his coffee. “What exactly did you think we were doing with Nia? It's only through her we've been able to get the public's mind off Peru.”
Danny rolled his eyes. He didn't need Robert to explain spin cycle one‐oh‐one. Yes, Nia was a clever little distraction. Bad boy cleans up his act and finds love with a rising star. When Robert pitched the idea to him it had had a nice ring to it.
“I can do this without Nia.”
“Yes, but can you do it without me?”
Empty threats. This ploy was getting old.
“Look, I cleaned up the mess. Not you or Nia. Get off your high horse and remember you're not doing me any favors. I pay your salary.”
“I make you angry? Because that's the same cocky ass attitude that got you in trouble in the first place. If you want me to leave, I'll turn in my resignation letter today.” Robert spread his arms wide as if it didn't make a difference to him whether Danny signed his checks or not.
“I didn't say I wanted you to leave, that's up to you. But don't try and threaten me anymore.”
Robert sighed as he fiddled with the napkin.
“What's up between you and the girl? Did you have Tony vet her?”
“Nothing is going on.”
“Is she the reason why you and Nia broke up?”
Danny shook his head. “There's nothing going on between us.”
“She reminds me of Emily.”
“How so?” Danny frowned.
Marnie didn't remotely look like Emily. For one, her skin was at least three shades lighter and she was taller. Emily's eyes were brown, not that striking shade of violet. Marnie had eyes that made him forget words—forget what they were doing sometimes. Emily had never had that kind of power over him. Emily didn't have Marnie's sassy mouth, or thick lips that made him want to kiss her when he was most frustrated with her.
“She looks troubled. You're not trying to play knight‐in‐shining‐armor, are you?”
Robert didn't have the slightest idea how right he was. Maybe that was what attracted him to her at the diner? Maybe he'd known then she was trouble. Her magnetic aura was pulling him closer and closer toward her. He'd have to do something about that soon. No matter what, he couldn't fall for Marnie.
“Robert, you romanticize things too much.”
Despite the beat‐down lunch with his publicist, Danny was glad to be back in New York. He felt a little more worn than usual. Sponsoring Marnie was taking more attention than he had expected. Which is why you shouldn't make rash decisions. But he wasn't regretting it. Deep down, he felt really good about helping her. He was happy Robert had accepted her without protest.
Things were getting better. Even though Nia was out of the picture, Robert's plans were still in full effect.
Danny had made the cover of Climax magazine. He was on their top ten list of hot ‘n' young rich moguls. A photo‐shoot sounded like a nice way to celebrate his return to New York. He was so happy to be moving on, he told Robert to schedule the shoot as soon as possible.
The Climax's elevator had picked today to break down. Danny had no problem offering Marnie's assistance in helping the photographer and makeup artist prep the photo‐shoot. She helped the staff lug the photographer's equipment up three flights of stairs and silently said a slew of curse words when the makeup artist, Lisa, turned her doe eyes on her and asked Marnie to help her assistant with the makeup bags as well. Why would a man need so much makeup? He already fit the profile of a young Tom Cruise.
Nevertheless, foundation was brushed across his face and guy‐liner on his eyes. A white fedora covered his dark hair, coordinating with a black shirt, and black jeans.
“Wait.” The makeup artist yelped. She ran onto the set and unbuttoned the first four buttons on his shirt, and pulled a lock of hair from underneath his hat. Now he was ready to go. A sexy Don Juan. He made love to the camera. He posed for half an hour and then he took a break while the photographer studied the shots.
“How's it going?” Danny asked. He took a seat on the floor near the window next to Marnie.
“It's okay,” Marnie let a huge sigh escape.
“Come on, take a sec and level with me. You liking this life so far?”
“Honestly, I feel like I haven't had a chance to catch my breath and decide. Every day has been go, go, go and don't think. Just do.”
“Distraction,” Danny said, giving the situation a name. “You haven't had a chance to think about being sober. You have been so busy, you just were.”
“That's true…” Marnie said.
“I know it's been tough, but you actually did better than I thought you would. Now that the tour is over, things will die down a little bit.”
“That's good.”
“But this is where the real hard work begins,” Danny warned. “I coddled you a bit during the tour, but truth be told, I can't watch your every move. If you want to stay sober, you have to want it a whole helluva lot more than I want it for you.”
“That kitty bag is so cute,” Marnie gushed, pointing to the photographer's messenger bag, all the while ignoring Danny's last statement. “It reminds me of the ‘My Unicorn Superstars' show.”
“What's ‘My Unicorn Superstars'?” Danny asked before taking a swig of water.
“What?! You don't know ‘My Unicorn Superstars'? It was a cartoon about different colored unicorns. You know: ‘My Unicorn Superstars, My Unicorn Superstars. What mysteries will we solve today?'” Marnie said singing the theme song.
“No, I don't know that chick cartoon,” Danny said his brow beginning to furrow.
“‘My Unicorn Superstars, My Unicorn Superstars, is always there for you, laughing and playing; discovering new worlds, making dreams come true!'” Marnie continued to sing.
“Come on, the show had boy unicorns and they were friends with girl unicorns. It wasn't a chick cartoon.”
“Those weren't boy unicorns. Those were gay unicorns,” Danny quipped.
The makeup artist guffawed.
“‘My Unicorn Superstars, My Unicorn Superstars',” Marnie started singing again.
“Please stop,” Danny glanced at her ruefully.
He was six seconds away from pulling her bare cupid lips into a smoldering kiss. One that would perhaps leave her speechless for once.
“‘Being brave and bold!'” Marnie sang.
“Somebody, get me some earplugs,” Danny said, holding his head in his hands.
Marnie laughed. “I can't believe you've never heard of this show.”
“I'll have to ask one of my sisters. They would know better than I would.”
“I used to love watching it.”
“To childhood,” Danny said.
He raised his bottle of water and the couple tapped.