When Lightning Strikes by Brenda Novak Read Free Book Online Page B

ground even though her high heels were beginning
to pinch her toes and she was dying to sit. “Because you’ve let your son down
and this is the only way to make it up to him, that’s why!”
    His hands curled into fists as if he wanted to strike her, or
strike something. Maybe it was only verbal, but she’d slugged him where it hurt.
She’d had to. If they didn’t stay focused, keep their goals in sight, they’d
fail before they ever got started. And she had a lot riding on this, too.
    “How hard can it be?” She went on more calmly, hoping to
placate him. “You’ve already made it abundantly clear that I don’t appeal to
you.”
    His eyes, now glittery, roamed over her, making her want to
cover herself even though she was fully dressed. “I assumed you’d be better than
nothing. But maybe I was wrong.”
    “Oh, stop acting like a—” She caught herself before she could
call him any names. He was looking for a fight. Why accommodate him? “Never
mind. Forget it. No sex. Do I have your agreement?”
    “I wouldn’t touch you if you stood in front of me naked and
begged,” he grumbled.
    Fabulous. She had what she wanted. But somehow it didn’t make
her feel any better. His capitulation, and the sentiment behind it, stung enough
that she couldn’t resist a final salvo. “Fine, because I have some standards
myself, you know, and dissolute movie stars aren’t high on my list of must-have
men.”
    “That’s the best you’ve got? Dissolute? ” Wearing a pained expression, he turned to Ian. “Does
anyone in the real world even use that word these days?”
    “I’ve seen it in books,” Ian said, his voice speculative.
    She rolled her eyes. “I doubt you’ve ever picked up a book. It
means—”
    “You’re not the only one here with a brain,” Simon interrupted.
“I know what it means. And as far as comebacks go, it sucks. Do you think I
haven’t heard it all before? That you’re the only person with an opinion on how
I live my life?”
    All the things she’d wanted to tell him in the past but hadn’t
seemed to rise in her throat and propel her forward, until she stood almost nose
to nose with him. At six feet, he still had her by a few inches, but the heels
helped. “You probably haven’t heard the half of it,” she said, “because I’m the
only one who’ll state it plainly, the only one who’s not out to get something
from you. Who else will tell you that you need to pull your head out of your
ass? The people who depend on you for a paycheck?” She motioned at Ian. “Him?
Mr. Suck-up?”
    Ian pressed a hand to his chest as if she’d just shot him.
“Ouch! I take back what I said. I don’t like you at all.”
    Simon ignored him. “Seriously? I hear how rotten I am all the
time. My ex has said much worse than you could ever come up with—and she’s said
it to the papers so I have the print version in case I forget.”
    She’d made some comments that’d been printed, too, but she
didn’t want to remind him. “Yeah, well, you can’t trust Bella, either. She’s
hurt and she’s angry, and she’s determined to have her revenge. I’m honest, not
vindictive. If I tell you something, it’s true. And
I’m telling you this—you need to pull your head out!”
    “Maybe she’s not so bad at comebacks.” Ian was obviously trying
to break the tension, but it didn’t work.
    Sending his manager a dirty look, Simon returned to the couch.
“You’re not some sort of oracle, Ms. DeMarco, so quit pretending. I won’t take
advice from a repressed PR failure with her jacket buttoned up to her neck. And
you are hoping for something from me. You want me to
save your business and cut you a hefty check when this is all over.”
    She put her hands on her hips. “If you’d like to marry someone
else, I’ll do the PR for free. But two years of my life doesn’t come cheap. And you’re the one who destroyed my business in the
first place. You owe me.”
    She thought he’d come right back