Effortless. Lynn Montagano

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СКАЧАТЬ TV guy?”

      “My ex-girlfriend used to work for him as an associate producer. He likes to get friendly with the ladies on his staff. A little touching here, a little bum slap there. She didn’t like it and when she called him out on it, he fired her. The twat.” He took a large bite out of his sandwich and stewed in the anger of his distant memory.

      I was shocked but not overly surprised to hear this. Julian did like the hands-on approach when he talked to me. I didn’t think much of it because it never went further than a shoulder squeeze but I made a mental note to keep an eye on him.

      “Sorry that happened to her,” I said, sympathizing. “What does she do now?”

      “She moved to France and works on some detective show there. I haven’t talked to her in a couple years but she was really turned off by Archer. That guy is a massive knob. I’d—” He stopped and stared at my left hand.

      I held the sandwich in front of my wide open mouth and stared back at him. We both must have looked like mental patients.

      “You are engaged,” he said with a smile. “That’s brilliant, Lia. Congratulations.”

      “Thank you.” I put my sandwich down and showed off the ring. “He gave this to me the other night but we haven’t said anything publicly yet. Well, he actually asked me to marry him in July when you guys were in Orlando but we’ve kept it quiet.”

      “July? How have you both managed to keep it quiet?”

      “Well, you know Alastair. He’s a man of few words.”

      “True that. But if I scored a looker like you I’d shout it from the mountain tops.”

      I laughed. “It hasn’t been easy not saying anything, trust me. We both decided after the summer we’d had that we just wanted to have something for ourselves.”

      Darren studied me with astute eyes. “The press over here is going to love you. You’re pretty, smart and loads of fun to be around. They’re so fascinated with Alastair and every little move he makes. He dodges them pretty well though, only giving his requisite face time and then disappearing from sight.”

      That had been Alastair’s M. O. for years. He lived as private a life as one could, being the heir to a billion dollar mega corporation. When his grandfather retired and he was named CEO over the summer, the spotlight shined a little brighter on him. As his girlfriend, that also meant some of the light focused on me. I was used to it to some degree thanks to my previous relationship with a U.S. senator’s son. I had a feeling this time around, the media attention would be more intense.

      “There haven’t been too many issues yet, knock on wood,” I said. “Only an occasional photographer here and there. Having Paxton with me most of the time seems to help. I’m such a nobody anyway. They probably look at me as just another piece of eye candy for him.”

      “Once the news of your engagement gets out you won’t be a nobody.” Darren looked at me solemnly. “The gossip sites are already feasting on your taste in shoes and how you like to wear workout clothes while buying groceries.”

      The more I listened to Darren, the more uncomfortable I became. I’d had a sneaking suspicion the handful of photographers I’d seen were only hounding me for fluff pieces like that. For the most part, it didn’t bother me but I knew it was only the tip of the iceberg. Alastair and I hadn’t discussed how our lives would be affected by public scrutiny too much. He just made sure I was always under the watchful eye of Paxton or someone from his security staff. He also knew how much I disliked having babysitters and made sure they were inconspicuous. Most days I was oblivious to the bodyguard detail.

      “Our boy is quite protective of you. We both know the lengths he’ll go to keep you safe.”

      I swallowed another bite of my sandwich and nodded. If there was one thing everyone knew about Alastair, it was how close he kept me to his vest.

      “Anyway,” Darren said, brightening the room with his infectious smile, “Steph will go ballistic if you don’t tell her about this engagement straight away.” He winked and took another bite of his sandwich.

      “I know. I was going to tell her today but she’s off with Brent Garrison.”

      “She’s been seeing quite a bit of him recently.” The look on his face spoke a million words after he said that. “Damn. I wasn’t supposed to say anything. She’ll kill me if you tell her I told you.”

      I’d made it no secret that Brent wasn’t one of my favorite people on the planet. He’d never been mean or horrible towards me but his history with Alastair was so salty and tense that I’d made a conscious decision not to bother with him unless it was necessary. Hearing that my best friend might be dating him threw a wrench in that.

      “Like, ‘seeing’ him seeing him? Or just business lunches?”

      “It started as business but they’ve been hanging out on the weekends and what not. I’m surprised she hasn’t told you yet.”

      You and me both.

      “He seems like a decent guy,” Darren said, clearly trying to play the peacemaker. “I’ve done some work for him in the past and got on with him quite well. Alastair knows him from years ago.” He paused and smiled sheepishly. “That’s not news to you though. They went to university together at Oxford.”

      I stopped mid chew. “They did? I didn’t know that.”

      “No? Brent was a year ahead of him. They played rugby together and were pretty friendly until something happened.” He shrugged. “I always assumed Brent was jealous of Alastair’s social ranking what with the family business and all. He seemed quite determined to make a success out of his real estate venture to steal some of the thunder from the Holden clan. Not sure why though, since they do media and what not. Seemed a bit odd to me.”

      I kept eating my sandwich in the most nonchalant way possible as Darren continued spilling details about Brent. Nothing about it was earth shattering, just interesting enough to fill some of the holes that Alastair left out. I felt better having a clearer picture of their past interactions outside the sphere of Alastair’s relationship with Olivia.

      “Your fiancé is a frosty one to try and be friends with Lia. And I say that with no disrespect. Whatever happened between him and Brent must have been huge because they were like brothers at university. At least that’s what I hear.”

      The fact that Darren loved to gossip could work in my favor. My curiosity was insatiable and anytime I learned a new nugget about Alastair it left me craving more. For the time being, I chose to stifle the questions and just enjoy the rest of our lunch.

      “You have exactly twenty-four hours to tell your best friend about that ring, lass,” he said on our walk back to the building. “I can’t keep a secret like that from Steph forever. We live together. She’s up my arse all the time wanting to know if Alastair has told me anything. I’m surprised I haven’t gone mad yet from all her pestering.”

      I laughed heartily as we walked into the elevator. “You’re a saint, Darren.”

      “True that.” He winked and gave me a little wave when we reached his floor.

      Even though my dealings with Brent had always been a little stressful, I decided СКАЧАТЬ