Red Carpet Arrangement. Vicki Essex

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ a friend. I’m trying to find a place for the longer term after the baby arrives but—”

      “Are you telling me you’re homeless?”

      Why’d he have to make it sound so dirty? People always acted as if she’d done something awful to not have a permanent address. “I don’t have enough money at the moment for first and last month’s rent. Doctors are expensive. So are vitamins and food.”

      “You don’t have...anything?”

      She stiffened. “I’ve got a lot of friends with couches.”

      “Do you have a job?”

      “I was waitressing—”

      “So you’re homeless and unemployed. Right, I get it now.” The elevator reached what she assumed was his floor, and he stalked out ahead of her into the corridor.

      She’d had enough. “Listen, you,” she snapped. “I know you’re not happy. I know you’re in shock. But this is the reality I have to deal with. If you’d rather I leave right now, say the word and I will. But I don’t need you judging me or using that holier-than-thou tone with me or bullying me. I’ve got way more at stake here, and this is much harder on me than it is on you, you got that?”

      She would walk away if she had to. Her own father, a sailor her mother had met during Fleet Week in New York twenty-six years ago, hadn’t wanted the responsibility of a child. And so Dotty Schwinn had raised Kat on her own. It wouldn’t be easy, but it would be better than being subjected to Riley’s criticism.

      His face blanched. He sighed and rubbed his brow. “I—I’m sorry. You’re right. This isn’t me. I apologize.”

      Her anger leveled out some. “Do you want me to leave?” Please say no, please say no...

      He stared at her for an agonizing second. “Come in and we’ll talk.” The forcefulness of his command was dulled with a follow-up. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. You caught me off guard. Tonight was supposed to be a big night for me.”

      And she’d ruined it. Not only this night, but maybe the rest of his life. Her conscience tweaked as some of the starch left his back.

      “All right,” she said. “We need to work this out. But we can’t do it in a couple of hours.”

      He glanced at his watch. “Right. The movie.”

      Clearly, he would rather be anywhere else. She couldn’t blame him. She needed some space, too, to gather her thoughts. “Why don’t we meet tomorrow for lunch or something?”

      “No.” The sound of someone leaving their room farther down the hall had him ushering her toward a set of doors. He opened them with his key card, and they slipped in.

      They didn’t go past the entryway, but Kat could already tell that the suite was spacious and well-appointed. Riley flicked on the light and picked up the phone by the door. “Call your friend. Tell them you’re staying here.”

      Her whole body flared hot. “I can’t stay here with you.”

      “I’ll put you up in a room in the hotel for the week,” he plowed on. Had he even heard her? “I have to do promos and stuff in LA and New York over the next few days. You can go back to Modesto with me after I’m done.”

      “I may be having your baby, but it doesn’t mean you get to push me around.” She jammed her fists on her hips. “Remember that thing I said about bullying me?”

      “I’m not bullying, I’m being practical.”

      “And I’m trying to tell you I don’t want to be a...a kept woman. I’m doing all right on my own, thank you very much.”

      He gave her a flat look. “Homeless, unemployed and pregnant is doing all right for you?” he scoffed. “And you still insist you’re not here for money?”

      She bit her tongue. He had her there. She’d half expected him to write her a check and wave goodbye. Whether it would’ve been a kind gesture or one to simply sweep her under a rug hadn’t mattered to her at the time.

      Bottom line, she needed cash if she was even going to bring a child into the world, never mind what came after...

      “I wanted you to know about the baby,” she reiterated staunchly.

      “I’m not giving you a red cent,” he said sharply. “If you want my help, you have to stick around so I can verify your story. Once that happens, we work things out.”

      “And in the meantime, I’m, what, your prisoner? Are you going to tie me to the bed, too?”

      “Only if you ask me to,” he replied with dark intimacy.

      She gave her best indignant gasp as heat flared low in her belly. It came out forced.

      “Would you prefer to return to wherever it is you’re staying?” he asked irately.

      She didn’t relish the thought of spending another night on Jamie’s lumpy couch. Besides, now that the press had photographed her confronting Riley, it was only a matter of time before things got awkward between her and her friend. Kat had only told her that the baby’s father was “some guy she’d met in Hawaii”; keeping a secret like this from Jamie had felt dishonest, but she hadn’t had much choice.

      I’m being practical. Riley probably had the right idea about that. She had come to him out of sheer practicality after all.

      “Fine. I’ll stay one night.”

      “The whole week or nothing,” he countered. “And if the baby is mine, you’ll come back with me to Modesto. I can’t have you running to the press.”

      “I wouldn’t do that,” she protested.

      “If you want me to even begin to trust you, Kat, you’ll have to prove to me how serious you are.”

      She blew out a breath. “This is ridiculous. You’re asking me to give up my life.”

      “What’s your other option? Walking out? Because I can pretend you were never here and keep going on with my life. Can you?”

      She ground her teeth. The only bargaining chip she had was to go to the press, but what would that earn her except his scorn and a lot of attention she didn’t want? And public pressure wouldn’t ingratiate her with Riley. She relented with a grunt. “I’ll have to get my things.”

      “I’ll have the concierge send up anything you need for tonight,” he said with a wave of his hand. “Don’t leave your room while I’m gone. The paparazzi will be looking for you, and it’s going to take all of Sam’s focus to keep them off your scent. Do you understand?”

      He might as well have tied her to the bed. But she nodded, even though she didn’t appreciate his attitude.

      With a quick call to the front desk, the concierge arranged a separate room for Kat on a different floor. Riley escorted her there, his presence as oppressive as a prison guard’s. A bellboy brought a basket of toiletries, grinning as Riley handed him a fat tip. Discretion came СКАЧАТЬ