Page 19 of Exposed

“She stepped into the ladies’ room. You look like your normal self today. I know the boys get on you about constantly wearing your suits, and now everyone’s in suits.”

I nodded and caught Lauren out of the corner of my eye walking back with a harsh glare on her face. I was completely caught off guard with the curve of her hips in a tight-fitting, long black dress that went up to her neck, with her hair pulled up away from her face. She looked like an angel, someone that I needed to try and stay away from. Automatically, I pulled the chair out next to me for her to sit. It was the opposite of how she looked at the beach, a totally different person.

“I didn’t think this was your type of thing, Dominic,” Lauren said, picking up her napkin, laying it across her lap.

“I go wherever my client needs me to go,” I replied.

“After dinner, we can talk. I want to apologize for how we met and then the dust-up at the beach.”

“What upset you when you came from the bathroom?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You looked upset, your face had a frown on it, and I’m not used to you frowning. More like posing for the camera every five minutes.”

“Ohh, nothing, but my ex-boyfriend.”

“What did he do?”

“He’s claiming I have a sex tape,” she said calmly.

“I’ve seen it and it’s going to sell a lot of magazines.” The entire table glanced up at the voice that I knew all too well.

“What are you doing here?” Lauren jumped up, ready to fight Jacinda.

I was shocked at the two possibly knowing each other. Lauren almost yanked away from me.

“Jacinda, what are you doing here?” I asked, causing Lauren to glare at me.

“How do you know that bitch?” Lauren questioned.

“Dominic, I didn’t know you were working with Raven Cosmetics. Long time, maybe we can do dinner and catch up like old friends,” Jacinda wondered out loud.

“Let me go!” Lauren shouted. Her mom tried to help me calm her down to no avail.

“Jacinda, what are you doing here? This is a private dinner,” Danielle stated.

“I’m running a story on your tainted makeup line and wanted to get an exclusive from you first. I wanted to give you the first opportunity to talk about what’s happening. The minute this hits the news cycle, your company will end up very much in the bottom of the barrel, Danielle,” Jacinda snidely commented.

“Danielle, she’s the one that came to the office the other day and did the interview with me,” Lauren advised.

“Wait, she was at Raven? What time?” Danielle asked.

“Sometime after you left when Josslyn and Carol came to my office,” Lauren said, pointing to them at the table.

“Lauren, who gave her permission to interview you?” Danielle questioned, peering at Elijah and Zoe.

“Josslyn told me she was confirmed through you,” Lauren stated.

“Josslyn, I never set up an interview with a magazine. Carol, do you know anything about this because Zoe is the PR and would have sent word ahead of time?” Danielle argued.

“This is the first I’ve heard of this, Danielle. Josslyn, do you know this woman?” Carol pointed at Jacinda. My eyes narrowed in frustration. For her to get so close to Lauren and I didn’t know about it was pissing me off.

Josslyn shook her head no, and Lauren’s mouth dropped open in surprise.

“Wait, am I on candid camera or something? Josslyn, you introduced me to her,” Lauren mentioned, and I believed her. Something about Josslyn was on my radar; she stood off when everyone else talked, or had a way of blending in the background, knowing the cameras were watching at certain times. I remembered a few days ago she needed to stay late from what Emmanuel told me because she needed to get some notes documented for the launch.

“Listen, Lauren, if you want to call me and give me an interview, I would be willing to sit with you, but the timeline is only for twenty-four hours. Danielle, I’ll be in touch. Dominic, it was nice seeing you again. I hope we can talk and clear the air,” Jacinda said, picking up a glass of wine off the table and taking a sip. She smiled, walking away as everyone sat shocked at what transpired.

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