Page 14 of Hold Me Today

I do my best to curtail the urge to let my mind wander and think about thewhat-ifs.

The realities are this: I need Nick’s expertise forAgape. Nothing more.

That’s it.

As I enter his office behind him and hear theclickof the door shut behind me, I remind myself that this is business. Only business. By the time I sit down at the desk across from my best friend’s brother, I do what I’ve done for the last decade and counting: shove any youthful hopes and dreams hung on the shoulders of one Nick Stamos back into the black abyss of Only-In-Your-Dreams.

6

Nick

Irecline in my leather chair, hoping that Mina won’t notice the strain in my expression as I set my computer to sleep mode. My unease this morning has got nothing to do with her and everything to do with the phone call I just received from one ofPut A Ring On It’smarketing people.

Savannah Rose rejected Dominic DaSilva’s proposal.

Their breakup wouldn’t be an issue—itisn’tan issue, not for me—except that production is speeding up now, all thanks to someone on staff spilling the beans.

“Someone leaked footage of Savannah turning you down, man,” Taylor said over the phone, “and Dom’s already been outed too. I’m telling you right now, heads are gonna fucking roll over at the studio for this. Lucky for me, that’s not my problem—I’m in PR, so what I’m gonna need you to do is lay low untilTMZremembers you’re not as exciting as you look and stops replaying that botched proposal of yours.”

Six months ago, the thought ofTMZeven knowing who I am would be laughable. Stamos Restoration and Co. has a wildly successful reputation in the Boston metro area. We did work for the Boston Public Library a few years back, and the company name landed on every newspaper in the state after I single-handedly won the bid at an auction for a house that once belonged to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s family. Yes,thatNathanial Hawthorne. Restoring the property earned the company recognition in ways I never fathomed, but those successes belong to Stamos Restoration and Co.

Not me,NickStamos.

I hate the public eye, hate even more the idea of being center stage. The only reason I went on the show in the first place is because I truly hoped it might be crazy enough to work.

That by the end of it all, I’d be crazy in love.

Dammit, why couldn’t Savannah see that Dom was her perfect match? If she had, the press wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about me. Wedding planning. Honeymoons. Speculation about future children. Every reporter in the goddamn country would be interested inthem, not me. That’s the way this was supposed to go.

You need to keep your head in the game and focus on the matter at hand.

With stiff shoulders, I glance up and find Mina watching me with those luminous honey eyes of hers. She looks like the quintessential professional today, like she thought I might take her to task for her usual dark lipstick or showing off her cleavage or wearing her hair down in loose waves.

“You look stressed,” she says, reaching up with two fingers to tug at the high-neck collar of her sleeveless shirt. A bow with long, flapping wings cinches the material closed like those old-fashioned pins Victorian women used to wear.

If she can tell I look on edge, there’s no point in denying it.

Briefly, I debate whether 8 a.m. is too damn early to break out the scotch I keep in my office. On a morning like today, when my head feels close to exploding, I don’t think there’s such a thing as too early. It’s always five o’ clock somewhere. Plus, if Mina has some with me then there’s no reason to feel like a total schmuck.

Right?

Right.

“Want something a little stronger than coffee?” I ask.

Her teeth sink down into her bottom lip. “Really, I shouldn’t.”

I should make a funny quip and tease the light back to her eyes, but if there’s one bonus to having known Mina my entire life, it’s that I don’t have to pretend. She may not know all that resides in my soul, but she still knowsme. Just as I know her. Though I guess we only really know what Effie’s told us both.

Still, I make a last-ditch effort, more for her sake than mine. “I’ll even get you your own glass. You don’t have to worry about catching cooties.” I nod to the Dunkin’s cup on the desk. “Then again, if that was a concern, you shouldn’t have offered me your coffee.”

A slight laugh escapes her. “If it helps, this one was meant to be yours.” She pokes the cup with a gold-painted finger. “A peace offering, if you will, for me behaving . . . out of turn on Friday night.”

“Out of turn” implies that Mina hasn’t always loved to bust my chops, and we both know that isn’t true.

As though nervous about my contemplative silence, she hastily adds, “I’m sorry about the elevator incident, by the way. Sometimes I . . . sometimes I just—”

“Like to fuck with me.”

---