Page 10 of Covert Affair

My eyes widen for half a beat, but Cody beats me to it. “It’s not me you want to know about, trust me. Stacey Mae’s the real star. I’m just the guy lucky enough to have stolen her heart.” He winks and the press eats it up.

Damn he’s good. Really good.

I playfully straighten his tie and whisper some words of encouragement. Only Cody doesn’t need any of that. He squares his shoulders and poses like he was meant for this life. All while somehow keeping the focus on me.

It’s odd and refreshing at the same time.

By the time we move on to the interview line, Grady’s already there kicking things off.

It hits me then that I still don’t know what it was that Grady said that resulted in Cody showing up early. Anytime I did try to ask, Cody was quick to dodge the question or we were interrupted. Doesn’t matter now, I can’t show my annoyance with Grady though it would be nice to know what I’m walking into.

The red carpet assistant waves us on and directs me up onto the small podium next to Grady. It takes exactly three seconds before I know exactly what it was that the smart ass said that has shit brewing.

“Alright, so we’ve got to know...Did you really break this guy’s heart? We had a chance to chat with him last night and he was telling us that you two did in fact date for a while and you left him heartbroken.”

Oh hell, this is something that Jane should have been all over. The fact that she didn’t call me with some kind of official statement to make has me on edge. What I’d like to do is stab my stiletto heels into his foot or kick him in the balls. Instead I laugh and shake my head.

“That’s cute, Grady. Really cute. Y’all should know by now that you can’t take this jokester seriously.” I hip check him. “There has never been anything between us and if he’s heartbroken then it’s more likely because I keep saying no,” I giggle and smile. “Right Grady?”

Grady swallows hard and chuckles. “I’m pretty sure that the whole conversation was taken out of context. We’re friends. Just friends. She’s madly in love with her boyfriend and I’m enjoying the single life.”

Way to lay it on thick, fucker.

Thankfully the rest of the short interview goes off without a hitch and everyone else focuses on our performance tonight, and who we’re wearing. I get a few more questions about Cody that I answer in the same fashion that he did and before long we’re being escorted inside the auditorium and directed to our seats.

“Do you want to grab a drink before we take our seats?” I ask Cody.

“I’m good but we can stop if you want something.”

“Yeah, sure. I think a glass of wine might help take the edge off of my nerves,” I shrug.

Cody places his arm on the small of my back as we walk to the bar. That familiar tingle from earlier is back and the warmth from his touch spreads through my entire body.

I’m not supposed to be falling for the bodyguard.

With a glass of expensive wine and an overpriced bottle of water in hand, we take a seat and make small talk with the other attendees around us.

Things are going well until Grady finally joins us with his date and begins questioning Cody like they’re best friends.

“How’s work?”

Cody shoots Grady a warning glance and replies, “Not quite as exciting as singing on stage every night but I’m enjoying it. I’ve got a few new clients that I’m working with right now. Keeps things interesting.”

“Oh, what do you do for a living?” Bonita, as Grady introduced her to us earlier, pipes in.

“Security analyst for a tech company. I work with the government on some stuff. Hence why I prefer to stay out of the spotlight.” Cody answers quickly.

“What about you, Bonita, what do you do?” I can’t help but snap back. I probably shouldn’t have chugged that glass of wine so quickly but Grady and his little harlot have it coming.

“I’m a dancer.”

I cough to cover my laugh and Cody nudges me with his knee.

“Christ, not like that.” Grady is quick to defend. “She does ballet.”

This time I do laugh out loud. “I’ll take your word for it.”

The show producers give the audience a two minute warning and the whole place starts really humming. Thankfully it halts any more conversations for now.

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