Page 30 of Stone Promises

“Nice to meet you, Paul,” she says.

“Mmmm,” he gruffs, dismissing her. “We need to talk, Thad.”

“We have a meeting tomorrow,” I remind him. “Can’t this wait until then?”

“No. This can’t wait. When one of my clients goes rogue, we have to do damage control immediately.”

“Damage?” I ask, skeptically. “What fallout could there possibly be from me visiting a local elementary school?”

Cole walks in, asking me if we’re ready to go. Paul answers him. “Why don’t you take Valarie home. I need Thad here.”

“It’sMallory,” I say, irritation pinching between my brows. “And I’ll be escorting her home.”

“No, it’s okay,” Mallory says. “I’ll be fine. Have your meeting.”

I grab her arm and pull her to the side, away from the others. “Mal, I brought you here, I’m taking you home.”

“Chad, this is your job. Your manager needs to talk with you. It’s okay. I don’t mind Cole driving me home. I had a lovely evening. Thank you for having me.” She starts walking over to Cole.

“Wait . . . uh, I want to see you again,” I say, pissed that I’m having to say goodbye to her in front of an audience.

She turns back around. “I thought you were leaving town tomorrow.”

“I’ve decided to stay in New York until I have to go to Vancouver late next week.”

“But you told Carly you were leaving. When did you change your mind?”

I shrug innocently. “As soon as I saw you walk down your stairs tonight.”

I watch as a blush works its way up her face. She looks over at Kendra and Cole who are both smiling. She looks at Paul, who’s scoffing. She looks back at me. “I’ll think about it,” she says.

“I know a bunch of nine-year-olds who think you should.”

She laughs. “We’ll see. Bye, Chad. Thanks again for tonight.”

She walks away with Cole and I’m left brooding because my bodyguard gets to takemygirl home. The girl I wanted to walk up her front steps and kiss. It’s the kiss I’ve been dreaming about since I was fifteen. The kiss I’ve fantasized over but never thought was possible after all the shit I’ve pulled. Maybe my luck is changing.

~ ~ ~

Back up in Ethan’s office, I sit behind his desk, Kendra and Paul occupying the chairs on the other side. “What’s this all about, Paul?”

“What the hell do you think, Thad?” he asks, motioning to his iPad. “You can’t just make public appearances without clearing it with me first.”

I ignore his question and ask, “Kendra, is Mallory’s name on any of this?”

She shakes her head, still going through tabloid sites. “I don’t think so. There isn’t any mention of the teacher you went to visit.”

“Good. Then what’s the problem?” I ask Paul.

He scowls furiously. “The problem is you can’t do that shit without my approval.”

“Do what exactly? Go see a personal friend of mine at her place of employment?”

“This article says you talked to a group of kids about being an actor. I’d say that falls exactly under the umbrella of making it my fucking business,” he scolds me.

I shoot an apologetic look to Kendra. I feel guilty I didn’t warn her about this. “Listen, I didn’t even know I was going there until I was there. I just wanted to talk to Mallory and it ended up turning into some career day gig. Then I made a small donation to some charity fundraiser they were doing.”

“Oh, this is good,” Kendra says. “I can totally work with this. Thad Stone talks to local kids about acting then makes a charitable donation. Great human interest piece. I’ll release it right away to thwart off any rumors about why you were there.”

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