Page 29 of The American

Chapter 16

Sage trembled in the cab on her way home from the office. She tried to maintain composure in front of the new bodyguard. She learned he went by Stephen. How had things deteriorated so quickly? Instead of being one of the best men she had ever met, Thad was a part of a plan to blackmail her into silence about their unethical dealings. How was she still a part of this farce? She needed one day to sort things through. Facing the loss of everything she had worked for shattered her confidence. What would life hold for her after the chase for a CEO spot?

Admitting and facing defeat was not something she could do yet. Had this cutthroat business world beat her? Met her head on with a problem she couldn’t solve? And the worst consequence of walking away? She would have to take down a good company with her when she left. If she went public and decried their plans, exposing Zachary, she might protect her name. But everything she and Thad had worked to build marketing wise, all her efforts at improvement on the micro level, would go to waste. But if she didn’t, Zachary would smear her name everywhere he could. She couldn’t face such an impossible choice, and so she shelved the decision until tonight, after this impossible date.

The Date. So how would this work? The two at complete odds must publicly pretend to be falling in love. She groaned. Because she was still attracted to him, had thought him a different person than he appeared to be at the moment. And she had insulted him. Her head fell into her hands. What a nightmare. Could she just call off the date?

Her phone beeped. “Are we still on? I say we spend lots of money and bill Zachary.” His winking emoji made her laugh.

“Can I be honest and tell you I was just riding home, dreading it?”

“No, none of that. We can do this.”

So much relief and comfort filled her, she was ashamed of herself for falling for a man who would participate in such questionable behavior. But he really was fun, and charming, and she always needed more of that in her life. Her laugh startled the cab driver. Maybe this evening wouldn’t be so difficult after all.Especially when he saw what she had planned.

A sick sense of revenge struck her and she vowed to make this date as difficult as possible.

Her phone rang.The Survivor Challenge. She grinned. “Hello?

“Hi, Sage Parker?”

“Yes.”

“Just touching base. We are all ready for you. I’m finalizing your evening. And we always double check about the last challenge, because it’s difficult even for the most daring participants.”

Her grin grew. “We are doing that one for sure.”

“Ok, you’re on. See you at 8:30.”

She smiled at her building’s new bellman, while her Stephen stopped to talk to him. Once in her room, she worked as quickly as she could to get everything ready. Then she jumped in the shower and took extra care with her appearance. When she was satisfied she would awe and impress, she texted Stephen and her driver.

As she exited the elevator, the huge press crowd was there again. “What would happen if we just walked through the group?”

He shrugged. “I could shoulder our way through it, depends on how tame they are. Some crowds go nuts, trying to grasp at souvenirs.”

“Surely not these guys.” She eyed the camera equipment, the notepads. “They just want a story.”

She patted Stephen’s arm and said, “Let’s go talk to them.”

“Okay, but if I say hit the deck, you do that.”

She didn’t think that would ever be necessary.

He opened the door and created a space for her to stand. She stood a step higher than him and still couldn’t see over his head, but she began talking. “So, Prince Thad planned the first date and it was nothing like I’ve ever been on before, I mean, come on, singing at Times Square, dancing. I was enchanted. And he and I were kind of teasing back and forth in the car and he let slip he is willing to try anything, that he’s a daring kind of guy. Soooo…”

They all waited expectantly.

“You will just have to keep up and see if he lives up to that promise.”

They shouted out questions but let her pass, intrigued with where she was going next.

Her driver moved through the streets slower than she would like. But at last the car pulled up at Thad’s building.

A similar crowd had gathered, but they parted easily enough and cheered him all the way to the car. Her driver held open the door.

When Thad stepped in, she tried to fight his magnetism but found herself grinning openly anyway.

His smile started slowly and then grew larger and more relaxed. “Are we okay?”

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