Page 43 of Tempt Me

“That’s fine for you to say,” I said testily. “You don’t have to face her.”

“No, but you can do it,” Sam said. “You’re the brave one.”

“Am not!” I tossed a throw pillow at her.

She tossed it back. “Are too.”

“Stop it, you two. You’ll wake up Bilbo.” Mimi snatched the pillow from my fist. “Nat, you’re gorgeous and smart. Jamila would be a fool not to want you. You’re going to march into the office tomorrow and talk to her about that kiss.”

I crossed my arms. “It’d be a lot easier to quit.”

“But then Jamila wouldn’t have her PR consultant to save her from this mess,” Sam said gently. “She needs you, and you need to clear the air so you can work together.”

“Andworktogether, if you know what I mean.” Mimi poked my side.

“You two are the worst,” I said, but I didn’t mean it. I meant the opposite. They’d given me enough hope to go back to Jamila.

No, not to Jamila. I meant go back to Jamilow—back to my job.

13

“Good news.”I forced a smile onto my face as I leaned in the doorway to Jamila’s office. I’d canceled our daily PR stand-up meetings. I’d said it was because of the goodwill we’d earned with the posts about the coding camp, but the truth was, I was still too embarrassed to be in the same room with her.

“Yeah?” Her eyes lingered for a second on her screen before she turned her full attention to me.

“Yeah. I scored you a feature inBuzz Bizz. They want an interview and some photos.”

“Great. Have them send me the questions, and I’ll fire off some responses. Felicia has my headshot.” She looked back at her screen and resumed typing.

I cleared my throat. “No. I mean an actual interview. Like, sitting in a hotel suite talking to a journalist followed by a photo shoot.”

The keyboard went quiet. “I thought you said this wasgoodnews. That sounds like I’m going to have to make time in my schedule to talk to someone, have them misrepresent what I say, and end up in a worse spot than before. Plus, photos. Sitting still for too long gives me a crick in my neck.”

She made it sound terrible, but looking at the bright side was one of my superpowers. “The best news is that you don’t have to negotiate the schedule. I’ve already done it for you. The interview is tomorrow, Saturday, followed by the photo shoot. We’re just waiting on a location.”

“You scheduled me on a Saturday.” Her eyebrows shot up. “Pretty high-handed of you. What if I have plans?”

I winced. Maybe she had a date. “Do you?”

“No. Other than a dance party with Quill.i.am.”

“He won’t mind postponing. This is a perfect chance for you to tell your story, to get people to focus on the good you do and on Jamilow. Not the mistake you made.”

“Believe me, it wasn’t a mistake. That guy deserved it.”

“Then tell them what he said.” I still wondered what a journalist could say to make Jamila lose her cool.

“No, thanks. I don’t want to give him one more minute of anyone’s attention, including mine.”

“I’ll email them that the incident is off the table for the interview.”

“Just tell them when we show up,” she said.

We?“You want me there?”

“You’re my PR specialist. Of course I want you there.”

Warmth bubbled in my chest, and I slapped the doorframe to distract from my blush. She wantedme.“Okay.”

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