Page 64 of Take Hold of Me

“Well, you still have a few more days. Do you need another copy?”

“No. I have it at home.” Actually, I do need to contact my attorney to see where he is with it.

“Okay, fine.” He drops the notepad onto the top of his desk, his eyes raking me from head to toe. Under his gaze, I swivel my heel on the floor. “Do you have anything else for me?”

My breathing becomes shallow. I miss my own rep. “Have you heard from Stacy? Has she had her baby?”

“Not yet.” He flips his hand into the air.

This meeting needs to end. “Oh, okay,” I stammer and place my Kate Spade tote over my shoulder. “I will look for your email.”

He stands and extends his hand. I cannot avoid shaking it, so I adjust my tote and reach out. His lips form a smarmy smile as he twists my hand in his and brings it up for a kiss. I must not recoil. “I will be in touch.”

I can do nothing more than nod and pull my hand out of his grasp. Without looking back, I take catwalk steps to the door, open it and exit.

“Leave it open.”

Dropping my hand from the doorknob, I continue my path back to reception.What just happened in there?When I finally reach the lobby, Wills sits on a sofa looking out the window at LA. I admire his profile without his noticing me. His perfect Roman nose. The blond hair in need of a haircut. Wide shoulders. The way his hand flexes into a fist and relaxes draws my attention.

“Everything okay, Wills?”

He startles, obviously not having heard my heels clicking on the hardwood floors. “Of course.” He comes to his full height next to me. “How did it go?”

He has enough on his mind—I do not need to add to his worries by telling him Monsieur Price scared me. He really did not do anything to me anyway. “It was fine. I told him I needed to keep Saturday free and he said he would.”

Wills grimaces. “You don’t have to go with me.”

I lace my hand through his arm and steer him toward the elevators, waving at the receptionist. “I want to.”

Before we leave the Agency’s lobby proper, footsteps from down the hall I just vacated reach my ears. “Emilie, wait!”

I suck in a breath, disengage from Wills and turn to face the head of the Agency. “Oui,MonsieurPrice?”

He hands me another sheet of paper that contains my schedule for the next month. “Since you were here, I thought I’d just print this out for you.” He eyes Wills and extends his hand. “I take it you’re Wills.”

They shake hands. “Nice to meet you in person, Lloyd.”

“Take care of her out there. The paparazzi can be killer.”

His choice of words is unsettling and my eyes travel to assess how my boyfriend reacts. He remains stoic, like usual.

“She’s my number one priority.”

They nod at each other. Wills and I turn toward the elevators and I make a beeline for the call button. I cannot get out of here fast enough. I fold the paper he gave me and put it into my tote. Even though my head is facing forward, his eyes burn into my back. When the doors ping the cab’s arrival, I walk into the empty space and turn to hit the button for the parking garage. As the doors close, Monsieur Price salutes me with his fingers.

I exhale as we descend to the garage. Next to me, Wills remains silent until we reach the bottom level.

“Everything alright, Ems? There’s something about that guy that rubs me the wrong way.”

He could say that again. I swallow. “Yes. Everything’s fine.” We reach the Jeep and I do not have it in me to drive home, even though he promised me I would make my freeway debut. I hand him the keys.

Wills takes them from my hand and kisses it—the same hand the head of the Agency just kissed. The latter’s lips wash away the former’s, bringing a smile to my face.

“There’s my girl.”

We drive home via the freeway and although I am not the one doing the driving, I actively participate from the passenger side.

After parking in the carport, Wills walks me to my front door. While I fish for my keys, he says, “Zak has to work tonight, so we can’t get together with him. But, I should probably get back to my apartment. I don’t have any clean clothes.”

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