Page 10 of For Butter or Worse
“Garlic and holy water would be better. Could you give us a minute?” Nina said to Jasmine. “I’ll handle this.” She waved her hand at Leo. He was thethis.
Jasmine took in a deep breath, then added, “Leo? If you hurt my friend again, I’ll use our cooking torch on your hair. Nice meeting you!” She smiled widely before heading back down the hall and turning into the kitchen.
“She seems...” Leo searched for an adjective that would describe a metal band Barbie, but came up blank. “Like she has a very fascinating Instagram account.”
“She is my best friend, and you’re lucky to have breathed the same air as her,” Nina said protectively.
Seeing her attached to someone, and vice versa, was certainly a glimpse into her life he hadn’t anticipated.
There was a loud banging on the back door, followed by banging on the front door—they were surrounded by the paparazzi.
Maybe coming here hadn’t been the best idea, but he’d genuinely thought they could just talk things out. There was always someone else lingering nearby—a producer, an agent, a makeup artist. Why not try a conversation, just the two of them?
“What are you actually doing here, Leo? If you’re trying to show me what I’m missing, it’s not working.” She leaned as far away from him as possible.
He mimicked her movements and let his back rest against the wall of the hallway. If he wanted to dominate the conversation, he’d take on a power pose. Hands behind his head, legs open and wide—a classic negotiation move. But he didn’t have the upper hand here—he was seeking answers only she had—so he crossed his arms and made himself small. He was willing to acquiesce if it meant getting what he wanted—her to come back to the show.
“People are saying you left because of me.” He paused to let the comment sink in. While Nina clearly thought Leo was selfish and only cared about himself, he really did want to know what had pushed her to leave. Maybe making sure he wasn’t the reason she’d leftwasselfish, but...oh, well.
She didn’t say a word back. Instead, her sharp gaze burrowed a hole straight through the core of him, her lava meeting his earth. Message received: Nina was pissed.
He straightened and cleared his throat. They both had business to lose and gain, so he just had to make sure he didn’t end up on the losing side. He decided to take a gamble, the way she had last night.
“Okay, I can take a hint. I may have been part of the reason why you left the show. But I also know that your business is in trouble, to put it lightly,” he said. “You took a risk and blamed me. Let me guess, your reservations have spiked today, right?”
“What’s your point?” She’d never been one to shrink away from a challenge, so he wasn’t surprised to see a burst of energy infuse her. She leaned forward.
Annoyingly, her chef’s apron didn’t seem to hide the cleavage poking out of her V-neck sweater, though. Not that he was staring, or anything. He dusted those thoughts away as soon as they showed up.
“Here’s the thing, Nina—people have sympathy for you temporarily. But in the long run? You’ll still have a perception problem.” He was winging this impromptu TED talk, but everything he said was true. And, feeling himself gain some traction, he uncrossed his arms—confident leaders made their body language open, just like the books had taught him.
“They’re mad at me now. It’s affecting my business, absolutely. But how do you think they’re going to feel when I put out an interview explaining that I’m the victim in all of this?” He eyed her, but she wasn’t budging from her new identity as “woman with flames for eyes.” “When I explain that I’ve had to fire my employees, hardworking people, because of the bad press? They’ll turn on you just as quickly. And then, instead of being Nasty Nina, you’ll also be ‘selfish,’ ‘manipulative’ and ‘entitled.’”
She looked down and licked her lips, considering. Good, maybe she would finally see the big picture instead of fixating on their present issues.
“If you think you can scare me with any of that, I’m sorry to say that you’re mistaken.” She smirked and planted her hands firmly on her hips, the alpha woman asserting her dominance. He couldn’t say it wasn’t sexy to watch. “Believe it or not, I’ve dealt with bigger assholes than you.”
“Give me a chance. I’ll try harder,” he replied, attempting a joke.
But her jaw clenched and he swore he heard her growl. So he took a deep breath, from the bottom of his belly, the same way he did whenever he sensed a panic attack coming on.
“I’ll walk you out.” She turned so fiercely that even her hair swung with her as she headed toward the door.
How had all of this gone so horribly wrong? He was supposed to come here and convince her, with his unshakable charm, that she should return to the show. But he’d lost sight of everything he was supposed to be focused on and made this about him. He’d questioned her business, and now she was unceremoniously kicking him out. Maybe he could salvage...something.
“Not a good idea.” He subtly wiped his sweaty hands on his pants. “We haven’t strategized. People will see me leaving. What am I supposed to say?”
He tried to turn on his biggest and purest look of helplessness, which he hoped would have some effect on Nina. Not that he ever had an effect on her, even when he worked for it.
“You went to business school. I’m sure they taught you about diplomacy.” Nina’s hand found his, and she squeezed it, then added, “Don’t feel too badly, Leo. At least youhave those nice pecs.”
She held his gaze for a beat, then winked. Before he could respond, she’d opened the back door and shoved him out. When he turned around to make sure he’d heard her correctly, the door closed behind him. The place where her hand had been was suddenly cold, and when he looked ahead, there were several people pointing cameras and phones toward him.
Normally, the stress of a situation like this could bring on that head-spinning shortness of breath he knew all too well. He’d never had a panic attack on set, or in front of a crowd, and he didn’t want to start now. So he swallowed down his nerves as he tried to block out the questions being shouted at him from the paparazzi.
Which, actually, wasn’t as hard to do as it normally would’ve been. Because his thoughts kept running back to the interaction he’d just had with Nina...
She said I have nice pecs.
