Page 79 of Nothing But the Truth

Did he really just do that?

Warmth filled her chest as she thought of what Joanna said about Chase needing time to catch up and maybe surprising her. And what a personal risk he had taken. She smiled as she pulled up his number to call him, realizing he would pull a stunt as outlandish as stealing the microphone on live TV. He was always needing to one-up her in some way, and this time, she didn’t mind.

“Hey,” he said when he answered, clearly out of breath from running. He must not have stopped once he dropped the microphone.

“You’re insane. You’re not running from the cops or anything, are you?”

“No, but I am in a dark hallway somewhere under the Staples Center right now, so if you never hear from me again, send a search party.”

“Oh my god, Chase.” Lucy laughed, still unable to believe what she’d just seen.

He laughed back, and it sounded like the guy she had been friendly with years before. “I ran through the first door I saw and kept going.”

“Shawn knew that was coming, right?”

His footsteps echoed off the concrete tunnels Lucy had visited herself. He could definitely get lost down there. “Of course he did. What kind of publicist do you think I am?”

She smiled, despite all her anger from earlier in the day. “One on the right side of things. Finally.”

She heard the smile in his voice. “I was hoping you’d say that. Sorry about earlier. I was a dick. I should have stood up for you.”

An apology from Chase McMillan. A real one. If she hadn’t had such an unbelievable day already, she wouldn’t have believed it.

“It’s not only me, Chase. What you did will make a difference for a lot of people. Thank you.”

His footsteps and labored breathing filled another few seconds, and Lucy found her gratitude getting the best of her.

“Do you want to come to my birthday party tonight? I mean, I know you have courtside tickets, but you probably—”

“Yeah, I definitely shouldn’t stick around here after that,” he finished for her. And then, “Yeah, sure, that would be great.”

“Great. Perch at eight,” she said, repeating the same invitation she’d been extending all day.

Chase laughed again, the end pinching up into honest concern. “I’ll be there if I can find my way out of here by then.”

Lucy dropped her phone in her lap, still bouncing with laughter.

Chase McMillan: not a supervillain after all.

She rose from her bed, damp hair still smushed in her towel wrap, and walked to her bathroom mirror. She let her hair down and stared at her reflection.

It may have been a trick of lighting, or some self-fulfilling conviction, but she swore she looked wiser. Wise enough to know that she didn’t need to plaster her face in makeup or stuff herself into the dress and heels she had planned to wear to her party. She would go low-maintenance and classy, and it would be perfect.

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