Page 59 of Nothing But the Truth

Her blood was aflame with embarrassment, but she nodded fervently because he still hadn’t confirmed he wasn’t a figment of her imagination.

“That might be the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.” He softly smiled. “But flattery aside, I can see you are sincerely distressed by this, so I can assure you that, yes, I am real.” He reached for her hand and placed it on his half-bare chest, right over his heart, which she could feel beating under his skin. “See? Real.”

She stared in his eyes and knew with every cell in her body that he was real and she wasn’t crazy. At least not on a psychotic-break level. But the electricity passing between their skin and the weightless thrill it sent coursing through her again was pretty crazy.

She pulled her hand back before she caught fire. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

She wondered if that was invitation to touch him anytime or to ask him outrageous questions anytime.

She hoped for both.

“So, do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

“Do you want to hear about it?”

“I do.”

She took a big breath, bracing herself. “Well, there’s been a bit of a scandal at my office, and pending an email any minute now, I’ve shoved it into overdrive on purpose.”

“Oh?” His brows rose like he was not expecting anything of the sort. “I didn’t have you pegged as the scandal type.”

“I’m a publicist; my job revolves around scandal.”

“Tell me more.” He leaned back and kicked an ankle on his knee.

“So, the CEO of my company is a jerk who has been harassing me for years. I’ve never told anyone for fear of jeopardizing my career—and it was never that bad, so don’t get carried away thinking of the worst headlines you’ve read,” she clarified when his face shifted to shock with a hint of feral rage on her behalf that made her heart flutter.

He stared down at the sidewalk, looking like he was plotting Jonathan’s punishment despite not even knowing who he was. He composed himself, and his face grew serious. “I respect the fact that you experienced it and know better than I do, but I don’t think that any kind of harassment should be downplayed or dismissed.”

His tone made her wonder if he, or perhaps someone he cared about, had history with harassment or abuse.

“Noted and appreciated. So, another woman in the company came forward today—his assistant, to be exact. I’m the one who told her to stand up for herself, but I didn’t think she’d interpret that to mean email the entire company about it. That’s what sent me running at lunch.” Adam stared at her, riveted, like he was watching reality TV. “She also identified one other woman within the company who’d been harassed, and everyone knows it’s me.”

His eyes shot wide enough for her to see all the gold flecks. “Yikes.”

She smiled, though she had to admit she felt like she was standing on a ledge about to leap, praying there’d be a net below. “That’s what I thought too at first. But then I realized it’s an opportunity. If we want things to change, we have to do something about it, because nothing will ever get better on its own.”

He looked at her with bald admiration. His lip curled up like he wanted in on whatever she was up to. “So, what did you do?”

Lucy’s lip curled to match his. “Sent the story to Deadline.”

“Damn!” He laughed a warm, impressed sound. “You don’t mess around.”

“I do not. At least not anymore, thanks to this truth-curse thing.” She waved a hand.

“You so sure it’s a curse? Like I said earlier: maybe it’s a gift.”

She was glad they circled back to their earlier conversation because she had honestly thought she was never going to see him again and wouldn’t get the chance to talk about it. “You did say that, and I’ve been thinking about it. I have been trying to fix this—whatever is going on, I still don’t know—and I’m wondering if you’re right. If this thing is causing more solutions than problems.”

He encouraged her to continue with an interested gaze.

“I mean, since this morning, I’ve done a bunch of things I wouldn’t have otherwise.”

“Like?”

“Like, standing up for myself, admitting my relationship was over, and outing my boss for harassment.”

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