Page 71 of Beautiful Enemy

“Where was security?” I snap.

“Not by another client. By a staff member.”

Christ.

The room is too small. I yank open the door and take the stairs to the top and step into the bright daylight. I feel in my pocket for my sunglasses and find only the reading glasses Rae got me.

I stare at them a moment before setting them carefully on a nearby table. “I was just in LA last week dealing with this. We cleaned house. Agreed on new policies.”

“With the number of clubs you have, there are bound to be problems. But this is shitty timing. She hasn’t spoken to the media yet. But there’s a possible lawsuit and obviously the PR issue if this gets out.”

My mind races. “Is the woman hurt?”

“She’s fine. But it would really help all of your venues to have the good press right now.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“You’re spending a lot of time with the same DJ who accused you this spring. If she went on the record saying she’s seen what you’re doing and supports you, that could go a long way.”

The sounds of laughter from below us draw me to the railing around the anchored boat. I squint into the shadows to see Rae, Ash, and the others playing in the water twenty feet away. Her black bathing suit shows off every curve of her body. Curves I could be touching, or at least experiencing up close, if I wasn’t up here.

Rae had something on her mind this morning when we arrived. I wish I could get her alone and force the truth out of her.

I drag my attention back to the call and grip the phone tighter. “She’s already playing my club.”

“And no one has made the link publicly. Yet.”

“It’s not happening, Leni.”

“Because you have feelings for her?”

I exhale heavily.

“DJs would kill to play a club in Ibiza for a month,” she points out. “You’ve given her an opportunity—one she can use to not only get back to where she was but take her career to the next level. If she has feelings for you too, maybe you could help each other.”

* * *

“Is this guy for real?” Ash demands from the row ahead of us in the theater room, nodding toward Beck.

Tyler and Annie are huddled together at the front. Elle’s in the second row, along with my brother and Beck. We’re here to watch Beck’s screening copy of the pilot for his new reality show.

I waited for Rae to head into the back row, then I gave her zero outs as I shifted in after her.

From the moment we started watching, half my attention was on the antics of the guy on screen and the rest was on the woman beside me.

“How was Formentera?” I ask under my breath.

“Fun. But you missed it.”

I extend my legs in front of us. “Business came up.”

I feel her turn toward me. “Why do all this if you weren’t going to participate?”

“Because you deserve it.”

She turns that over. Her black shorts and sleeveless top leave her long, curvy limbs on display. Her hair, swept up in two piles on top of her head, makes my fingers itch.

“No one deserves to rent a forty-five-meter boat,” she decides.

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