Chapter 22
Rhys
Inever have a problem reporting for duty, but this morning I wanted to stay wrapped up in Keira’s embrace like I did yesterday. Our day together came and went way too fast for my liking.
Today, is about adulting and not fucking like I have no care in the world.
As I ride the elevator from the garage to the executive floor at SCORE, I pull out my phone intending to shoot Keira a quick text.
Never mind our filthy morning quickie or our passionate goodbye kiss, I need to hear from her before I jump into what’s most likely going to be a hectic day.
I’m about to type a message when one from Beckett flies across my screen.
I ignore it.
Another message from him pops on my screen.
Chill out, man.
I’ll deal with him in a minute.
Rhys
Hey, dimples, what are you up to?
Keira
Reading by the pool. You at work yet?
Rhys
Just got here.
Keira
I miss you already, big guy.
I shake my head at the nickname.
Rhys
Miss you too.
Keira
Are you going to work late?
Rhys
Nah, I have someone to come home to.
Keira
I’m totally grinning. I’m counting the hours.
So am I.
Sure, I love women like the next guy, but I’m not a manwhore like Beckett used to be, and I’m certainly not a giant slut like our friend Collin Dennison. I swear that man must secretly take Viagra. He’s insatiable.
After being single for most of my adult life, and shying away from monogamous relationships because I never found anyone who kept my interest for long, I can’t get enough of Keira.
I don’t do things by half and this is no different. I go from being single to living with a woman. I go from not remembering a fraction of the women I’ve been with to being consumed by one woman.
Rhys
Be good today.
Keira
Or else?
Rhys
Don’t push my buttons.
Keira
FYI, warnings only fuel me.
Rhys
You’re impossible.
Keira
But you still like me.
Rhys
I do.
I can’t help my smile.
Rhys
All right, I got to go play COO. I’ll catch you later, dimples.
Keira
Catch you later, big guy.
I tuck my phone inside the pocket of my suit jacket just as the elevator doors open on the executive floor. I stroll with a decisive step, dropping good mornings, smiling and nodding along the way.
The smell of freshly brewed coffee—and possibilities—permeates the air. SCORE enterprise is in full swing, ready to crush the competition and take even bigger shares of the market.
Even after five monumental years, on some days, I still struggle to wrap my head around the fact I, Rhys Hartford, co-own this goliath company.
After a quick pit stop at the employee kitchen for my second latte of the day, I head to my office.
“Morning,” I say, walking by my executive assistant’s desk.
Cecilia shifts her attention from her screen. “Good morning, Rhys.” She leans over her desk. Sensing this might be a long conversation, I cradle my mug with both hands and take a long sip of my piping hot coffee. “Is there something I don’t know about?”
I take another long sip before answering. “You’re talking about Beckett?”
“Yes.” Her light brown eyes glance furtively around the executive floor. “He’s been checking in with me every fifteen minutes to find out if you’re in. That’s unlike him.”
“Yeah, he’s been texting me all morning. Same for Arianne. I was hoping you might know more.”
“I’m clueless,” Cecilia says. “I even checked with Valerie and she has no idea what’s going on… and Beckett’s executive assistant knows everything.”
Interesting.
Valerie always has her ear to the ground. She’s also in on Chinese whispers and water cooler gossip.
“I take one day off, and those two stir trouble,” I say.
“Speaking of which, how was it playing hooky on a Monday?” Cecilia links her fingers beneath her chin and bats her eyelashes.
It was a fucking great day, but I’m not about to tell you.
“Who says I was playing hooky?”
“You’re so dedicated to this company, I have to kick you out of the building when you’re under the weather because you don’t know when to quit. Unless you’re traveling for business or away on holiday, you’re always here.”
“I needed time off.”
“Does this have to do with your best friend’s little sister?”
“Yes.”
“I thought so… I’ve been thinking—”
“That scares me.” Those three dreaded words… she’s about to play matchmaker.
“Don’t worry, I won’t try to hook you up with one of my eight sisters, my army of female cousins, or their legion of girlfriends.”
Thank God.
No wonder her parents had to adopt a boy in the end. That’s a lot of estrogen in a family.
“Between the recent production issues and the frenzy surrounding SCORE Yours, you have your plate full. If you’re looking for someone to hang out with Keira during the day, one of my sons would step in.”
Over my dead body.
“They have time between classes. And they can show her around on days when they don’t have classes… like tomorrow.”
Show her around their dorm room?
“They can even introduce her to some of their friends—they’re all between twenty and twenty-three. It’ll be fun for her.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I doubt a college crowd is Keira’s thing.”
Am I taking liberties?
You bet.
“The poor thing must be losing her mind to boredom,” Cecilia says.
“Keira has only been in LA for a week. She still needs time to get settled.”
I didn’t want to spoil our time together by broaching any thorny subject, but my girlfriend will need to find something to occupy her days.
“What about Friday nights and weekends?” Cecilia soldiers on. “The twins are great companions, and I’m sure they’d love to take her out to parties.”
Yeah, I don’t think so.
“Her Friday nights and weekends are spoken for.”
Her cheeks flush.
She sits up straight, visibly uncomfortable.
She brushes her short brown hair behind her ears and clears her throat. “Perhaps I overstepped my boundaries. It appears Keira is in good hands.”
“She is.”
She cocks an eyebrow and tilts her head to the side. “Message received loud and clear.”
Cecilia is astute.
She’s the one who opened the envelope containing the additional credit card under Keira’s name last Friday. My executive assistant’s eyes were wide with questions. She has her answer now.
“Let me head to Beckett’s office to find out what’s going on,” I say, changing the subject.
“Sounds like a plan.” She returns her focus to her iMac screen.
I don’t bother stopping by my office, I head straight to Beckett’s.
I knock three times.
“Come in.”
I open the door and step inside.
Beckett and Arianne are sitting at the small round conference table near the large window. Her lips break into a huge smile when she sees me.
“Rhys, you’re finally here,” Arianne says.
I knit my brows together. “It’s only eight-thirty in the morning.”
“True, but I’ve been at this since five this morning.
I’m so excited by this idea, I couldn’t sleep.
” She claps her hands together like a kid who’s allowed to have a second cookie.
“I called Beckett and dragged him out of bed and we’ve been brainstorming since seven.
We even had an early morning call with our point person at the advertising agency. ”
My gaze shifts to Beckett’s.
I cock an eyebrow in lieu of a question.
“Trust me, you’ll want to hear what she has to say.” He points to a chair. “Take a seat.”
I unbutton my suit jacket, sit and drop my mug on the table.
Arianne is giddy.
She does that excited clapping thing again.
I arch a brow. “Why are you bouncing off the walls?”
“Because of Keira.”
“You talked to her this morning?” No sure when that would’ve happened because I’m pretty sure I kept my girlfriend’s mouth too busy to talk this morning.
“No, I didn’t,” Arianne says. “Last night, I spoke to Phoebe. We couldn’t shut up about our fun weekend with Keira. She’s totally adorable.”
“She is.”
“Phoebe and I wanted to keep her.”
“You make her sound like a stray kitten,” I say with a laugh.
“In many ways she is. She’s a tiny thing.”
“You two are practically the same height.”
“Yeah, but she’s younger and since I don’t have a little sister, I felt a connection. After she opened up about her childhood, I felt so protective of her.” I have to man up to Noah. “And that big personality, all that talent and that voice… I’m in awe.”
“You’re such a fan girl,” I say.
“Guilty as charged, but getting to know the real Keira was so vastly different from her public image. I like her even more now I’ve met her.”
“It’s showbiz, baby,” Beckett says. “Smoke and mirrors. So much stuff on TV, online, and in the rag magazines is duplicitous and plain false.”
Like me, Beckett has firsthand experience of being in the spotlight. As the former lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Random Misconception, he was considered rock star royalty. Rehab is another thing we have in common.
“He’s right,” I say. “Publicists master the art of creating a persona to sell albums and concert tickets.” I should know.
That’s what happened to me when I was trying to make a name for myself as a rapper.
The record label fabricated a tough-kid persona that had nothing to do with who I was.
I went along with it because I would’ve killed for fame.
My dad had his reservations, but I wasn’t willing to listen.
In the end, Dad was right. The false tale contributed to my demise when it blew up in my face that it was fake.
“Unless you’re in the music business, you’re oblivious to all the trickery,” Arianne says. “It was such a privilege Keira was willing to open up to us.”
“She only had praise for you and Phoebe.”
“That’s great to hear. Phoebe suggested we do another all-girl weekend soon.”
“I’m sure she’ll love it,” I say. “She liked hanging out with you two.”
“I’m so pleased,” Arianne says.
“The perspective of another weekend of shopping and pampering with Keira got you so excited it woke you up before the roosters, and you had to call me into an urgent meeting?” I redirect the conversation.
I take another sip of coffee, but grimace because it’s no longer hot. I push the mug away.
“Funny. It’s like my conversation with Phoebe sparked something in my brain,” she says. “I woke up startled when it hit me.”
“When what hit you?”
“We’re heading in the wrong direction with the marketing angle for SCORE Yours,” she says.
“Why would you say that?” She opens her mouth to answer, but I keep talking. “And if that’s how you feel, why am I involved? I take care of production. Beckett is your point person for marketing and advertising initiatives.”
Beckett pats my shoulder. “Hold tight, buddy. She’s getting to it.”
“Fair enough,” I say. “Let’s hear it.”
“I understand where you’re coming from, but this is far more than marketing,” she says. “This decision could be the spark that takes SCORE Yours from an amazing idea to a phenomenon.”
My eyes shift to Beckett.
He nods.
I respond in kind. “You have my full attention.”
“This is about the heart and soul of the product,” Arianne says. “The image that will sell the consumer on the value proposition.”
I draw my eyebrows together.
“I thought we all agreed on the slogan for SCORE Yours yup” I say. “Unique like you, is spot on.”
“It is,” Beckett says. “Nothing’s changed on that front. Arianne is talking about the face of the brand.”
“I thought you had settled on someone, and the agency was going to send her the contract this week,” I say. “Don’t you have photoshoots lined up?”
“The model we selected is the wrong person,” Arianne says. “Lucky for us, we have time to get it right.”
What is she talking about? “The woman is beautiful.”
“Yeah, but she’s just another model––a pretty face to look at, but not necessarily someone our audience will connect with.”
“And you found that rare unicorn?”
“We did,” Arianne says. “This past weekend.”
“That was a hell of a shopping trip,” I say.
“Let me explain,” Arianne says, “Phoebe being Phoebe was the first to take note of Keira’s striking tattoo.
And my best friend had a thousand questions.
When Keira told us why she felt so compelled to permanently ink her body, it broke my heart and brought tears to my eye.
I wasn’t aware of the details surrounding her best friend’s and group mate’s horrific deaths, or how the record company tried to mold her into a gimmick, or how they figured she’d be willing to keep singing with her other group mate as a duet. ”
“Yeah, it’s heavy shit,” I say.
“It’s no surprise she’s eager to start over and distance herself from her former career. I mean, she went as far as to shave her hair off––”
“Her new hairstyle rocks, by the way,” I say.
“It does,” Beckett says. “Arianne showed me photos. Keira stands out more than before… and that says a lot considering the amount of hair she had on her head.”
“She’s stunning,” I agree, doing my best to keep an impartial tone.
“Keira is talented, gorgeous, and courageous enough to take bold steps.” Arianne continues to sell my girlfriend’s virtues.
“Her story tugs at your heart. It’s something people can connect with.
The fact she has the word unique tattooed on her back is something we’d be foolish to ignore.
” She pauses. “It’s a sign. It’s meant to be. ”
My eyes bounce from Arianne’s to Beckett’s.
They stare at me with huge grins stretching their lips.
Then, it hits me.
“You want Keira to be the face of SCORE Yours?”
“We do.” Beckett nods.
“She’s more than a face,” Arianne says. “Keira is the heart and soul of SCORE Yours.”
Whoa.