Chapter 11 Gwen
GWEN
Iwas nervous for the wrong reason.
I was supposed to be focused on my boss, the actual reason I was hovering outside a ballroom in yet another fancy hotel. I mean, I was thinking about that part of the scenario, but my mind kept drifting back to the fact that I was about to meet Scarlet Fucking Rush.
IRL.
On the outside, I was fighting like hell to project “competent strategist” because on the inside I was a shrieking fangirl.
“Oh wow,” I said softly as I spotted a blonde in towering heels and a pencil skirt striding down the hall toward us.
“Who is that?” Harrison demanded.
“That’s Willow Grant, Scarlet’s childhood best friend turned publicist. She’s an assassin. Put your game face on.”
I held my hand out to her. “Willow, hi, I’m Gwen Ackland.”
I didn’t have to clarify my position with Ashford Jets because we’d emailed a few times, and I knew she’d already done a deep dive on me.
She took my hand, gave it a brief shake, and focused on Harrison.
“There he is,” Willow said, barely hiding a frown.
They shook hands, and I studied Harrison’s face. His smile looked genuine.
“So nice to meet you, Willow. Can’t thank you enough for making this happen on such short notice.”
“Scarlet will be down shortly, but before she arrives, I want to go over parameters,” Willow said briskly. “We only have twenty minutes for this meeting. No photos allowed. Gwen, you and I will be sitting in, and I’ll be recording it.”
“That’s fine,” Harrison said politely. “Hopefully you’ll both have a chance to enjoy a couple of croissants before you head out.”
“Scarlet doesn’t eat bread,” Willow sniffed.
I knew for a fact that she did because I watched her Insta stories, and I’d seen her downing midnight cheeseburgers.
“They’re serving fruit as well. Something for everyone,” he replied. “In any case, we really appreciate you agreeing to this. I’m looking forward to making this right between us.”
If I were grading Harrison’s performance, he’d already have an A. He seemed affable, relaxed, and genuine.
His phone rang. “Excuse me for a moment.”
He stepped away to take the call, leaving me alone with Willow.
“I want you to know that what happened last night wasn’t part of our plan,” she said, watching Harrison like a police profiler. “I’m still pissed off about the way he acted, but Scarlet had agreed to follow the script and accept the flowers.”
“Yeah, it was a shock, given our peace talks.” I gave her a tight smile. “I had a feeling something went off the rails…”
“We’ve had some personnel shifts, and one of our newer team members thinks he knows better than the rest of us.
He came up with some story about how Ashford is an investor in that dog-cloning start-up.
Can you even imagine? Cloning is an animal welfare nightmare!
I have no idea if Ian had bad intel about it or if he’s got a grudge against your boss.
It only took us four minutes to fact-check it, which he should’ve done before he opened his mouth, but Scarlet believed him.
She’s such a softie when it comes to animal stuff, and she’s stretched to the max with the tour right now, so she’s extra vulnerable. ”
And there it was. Ian’s handiwork. Asshole.
“Oh my gosh, Harrison would never do that! He loves animals, so much that he volunteers at a shelter. The man donated an entire wing to the place!”
She paused a beat, staring at me. “Seriously?”
Willow was the kind of woman who made a career out of acting like nothing could shock her, but I’d somehow managed to surprise her.
Then again, it wasn’t like Harrison promoted the fact that he was involved with the shelter. He probably had everyone there sign ironclad nondisclosure agreements about his involvement so he could keep the fact that he was an undercover softie a secret.
I was about to open up to Willow about why Ian had sabotaged the apology when the vibration in the air shifted. I glanced down the hallway, but I already knew in my bones what was happening.
Scarlet was walking toward us, surrounded by three doting team members.
I’d met plenty of famous people through my job, including heartthrobs whose posters I’d once plastered on my bedroom walls, but seeing Scarlet just a few feet away had me helium-filled.
She wasn’t even doing anything special—the woman was just walking—but she had a presence that seemed to make the walls shake as she strutted toward us.
I clocked her outfit quickly because her clothing always signaled her mood.
Black baseball cap pulled low, with her trademark red hair flowing around her shoulders, so even if the hat was meant to disguise her, it didn’t.
Her black sweatshirt was cropped and boxy, worn over a white button down and paired with a short Burberry plaid skirt and knee-high black boots.
Perfection, of course. But what did it mean?
Willow stepped between us as Scarlet got closer in a well-practiced protective move.
“Scarlet, this is Gwen Ackland, she’s from the Ashford team. Harrison is currently on a call.”
They exchanged a glance that telegraphed annoyance, but thankfully Harrison was already striding toward us.
Scarlet focused her blue eyes on me, and I had to swallow my squeal of excitement.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Scarlet.”
I deflated a little as I shook her hand. Her tone was chilly, like she still didn’t quite believe Harrison wasn’t a heartless dog-cloner and therefore thought I was an asshole by association.
“So sorry about that,” Harrison said as he joined us. “Scarlet, good morning, and thank you for being here. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you meeting with me. I’m looking forward to sunny days ahead.”
I hoped my shock didn’t register on my face at Harrison’s reference to one of Scarlet’s earliest songs, “Sunshine Baby.” When had he found the time to dive into her back catalog?
The callback to her music was enough to get a quarter-smile out of her. “We have a lot to talk about. Let’s eat.”
The other team members hung back, a Greek chorus of whispering worriers. Harrison held the door open for us, and when we walked into the banquet room, we all froze.
Somehow, in the time between letting Harrison know the plan and arriving at the hotel, he’d managed to find someone to fill the room with dozens of yellow roses.
“Oh, this is too much,” Scarlet said with a little laugh. “Wow.”
“I wasn’t sure where last night’s bouquet ended up, so I thought I’d make up for that today. And once we’re finished here, these roses are being delivered to women’s shelters throughout the city.”
“Wow,” she repeated.
Yes, Harrison had used his money to make a splash again, but this time it felt different.
I was the tiniest bit pissed he didn’t run this deviation from the plan by me, but I had to admit, his instincts had been spot-on.
Scarlet was clearly impressed. Also, the whole room swelled with the fragrance of roses, which was a nice touch.
Harrison and Scarlet sat down at a table crowded with breakfast options, and Willow and I hovered a few feet away like anxious chaperones.
Which we sort of were.
Once the waiter left the room, Harrison cleared his throat and began speaking.
“Scarlet, I wanted to tell you, in person, how badly I feel about what I said that day at the courthouse. I don’t want to make excuses for my behavior. I own that I was a jackass. Happens way too often.”
Harrison smiled sheepishly—and adorably—and Scarlet cracked a smile back.
“However, I do want you to know that I was going through a difficult time, and I was at the courthouse dealing with a painful and private matter,” he continued.
“When that reporter stuck a microphone in my face, I reacted poorly. I’d probably have cursed out the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa if he’d asked me about them—but instead, he asked me about you and your fans, and I said cruel things. For that, I’m very sorry.”
“Okay,” Scarlet said softly, but I could tell by her crossed arms and leaned back posture that she still wasn’t on board with forgiving him yet.
“I appreciate that. I guess I owe you an apology too, for what went down on the show last night. But before I do, I want to fact-check directly from you. Did you invest in FiDeaux?”
“Fido?” Harrison’s entire face collapsed into a confused frown. “Excuse me?”
I choked down a coughing fit because I hadn’t had a chance to warn Harrison about the latest twist in the saga. I crossed my fingers and hoped he could roll with it.
“I was told you’re an investor in that cloning start-up,” Scarlet replied. “As someone deeply involved in animal rescue, I can’t believe people will pay thousands of dollars to bring another animal into the world. Is it true?”
Harrison leaned forward and locked onto Scarlet with an expression so unguarded that I was a little worried about what was about to go down.
“There is absolutely no way I would ever, ever support cloning an animal, especially when there are so many incredible dogs waiting for forever homes in shelters across the country.”
He flushed a little. “I get so goddamn furious at the shitheads who treat dogs like they’re a toy or an accessory.
That’s your best friend. Your ally. Your copilot.
I wish every damn day that I had a lifestyle that allowed me to adopt a dog, but I know better than to bring one home when my schedule wouldn’t allow me to be one hundred percent devoted to one. ”
Harrison glanced at me, almost like he was getting my permission for whatever he was going to say next. “I volunteer at the Nato Beach shelter, and I fall in love every time I’m there.”
I cringed at the curse words, but there was no mistaking the sincerity in what he was saying. Scarlet was staring at Harrison with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open.
“I’m…I’m really sorry for believing what I was told about you.” She looked over at Willow and threw up her hands in frustration. “Why would Ian tell me that? What’s his endgame?”
I took a step forward. “Um, I can answer that one.”
The three of them turned to stare at me, and I realized it was time for me to spill my own private trauma in front of the world’s biggest pop star.
And my boss.
Sharing my personal baggage was something I would normally never do with a client or with anyone I met in a professional context.
But I wasn’t the one who had made things personal—that was Ian.
And if I was going to combat his tactics, I’d need to set the record straight.
I knew this was the best way to make a connection with the singer and ease the tension in the room.
With everyone waiting for me to explain, particularly Scarlet, it was the first time in my career that I had stage fright. I swallowed my concerns and started talking.
“I used to work with Ian at my last job.” I forced myself to state, staring only at Scarlet because I couldn’t bear to look at Harrison.
“We started off as colleagues, but he made his interest in me clear from the start, and he chased me pretty hard. At first, I liked it. It was flattering. So we started dating, and things were great for a while. Then I started to notice that everything we did was about him. Where we ate, what we ate, who we socialized with. I caught him trying to hack into my phone a couple of times. He even made me cancel a vacation with my sister! I went along with it because I thought it was sweet that he wanted to be with me all the time. That’s love, right?
But it started to feel like a too-tight sweater.
Itchy, constricting. I just wanted it off. ”
I was using my fandom to make my case. I knew her album, Faster, was all about her breakup with Cole Bakersfield, who turned out to be a manipulating gaslighter. She knew exactly the feelings I was describing.
“I started to pull back, which just meant that he pushed harder. Got even more controlling. Demanding. I finally managed to break things off…and then everything blew up at work. He’d belittle me at meetings, question my work, and whine about me getting better clients than him.
It finally got so bad that I had to quit. And I loved that job.”
I finally peeked at Harrison, and he was frowning. I wasn’t sure what part of the story was bugging him, but I did hope he’d keep his mouth shut about it for now, because I could see that Scarlet was hanging on every word.
“That absolutely sucks,” she exhaled. “Been there.”
“You get it,” I gestured toward her. “That powerless feeling when someone’s taken over your life.
I was so glad when I was finally able to break free.
After that, I thought he was history, but when he found out Harrison had hired me, I guess he jumped on the chance to sabotage me one last time.
You two were caught in the crossfire, and for that, I deeply apologize. It should never have happened.”
Scarlet turned to lock eyes with Willow.
“On it,” Willow replied as she started tapping on her phone.
The two women were so close that there was no need for words. I hoped that my gut was correct, and Willow was about to fire Ian for his part in the drama.
I felt Harrison’s eyes on me but refused to meet them. I wasn’t ready to deal with him yet. I was more than a little embarrassed to face him after everything I’d confessed.
He’d hired me because he thought I was smart and capable and on top of everything—but I’d just admitted to letting my ex twist me into knots and turn my life upside down.
More than that, my mistakes with Ian were the gift that kept on giving when they managed to mess up Harrison’s life too.
If Harrison was pissed at me, I couldn’t really say I blamed him.
“Now that that’s settled, time to eat,” Scarlet said. She grabbed a croissant the size of her fist and took a huge bite. “Let’s talk about the After Dark plans. You’re still good with everything?”
Harrison’s posture relaxed ever so slightly as he reached for one as well. “One hundred percent. Let’s cross our fingers there are no more surprises.”
Scarlet winked at him. “I might have one more up my sleeve. Stay tuned.”
He cleared his throat—his tell for masking discomfort—but he didn’t argue. Good boy. I wasn’t exactly thrilled that there was a part of the plan I didn’t know about, but we all had no choice but to trust the artist and her vision.
And hey, we had our own little surprise for Miss Rush.