Chapter 5 The Anti-Aphrodite
THE ANTI-APHRODITE
Addie
No less than a dozen times since waking at the ass-crack of dawn, Addie contemplated calling Maxi and Bailey and pleading plague.
Not forever. Just long enough for the farce of that morning’s “meeting” to pass, and then she’d be blessed with a miraculous immunity boost thanks to her super smoothie, and go on about her day.
Soon enough, reality sank its claws into her.
Seeing through the lie, Bailey wouldn’t think twice before showing up at her door and dragging her ass through the streets of New York and into the office.
A no-show also risked Mr. Rock God Cross thinking himself the reason, and the man already had a raging case of ego.
There was no reason to add to it unnecessarily.
“Predictability and rock stars don’t mix.
He’ll probably flake out on the meeting, right?
” Addie asked Do-Re-Mi, and got three confused head tilts before she gave each their morning treats and ear scratches, and headed for the door.
“Behave today, boys. If you need to stretch your legs, poof to the Underworld. You’re still on probation for doing zoomies down Broadway. ”
They chuffed their agreements and settled in front of the bay window to watch the pigeon-fest outside.
Addie had barely locked her apartment when the door on the right opened and the man she’d hoped to avoid by leaving early stepped into the hall.
“Good morning, Adalyn.” Phoenix’s lips slid easily into a crooked smile. “Fancy seeing you out and about this early. Getting a jump start on the day, huh?”
Addie sighed internally. “Just getting in?”
His smirk broadened as he fell into step beside her on the way toward the elevator. “Since we’re about to start working together closely to ensure my sister’s dream wedding happens, we should probably get to know each other better, don’t you think? What about a volleying game of twenty questions?”
“That’s not really necessary.”
“But it would probably make things run easier.”
Addie jammed her finger into the down button and turned toward Mr. Rock God. “Look—”
“Phoenix. Although I’d be totally fine with you calling me whatever you’d like.” He grinned.
Addie narrowed her glare, one that she reserved for the most difficult clients—and had inherited from her mother. “Do lines like that really work for you?”
“Truthfully? I don’t know.” His dimple popped into existence. “I’ve never been a corny-pickup-line kind of guy. That’s usually Gavin’s modus operandi.”
The elevator dinged open and they rode it down to the street level in blessed silence, where the quiet ended the second they stepped outside.
Despite the early morning hour, people already packed the sidewalks. Any hope that Phoenix would go on his separate way evaporated the moment she hung a left toward the nearest subway station, and he followed.
“We could share a cab or a Ryde.” Keeping pace, he shoved his hands deep into his jeans pockets. “We are heading to the same place.”
“I prefer the subway. Much more eco-friendly.” And not to mention wallet-friendly. “But feel free to get a Ryde. I won’t stop you. As a matter of fact, you should.”
He smirked knowingly. “Then we can’t get to know each other.”
“What a tragic shame,” Addie grumbled under her breath.
“We could always have this meeting over a cup of coffee and a bagel. My treat,” Phoenix suggested.
“Initial meetings are always done in the office because that’s where we keep our contacts catalogue.”
“Right. Okay. Well, we wouldn’t want to divert from the norm.”
A bike messenger jumped the curb and hurtled down the sidewalk. Addie stared in horror, her joints frozen as the guy barreled straight toward her. The messenger’s bag clipped her shoulder and she spun, the lid of her travel mug flying off her coffee.
Hot liquid splattered down the front of her blue-and-white sundress, quickly scalding her skin beneath. “Hot! Shit! Hot!”
“Watch it, asshole!” Phoenix shouted at the messenger, getting a shrug and a one-fingered salute as he continued onward. Phoenix turned to her and cursed, concern darkening his eyes. “Are you okay? How hot was that?”
Addie breathed through the worst of the pain. “Luckily, not scalding like Max takes hers. I usually put an ice cube in it before I snap on the lid.”
He cocked a sexy eyebrow. “An ice cube?”
“Don’t judge, okay? I don’t like coffee I need to wait an hour to drink, and my mouth is too sensitive to drink it right out of the Keurig.”
“Sensitive, huh? That’s good to know.” His gaze dropped quickly to her lips and then back up.
“If you’re sure you’re okay, how about we replace what’s all over the sidewalk?
Unless you’re not like Naiomi, who will turn into a fire-breathing dragon and chomp someone’s head off their shoulders if she’s not adequately caffeinated by ten in the morning. ”
Addie’s lips twitched into a smirk. “My sister accuses me of the same thing.”
He chuckled. “Then let’s save some poor soul’s head. I know just the place, and the baristas love me.”
“Actually, I’ll take a rain check on the coffee and risk a dragon transformation so I can run back up to my apartment and change. And please don’t wait for me,” Addie added when his mouth opened. “I’ll see you at the office.”
Surprising her, he nodded and stuffed his hands back into his pockets. “Sure thing, sparkles.”
Breathing a little easier despite her sopping-wet clothes, Addie hustled back and changed in record time. She shot her favorite coffee shop, Java the Hut, a longing look, but bypassed it and hopped onto her train with seconds to spare.
As far as commutes went, hers wasn’t too horrible, but she still took a deep inhale of fresh city air the second she hit the street and hustled around the corner of the HEF building.
She bumped into a burly guy blocking the sidewalk.
“Watch where the fuck you’re going.” The balding photographer whipped around, shooting her a hard glare before checking on the fancy camera in his hands.
A small media horde gridlocked the entrance to Happily Ever Forever’s building, and two more photographers hustled from across the street to join them, most likely documenting a celebrity sighting or film set. Definitely not unheard of in New York.
Addie squeezed around the perimeter, trying to camouflage herself into the background.
The photographer she’d bumped into suddenly whipped back around.
“It’s you!” His camera three inches from her face, he snapped a rapid-fire series of pictures. “How does it feel being the Anti-Aphrodite? Don’t you feel as though you’re scamming your clients out of their hard-earned money? What do you say for yourself, Adalyn Whitlock?”
Addie’s mind blanked. The anti-who?
More cameras flashed, and at least four more reporters shoved microphones into her face, hurling question after question that made her head spin.
“Excuse me. If you could just let me through…” Addie shouldered her way through the crowd, making it two feet before the horde swarmed, surrounding her on all sides.
The air thickened and Addie, struggling to suck in each breath, fought a losing battle against the tightness in her chest. Black dots swam across her vision, enlarging the harder she tried focusing. “Please, just let me…”
A strong arm wrapped tightly around her waist. “I got you, sparkles. Let’s get some personal space here, okay?”
“What do you have to say about being called the Anti-Aphrodite?” someone shouted.
“What does your mother think about your stance on love?” another asked.
And yet another, “Hey, aren’t you Nix Cross from the Stone Talons?” Flash. Click. Flash. “How do you know the Anti-Aphrodite? Are the two of you together, Nix?”
A photographer gripped Addie’s forearm in a tight hold and yanked her left before sticking his camera in her face. In a split second, Phoenix was there, inserting himself between her and the paparazzi.
“Touch her again and see what happens,” Phoenix growled threateningly right in the middle-aged guy’s face.
“People have a right to know, man.”
“People have the right to know jack shit.” Phoenix threaded his fingers through hers and bulldozed through the bloodthirsty crowd. “Back the fuck off. Now. And get a life that doesn’t revolve around someone else’s.”
Vidál, the building’s head of security shot her a concerned look as they practically tumbled through the front door. “Are you okay, Adalyn? Shit. If I’d known that was you stuck in that madness out there I would’ve released the vulture spray.”
“It’s okay, Vidál.” Damn, her voice shook too much for her liking.
“Tony. Ahmed.” The head guard barked at two nearby uniformed security. “Make sure none of those assholes outside make their way inside. And if they do, hand over your key cards because you’ll be fired.”
Addie concentrated on breathing, her gaze fixed on the mystery white goo on top of her right sneaker as she waited for her heart to dislodge from her throat.
A gentle touch on her chin guided her gaze up.
Phoenix’s thumb stroked a soothing path along her cheek as he studied her carefully. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she heard herself say.
Phoenix’s focus slid from her face to the arm that currently throbbed with its own heartbeat.
Eyes ablaze, he pushed her shirtsleeve above her elbow and gently traced the reddening skin. “Fucking hell. I should have made that guy choke on his camera. That’s probably going to bruise.”
“I bruise when I even think about bumping into something…”
Her attempt at humor didn’t work as he studied her arm a second longer before slowly guiding it back to her side. “Tell me the truth, Adalyn Whitlock. Are you a runaway princess looking for anonymity in the big city? Or an escaped convict?”
Addie snorted. “Nothing so exciting.”
But now with space between her and the reporters, she distinctly remembered hearing another name attached to her own.
Her mother’s.
“Shit, shit, shit.” Addie hustled to the elevator banks and gestured toward Phoenix. “He’s with me, Vidál!”