Tycoon Takes Revenge
Tycoon Takes Revenge
Anna DePalo
Clearly gossip columnist Kayla Jones, aka Ms. Rumor-Has-It, can't stand Noah Whittaker's type: old-money, charming and rarely without a beauty on his arm.The only thing he's good for is juicy fodder for her column. But word is he's about to get even! He'll give her the biggest scoop of the season that could promote her to big-time reporter if she'll dig a little deeper and get to know the real him. But can she keep her emotional distance from a man famous for being a master of seduction?
Noah’s Plan Was Outrageous. So Why Was She Tempted?
Kayla considered him a moment. “What would be the terms of our dating?”
She saw the flare of gratification in his eyes, but he quickly banked it. “Terms?”
“There has to be a time limit,” she said firmly.
“Make your best offer,” he countered.
“Two weeks.”
He shook his head. “Six. These things take time.”
“Let’s split the difference,” she countered. “Four. It shouldn’t take long to repair the damage of having to be seen with you in public.”
“A pleasure doing business with you.” He closed the space between them and held out his hand.
Relief, followed by panic, washed through her. She took his hand, felt her own engulfed in his, and experienced a surge of sensation. She started to draw away, but he pulled her closer. He lifted her chin with his free hand and she had just a moment to lower her eyelids before he brushed her lips with his.
Tycoon Takes Revenge
Anna DePalo
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ANNA DEPALO
A lifelong book lover, Anna discovered that she was a writer at heart when she realized that not everyone travels around with a full cast of characters in their head. She has lived in Italy and England, learned to speak French, graduated from Harvard, earned graduate degrees in political science and law, forgotten how to speak French and married her own dashing hero.
Anna has been an intellectual-property lawyer in New York City. She loves traveling, reading, writing, old movies, chocolate and Italian (which she hasn’t forgotten how to speak, thanks to her extended Italian family). She’s thrilled to be writing for Silhouette. Readers can visit her at www.annadepalo.com (http://www.annadepalo.com).
For my sister, Pina,
and my cousin Anna Dagostino,
who’ve always been there for me
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
One
Gossip is news running ahead of itself in a red satin dress.
—Columnist Liz Smith
Smooth, moneyed and used to having things fall in his lap.
In short, Kayla thought disdainfully, as she watched him move toward her with a thin gloss of civility, he was everything that her family history had taught her to avoid.
Noah Whittaker. She’d spotted him instantly when she’d arrived at the cocktail party tonight at one of Boston’s finer hotels to celebrate a retired Formula One race-car driver’s newly published autobiography.
Her headline about Noah in that morning’s Boston Sentinel flashed through her mind: Caught with Fluffy, Huffy Calls It Quits. Will Buffy the Man Slayer Be Next for Noah?
She supposed he hadn’t liked her story one bit. But she didn’t make the news, she just reported it. And he gave her plenty of material to work with. He had, in fact, become a popular figure in her column.
And writing about him was easy. She knew his type. He acted as if the world were his cocktail, served up dry with a twist just for him, exactly as her biological father did.
She watched him approach and pushed aside the irritating twinge of nervousness. She had nothing to be nervous about.
She knew that, for some women, thoughts of sin and Noah Whittaker went hand in hand. But she’d been inoculated at birth against the players of the world—though she could dispassionately assess the attraction: Noah’s hair, closely cropped but thick, looked as if he dried it with a blow-dryer set on scorch, its shade a burnished bronze. Over six feet tall, he had the honed body of an athlete. He’d had a brief but meteoric career as a race-car driver, though these days, he was better known as a vice president of Whittaker Enterprises, the family conglomerate in Carlyle, near Boston.
Noah stopped in front of her. “Kayla Jones, right?” He paused for a moment, his face all lean, hard planes of masculinity. “Or should I say,” he added, his tone betraying a hint of derision, “Ms. Rumor-Has-It?”
Her chin came up. If he thought to faze her, he had another thing coming. She’d gotten plenty of practice handling barbs from the pampered and privileged at the fancy prep school she’d attended on scholarship. “That’s right. It’s nice of you to remember.”
One side of his mouth quirked up. “Hard to forget when you’ve been wielding a machete all over my social life. Or is that part of your job description as the Boston Sentinel’s resident gossip columnist?”
Her shoulders stiffened. They’d seen each other a few times at various social events, but this was the first time he’d deigned to speak with her personally. “I prefer the term society columnist. I write for the style section of the Sentinel.”
“Is that what they’re calling the fiction part of the paper these days?”
She attempted a dismissive laugh. “If I hadn’t heard that line before from more people than I can count, I’d say you were trying to insult me.”
He cocked his head, seeming to consider her question. “That depends. Are you trying to spread lies about me, or is that just a nice little fringe benefit in your line of work?”
“For your information, all my columns are carefully researched and my sources checked for reliability.”
“Obviously you need to work harder.”
“Are we by chance discussing my column in today’s paper?”
“Oh, yeah, we’re discussing that all right. And last week’s column. And the one before that. One guess as to what they all have in common.”
“There’s no need to descend into sarcasm,” she said. “I’m aware of how often I’ve mentioned you in my column.”
“Are you?” he asked silkily. “And are you also aware it’s your fault that Eve Bernard—or as you’ve referred to her, Huffy—broke up with me?”
From what she’d heard, Eve had done more than break up with him. According to eyewitnesses with whom she’d spoken, Eve had delivered the news—along with a slap to the face—in the presence of dozens of departing guests at a glittering banquet on Saturday night. A Sentinel photographer had gotten a great shot of Noah, glowering at Eve and holding her by the forearms.
But what did he mean it was her fault?
“As a result of my column?” she asked with skepticism. “Don’t you mean as a result of your cavorting with Fluffy?” At his sardonic look, she caught herself. “I mean, Cecily?”
He chuckled cynically. “Cavorting? My, my, what colorful language you society columnists use. All the better to write innuendo, I suppose?”
She tossed her head. “Whatever,” she retorted, dropping all pretense of politeness. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed other guests had begun to throw curious glances their way. “There was a photo of you and Cecily kissing outside the Kirkland Club.”
“And we all know a picture is worth a thousand words, right?” he responded. “Or, in this case, a thousand lies. In fact, if you had done some inquiring instead of relying on that shot that your photographer snapped, you would have discovered that Cecily caught me by surprise with that kiss.”
“How nice for you.”
He ignored her. “You see, Cecily has this weird idea that making the gossip columns will bolster her fledgling acting career—and so much the better if the guy on her arm happens to be rich or famous. So she plastered herself to me the minute she spotted the Sentinel’s photographer.”
“Perhaps then,” she said sweetly, “you should reconsider the risk of dating publicity-seeking aspiring actresses. Or, for that matter, intellectually challenged models. And, hmm—” she pretended to consider for an instant, tilting her head “—I seem to recall at least one ruthless reality-show contestant as well.”
“Oh?” he responded, letting his gaze rake over her from head to toe. “Considering that the field doesn’t yet include any gossip columnists, I don’t think my tastes can be called into question.”
“From what I’ve been able to see, your tastes can best be described as blond, platinum-blond and strawberry-blond.”
“Are you calling me shallow?”
“If the shoe fits,” she retorted.
He shook his head. “So young and yet so bitter.”
Bitter? No, she was cautious, but that’s how a single woman budgeting to make rent payments had to be. And how the product of a fling between a slick, social-climbing financier and his young college intern knew to be. But then Mr. Playboy Whittaker didn’t have a clue about the struggles of ordinary people.
Aloud, she countered, “We journalists have jobs that require us to think, and thinking doesn’t appear to be high on your list of criteria for a girlfriend.”
“Whether it is or not isn’t anyone’s business but mine,” he responded.
“For your information, I didn’t just rely on the photo. I called Huff—I mean, Eve—about it and she confirmed she was planning to break up with you over the, ah, incident.”
“That’s because Eve was thinking of her public image. She believed me when I said your column had misconstrued things because she knows Cecily is a publicity hound. But, as she put it, publicly she had to at least look like she was punishing me for being a naughty boy.”
Kayla felt her lips twitch. “Well, that’s not my fault, is it?”
“It is your fault,” he disagreed. “You’re printing salacious gossip and you’re wreaking havoc on my social life.”
“So find yourself another aspiring starlet,” she retorted. “In fact, I think Buffy the Man Slayer is between men these days.”
“Right, and that’s another thing,” he said tightly. “I don’t need you trying to line up dates for me. Particularly not with someone known as a barracuda in heels.”
“Now that’s not nice.” She spread her hands in an expansive gesture. “You should consider expanding your horizons.”
He braced an arm on the wall near her head and she took an involuntary step back. He leaned in, his gaze, green and grim, boring into hers. “You know, I wonder why you consider me such a fascinating subject. Is it because you wish you were one of those women I date?”
“Don’t be absurd,” she snapped.
He gave her a slow once-over, dwelling on her ringless hand and letting his eyes linger on her chest before coming back to meet her outraged expression. “You do appear a little uptight. What’s the matter? Wish your life had a little more zing in it?”
“No thanks. My mother taught me to stay away from the players among men.”
“Ah,” he said. “Now we’re getting somewhere. The intrepid reporter is repressed.”
“This isn’t about me,” she said coldly. What nerve. He knew nothing about her life. Nothing.
“So, you have no problems dishing about others’ lives, but yours is off-limits, is that it?”
“There’s nothing to dish about,” she retorted. “I don’t have anything as interesting as a fatal racing accident in my past!”
The minute she blurted the rejoinder, she winced inwardly, realizing she may have gone too far. He might be a first-class jerk who believed his money and his family name would get him out of any predicament, but she didn’t need to throw a terrible tragedy in his face.
His face turned stony and he straightened. “Be glad you don’t.”
“Excuse me,” she said, brushing past him and hurrying for the nearest exit.
Noah stared broodingly at Kayla’s retreating back. Damn.
“Problems?”
Turning, he noticed Sybil LaBreck, gossip columnist for the Boston World, standing behind him.
“Yeah. A little lovers’ spat,” he replied sarcastically.
Sybil’s eyes widened, and Noah realized she’d taken his flippant comment seriously.
Sybil was Kayla’s biggest rival among local gossip columnists. In her late fifties, Sybil looked like an updated version of Mrs. Santa Claus, but she could shovel the dirt with the best of them.
Sybil looked perplexed. “But you’ve been seen everywhere with that model—what’s her name?—Eve.”
Noah was about to tell Sybil that he’d been joking, but he suddenly realized he’d been handed a golden opportunity to even the score with Kayla. “The so-called relationship with Eve was just a smoke screen, a way to throw the paparazzi off the scent. Eve got a little publicity out of the arrangement, and Kayla and I got a little privacy. It was perfect.”
“But only last week Eve was seen slapping you for cheating on her!” Sybil blurted before seeming to catch herself.
“Really?” Noah said, raising an eyebrow while privately relishing the thought of the headline in Sybil’s column tomorrow. “It was a great way to signal the end of our pretend relationship for the benefit of the press, wasn’t it?”
Sybil opened her mouth—in all likelihood to probe for more details—but he cut her off smoothly. “Excuse me.” He let his eyes focus on a spot across the room. “I just spotted someone I need to say hello to.”
“Of course,” Sybil said, stepping aside.
He chanced a glance at her out of the corner of his eye as he moved past: she looked like the cat that had swallowed the canary.
As he headed to the bar at the far side of the room, he pondered again about his problem with Ms. Rumor-Has-It. If newspapers were printed in color, he thought to himself disgustedly, Kayla’s column would be nothing but a series of hot-pink exclamation points. It had the same breathless quality as the gossip that sorority sisters shared over drying nail polish.
Of course, her column had nothing on the woman herself. Tonight she’d been wearing a clingy black cocktail dress that revealed a tantalizing bit of her full chest and a fair expanse of her shapely legs, her honey-blond hair hanging in a smooth curtain past her shoulders. Her eyes were large and wide set but balanced by lips that were lushly curved. Under other circumstances, she’d have been exactly his type—blond, busty and beautiful.
Still, even the attractive packaging couldn’t obscure the fact that the woman was a menace. And he’d had enough. More than enough.
His reputation as the playboy Whittaker brother made him a favorite of the press as well as the object of more than a little ribbing from his older brothers, Quentin and Matt, and his younger sister, Allison.
But the truth was that he worked damned hard in his position as vice president of product development for Whittaker Enterprises, the family business started by his father, James. His degree from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology was put to excellent use in his capacity as head of Whittaker’s computer business.
If he liked to consort with models and actresses when he was let out of his prison cell—uh, office—well, he wasn’t going to begrudge himself some fun. Besides, there was a worldwide shortage in decent-looking computer geeks like himself.
Frowning, he ordered a cocktail. Kayla had some gall taunting him with the car accident that had marked the end of his career racing Indy cars. God knew, if he could take back the accident that had killed another driver, he would. Didn’t everyone understand that? Couldn’t the press that had plagued him after the accident comprehend that?
His physical scars had healed but the emotional scars on his soul would never go away.
Turning away from the bar, he took a sip of his drink and thought again that it would be a shame to miss Kayla’s reaction to Sybil’s column in the morning.
But then again… A smile rose to his lips.
Reaching into the pocket of his pants, he pulled out his cell phone. The number he wanted was already programmed in, having been used both before and after countless dates: Bloomsville Florists.
The following morning, Kayla’s first sign that something was wrong was the large bouquet of red roses parked on her desk in her cubicle at the Boston Sentinel’s headquarters.
At first she thought there must have been some mistake. She glanced around the office, then put her purse down and reached for the note that was tucked among the flowers.
After pulling the card from the envelope, she scanned the contents: “Kayla, thanks for a wonderful evening.”
Confused, she turned the card over and then looked at the envelope, but there was no further clue as to who had sent the flowers and why—not even the name of a florist.
Hmm, interesting. Who could have sent the bouquet? She hadn’t had a date in a couple of months, ever since she’d gone out with a radio-show producer before quickly deciding they had no chemistry.
Frowning, she sat down and logged onto her computer. She’d e-mail the receptionist; every visitor had to sign in at the front desk.
Out of habit, however, she first surfed to the news sites to check out the day’s headlines and, more importantly, to scan the society pages. She made it a practice to read her rivals’ gossip columns just to keep up with what the competition was doing.
When she got to the Boston World’s gossip page, Sybil LaBreck’s years-old, black-and-white photo stared back at her along with the headline Dangerous Liaisons: Noah Whittaker’s Secret Relationship with Gossip Maven Kayla Jones, aka Ms. Rumor-Has-It.
She froze, blinked, and then stared.
No. But the headline was still there, staring at her, taunting her.
She scanned the rest of the article while a sickening feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.
Sybil alleged that Noah and Ms. Rumor-Has-It had been secretly involved for some time. The column went on to disclose a lovers’ row that they’d had at the book-launch party last night. It ended by toying with the delicious possibility that Kayla’s skewering of the millionaire playboy in her column had been a smoke screen for her own clandestine relationship with him.
Kayla’s mind raced. Had Sybil witnessed her argument with Noah last night and wrongly concluded she’d been privy to a lovers’ spat? Or—a more ominous thought intruded—had someone led Sybil to believe it was a lovers’ spat?
She looked up from her computer screen and caught one of the Sentinel’s health columnists giving her a curious look. Had Sybil’s headline already been making the rounds?
Kayla’s eyes went to the flower bouquet again. Now that she’d read Sybil’s headline, the flowers suddenly made sense.
Noah. The rat. Whether he’d started the flames or was just fanning them, she had a thing or two to tell him.
Using the Internet, she located the main number for Whittaker Enterprises. Once she dialed it, she was quickly transferred to Noah’s secretary.
“May I ask who is calling?” the secretary intoned once Kayla had asked to speak with Noah.
“It’s Kayla Jones.”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Jones, but Mr. Whittaker isn’t in the office yet this morning. May I take a message?”
He wasn’t in the office yet? Probably due to his late-night carousing, she thought acidly. Her eyes strayed to the clock on the wall, which indicated it was just after nine.
As she looked down and started to tell Noah’s secretary that she’d call back later, her gaze landed on the man striding toward her.
Noah Whittaker, smiling sunnily.
“Never mind,” she said absently into the receiver. “I’ve found him.” She couldn’t believe he had the nerve to show up at her office! Planning to milk this baseless rumor for all it was worth, was he?
She hung up and straightened, rising from her chair just as Noah came to a stop in front of her.
He nodded to the impressive arrangement of red roses. “Glad to see I got my money’s worth.”
“You snake.” She kept her voice low, not caring that her tone sounded furtive. The last thing she needed was for someone at the Sentinel to overhear her conversation. Fortunately, it was still early enough that a lot of the staff hadn’t rolled in yet.
Noah chuckled. “Now is that any way to thank the guy who’s come to apologize for our lovers’ quarrel?”
“You know it was no such thing!” she exclaimed in a low tone, catching another curious look from the Sentinel’s health columnist.
“I suppose,” he returned placidly, “you’re about to express outrage and claim bloody retribution.”
She looked at him. He seemed so smug, and he was so infuriating. “You planned this,” she accused. “You let Sybil think we were…involved.” She could barely get that last word out. “You sent the flowers to make it seem as if Sybil’s story held water.”
“Not only did I let Sybil think we were involved,” he replied, “I told her we were.”
“What?” she squeaked. That was the best she could manage without drawing attention. Inside, however, she felt like screaming.
“Right after you left last night, I had an unexpected run-in with Sybil. Apparently she witnessed enough to know we’d been arguing.”
Kayla closed her eyes. It was a nightmare, a complete nightmare.
“I’ll say this for her,” Noah continued, “that woman has a nose for gossip like a bloodhound on a scent.” He regarded her blandly. “Anyway, I made some sarcastic remark about a lovers’ spat, and she took it seriously. I was going to correct her when I realized it would be much more fun to make the most of the situation.”
“So instead of letting her believe we were arguing, you told her that we were involved?” she asked incredulously.
“What’s the matter?” he asked. “Uncomfortable being the subject of rumors? Not too pleasant, is it?”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
He shrugged. “I’ll admit to some grim satisfaction at being handed an opportunity to even the score.”
She grabbed her shoulder bag and her blazer. “Let’s discuss this somewhere else.”
He looked mildly surprised. “If you say so.”
They had to talk, she thought, but this wasn’t the place to do it. She wasn’t about to provide fodder for the office gossip mill. But somehow she had to convince him to call Sybil and get her to print a retraction. The alternative didn’t bear thinking about. She refused to be lumped together with Huffy, Fluffy and Buffy.
As he followed her down the hall and into an elevator, she was aware of his tread behind her—and of the glances that the two of them attracted.
When they got downstairs and outside into the still-warm September sun, she sighed with relief. At least they were away from prying eyes.
Turning to Noah, her brows snapping together, she began, “Now look—”
Her planned reprimand ended with a gasp as he swept her into his arms.
Her eyes widened. “What—”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man—a photographer—leap forward and snap a shot of them just before Noah’s mouth closed over hers.
Two
Kayla put her hands on Noah’s chest and pushed, but he held firm.
For the next few seconds, several thoughts tumbled through her mind. Who was that guy with the camera? Were any of her co-workers around? She’d be mortified! What the heck was wrong with Noah? However, those thoughts were quickly drowned out by one overwhelming sensation: the feel of Noah’s lips on hers.
He kissed expertly: his lips soft but sure and his focus concentrated on making her feel. His big, solid body pressed against her. He smelled of soap and shaving cream and just plain guy, and tasted of mint and warmth and subtle sweetness. He overloaded all her senses at once, and she was intoxicated.
It was like being kissed by the captain of the football team in front of the entire school—except she was a twenty-seven-year-old woman with a job and rent payments who happened to be standing in front of her office building at exactly the time that her boss or innumerable other people might be happening by.
That last thought brought her back to reality with a thunk!
She pulled her mouth from Noah’s and shoved him away.
Noah loosened his hold on her—the expression on his face a mixture of pleasant surprise and—help—male curiosity.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, then glanced around. The guy with the camera was still there, snapping away. “And, you! Who are you?”
When he lowered his camera, she recognized him as a photographer for the Boston World.
Suddenly she felt ill.
The photographer, who frequently worked with Sybil LaBreck, smiled and waved at her. “Hey, there, Kayla. You know, if I hadn’t just seen it with my own eyes, I’d never have believed the rumor about you and Noah.” He shook his head bemusedly.
She didn’t have a chance to respond because just then she noticed that, striding down the sidewalk toward them, on his way to the office, was Ed O’Neill, managing editor of the Sentinel.
Her boss.
She whirled back to Noah.
One look at his amused face, however, and she realized she hadn’t just been sunk, she’d been torpedoed—or, more precisely, set up.
The irony wasn’t lost on her either: she’d just been photographed apparently kissing him in the same way he’d been snapped apparently kissing Fluffy.
She jabbed a finger into his chest. “You! This was all part of the plan, wasn’t it?”
Noah caught her finger. “Sweetie—” he said, and she knew he was playing to the audience “—is it really so bad to announce our love to the world?”
She yanked her hand away from his.
“Hello, Kayla.”
The two of them turned, and she came face-to-face with Ed, whose expression said he was wondering what the hell was going on.
“Er—hello, Ed.” She smiled brightly.
Noah held out his hand. “Hi, Ed.”
Noah knew her boss?
Ed took it and said gruffly, “Noah. What brings you here first thing in the morning?”
Noah looked amused. “Well—”
“We were just saying goodbye,” Kayla interrupted, then took a step toward the Sentinel’s entrance. “I’ll take the elevator up with you, Ed.”
Ed looked from one to the other of them, then glanced at the photographer at the curb. “Anyone want to explain to me what’s going on?”
She was going to die, right there in front of the Sentinel’s headquarters. She could already see the headline: Ms. Rumor-Has-It Slain by Innuendo.
Noah smiled. “Sorry, Ed. Gotta run.” His eyes met hers. “I’m sure Kayla will explain everything. Won’t you, honey?”
She gritted her teeth while Ed raised his eyebrows at the endearment. “Of course,” she said. “Say hello to Huffy, Fluffy and Buffy for me, won’t you?”
His eyes laughed at her. “Sure.”
To Ed, she said in a low voice, “There’s a Boston World photographer standing at the curb. I’ll explain, but once we’re inside.”
At Ed’s nod, she turned and stalked toward the revolving doors. Later, she promised herself, she’d take some time to throw darts at Noah Whittaker’s picture or burn him in effigy.
The only silver lining to this morning’s catastrophe was that, since he’d now exacted his revenge, with any luck she’d never have anything to do with him again.
Unfortunately, luck happened to be vacationing in Tahiti the next day.
“Ed, you can’t be serious!”
Why were they discussing having her drive over to Whittaker Enterprises to cover a press conference? A press conference at which Noah Whittaker would be presiding!
Hadn’t she explained everything to Ed yesterday? Hadn’t she explained that she and Noah really loathed each other? Did she not detail how the “affair” had just been a rumor generated by Noah as payback for the stories she’d printed about his bad behavior?
The fact that panic roiled through her at the thought of facing Noah Whittaker again had nothing to do with yesterday’s kiss and everything to do with the fact that she couldn’t stand the man. He was altogether too high-and-mighty for her taste.
She regarded Ed levelly. He was her boss but also her mentor—surely he could see that sending her to cover this press conference wasn’t the best allocation of personnel.
Ed scratched his balding pate. It was the second time he’d done so since showing up at her cubicle. “Look, I thought you were gunning for a position covering hard news.”
“I was! I am!” she exclaimed in dismay. She’d gotten into journalism so she could be a business reporter, not so she could write about the latest fashions at debutante balls.
“Well, here’s your chance to prove yourself,” Ed said.
“Rob was supposed to cover this press conference at eleven o’clock, but he’s off on a breaking story and everyone else has a full plate.”
“I know, but Noah Whittaker hates me. He’ll never field a question from me.” Her opportunity to cover hard news wasn’t supposed to arrive like this.
“So?” Ed countered. “When you get there make nice with Noah, smooth over any ruffled feathers, and everything will be fine.”
Kayla wished she could be as confident as Ed that she could make nice. It was more likely she’d wind up conking Noah on the head with her purse: Sybil LaBreck’s column that morning featured a picture of her and Noah kissing in front of the Sentinel’s offices.
“If you do nothing else, just make sure you pick up a copy of the press release that they give out,” Ed said, seeming to take some pity on her. “That’ll give you enough to write a where, what, how, and when article about whatever it is that Whittaker is announcing today.”
She felt her shoulders slump. “Right.”
“Jones,” Ed said gruffly, “I’ve been trying to look out for you since the day you got here. You’ve got enough ambition to fill a football stadium. Now go and put it to good use.”
She should have been grateful for Ed’s little pep talk. Instead, all she could do was manage some weak waves of the cheerleading pom-poms. She smiled wanly. “Thanks, Ed.”
“And,” Ed continued, “if you’re interested in getting a position on the business beat, Noah Whittaker is as good a person as any to start with.”
“What do you mean?”
Ed shrugged. “I mean there have been rumors circulating for a while about some suspicious offshore company in the Cayman Islands linked to Noah Whittaker. It could be nothing, but you never know. If there’s a story there, it would be big because Whittaker has a pristine business reputation.” He added significantly, “A story like that could practically guarantee you the job you want.”
Kayla didn’t have to ask what kind of story Ed meant. She knew that some offshore companies were just tax havens for the wealthy. Others, however, provided excellent cover for money laundering and other shady dealings simply because some localities required very little information to be made public about the companies created there.
Her mind skittered across the idea of Noah connected to something less than completely legal. What could his motivation be? He had all the money he needed. Yet, wasn’t her own biological father proof that greed knew no bounds?
Aloud, she said, “Thanks for the tip.”
Ed nodded curtly. “I’m willing to give you a chance.” Then he nodded at the clock on the wall. “You better get going.”
“Right!” she said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
As Ed walked away, she picked up her handbag and grabbed her jacket. Well, what choice did she have? The things she had to do to pay the bills!
Unlike the women Noah dated, and, for that matter, her classmates at the fancy prep school she’d attended, she didn’t have a trust fund to fall back on or family connections to milk to get ahead.
Instead, she’d gotten her foot in the door of the journalism world by getting an entry-level job straight out of college with the Sentinel. It hadn’t mattered too much that the position was with the “Styles” section of the paper; it had been one of the few job offers she’d gotten and the one that paid the best of a rather pathetic lot.
Initially, she’d done a lot of research and fact-checking, with an occasional byline as time went on. She’d written about everything from the latest fashions to museum openings—when she hadn’t been acting as a gofer for Leslie, who’d been the Sentinel’s resident Ms. Rumor-Has-It.
But then Leslie had run off with her paramour—a fiftyish, thrice-divorced millionaire who’d parted with wife number three to elope with Leslie to Paris—and Kayla had been left holding the bag, albeit a snazzy Versace number in black satin.
Kayla had been summoned to the managing editor’s office, which smelled of the Macanudo cigars that Ed O’Neill liked to sneak behind closed doors.
“Jones,” Ed had said, “you’re up at bat. We need someone fast, and you’re perfect—a classy Grace Kelly type with the right prep-school credentials. You’ll fit right in covering your old school pals for the gossip pages.”
And she had. She’d jumped at the chance to replace Leslie, not the least because Ed had dangled a significant salary raise as inducement. For her that had been enough.
So what if becoming Ms. Rumor-Has-It hadn’t been part of her career aspirations? She’d gotten her own column before she’d turned twenty-five and she’d stopped worrying about the rent. There’d be time enough, she’d reasoned, for her to segue to the business-news desk.
But that had been three years ago. She’d done her job, and well. Too well, in some respects. No one was eager to see her move away from the society page.
But, despite the seeming glamour of her job, she’d begun to feel restless. There were only so many canapés that a girl could eat before she felt like regurgitating on Buffy the Man Slayer’s Manolo Blahnik heels.
That’s why she’d recently started to lobby for an opportunity to cover some real news. Because Ed was right about one thing: she was ambitious and refused to be typecast for the rest of her career as perfect for covering fluff. She was determined to go places.
Unfortunately, today the place that she was heading was Noah Whittaker’s front door.
“Well, it’s interesting to see how the tide has turned.”
Across the boardroom table, Noah gave Allison a disgruntled look. He’d just finished explaining how his recent bad press was baseless. “I know you find this hopelessly amusing, but try to contain your glee.”
Allison laughed. “Oh, come on, big brother, don’t tell me you don’t see the hilarity in it all! Women used to chase you the way they’d run to a shoe sale. These days, though, you’re more like last year’s shoes—still wearable, but you’re wondering why you ever bought them.”
Quentin and Matt chuckled.
Noah sighed in exasperation.
It wasn’t often these days that Noah’s whole family was together, but early morning meetings of Whittaker Enterprises’ board of directors afforded them the opportunity from time to time, despite their busy lives.
He looked around the room. They were an impressive bunch, and, though he and his siblings could needle each other mercilessly, they had an unshakable bond.
At the head of the table sat his father, James, who, in his retirement, still chaired the board of directors. His mother, Ava—who’d passed along her coloring of dark brown hair and vivid blue eyes to his brother Matt and his sister Allison—was a respected family court judge. Matt, who was older than Noah by two years, was also a vice president at Whittaker, though he’d increasingly been developing his own business interests. Allison had followed their mother’s footsteps into the legal profession and become an assistant district attorney in Boston. Quentin, the oldest sibling, was CEO of Whittaker Enterprises.
Missing were Quentin’s wife, Liz, who was at home with their baby, Nicholas, and Allison’s husband of one month, Connor Rafferty, who ran his own security business.
Noah supposed, given his siblings’ penchant for ribbing each other, he shouldn’t have been surprised that, once the board meeting had ended, and because they had time to kill before the press conference at eleven, the topic of conversation would turn to the recent headlines about him in the newspapers.
Thanks to Kayla, in the span of two weeks, he’d been branded a philanderer for fooling around with Fluffy, been reported to have had a public scuffle with Huffy during which she’d slapped him and he’d been seen restraining her and, to top it off, been witnessed having an argument with Ms. Rumor-Has-It herself.
He wondered whether Kayla had seen Sybil LaBreck’s column that morning and figured she must have. Sybil’s headline screamed: Kayla and Noah Kiss and Make Up!
Fortunately, Huffy—er, Eve, he corrected himself, annoyed that now he was unintentionally adopting Kayla’s ridiculous names—was in Europe on a modeling shoot and thus probably unaware of the headlines linking her most recent ex to a secret affair with Ms. Rumor-Has-It. Otherwise, he might have had another irate female to contend with.
In any case, he took grim satisfaction in knowing Sybil’s column that day had probably riled Kayla. After all, he had to suffer through grief from his family.
“Well,” Allison continued, “I, for one, would love to congratulate Kayla Jones.” She looked at Quentin and Matt for affirmation. “Unlike those vapid, vampish vixens you sometimes date, she’s smart enough not to be bowled over by your charm, Noah.”
Noah mouthed vapid, vampish vixens incredulously while his brothers stifled their mirth. Then he frowned. “Great. I’ll let Connor know that, if you ever get tired of the D.A.’s office, you can have a second career as a gossip columnist.” He added, “Does family loyalty mean nothing to you?”
“Not since you tried to get me married off to Connor,” Allison returned sweetly. “How did you put it to him?” She pretended to try to remember for a second, then snapped her fingers. “Oh, right. I believe your words were ‘Why don’t you help take her off our hands?’”
Noah grumbled. “Maybe I shouldn’t have put it like that, but you and Connor belonged together. This situation’s different.”
Matt’s lips twitched. “Ms. Rumor-Has-It does seem to have your number, unlike—uh, how did she put it?— Huffy, Fluffy and Buffy. And, on top of it all, your little columnist is undeniably hot.”
Noah quelled the sudden, inexplicable urge to slug the amused look off of his brother’s face. So, Kayla was hot; she was also a menace, and she was not “his” little columnist. “Yeah, and she’s also a consummate teller of tall tales in that fiction column of hers.”
At the head of the table, his father cleared his throat and gave him a level look. “The bottom line is there’s a problem here that you need to fix. Even if there’s not a modicum of truth in the recent headlines, they’re bad for public relations—both yours and Whittaker Enterprises’.”
Quentin nodded. “Dad’s right, as much as I’d like to think otherwise. Some people will believe the press, and even those who don’t will wonder if you’re playing and partying harder than you’re working.”
Noah watched his mother cast him a sympathetic look that nonetheless managed to carry a hint of reproach. “I know I raised you to be respectful toward women, Noah, so I have no doubt that the recent press about you is just an aberration. Nevertheless, darling, I have to agree with your father and brother. You must fix this. No more headlines, and you should try to do something to repair your public image.”
Noah knew his family was right. His philosophy of working hard and playing harder had long worked for him, but then Ms. Rumor-Has-It had come along.
He had to deal with her and the trouble she’d stirred up in his life.
What was she doing here?
Noah stared in disbelief at the figure slinking into a seat at the back of the roomful of assembled reporters, cameramen and photographers awaiting the beginning of the press conference.
As if she could go unnoticed.
Even if she hadn’t been a head-turner with her blond hair falling like a curtain past her shoulders and a figure that was a siren call to every straight guy in the room, she had on a ridiculous outfit consisting of a pale pink sweater made of some clingy material that hugged her breasts, a pencil-thin pinstriped skirt showing off legs that went on and on, and some come-hither heels.
Watching as she got a once-over from the guy next to her while, oblivious to any attention, she pulled out a notepad, Noah smiled grimly: I rest my case.
Much to his annoyance, the memory of their kiss lingered with him. Her lips had been soft, silky and full beneath his, and their effect had gone through him like a shot of brandy. But so what if the woman had proved she could kiss with real feeling?
He frowned. The last thing he needed to be thinking about right now was their kiss. The press conference would start any minute. He’d resolved this morning to deal with her, but he hadn’t expected to be confronted with an opportunity here, now, surrounded by half the press of Greater Boston. Hell.
Anyway, the real question was, what was she doing here? Last time he’d checked, gossip columnists didn’t cover breaking business news.
As the clock on the back wall hit eleven, he strode to the podium at the front of the room. He was going to announce the acquisition by Whittaker Enterprises of Avanti Technologies, a small company located along Route 128, Boston’s high-tech corridor, and because the acquisition of Avanti impacted Whittaker’s computer business—his area of expertise—he’d be doing the initial presentation. Afterward, he and Quentin, as well as the president of Avanti, would field questions.
When Noah got to the microphone, he made a couple of jokes to break the ice, then consulted his notes: “Pleased to announce…welcome the opportunity to work with…corporate synergies involved…”
Throughout his speech, he noticed Kayla kept her gaze fixed somewhere over his left shoulder. Uncomfortable, eh? He wondered again what had brought her here and knew that, as soon as the press conference was over, he was going find out.
Focusing again on the assembled reporters, he concluded by saying that additional copies of Whittaker’s press release were on a table at the back of the room.
Then, when Quentin and the president of Avanti stepped forward to flank him at the mike, he fielded questions from reporters, eventually calling on a guy in jeans.
The reporter stood up, a smirk hovering at the corners of his lips. “The stock for Whittaker Computing has been down recently. Can you comment on the markets’ reaction to the recent bad press about you?”
Noah tensed. Whittaker Computing—one of a handful of companies that made up Whittaker Enterprises—was partly publicly owned. There were any number of reasons why Whittaker Computing’s stock had taken a hit recently, as any half-wit could tell you, but the weasel in front of him was obviously trying to bait him.
Noah gave him a semblance of a smile and then, keeping his tone even, said, “The markets have better things to do than follow any spurious rumors written about me.”
Noah watched as Kayla slunk farther down in her chair at the back of the room. Feeling a tad self-conscious, was she? Well, welcome to the club, babe.
He started to call on another questioner, but the smirking jerk in jeans—probably some overeager new recruit looking to make his mark—persisted. “What about the impression you’ve given that you can’t get along with women? There’s been speculation that this could affect Whittaker’s ability to recruit female executives.”
Noah gripped the sides of the lectern. He’d like to deck the questioning little dweeb. “Maybe it’s a question of the ability of a few particular women to get along with me.”
This earned him a chuckle or two from the audience.
He held the reporter’s gaze until the guy shifted. “Whittaker Enterprises is an equal opportunity employer. We value and welcome female employees. In fact, we’re proud we’ve been rated one of the best places for women to work by a leading Boston magazine. Our on-site day care and flextime schedules are models for the industry. The women at Whittaker who work with me wouldn’t tell you differently.”
Then, determined this time to cut off the smart-ass, Noah turned to look at another part of the room. “Next question.”
Fifteen minutes later, the press conference was over. Immediately, he spotted Kayla scurrying into the hall.
“Excuse me,” he said curtly, shoving his way past the milling press and striding out of the room.
He caught up with her halfway down the hall and captured her elbow. “We need to talk.”
She started and looked up at him guiltily.
“What?” he asked blandly. “Attempting to make your escape?”
“I’m sure we’ve said all there is to say to one another,” she said, her tone cool enough to freeze penguins in their tracks.
“On the contrary, Barbie,” he countered dryly, looking pointedly at her blond hair and pink sweater.
She pulled her elbow away from him. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I may be Barbie, but you’re no Ken, Mr. I-Change-Women-with-the-Seasons Whittaker. Barbie and Ken had a committed, monogamous relationship for over forty years.”
God, she was maddening. She’d just compared him unfavorably to a plastic doll’s main squeeze.
He wondered again why he still found her pulse-poundingly attractive. Sick. He was sick.
“As unpleasant as it is for the both of us, we need to talk and I suggest we do it in private—unless you want our public bloodletting to continue?” He took her elbow again.
She looked around. “I’ll scream.”
Aside from the two of them, no one was in the hallway yet. They were some distance from the room where the press conference had been held, and probably most of the journalists were still gathering their equipment. Still, Noah knew that Kayla could make herself heard.
“I wouldn’t advise it,” he said dryly. “Not unless you want another newspaper headline about us, and I doubt that.”
She opened her mouth.
“Think about it,” he said forcefully. “Our names conjoined in ink. Again. Forever.”
Three
Upstairs in Noah’s office, Kayla still couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a bad idea. A very bad idea.
They didn’t do well talking to each other. Or even being in the same room together.
Noah gestured her to a seat.
“No thanks,” she said.
“Suit yourself,” he responded, then sat at the edge of his desk, folding his arms across his chest and crossing one foot over the other at the ankle.
She glanced around his office. It was all chrome and black and glass with two walls displaying great views of nearby hills. Her cubicle at work would have fit into the space behind his desk.
Grudgingly, she admitted that, whatever else Noah was, he did appear to be spectacularly successful.
“What the heck are you doing here?” he asked abruptly, drawing her attention back to him.
“I was filling in for another reporter,” she said, self-conscious under his scrutiny. All at once, her skirt felt too short, her top too tight and her heels too high. Damn him.
He raised a brow. “Since when are gossip columnists asked to fill in for business reporters?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that it was none of his business, when it occurred to her that she’d just been handed a great chance to ask as many questions as she wanted about the acquisition of Avanti—if, that was, she acted at least passably civil toward him.
“I’ve been trying for a lateral move to the business desk at the Sentinel,” she responded stiffly.
She could see she’d surprised him. “You want to write something other than salacious rumors?”
She checked her temper. “Let’s not cross that ground again, shall we? As I think I made clear before, I work hard at my job. It’s just that I want to be doing the type of reporting that I got into journalism for.”
“And that would be—?”
“Business reporting,” she said, her tone clipped. “Are you going to tell me what you wanted to talk to me about, or not?”
He looked at her for several seconds, his green gaze inscrutable. Finally, he said, “I’m calling for a cease-fire.”
“What?” It was her turn to be taken by surprise.
“You heard me.”
“Oh, right. I suppose now that the empire has struck back, it’s okay for you to want to call a truce. After all, Sybil LaBreck has just announced to the whole world that we’re back together!”
“Yeah, well,” he said, too placidly to suit her, “you did play straight into my hands on that one.”
She stared at him, annoyed. How dare he stand there looking so sexy and so gorgeous—causing an unwanted but very feminine reaction in her—when he was such a calculating sneak. She folded her arms across her chest. “I know I will regret asking, but how did I play into your plans?”
“Yesterday I tipped off that photographer from the Boston World so he could snap me leaving the Sentinel’s offices looking, uh, contrite after trying to mend fences with you.”
“I should have guessed that photographer wasn’t just hanging around hoping for a good photo op.”
“Little did I know you’d insist on walking out with me—”
“Giving you and him an even better photo opportunity than you were expecting,” she finished for him.
The lout.
“So, again, are you willing to declare a truce?”
“What kind of truce?” she asked, suspicious.
He shrugged nonchalantly, rising from his desk.
She forced herself not to take an involuntary step back just to keep some space between them. Over six feet, he had a comfortable height advantage over her—even when she was wearing heels. But, more than that, he radiated a charisma that was nearly palpable.
“We can help each other.”
“Really?” she asked in disbelief, forcing herself to keep up with their war of words because it was easier than thinking about being alone in his office with him.
“I can’t imagine what help I need from you other than for you to stop sabotaging me.”
He arched a brow. “Sabotage is a strong word, don’t you think?”
“Not if it’s accurate.” When he was smooth and charming, he was even more dangerous than when he was angry and annoyed. She brushed aside the disgruntling realization.
“You just said you’re looking to move to the business desk at the Sentinel.”
“Yes…?” She wondered where he was going with this.
“I can give you a news story that will help you get there.”
“What news story?”
“An exclusive inside look at Whittaker Enterprises. I’ll grant you broad access.”
“In return for…?”
He gazed at her speculatively. “In return for your help in rehabilitating my public image.”
“Impossible,” she responded.
He laughed. “I’m flattered, in a backhanded-compliment sort of way.”
“Anyway, you’re overestimating my influence on public opinion.”
“I don’t think so. You damaged my reputation, you can repair it.”
“How?”
“By being seen getting along with me.”
“I’m not that good of an actress,” she retorted.
“Do your best. I’m not looking for an Oscar-winning performance.”
His plan was ridiculous, outrageous. So why was she tempted?
Because, she answered herself, he was dangling an irresistible lure, damn him. She’d walk on hot coals to get that business reporter’s beat.
“Well?” he prompted.
“Can’t. Journalistic ethics. You may have heard of them.”
“A little late in the day to be worrying about those, don’t you think?” he scoffed.
“Tell that to my boss when he fires me,” she snapped.
He shrugged and folded his arms again. “What would it take not to offend your journalistic sensibilities?”
“I won’t agree to anything that smacks of you trying to buy me off or of an exchange of favors.”
He sighed. “I told you that you’ll have broad access to Whittaker Enterprises. You can talk to our employees. Heck, I’ll talk to you. You can follow me around and see what my routine is. I won’t stop you from writing something unflattering. All I’m asking for is that you write a balanced piece.”
She continued to eye him, unconvinced.
He sighed again. “Fine, you don’t have to pretend to get along with me anymore than comes naturally, if that’s going to trouble your reporter’s conscience.”
“Thanks.”
“And as far as Ms. Rumor-Has-It’s column goes, I think you can use the story about Whittaker Enterprises to your advantage. Just tell Ed that you can’t write about me in your regular column while you’re pursuing an in-depth piece about Whittaker Enterprises because you want to avoid any conflicts. If he’s worried, he can assign you an intern. That way, when you do get moved over to the business desk, you’ll already have someone in place to take over as Ms. Rumor-Has-It.”
He made his plan sound so reasonable—and appealing. Oh-so-appealing. Nevertheless, she had to ask, “What about Sybil?”
He looked untroubled. “What about her? I’ll call her up and explain our affair was a hoax. Besides, as long as we spread the word that you’re shadowing me in order to write a piece about Whittaker Enterprises, we’ll be dispelling the rumor that we’re involved.”
The thought of Sybil having the rug pulled out from under her did make his plan more tempting. Kayla bit her lip, then said, “What’s in this for you?”
“For my part, I’m banking your intern won’t be as interested in my social life as you are.” He gave her a sardonic look. “Besides, since—thanks to you—I’m currently free of models and actresses, there won’t be anything exciting to write about.”
“Maybe.” She refused to concede he likely was right.
“On top of that,” he said, warming to his subject, “once you get your assignment to the business desk at the Sentinel, I’m rid of you—at least as a wrecking ball in my social life. And, as an added bonus, I get a balanced news piece about Whittaker Enterprises.” He finished triumphantly, “The plan is perfect.”
She considered him a moment. “What would be the terms?” she asked, hoping she wouldn’t regret this, yet unable to pass up the opportunity he presented.
She saw the flare of gratification in his eyes, but he quickly banked it. “Terms?”
“Yes. I need to know you’ll give me access to information soon and won’t renege on me.” Now that she’d let herself entertain his offer, she wasn’t going to be shy about the particulars.
He arched a brow. “Suspicious, aren’t you?”
“There has to be a time limit,” she said firmly.
“Make your best offer,” he countered.
She assessed him, then took a moment to ponder. No doubt he was a shrewd bargainer—after all, he’d just engineered the takeover of one of Boston’s leading tech firms by Whittaker Enterprises. “Two weeks.”
He shook his head. “Six.”
“Three.” Nearly a month was fair.
“Five,” he said. “These things take time.”
“Let’s split the difference,” she countered. “Four. It shouldn’t take long to repair the damage.”
“A pleasure doing business with you.” He closed the space between them and held out his hand.
Relief, followed by panic, washed through her. What have I just done? She took his hand, felt her own engulfed in his, and experienced a surge of sensation.
Judging by the look in his eye, he felt it, too.
She started to draw away, but he pulled her closer.
He lifted her chin with his free hand and she had just a moment to lower her eyelids before he brushed her lips with his.
The kiss was over in the space of a few heartbeats, but its impression—powerful and disturbing—lingered for her.
He drew back and gazed down at her, his expression inscrutable. “Just checking,” he murmured.
“What?” She looked at him, eyes wide, as she strove to clear her brain.
He smiled wryly. “You didn’t need to worry about whether your acting abilities were up to the challenge.” At her displeased expression, he laughed. “I know, I know. I’m diabolical.”
Kayla was grateful he couldn’t read her mind—for while diabolical should have been the first word that popped into her head, disturbingly, instead, it had been delicious.
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Anna DePalo
Clearly gossip columnist Kayla Jones, aka Ms. Rumor-Has-It, can't stand Noah Whittaker's type: old-money, charming and rarely without a beauty on his arm.The only thing he's good for is juicy fodder for her column. But word is he's about to get even! He'll give her the biggest scoop of the season that could promote her to big-time reporter if she'll dig a little deeper and get to know the real him. But can she keep her emotional distance from a man famous for being a master of seduction?
Noah’s Plan Was Outrageous. So Why Was She Tempted?
Kayla considered him a moment. “What would be the terms of our dating?”
She saw the flare of gratification in his eyes, but he quickly banked it. “Terms?”
“There has to be a time limit,” she said firmly.
“Make your best offer,” he countered.
“Two weeks.”
He shook his head. “Six. These things take time.”
“Let’s split the difference,” she countered. “Four. It shouldn’t take long to repair the damage of having to be seen with you in public.”
“A pleasure doing business with you.” He closed the space between them and held out his hand.
Relief, followed by panic, washed through her. She took his hand, felt her own engulfed in his, and experienced a surge of sensation. She started to draw away, but he pulled her closer. He lifted her chin with his free hand and she had just a moment to lower her eyelids before he brushed her lips with his.
Tycoon Takes Revenge
Anna DePalo
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ANNA DEPALO
A lifelong book lover, Anna discovered that she was a writer at heart when she realized that not everyone travels around with a full cast of characters in their head. She has lived in Italy and England, learned to speak French, graduated from Harvard, earned graduate degrees in political science and law, forgotten how to speak French and married her own dashing hero.
Anna has been an intellectual-property lawyer in New York City. She loves traveling, reading, writing, old movies, chocolate and Italian (which she hasn’t forgotten how to speak, thanks to her extended Italian family). She’s thrilled to be writing for Silhouette. Readers can visit her at www.annadepalo.com (http://www.annadepalo.com).
For my sister, Pina,
and my cousin Anna Dagostino,
who’ve always been there for me
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
One
Gossip is news running ahead of itself in a red satin dress.
—Columnist Liz Smith
Smooth, moneyed and used to having things fall in his lap.
In short, Kayla thought disdainfully, as she watched him move toward her with a thin gloss of civility, he was everything that her family history had taught her to avoid.
Noah Whittaker. She’d spotted him instantly when she’d arrived at the cocktail party tonight at one of Boston’s finer hotels to celebrate a retired Formula One race-car driver’s newly published autobiography.
Her headline about Noah in that morning’s Boston Sentinel flashed through her mind: Caught with Fluffy, Huffy Calls It Quits. Will Buffy the Man Slayer Be Next for Noah?
She supposed he hadn’t liked her story one bit. But she didn’t make the news, she just reported it. And he gave her plenty of material to work with. He had, in fact, become a popular figure in her column.
And writing about him was easy. She knew his type. He acted as if the world were his cocktail, served up dry with a twist just for him, exactly as her biological father did.
She watched him approach and pushed aside the irritating twinge of nervousness. She had nothing to be nervous about.
She knew that, for some women, thoughts of sin and Noah Whittaker went hand in hand. But she’d been inoculated at birth against the players of the world—though she could dispassionately assess the attraction: Noah’s hair, closely cropped but thick, looked as if he dried it with a blow-dryer set on scorch, its shade a burnished bronze. Over six feet tall, he had the honed body of an athlete. He’d had a brief but meteoric career as a race-car driver, though these days, he was better known as a vice president of Whittaker Enterprises, the family conglomerate in Carlyle, near Boston.
Noah stopped in front of her. “Kayla Jones, right?” He paused for a moment, his face all lean, hard planes of masculinity. “Or should I say,” he added, his tone betraying a hint of derision, “Ms. Rumor-Has-It?”
Her chin came up. If he thought to faze her, he had another thing coming. She’d gotten plenty of practice handling barbs from the pampered and privileged at the fancy prep school she’d attended on scholarship. “That’s right. It’s nice of you to remember.”
One side of his mouth quirked up. “Hard to forget when you’ve been wielding a machete all over my social life. Or is that part of your job description as the Boston Sentinel’s resident gossip columnist?”
Her shoulders stiffened. They’d seen each other a few times at various social events, but this was the first time he’d deigned to speak with her personally. “I prefer the term society columnist. I write for the style section of the Sentinel.”
“Is that what they’re calling the fiction part of the paper these days?”
She attempted a dismissive laugh. “If I hadn’t heard that line before from more people than I can count, I’d say you were trying to insult me.”
He cocked his head, seeming to consider her question. “That depends. Are you trying to spread lies about me, or is that just a nice little fringe benefit in your line of work?”
“For your information, all my columns are carefully researched and my sources checked for reliability.”
“Obviously you need to work harder.”
“Are we by chance discussing my column in today’s paper?”
“Oh, yeah, we’re discussing that all right. And last week’s column. And the one before that. One guess as to what they all have in common.”
“There’s no need to descend into sarcasm,” she said. “I’m aware of how often I’ve mentioned you in my column.”
“Are you?” he asked silkily. “And are you also aware it’s your fault that Eve Bernard—or as you’ve referred to her, Huffy—broke up with me?”
From what she’d heard, Eve had done more than break up with him. According to eyewitnesses with whom she’d spoken, Eve had delivered the news—along with a slap to the face—in the presence of dozens of departing guests at a glittering banquet on Saturday night. A Sentinel photographer had gotten a great shot of Noah, glowering at Eve and holding her by the forearms.
But what did he mean it was her fault?
“As a result of my column?” she asked with skepticism. “Don’t you mean as a result of your cavorting with Fluffy?” At his sardonic look, she caught herself. “I mean, Cecily?”
He chuckled cynically. “Cavorting? My, my, what colorful language you society columnists use. All the better to write innuendo, I suppose?”
She tossed her head. “Whatever,” she retorted, dropping all pretense of politeness. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed other guests had begun to throw curious glances their way. “There was a photo of you and Cecily kissing outside the Kirkland Club.”
“And we all know a picture is worth a thousand words, right?” he responded. “Or, in this case, a thousand lies. In fact, if you had done some inquiring instead of relying on that shot that your photographer snapped, you would have discovered that Cecily caught me by surprise with that kiss.”
“How nice for you.”
He ignored her. “You see, Cecily has this weird idea that making the gossip columns will bolster her fledgling acting career—and so much the better if the guy on her arm happens to be rich or famous. So she plastered herself to me the minute she spotted the Sentinel’s photographer.”
“Perhaps then,” she said sweetly, “you should reconsider the risk of dating publicity-seeking aspiring actresses. Or, for that matter, intellectually challenged models. And, hmm—” she pretended to consider for an instant, tilting her head “—I seem to recall at least one ruthless reality-show contestant as well.”
“Oh?” he responded, letting his gaze rake over her from head to toe. “Considering that the field doesn’t yet include any gossip columnists, I don’t think my tastes can be called into question.”
“From what I’ve been able to see, your tastes can best be described as blond, platinum-blond and strawberry-blond.”
“Are you calling me shallow?”
“If the shoe fits,” she retorted.
He shook his head. “So young and yet so bitter.”
Bitter? No, she was cautious, but that’s how a single woman budgeting to make rent payments had to be. And how the product of a fling between a slick, social-climbing financier and his young college intern knew to be. But then Mr. Playboy Whittaker didn’t have a clue about the struggles of ordinary people.
Aloud, she countered, “We journalists have jobs that require us to think, and thinking doesn’t appear to be high on your list of criteria for a girlfriend.”
“Whether it is or not isn’t anyone’s business but mine,” he responded.
“For your information, I didn’t just rely on the photo. I called Huff—I mean, Eve—about it and she confirmed she was planning to break up with you over the, ah, incident.”
“That’s because Eve was thinking of her public image. She believed me when I said your column had misconstrued things because she knows Cecily is a publicity hound. But, as she put it, publicly she had to at least look like she was punishing me for being a naughty boy.”
Kayla felt her lips twitch. “Well, that’s not my fault, is it?”
“It is your fault,” he disagreed. “You’re printing salacious gossip and you’re wreaking havoc on my social life.”
“So find yourself another aspiring starlet,” she retorted. “In fact, I think Buffy the Man Slayer is between men these days.”
“Right, and that’s another thing,” he said tightly. “I don’t need you trying to line up dates for me. Particularly not with someone known as a barracuda in heels.”
“Now that’s not nice.” She spread her hands in an expansive gesture. “You should consider expanding your horizons.”
He braced an arm on the wall near her head and she took an involuntary step back. He leaned in, his gaze, green and grim, boring into hers. “You know, I wonder why you consider me such a fascinating subject. Is it because you wish you were one of those women I date?”
“Don’t be absurd,” she snapped.
He gave her a slow once-over, dwelling on her ringless hand and letting his eyes linger on her chest before coming back to meet her outraged expression. “You do appear a little uptight. What’s the matter? Wish your life had a little more zing in it?”
“No thanks. My mother taught me to stay away from the players among men.”
“Ah,” he said. “Now we’re getting somewhere. The intrepid reporter is repressed.”
“This isn’t about me,” she said coldly. What nerve. He knew nothing about her life. Nothing.
“So, you have no problems dishing about others’ lives, but yours is off-limits, is that it?”
“There’s nothing to dish about,” she retorted. “I don’t have anything as interesting as a fatal racing accident in my past!”
The minute she blurted the rejoinder, she winced inwardly, realizing she may have gone too far. He might be a first-class jerk who believed his money and his family name would get him out of any predicament, but she didn’t need to throw a terrible tragedy in his face.
His face turned stony and he straightened. “Be glad you don’t.”
“Excuse me,” she said, brushing past him and hurrying for the nearest exit.
Noah stared broodingly at Kayla’s retreating back. Damn.
“Problems?”
Turning, he noticed Sybil LaBreck, gossip columnist for the Boston World, standing behind him.
“Yeah. A little lovers’ spat,” he replied sarcastically.
Sybil’s eyes widened, and Noah realized she’d taken his flippant comment seriously.
Sybil was Kayla’s biggest rival among local gossip columnists. In her late fifties, Sybil looked like an updated version of Mrs. Santa Claus, but she could shovel the dirt with the best of them.
Sybil looked perplexed. “But you’ve been seen everywhere with that model—what’s her name?—Eve.”
Noah was about to tell Sybil that he’d been joking, but he suddenly realized he’d been handed a golden opportunity to even the score with Kayla. “The so-called relationship with Eve was just a smoke screen, a way to throw the paparazzi off the scent. Eve got a little publicity out of the arrangement, and Kayla and I got a little privacy. It was perfect.”
“But only last week Eve was seen slapping you for cheating on her!” Sybil blurted before seeming to catch herself.
“Really?” Noah said, raising an eyebrow while privately relishing the thought of the headline in Sybil’s column tomorrow. “It was a great way to signal the end of our pretend relationship for the benefit of the press, wasn’t it?”
Sybil opened her mouth—in all likelihood to probe for more details—but he cut her off smoothly. “Excuse me.” He let his eyes focus on a spot across the room. “I just spotted someone I need to say hello to.”
“Of course,” Sybil said, stepping aside.
He chanced a glance at her out of the corner of his eye as he moved past: she looked like the cat that had swallowed the canary.
As he headed to the bar at the far side of the room, he pondered again about his problem with Ms. Rumor-Has-It. If newspapers were printed in color, he thought to himself disgustedly, Kayla’s column would be nothing but a series of hot-pink exclamation points. It had the same breathless quality as the gossip that sorority sisters shared over drying nail polish.
Of course, her column had nothing on the woman herself. Tonight she’d been wearing a clingy black cocktail dress that revealed a tantalizing bit of her full chest and a fair expanse of her shapely legs, her honey-blond hair hanging in a smooth curtain past her shoulders. Her eyes were large and wide set but balanced by lips that were lushly curved. Under other circumstances, she’d have been exactly his type—blond, busty and beautiful.
Still, even the attractive packaging couldn’t obscure the fact that the woman was a menace. And he’d had enough. More than enough.
His reputation as the playboy Whittaker brother made him a favorite of the press as well as the object of more than a little ribbing from his older brothers, Quentin and Matt, and his younger sister, Allison.
But the truth was that he worked damned hard in his position as vice president of product development for Whittaker Enterprises, the family business started by his father, James. His degree from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology was put to excellent use in his capacity as head of Whittaker’s computer business.
If he liked to consort with models and actresses when he was let out of his prison cell—uh, office—well, he wasn’t going to begrudge himself some fun. Besides, there was a worldwide shortage in decent-looking computer geeks like himself.
Frowning, he ordered a cocktail. Kayla had some gall taunting him with the car accident that had marked the end of his career racing Indy cars. God knew, if he could take back the accident that had killed another driver, he would. Didn’t everyone understand that? Couldn’t the press that had plagued him after the accident comprehend that?
His physical scars had healed but the emotional scars on his soul would never go away.
Turning away from the bar, he took a sip of his drink and thought again that it would be a shame to miss Kayla’s reaction to Sybil’s column in the morning.
But then again… A smile rose to his lips.
Reaching into the pocket of his pants, he pulled out his cell phone. The number he wanted was already programmed in, having been used both before and after countless dates: Bloomsville Florists.
The following morning, Kayla’s first sign that something was wrong was the large bouquet of red roses parked on her desk in her cubicle at the Boston Sentinel’s headquarters.
At first she thought there must have been some mistake. She glanced around the office, then put her purse down and reached for the note that was tucked among the flowers.
After pulling the card from the envelope, she scanned the contents: “Kayla, thanks for a wonderful evening.”
Confused, she turned the card over and then looked at the envelope, but there was no further clue as to who had sent the flowers and why—not even the name of a florist.
Hmm, interesting. Who could have sent the bouquet? She hadn’t had a date in a couple of months, ever since she’d gone out with a radio-show producer before quickly deciding they had no chemistry.
Frowning, she sat down and logged onto her computer. She’d e-mail the receptionist; every visitor had to sign in at the front desk.
Out of habit, however, she first surfed to the news sites to check out the day’s headlines and, more importantly, to scan the society pages. She made it a practice to read her rivals’ gossip columns just to keep up with what the competition was doing.
When she got to the Boston World’s gossip page, Sybil LaBreck’s years-old, black-and-white photo stared back at her along with the headline Dangerous Liaisons: Noah Whittaker’s Secret Relationship with Gossip Maven Kayla Jones, aka Ms. Rumor-Has-It.
She froze, blinked, and then stared.
No. But the headline was still there, staring at her, taunting her.
She scanned the rest of the article while a sickening feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.
Sybil alleged that Noah and Ms. Rumor-Has-It had been secretly involved for some time. The column went on to disclose a lovers’ row that they’d had at the book-launch party last night. It ended by toying with the delicious possibility that Kayla’s skewering of the millionaire playboy in her column had been a smoke screen for her own clandestine relationship with him.
Kayla’s mind raced. Had Sybil witnessed her argument with Noah last night and wrongly concluded she’d been privy to a lovers’ spat? Or—a more ominous thought intruded—had someone led Sybil to believe it was a lovers’ spat?
She looked up from her computer screen and caught one of the Sentinel’s health columnists giving her a curious look. Had Sybil’s headline already been making the rounds?
Kayla’s eyes went to the flower bouquet again. Now that she’d read Sybil’s headline, the flowers suddenly made sense.
Noah. The rat. Whether he’d started the flames or was just fanning them, she had a thing or two to tell him.
Using the Internet, she located the main number for Whittaker Enterprises. Once she dialed it, she was quickly transferred to Noah’s secretary.
“May I ask who is calling?” the secretary intoned once Kayla had asked to speak with Noah.
“It’s Kayla Jones.”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Jones, but Mr. Whittaker isn’t in the office yet this morning. May I take a message?”
He wasn’t in the office yet? Probably due to his late-night carousing, she thought acidly. Her eyes strayed to the clock on the wall, which indicated it was just after nine.
As she looked down and started to tell Noah’s secretary that she’d call back later, her gaze landed on the man striding toward her.
Noah Whittaker, smiling sunnily.
“Never mind,” she said absently into the receiver. “I’ve found him.” She couldn’t believe he had the nerve to show up at her office! Planning to milk this baseless rumor for all it was worth, was he?
She hung up and straightened, rising from her chair just as Noah came to a stop in front of her.
He nodded to the impressive arrangement of red roses. “Glad to see I got my money’s worth.”
“You snake.” She kept her voice low, not caring that her tone sounded furtive. The last thing she needed was for someone at the Sentinel to overhear her conversation. Fortunately, it was still early enough that a lot of the staff hadn’t rolled in yet.
Noah chuckled. “Now is that any way to thank the guy who’s come to apologize for our lovers’ quarrel?”
“You know it was no such thing!” she exclaimed in a low tone, catching another curious look from the Sentinel’s health columnist.
“I suppose,” he returned placidly, “you’re about to express outrage and claim bloody retribution.”
She looked at him. He seemed so smug, and he was so infuriating. “You planned this,” she accused. “You let Sybil think we were…involved.” She could barely get that last word out. “You sent the flowers to make it seem as if Sybil’s story held water.”
“Not only did I let Sybil think we were involved,” he replied, “I told her we were.”
“What?” she squeaked. That was the best she could manage without drawing attention. Inside, however, she felt like screaming.
“Right after you left last night, I had an unexpected run-in with Sybil. Apparently she witnessed enough to know we’d been arguing.”
Kayla closed her eyes. It was a nightmare, a complete nightmare.
“I’ll say this for her,” Noah continued, “that woman has a nose for gossip like a bloodhound on a scent.” He regarded her blandly. “Anyway, I made some sarcastic remark about a lovers’ spat, and she took it seriously. I was going to correct her when I realized it would be much more fun to make the most of the situation.”
“So instead of letting her believe we were arguing, you told her that we were involved?” she asked incredulously.
“What’s the matter?” he asked. “Uncomfortable being the subject of rumors? Not too pleasant, is it?”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
He shrugged. “I’ll admit to some grim satisfaction at being handed an opportunity to even the score.”
She grabbed her shoulder bag and her blazer. “Let’s discuss this somewhere else.”
He looked mildly surprised. “If you say so.”
They had to talk, she thought, but this wasn’t the place to do it. She wasn’t about to provide fodder for the office gossip mill. But somehow she had to convince him to call Sybil and get her to print a retraction. The alternative didn’t bear thinking about. She refused to be lumped together with Huffy, Fluffy and Buffy.
As he followed her down the hall and into an elevator, she was aware of his tread behind her—and of the glances that the two of them attracted.
When they got downstairs and outside into the still-warm September sun, she sighed with relief. At least they were away from prying eyes.
Turning to Noah, her brows snapping together, she began, “Now look—”
Her planned reprimand ended with a gasp as he swept her into his arms.
Her eyes widened. “What—”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man—a photographer—leap forward and snap a shot of them just before Noah’s mouth closed over hers.
Two
Kayla put her hands on Noah’s chest and pushed, but he held firm.
For the next few seconds, several thoughts tumbled through her mind. Who was that guy with the camera? Were any of her co-workers around? She’d be mortified! What the heck was wrong with Noah? However, those thoughts were quickly drowned out by one overwhelming sensation: the feel of Noah’s lips on hers.
He kissed expertly: his lips soft but sure and his focus concentrated on making her feel. His big, solid body pressed against her. He smelled of soap and shaving cream and just plain guy, and tasted of mint and warmth and subtle sweetness. He overloaded all her senses at once, and she was intoxicated.
It was like being kissed by the captain of the football team in front of the entire school—except she was a twenty-seven-year-old woman with a job and rent payments who happened to be standing in front of her office building at exactly the time that her boss or innumerable other people might be happening by.
That last thought brought her back to reality with a thunk!
She pulled her mouth from Noah’s and shoved him away.
Noah loosened his hold on her—the expression on his face a mixture of pleasant surprise and—help—male curiosity.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, then glanced around. The guy with the camera was still there, snapping away. “And, you! Who are you?”
When he lowered his camera, she recognized him as a photographer for the Boston World.
Suddenly she felt ill.
The photographer, who frequently worked with Sybil LaBreck, smiled and waved at her. “Hey, there, Kayla. You know, if I hadn’t just seen it with my own eyes, I’d never have believed the rumor about you and Noah.” He shook his head bemusedly.
She didn’t have a chance to respond because just then she noticed that, striding down the sidewalk toward them, on his way to the office, was Ed O’Neill, managing editor of the Sentinel.
Her boss.
She whirled back to Noah.
One look at his amused face, however, and she realized she hadn’t just been sunk, she’d been torpedoed—or, more precisely, set up.
The irony wasn’t lost on her either: she’d just been photographed apparently kissing him in the same way he’d been snapped apparently kissing Fluffy.
She jabbed a finger into his chest. “You! This was all part of the plan, wasn’t it?”
Noah caught her finger. “Sweetie—” he said, and she knew he was playing to the audience “—is it really so bad to announce our love to the world?”
She yanked her hand away from his.
“Hello, Kayla.”
The two of them turned, and she came face-to-face with Ed, whose expression said he was wondering what the hell was going on.
“Er—hello, Ed.” She smiled brightly.
Noah held out his hand. “Hi, Ed.”
Noah knew her boss?
Ed took it and said gruffly, “Noah. What brings you here first thing in the morning?”
Noah looked amused. “Well—”
“We were just saying goodbye,” Kayla interrupted, then took a step toward the Sentinel’s entrance. “I’ll take the elevator up with you, Ed.”
Ed looked from one to the other of them, then glanced at the photographer at the curb. “Anyone want to explain to me what’s going on?”
She was going to die, right there in front of the Sentinel’s headquarters. She could already see the headline: Ms. Rumor-Has-It Slain by Innuendo.
Noah smiled. “Sorry, Ed. Gotta run.” His eyes met hers. “I’m sure Kayla will explain everything. Won’t you, honey?”
She gritted her teeth while Ed raised his eyebrows at the endearment. “Of course,” she said. “Say hello to Huffy, Fluffy and Buffy for me, won’t you?”
His eyes laughed at her. “Sure.”
To Ed, she said in a low voice, “There’s a Boston World photographer standing at the curb. I’ll explain, but once we’re inside.”
At Ed’s nod, she turned and stalked toward the revolving doors. Later, she promised herself, she’d take some time to throw darts at Noah Whittaker’s picture or burn him in effigy.
The only silver lining to this morning’s catastrophe was that, since he’d now exacted his revenge, with any luck she’d never have anything to do with him again.
Unfortunately, luck happened to be vacationing in Tahiti the next day.
“Ed, you can’t be serious!”
Why were they discussing having her drive over to Whittaker Enterprises to cover a press conference? A press conference at which Noah Whittaker would be presiding!
Hadn’t she explained everything to Ed yesterday? Hadn’t she explained that she and Noah really loathed each other? Did she not detail how the “affair” had just been a rumor generated by Noah as payback for the stories she’d printed about his bad behavior?
The fact that panic roiled through her at the thought of facing Noah Whittaker again had nothing to do with yesterday’s kiss and everything to do with the fact that she couldn’t stand the man. He was altogether too high-and-mighty for her taste.
She regarded Ed levelly. He was her boss but also her mentor—surely he could see that sending her to cover this press conference wasn’t the best allocation of personnel.
Ed scratched his balding pate. It was the second time he’d done so since showing up at her cubicle. “Look, I thought you were gunning for a position covering hard news.”
“I was! I am!” she exclaimed in dismay. She’d gotten into journalism so she could be a business reporter, not so she could write about the latest fashions at debutante balls.
“Well, here’s your chance to prove yourself,” Ed said.
“Rob was supposed to cover this press conference at eleven o’clock, but he’s off on a breaking story and everyone else has a full plate.”
“I know, but Noah Whittaker hates me. He’ll never field a question from me.” Her opportunity to cover hard news wasn’t supposed to arrive like this.
“So?” Ed countered. “When you get there make nice with Noah, smooth over any ruffled feathers, and everything will be fine.”
Kayla wished she could be as confident as Ed that she could make nice. It was more likely she’d wind up conking Noah on the head with her purse: Sybil LaBreck’s column that morning featured a picture of her and Noah kissing in front of the Sentinel’s offices.
“If you do nothing else, just make sure you pick up a copy of the press release that they give out,” Ed said, seeming to take some pity on her. “That’ll give you enough to write a where, what, how, and when article about whatever it is that Whittaker is announcing today.”
She felt her shoulders slump. “Right.”
“Jones,” Ed said gruffly, “I’ve been trying to look out for you since the day you got here. You’ve got enough ambition to fill a football stadium. Now go and put it to good use.”
She should have been grateful for Ed’s little pep talk. Instead, all she could do was manage some weak waves of the cheerleading pom-poms. She smiled wanly. “Thanks, Ed.”
“And,” Ed continued, “if you’re interested in getting a position on the business beat, Noah Whittaker is as good a person as any to start with.”
“What do you mean?”
Ed shrugged. “I mean there have been rumors circulating for a while about some suspicious offshore company in the Cayman Islands linked to Noah Whittaker. It could be nothing, but you never know. If there’s a story there, it would be big because Whittaker has a pristine business reputation.” He added significantly, “A story like that could practically guarantee you the job you want.”
Kayla didn’t have to ask what kind of story Ed meant. She knew that some offshore companies were just tax havens for the wealthy. Others, however, provided excellent cover for money laundering and other shady dealings simply because some localities required very little information to be made public about the companies created there.
Her mind skittered across the idea of Noah connected to something less than completely legal. What could his motivation be? He had all the money he needed. Yet, wasn’t her own biological father proof that greed knew no bounds?
Aloud, she said, “Thanks for the tip.”
Ed nodded curtly. “I’m willing to give you a chance.” Then he nodded at the clock on the wall. “You better get going.”
“Right!” she said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
As Ed walked away, she picked up her handbag and grabbed her jacket. Well, what choice did she have? The things she had to do to pay the bills!
Unlike the women Noah dated, and, for that matter, her classmates at the fancy prep school she’d attended, she didn’t have a trust fund to fall back on or family connections to milk to get ahead.
Instead, she’d gotten her foot in the door of the journalism world by getting an entry-level job straight out of college with the Sentinel. It hadn’t mattered too much that the position was with the “Styles” section of the paper; it had been one of the few job offers she’d gotten and the one that paid the best of a rather pathetic lot.
Initially, she’d done a lot of research and fact-checking, with an occasional byline as time went on. She’d written about everything from the latest fashions to museum openings—when she hadn’t been acting as a gofer for Leslie, who’d been the Sentinel’s resident Ms. Rumor-Has-It.
But then Leslie had run off with her paramour—a fiftyish, thrice-divorced millionaire who’d parted with wife number three to elope with Leslie to Paris—and Kayla had been left holding the bag, albeit a snazzy Versace number in black satin.
Kayla had been summoned to the managing editor’s office, which smelled of the Macanudo cigars that Ed O’Neill liked to sneak behind closed doors.
“Jones,” Ed had said, “you’re up at bat. We need someone fast, and you’re perfect—a classy Grace Kelly type with the right prep-school credentials. You’ll fit right in covering your old school pals for the gossip pages.”
And she had. She’d jumped at the chance to replace Leslie, not the least because Ed had dangled a significant salary raise as inducement. For her that had been enough.
So what if becoming Ms. Rumor-Has-It hadn’t been part of her career aspirations? She’d gotten her own column before she’d turned twenty-five and she’d stopped worrying about the rent. There’d be time enough, she’d reasoned, for her to segue to the business-news desk.
But that had been three years ago. She’d done her job, and well. Too well, in some respects. No one was eager to see her move away from the society page.
But, despite the seeming glamour of her job, she’d begun to feel restless. There were only so many canapés that a girl could eat before she felt like regurgitating on Buffy the Man Slayer’s Manolo Blahnik heels.
That’s why she’d recently started to lobby for an opportunity to cover some real news. Because Ed was right about one thing: she was ambitious and refused to be typecast for the rest of her career as perfect for covering fluff. She was determined to go places.
Unfortunately, today the place that she was heading was Noah Whittaker’s front door.
“Well, it’s interesting to see how the tide has turned.”
Across the boardroom table, Noah gave Allison a disgruntled look. He’d just finished explaining how his recent bad press was baseless. “I know you find this hopelessly amusing, but try to contain your glee.”
Allison laughed. “Oh, come on, big brother, don’t tell me you don’t see the hilarity in it all! Women used to chase you the way they’d run to a shoe sale. These days, though, you’re more like last year’s shoes—still wearable, but you’re wondering why you ever bought them.”
Quentin and Matt chuckled.
Noah sighed in exasperation.
It wasn’t often these days that Noah’s whole family was together, but early morning meetings of Whittaker Enterprises’ board of directors afforded them the opportunity from time to time, despite their busy lives.
He looked around the room. They were an impressive bunch, and, though he and his siblings could needle each other mercilessly, they had an unshakable bond.
At the head of the table sat his father, James, who, in his retirement, still chaired the board of directors. His mother, Ava—who’d passed along her coloring of dark brown hair and vivid blue eyes to his brother Matt and his sister Allison—was a respected family court judge. Matt, who was older than Noah by two years, was also a vice president at Whittaker, though he’d increasingly been developing his own business interests. Allison had followed their mother’s footsteps into the legal profession and become an assistant district attorney in Boston. Quentin, the oldest sibling, was CEO of Whittaker Enterprises.
Missing were Quentin’s wife, Liz, who was at home with their baby, Nicholas, and Allison’s husband of one month, Connor Rafferty, who ran his own security business.
Noah supposed, given his siblings’ penchant for ribbing each other, he shouldn’t have been surprised that, once the board meeting had ended, and because they had time to kill before the press conference at eleven, the topic of conversation would turn to the recent headlines about him in the newspapers.
Thanks to Kayla, in the span of two weeks, he’d been branded a philanderer for fooling around with Fluffy, been reported to have had a public scuffle with Huffy during which she’d slapped him and he’d been seen restraining her and, to top it off, been witnessed having an argument with Ms. Rumor-Has-It herself.
He wondered whether Kayla had seen Sybil LaBreck’s column that morning and figured she must have. Sybil’s headline screamed: Kayla and Noah Kiss and Make Up!
Fortunately, Huffy—er, Eve, he corrected himself, annoyed that now he was unintentionally adopting Kayla’s ridiculous names—was in Europe on a modeling shoot and thus probably unaware of the headlines linking her most recent ex to a secret affair with Ms. Rumor-Has-It. Otherwise, he might have had another irate female to contend with.
In any case, he took grim satisfaction in knowing Sybil’s column that day had probably riled Kayla. After all, he had to suffer through grief from his family.
“Well,” Allison continued, “I, for one, would love to congratulate Kayla Jones.” She looked at Quentin and Matt for affirmation. “Unlike those vapid, vampish vixens you sometimes date, she’s smart enough not to be bowled over by your charm, Noah.”
Noah mouthed vapid, vampish vixens incredulously while his brothers stifled their mirth. Then he frowned. “Great. I’ll let Connor know that, if you ever get tired of the D.A.’s office, you can have a second career as a gossip columnist.” He added, “Does family loyalty mean nothing to you?”
“Not since you tried to get me married off to Connor,” Allison returned sweetly. “How did you put it to him?” She pretended to try to remember for a second, then snapped her fingers. “Oh, right. I believe your words were ‘Why don’t you help take her off our hands?’”
Noah grumbled. “Maybe I shouldn’t have put it like that, but you and Connor belonged together. This situation’s different.”
Matt’s lips twitched. “Ms. Rumor-Has-It does seem to have your number, unlike—uh, how did she put it?— Huffy, Fluffy and Buffy. And, on top of it all, your little columnist is undeniably hot.”
Noah quelled the sudden, inexplicable urge to slug the amused look off of his brother’s face. So, Kayla was hot; she was also a menace, and she was not “his” little columnist. “Yeah, and she’s also a consummate teller of tall tales in that fiction column of hers.”
At the head of the table, his father cleared his throat and gave him a level look. “The bottom line is there’s a problem here that you need to fix. Even if there’s not a modicum of truth in the recent headlines, they’re bad for public relations—both yours and Whittaker Enterprises’.”
Quentin nodded. “Dad’s right, as much as I’d like to think otherwise. Some people will believe the press, and even those who don’t will wonder if you’re playing and partying harder than you’re working.”
Noah watched his mother cast him a sympathetic look that nonetheless managed to carry a hint of reproach. “I know I raised you to be respectful toward women, Noah, so I have no doubt that the recent press about you is just an aberration. Nevertheless, darling, I have to agree with your father and brother. You must fix this. No more headlines, and you should try to do something to repair your public image.”
Noah knew his family was right. His philosophy of working hard and playing harder had long worked for him, but then Ms. Rumor-Has-It had come along.
He had to deal with her and the trouble she’d stirred up in his life.
What was she doing here?
Noah stared in disbelief at the figure slinking into a seat at the back of the roomful of assembled reporters, cameramen and photographers awaiting the beginning of the press conference.
As if she could go unnoticed.
Even if she hadn’t been a head-turner with her blond hair falling like a curtain past her shoulders and a figure that was a siren call to every straight guy in the room, she had on a ridiculous outfit consisting of a pale pink sweater made of some clingy material that hugged her breasts, a pencil-thin pinstriped skirt showing off legs that went on and on, and some come-hither heels.
Watching as she got a once-over from the guy next to her while, oblivious to any attention, she pulled out a notepad, Noah smiled grimly: I rest my case.
Much to his annoyance, the memory of their kiss lingered with him. Her lips had been soft, silky and full beneath his, and their effect had gone through him like a shot of brandy. But so what if the woman had proved she could kiss with real feeling?
He frowned. The last thing he needed to be thinking about right now was their kiss. The press conference would start any minute. He’d resolved this morning to deal with her, but he hadn’t expected to be confronted with an opportunity here, now, surrounded by half the press of Greater Boston. Hell.
Anyway, the real question was, what was she doing here? Last time he’d checked, gossip columnists didn’t cover breaking business news.
As the clock on the back wall hit eleven, he strode to the podium at the front of the room. He was going to announce the acquisition by Whittaker Enterprises of Avanti Technologies, a small company located along Route 128, Boston’s high-tech corridor, and because the acquisition of Avanti impacted Whittaker’s computer business—his area of expertise—he’d be doing the initial presentation. Afterward, he and Quentin, as well as the president of Avanti, would field questions.
When Noah got to the microphone, he made a couple of jokes to break the ice, then consulted his notes: “Pleased to announce…welcome the opportunity to work with…corporate synergies involved…”
Throughout his speech, he noticed Kayla kept her gaze fixed somewhere over his left shoulder. Uncomfortable, eh? He wondered again what had brought her here and knew that, as soon as the press conference was over, he was going find out.
Focusing again on the assembled reporters, he concluded by saying that additional copies of Whittaker’s press release were on a table at the back of the room.
Then, when Quentin and the president of Avanti stepped forward to flank him at the mike, he fielded questions from reporters, eventually calling on a guy in jeans.
The reporter stood up, a smirk hovering at the corners of his lips. “The stock for Whittaker Computing has been down recently. Can you comment on the markets’ reaction to the recent bad press about you?”
Noah tensed. Whittaker Computing—one of a handful of companies that made up Whittaker Enterprises—was partly publicly owned. There were any number of reasons why Whittaker Computing’s stock had taken a hit recently, as any half-wit could tell you, but the weasel in front of him was obviously trying to bait him.
Noah gave him a semblance of a smile and then, keeping his tone even, said, “The markets have better things to do than follow any spurious rumors written about me.”
Noah watched as Kayla slunk farther down in her chair at the back of the room. Feeling a tad self-conscious, was she? Well, welcome to the club, babe.
He started to call on another questioner, but the smirking jerk in jeans—probably some overeager new recruit looking to make his mark—persisted. “What about the impression you’ve given that you can’t get along with women? There’s been speculation that this could affect Whittaker’s ability to recruit female executives.”
Noah gripped the sides of the lectern. He’d like to deck the questioning little dweeb. “Maybe it’s a question of the ability of a few particular women to get along with me.”
This earned him a chuckle or two from the audience.
He held the reporter’s gaze until the guy shifted. “Whittaker Enterprises is an equal opportunity employer. We value and welcome female employees. In fact, we’re proud we’ve been rated one of the best places for women to work by a leading Boston magazine. Our on-site day care and flextime schedules are models for the industry. The women at Whittaker who work with me wouldn’t tell you differently.”
Then, determined this time to cut off the smart-ass, Noah turned to look at another part of the room. “Next question.”
Fifteen minutes later, the press conference was over. Immediately, he spotted Kayla scurrying into the hall.
“Excuse me,” he said curtly, shoving his way past the milling press and striding out of the room.
He caught up with her halfway down the hall and captured her elbow. “We need to talk.”
She started and looked up at him guiltily.
“What?” he asked blandly. “Attempting to make your escape?”
“I’m sure we’ve said all there is to say to one another,” she said, her tone cool enough to freeze penguins in their tracks.
“On the contrary, Barbie,” he countered dryly, looking pointedly at her blond hair and pink sweater.
She pulled her elbow away from him. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I may be Barbie, but you’re no Ken, Mr. I-Change-Women-with-the-Seasons Whittaker. Barbie and Ken had a committed, monogamous relationship for over forty years.”
God, she was maddening. She’d just compared him unfavorably to a plastic doll’s main squeeze.
He wondered again why he still found her pulse-poundingly attractive. Sick. He was sick.
“As unpleasant as it is for the both of us, we need to talk and I suggest we do it in private—unless you want our public bloodletting to continue?” He took her elbow again.
She looked around. “I’ll scream.”
Aside from the two of them, no one was in the hallway yet. They were some distance from the room where the press conference had been held, and probably most of the journalists were still gathering their equipment. Still, Noah knew that Kayla could make herself heard.
“I wouldn’t advise it,” he said dryly. “Not unless you want another newspaper headline about us, and I doubt that.”
She opened her mouth.
“Think about it,” he said forcefully. “Our names conjoined in ink. Again. Forever.”
Three
Upstairs in Noah’s office, Kayla still couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a bad idea. A very bad idea.
They didn’t do well talking to each other. Or even being in the same room together.
Noah gestured her to a seat.
“No thanks,” she said.
“Suit yourself,” he responded, then sat at the edge of his desk, folding his arms across his chest and crossing one foot over the other at the ankle.
She glanced around his office. It was all chrome and black and glass with two walls displaying great views of nearby hills. Her cubicle at work would have fit into the space behind his desk.
Grudgingly, she admitted that, whatever else Noah was, he did appear to be spectacularly successful.
“What the heck are you doing here?” he asked abruptly, drawing her attention back to him.
“I was filling in for another reporter,” she said, self-conscious under his scrutiny. All at once, her skirt felt too short, her top too tight and her heels too high. Damn him.
He raised a brow. “Since when are gossip columnists asked to fill in for business reporters?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that it was none of his business, when it occurred to her that she’d just been handed a great chance to ask as many questions as she wanted about the acquisition of Avanti—if, that was, she acted at least passably civil toward him.
“I’ve been trying for a lateral move to the business desk at the Sentinel,” she responded stiffly.
She could see she’d surprised him. “You want to write something other than salacious rumors?”
She checked her temper. “Let’s not cross that ground again, shall we? As I think I made clear before, I work hard at my job. It’s just that I want to be doing the type of reporting that I got into journalism for.”
“And that would be—?”
“Business reporting,” she said, her tone clipped. “Are you going to tell me what you wanted to talk to me about, or not?”
He looked at her for several seconds, his green gaze inscrutable. Finally, he said, “I’m calling for a cease-fire.”
“What?” It was her turn to be taken by surprise.
“You heard me.”
“Oh, right. I suppose now that the empire has struck back, it’s okay for you to want to call a truce. After all, Sybil LaBreck has just announced to the whole world that we’re back together!”
“Yeah, well,” he said, too placidly to suit her, “you did play straight into my hands on that one.”
She stared at him, annoyed. How dare he stand there looking so sexy and so gorgeous—causing an unwanted but very feminine reaction in her—when he was such a calculating sneak. She folded her arms across her chest. “I know I will regret asking, but how did I play into your plans?”
“Yesterday I tipped off that photographer from the Boston World so he could snap me leaving the Sentinel’s offices looking, uh, contrite after trying to mend fences with you.”
“I should have guessed that photographer wasn’t just hanging around hoping for a good photo op.”
“Little did I know you’d insist on walking out with me—”
“Giving you and him an even better photo opportunity than you were expecting,” she finished for him.
The lout.
“So, again, are you willing to declare a truce?”
“What kind of truce?” she asked, suspicious.
He shrugged nonchalantly, rising from his desk.
She forced herself not to take an involuntary step back just to keep some space between them. Over six feet, he had a comfortable height advantage over her—even when she was wearing heels. But, more than that, he radiated a charisma that was nearly palpable.
“We can help each other.”
“Really?” she asked in disbelief, forcing herself to keep up with their war of words because it was easier than thinking about being alone in his office with him.
“I can’t imagine what help I need from you other than for you to stop sabotaging me.”
He arched a brow. “Sabotage is a strong word, don’t you think?”
“Not if it’s accurate.” When he was smooth and charming, he was even more dangerous than when he was angry and annoyed. She brushed aside the disgruntling realization.
“You just said you’re looking to move to the business desk at the Sentinel.”
“Yes…?” She wondered where he was going with this.
“I can give you a news story that will help you get there.”
“What news story?”
“An exclusive inside look at Whittaker Enterprises. I’ll grant you broad access.”
“In return for…?”
He gazed at her speculatively. “In return for your help in rehabilitating my public image.”
“Impossible,” she responded.
He laughed. “I’m flattered, in a backhanded-compliment sort of way.”
“Anyway, you’re overestimating my influence on public opinion.”
“I don’t think so. You damaged my reputation, you can repair it.”
“How?”
“By being seen getting along with me.”
“I’m not that good of an actress,” she retorted.
“Do your best. I’m not looking for an Oscar-winning performance.”
His plan was ridiculous, outrageous. So why was she tempted?
Because, she answered herself, he was dangling an irresistible lure, damn him. She’d walk on hot coals to get that business reporter’s beat.
“Well?” he prompted.
“Can’t. Journalistic ethics. You may have heard of them.”
“A little late in the day to be worrying about those, don’t you think?” he scoffed.
“Tell that to my boss when he fires me,” she snapped.
He shrugged and folded his arms again. “What would it take not to offend your journalistic sensibilities?”
“I won’t agree to anything that smacks of you trying to buy me off or of an exchange of favors.”
He sighed. “I told you that you’ll have broad access to Whittaker Enterprises. You can talk to our employees. Heck, I’ll talk to you. You can follow me around and see what my routine is. I won’t stop you from writing something unflattering. All I’m asking for is that you write a balanced piece.”
She continued to eye him, unconvinced.
He sighed again. “Fine, you don’t have to pretend to get along with me anymore than comes naturally, if that’s going to trouble your reporter’s conscience.”
“Thanks.”
“And as far as Ms. Rumor-Has-It’s column goes, I think you can use the story about Whittaker Enterprises to your advantage. Just tell Ed that you can’t write about me in your regular column while you’re pursuing an in-depth piece about Whittaker Enterprises because you want to avoid any conflicts. If he’s worried, he can assign you an intern. That way, when you do get moved over to the business desk, you’ll already have someone in place to take over as Ms. Rumor-Has-It.”
He made his plan sound so reasonable—and appealing. Oh-so-appealing. Nevertheless, she had to ask, “What about Sybil?”
He looked untroubled. “What about her? I’ll call her up and explain our affair was a hoax. Besides, as long as we spread the word that you’re shadowing me in order to write a piece about Whittaker Enterprises, we’ll be dispelling the rumor that we’re involved.”
The thought of Sybil having the rug pulled out from under her did make his plan more tempting. Kayla bit her lip, then said, “What’s in this for you?”
“For my part, I’m banking your intern won’t be as interested in my social life as you are.” He gave her a sardonic look. “Besides, since—thanks to you—I’m currently free of models and actresses, there won’t be anything exciting to write about.”
“Maybe.” She refused to concede he likely was right.
“On top of that,” he said, warming to his subject, “once you get your assignment to the business desk at the Sentinel, I’m rid of you—at least as a wrecking ball in my social life. And, as an added bonus, I get a balanced news piece about Whittaker Enterprises.” He finished triumphantly, “The plan is perfect.”
She considered him a moment. “What would be the terms?” she asked, hoping she wouldn’t regret this, yet unable to pass up the opportunity he presented.
She saw the flare of gratification in his eyes, but he quickly banked it. “Terms?”
“Yes. I need to know you’ll give me access to information soon and won’t renege on me.” Now that she’d let herself entertain his offer, she wasn’t going to be shy about the particulars.
He arched a brow. “Suspicious, aren’t you?”
“There has to be a time limit,” she said firmly.
“Make your best offer,” he countered.
She assessed him, then took a moment to ponder. No doubt he was a shrewd bargainer—after all, he’d just engineered the takeover of one of Boston’s leading tech firms by Whittaker Enterprises. “Two weeks.”
He shook his head. “Six.”
“Three.” Nearly a month was fair.
“Five,” he said. “These things take time.”
“Let’s split the difference,” she countered. “Four. It shouldn’t take long to repair the damage.”
“A pleasure doing business with you.” He closed the space between them and held out his hand.
Relief, followed by panic, washed through her. What have I just done? She took his hand, felt her own engulfed in his, and experienced a surge of sensation.
Judging by the look in his eye, he felt it, too.
She started to draw away, but he pulled her closer.
He lifted her chin with his free hand and she had just a moment to lower her eyelids before he brushed her lips with his.
The kiss was over in the space of a few heartbeats, but its impression—powerful and disturbing—lingered for her.
He drew back and gazed down at her, his expression inscrutable. “Just checking,” he murmured.
“What?” She looked at him, eyes wide, as she strove to clear her brain.
He smiled wryly. “You didn’t need to worry about whether your acting abilities were up to the challenge.” At her displeased expression, he laughed. “I know, I know. I’m diabolical.”
Kayla was grateful he couldn’t read her mind—for while diabolical should have been the first word that popped into her head, disturbingly, instead, it had been delicious.
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Anna DePalo
Тип: электронная книга
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
Язык: на английском языке
Издательство: HarperCollins
Дата публикации: 16.04.2024
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О книге: Clearly gossip columnist Kayla Jones, aka Ms. Rumor-Has-It, can′t stand Noah Whittaker′s type: old-money, charming and rarely without a beauty on his arm.The only thing he′s good for is juicy fodder for her column. But word is he′s about to get even! He′ll give her the biggest scoop of the season that could promote her to big-time reporter if she′ll dig a little deeper and get to know the real him. But can she keep her emotional distance from a man famous for being a master of seduction?