Last Summer(21)

Ella doesn’t have the chance to dwell on where she’s recently heard that phrase before because Damien says her name when she steps into the shower and under the spray. Turning, she meets his gaze. It locks with hers.

“I’m sorry,” he says in a heartfelt manner.

She sighs, gives him one last look of frustration, then holds out her hand.

Damien doesn’t hesitate. In three short strides, he’s in the shower and she’s in his arms. Then he’s kissing her, thoroughly, and their hands travel everywhere.

She lets him work out his stress on her. He takes her hard against the tile, then again on the bed, their skin slick and wet, their hair dripping. He drives into her with the same ferocity he had during their run. This time, he doesn’t leave her behind.

When their heart rates steady and breathing evens, Damien rolls off her. He drapes an arm over his eyes.

“Damien,” Ella says. “What’s going on with you?”

He sighs.

“I want to help, but you have to talk to me.”

“Ben emailed me.” PDN’s legal counselor.

Damien rolls to his side to face her. He absently touches Ella’s hair, wraps a section around his finger.

“I had his team look into our client retention issues.”

“What did he find out?”

“One of my employees sold our client list to CyberSeal.”

“Oh, my god. That’s illegal. Why would he do that?”

“You know how my dad has wanted to buy me out?”

“Yeah, and you’ve always said no.” Ella pauses for a moment, piecing it together. “He’s trying to put you out of business.”

“We don’t have proof he’s directly involved, not yet. But yeah, it’s not like this is a surprise. He’s had it in for me since before I started my company.” Damien drags a hand down his face. He looks and sounds tired.

Ella’s never understood how a father could act toward his only son the way Clyde does with Damien. But then, Damien hasn’t told her much about their relationship other than things got rocky when Damien’s marriage to Anna eroded.

Damien glances at the clock over her shoulder. “I have to get into the office. Ben wants to meet.”

Ella looks at the clock and swears. “I gotta get going, too.”

Damien gives her hair a gentle tug. “Sorry about the run.”

Ella playfully scowls at him. “Forgiven. Don’t do it again.”

“Promise.” He kisses her.



An hour later, Ella’s packing up her laptop and the voice recorder she uses for interviews when Rebecca calls.

“Have you left yet?” she asks.

“Almost out the door,” Ella says, sliding her laptop into its case.

“Don’t bother. I’ve reassigned to Jordan Talbot. She’s already on her way there.”

The hell? Ella goes rigid.

Jordan is a recent recruit. Rebecca lured her over from Town & Country. She has field experience, but she’s still green in Ella’s book. She reminds Ella of herself when she first started at Luxe Avenue.

“Why did you do that?” Ella asks, her tone measured, trying to quell her anger and panic. Did Rebecca hear about her memory loss? Does she think she’s unfit for the assignment? Ella thinks back over the assignments she’s had since early December. She can’t pinpoint where, or if, she made a mistake that would jeopardize her position or her seniority when it came to the divvying up of assignments.

“Nathan Donovan called.”

“Who?”

“You heard me. The Nathan Donovan exclusive is back on and he assured me that he’s one hundred percent on board. As long as you write it.”

Air leaves Ella’s lungs in a rush. She slowly sits in her chair. She stares blankly out the window.

“This assignment’s priority over your others. You spent so much time working on it before. Won’t it be nice to see this gem in print? Hold on a sec, I’ve got his contact info. He wasn’t sure if you still had it. Ah, here it is.” Rebecca rattles off his info and Ella scrambles for a piece of paper. Can’t find one. She grabs an old issue of Luxe Avenue from the corner of her desk and quickly scribbles Nathan’s phone number and address. Truckee. Just over a three-hour drive from San Francisco, assuming the weather and roads are clear.

“He wants you to meet him at his house this time, not on some godforsaken mountain trail. I don’t know how you did it, backpacking in the wilderness for five days with no running water. You’re a braver woman than me, but that’s why you’re my best.”

Ella’s hand trembles. She drops the pen.

“He’ll only talk to you, so don’t botch this like you did last time. I’m not going to let you convince me to kill this article. Call Nathan right away. He wants to start the interview tomorrow.”

Start the interview? That meant this would be a major feature. The interview would be involved, tedious. Ella broke up those assignments into several blocks over the course of a few days. Sometimes they lasted a week, depending on the subject’s schedule.

“All right. I’ll call first thing.” She forces out the confirmation.

“Don’t worry about the governor. He’s in good hands with Jordan. I think it’s time to toss the gal into the pool, see how she swims. Check in with me in a couple of days, let me know how it’s going. Meanwhile, I’ll reassign your other projects so that you can prep for tomorrow. Paul wants to run the Donovan piece in May’s issue.”