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Fuck, risk was his middle name. He put his arm around her waist, backed her into the nearest doorway and crashed them both into a men’s bathroom.
“What are you doing?”
He brought her to rest against a tiled wall, doing a quick check for inhabitants. Thankfully clear. “I thought it was obvious.”
She double blinked at him, huge TV eyelashes. “You want to be alone with me in the men’s?”
He laughed. His destination could’ve been better negotiated. “Shut up and kiss me, I’ve missed you.”
“In the men’s.” She was laughing so hard, he wasn’t likely to get any puckering out of those pillow soft red lips.
“What is it with you and detaining me in confined spaces?”
But he needed her in his arms now, to get through what was coming.
“Will, don’t worry you’ll be fine.” She thought he was worried about the interview. It sobered her up quick, and got him good and properly kissed, slow. He could’ve stood there all day, let the legitimate visitors work around them, but they were both on a deadline.
He helped her straighten her suit, an incredibly contrived and sleazy excuse to put his hands all over her again. She tutted over her smudged lipstick, made sure he wasn’t wearing half of it, and he checked his pocket, and did a corridor all clear before they stepped back out into the real world.
Respectably separated she led him into the recording studios. But he found as many opportunities as possible to brush her hand or nudge her shoulder, at one point crossing behind her, and rippling his knuckles across her butt, blowing on the back of her neck.
“Mr Parker, you are perhaps drunk?” she whispered.
“On you, Ms Campbell.”
“Will!”
She left him in makeup with instructions to let them do their job and behave. He knew the next time he saw her they’d be on public show, and the time after that? Who knew? Best not think about that right now.
Darcy’s segment producer, Merrit, collected him from makeup and walked him into the studio. He went over the agreed details and Will had to suck it up and pretend interest because Merrit couldn’t know the amount of private coaching he’d had for this.
Darcy was standing with another man, heart attack fat; that would be the boss, Alan. The one who wanted his woman stick thin, the one who threatened her job security. Man, what he’d like to do to Alan, if he wasn’t a civilised person whose right hook wasn’t restricted by a new lump of plaster and a metal pin. He had to contend with staring at the bloke, sending him artery-clogging thoughts.
But forget Alan. His girl, the one he’d just kissed breathless in the men’s, was coming towards him. If he was smart, he could turn their polite public greeting into another chance to grope her. But she was ready for him, picked his game.
“Will, great to see you, you look well rested.” She stood well back from him and held out her hand, arm straight, a slight forward tilt in her body.
He took it and held it overly long for a handshake, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. “Darcy, have you lost weight? Never mind, you’re as beautiful as ever.” She gave him a behave glare, and he laughed as Merrit and Alan clocked the encounter. Fuck it, let them wonder.
A cosy looking lounge room plonked in the middle of an otherwise empty warehouse sized space was their destination. This was where he’d start the next phase of his life, and he saw no reason to think it wouldn’t be as eventful as everything that went before it.
“Are you ready, Will?” It would’ve been good to be able to warn her. “
This is pre-recorded so we can stop at any time if you need to.”
This was the only part he was anxious about. He needed to be smooth, give her no reason to stop things before he got his key message, as Aileen called it, out. Not that Aileen was going to be pleased about his interpretation of her best guidance.
“Good to go.”
Darcy smiled, took a deep breath and expelled it noisily. She was more nervous than he was. He tried to catch her eyes, but she’d switched into professional mode, was centring herself. She gave an introduction, ignoring him, facing the camera. The whole rah-rah thing. She talked about his role as Parker CEO, the business, his fortune, and ticked off the key events making up his most infamous profile. To date.
When she focused on him she asked a bunch of basic questions about the business finishing with the hostile Avalon takeover, and how he’d made the decision to check out of hospital to talk Ted Barstow into a partnership instead.
“I want to ask you now about your experience being kidnapped and jailed and then later on about your childhood, and growing up in the tiny town of Tara in the Darling Downs of Queensland.” She smiled at him to show the audience who’d watch this at home how friendly this whole thing was, and by extension what a nice, neither criminal or insane, guy he was.
They got through the kidnap with no mention of singing or his daydreaming about a blonde journalist who’d gotten into his head. Darcy mentioned how inadvertently her photo story alerted the kidnapper’s family to his whereabouts. Allowing him to assure her the role she played in investigating the murder charge exonerated her from all blame in his eyes, and made them firm friends forever.
Cue smiles from the families at home. Cue tape of the event on the steps of the Sheraton and Will saying, “I really did check out of hospital too early. I wasn’t myself. You were a friendly face in the crowd, and I know I embarrassed you terribly. It was certainly blown out of proportion by the media in general.”
