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Simon nodded, efficiently pulling out a folder from his briefcase. “The Stanleys’ stats have been going up for the past few weeks. Their social media gained three million subscribers, most of them organic. It seems they’re trying to ride the wave of the scandal, positioning the CEO as a family man who has been in love with his wife since the beginning of time. PR is working overtime, and it seems to be working.”
“Hmm.” I thought as much. I assumed they were the ones behind the smear campaign and had gotten my exes together to do this. I smiled.So they wanted to play dirty, huh? Alright, I could play dirty.
“Alright,” I said. “Game on then.”
“What do we do now?” Simon asked.
“Nothing for now. Keep an eye out and call Robbie to see if he can dig up any dirt on James Stanley. I doubt he’ll find much, though. The guy has probably buried every single lead, but it doesn’t hurt to try.”
“Yes, sir,” Simon said with a nod.
“Also, set up a reservation for me at Garmers,” I said. “Sometime in the evening, a little before sunset. Romantic hour. Pick a table that’s a little secluded. Oh, and you still have contacts with the paps, don't you?"
Simon nodded.
“Good. Leak it to them.”
Simon frowned. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Also, clear my schedule tomorrow afternoon. And probably the one after that too. And set up an interview with the reporter who covered our charity event last year. She seems like someone who would be interested in this story.” And we were going to feed them a heck of a story.
“Alright, sir.” Simon nodded resolutely.
“That would be all,” I said, and he left me to my thoughts and the story forming in my head.
I called Lisa once I had finalized the key details.
“Hello?” Her greeting, as always, was tentative. As if I was a wild animal and she wasn’t sure if I would nibble her palm or bite her hand clean off.
“You don’t have any plans today, right?” I asked.
“You mean apart from sending in the designs?”
Oh, I forgot about that. It was strange how I didn’t even remember why I’d hired her in the first place. “Yes. Delay that to tomorrow. We have a date tonight.”
“A date?” Her voice was nearly a squeak, but she cleared her throat. “Do you want me to bring Violet?”
“No,” I said. “Get a babysitter. Tonight, it’s just you and me.”
* * *
“Where is this place?”Lisa asked as she glanced at the restaurant.
I opened the door for her, allowing her to climb out of the car I sent to pick her up. When she got out of the car, I ran my eyes down her form. She was wearing an unassuming black dress with a black band holding her curly hair.
“A restaurant,” I said as I slid my hand around her waist. She stiffened slightly and glanced at me. “Although, if I didn’t know any better, I would think you were dressed for a funeral.”
She glanced at me from the corner of her eyes and frowned. “It looks like a country club.”
“It’s something between a restaurant and a country club, but they have a fantastic wine collection.” My hand snaked up and skillfully slipped the band off her hair, allowing her dark hair to tumble down her back. “Ah, that’s much better.”
She gasped and turned to glare at me, to which I smiled.
“Relax,” I leaned in to whisper in her ears. “They could be watching already. We’re supposed to be in love, remember?”
She struggled with reigning in her irritation, patting her hair down self-consciously. “They’ll be here already?”
“Yup.” So that she didn’t get surprised, I’d explained to her over the phone that we would most likely be photographed by paparazzi today. I could hear her hesitation, but she bravely powered through even though I saw anxiety in her gaze as she glanced around.
