I want You Deeper

Vanessa answered the door within seconds of his knock. She glanced at the camera guy standing next to him as if surprised to see him.

“Yeah, we had a shift switch, I guess,” Heath said. “You look… beautiful.”

Not that she didn’t look beautiful no matter what she wore, but this particular look was stunning. It was a long, black dress that covered her from head to toe, but there was a slit in the front that fully exposed her left leg. He couldn’t imagine a sexier dress.

Although she had to be fully aware of how amazing she looked, Vanessa lowered her head a little and even seemed to blush at the compliment. Could it be that, even dressed as a low-budget version of himself, his compliment actually meant something to someone who was no doubt regularly told how beautiful she was?

“Thank you.”

He noticed she didn’t return the compliment, and he couldn’t blame her. He wouldn’t have said he looked nice, either. But this was almost over. They had a drive home tomorrow, and after that, when she saw him next, he’d be Heath Hardcastle once again. Meanwhile, he was going to enjoy every minute of this date with her.

“Are you ready?” He stepped back as though to invite her to step into the hall.

Again, she ducked her head as she walked out, letting her hotel room door close behind her. She was carrying a different purse than she’d had earlier, making him wonder if Josea had included that in her luggage, as well. It was a solid black that matched her dress, so he would assume he had.

“Ready.” She looked up at him then, smiling confidently. Their gazes locked, and he felt something between them that hadn’t been there before they’d kissed. A heat. A longing. She was feeling it, too. He was confident of it. Yes, they would definitely continue seeing each other after this was over.

The moment was ruined completely by the camera guy, who pivoted around to capture them from the side. He moved from Heath to Vanessa, pausing on each of them before moving again. It took everything Heath had not to turn and ask the guy to back off.

No, he’d signed up for this. He had to see it through to the end.

Taking Vanessa’s hand, Heath led her down the hallway toward the elevator. Maybe it wasn’t appropriate for Mac Sutterfield to be holding her hand. He didn’t care. It had been a long time since he’d felt this strongly about someone-if ever-and he wanted to enjoy every moment of it.

Heath waited until the doors were closed to ask the question that had been on his mind since leaving the exhibit hall. “What exactly is this banquet?”

Smiling, she looked up at him. “You don’t know?”

He met her stare. “It’s pretty clear I don’t. Want to share?”

“They had a big contest throughout the trade show. Bunch of prizes being given away. Exhibitors aren’t eligible, but they do a little awards thing at the end for all of us, just for kicks, mostly.” She shrugged. “Basically, we just go to these things for the free food, anyway, right?”

He thought about that a moment before answering. It was a little tough to concentrate when they were staring at each other this way. Once again, it was like they were lost in their own little world, which was weird considering the last time he’d checked, a camera had been pointed at the two of them.

“If you say so.” He gave one last smile before looking up at the elevator doors, which were opening behind the camera guy.

They followed the trail of people in cocktail attire heading from the lobby to the big ballroom on the other side of the lobby. Heath figured without the camera, the two of them would have blended with everyone else, but this drew attention to them. He immediately had a flashback to last night, when they’d had to escape the cocktail party to keep Vanessa’s roommate from seeing them.

“What are your plans to avoid Brooke?” Even as he asked the question, Heath looked around for signs of her. She was fairly easy to spot in a crowd. He noticed Vanessa suddenly started looking around, too.

“I was thinking about that while I was getting ready,” Vanessa said. “We have to find her, keep an eye on her, and situate ourselves on the other side of the room from her.”

Should he point out that seating at this event was assigned? It was very feasible that the event organizers had put them at the same table as Brooke. Mac Sutterfield had no problem with TravTech, after all. If Heath had thought ahead, he could have requested to be seated separately, but he wasn’t confident in Mac Sutterfield’s ability to make those sorts of things happen quite as easily.

While concocting a plan in his head to call someone in his real persona to demand some changes, Heath made a quick walk around their designated table, checking place cards for the first name of “Brooke.” He didn’t know her last name. He was happy to find there was no sign of her. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t be the next table over, but at least they wouldn’t be face to face with her.

“Maybe I should have worn a disguise.” Vanessa looked up at him as he held her seat out. He planned to be on his best dating behavior tonight, even if he wasn’t considering this their first official date because he couldn’t be himself. “Josea probably could have hooked me up with a wig.”

“At least we both would have been undercover,” he said quietly so only she could hear.

She smiled up at him as he pulled his own seat out, then sat down next to her. Suddenly, Camera Guy Number Two showed up from out of nowhere and knelt on the other side of Vanessa. They were flanking the two of them now. He told himself after tonight, they’d just have to make it through the drive back and they could enjoy true personal time whenever they got together.

The more the room filled up, the more nervous Vanessa seemed to get. Yet he searched the room and saw no sign of Brooke. It wasn’t hard to spot a redhead in this crowd of people-a crowd that seemed to be mostly a combination of dark and gray-haired people, with some bald and blonde mixed in. He figured if he helped Vanessa in his search, one or the other of them would spot her right away and be able to take action before she saw them.

“Just a couple more hours and I can return home and she’ll never know,” Vanessa commented as a server set a salad down in front of her. She picked up the little cup of dressing and poured it over the top of the lettuce. “Everything can go back to normal.”

Was she serious? He waited a while for her to correct herself, but she never did.

“We’re on camera.” He looked pointedly at the lens that was just above her shoulder. “This is going to be broadcast. Even if she doesn’t watch it, she’ll hear about it from Justin.”

Yep. She was realizing this for the first time. How she hadn’t thought about it until now was beyond him. There were cameras. It stood to reason that, eventually, her roommate would see what she’d been up to for the past couple of days.

“I need to tell her myself, I guess.” Vanessa had a dazed look in her eyes. Yes, she was definitely processing this for the first time. “Learning about it on a TV show would be the absolute worst.”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Agreed. Maybe you should just walk up to her tonight and tell her.” He shrugged. “Act like you’re surprised to see her here.”

Vanessa’s gaze went straight from his face to the camera behind him. The message in that was clear. He’d just said that for footage that could be aired on the show. Plus, the cameras would follow after her to capture any interaction she had with Brooke.

“Or you could just wait until you’re home again.” He took a drink of his ice water. There was one at each place setting. “Honesty’s probably the best policy here.”

She nodded. “You’re right. I haven’t done anything wrong, anyway. In fact, I think maybe Brooke and I can help you.”

“Help me?” He must be missing something here. “With what?”

“You and Justin need to just have a nice conversation, work everything out.” Vanessa shrugged. “I’ve been thinking…” Uh-oh. This didn’t sound good.

“Maybe if you issued an apology, took the first step, it would be good for your brand.”

This time, Heath was the one glancing nervously at the camera. He really didn’t want the show airing Vanessa’s suggestion that he apologize to Justin. Not along with some sort of refusal from him to do so. That would be the worst thing he could do.

So, he decided to make a statement for the record. “Here’s what I did wrong. I hired a shady company-a company, I should add, that was referred by at least four of my colleagues. Nobody knew what this company was doing. Yet despite all these other companies using the same firm for their startups, I was the one thrown under the bus for their behavior. As if I’d done something deliberately.”

Vanessa was looking off to the side, and after a quick assessment, he realized she was noticing there were others at the table with them. Others who were listening to what he was saying.

“Sometimes we harm others without even meaning it.” She stared down at her glass, and he wondered if she was speaking from personal experience. “Taking accountability for our part in the damage can help heal those wounds a little.”

He didn’t respond. It felt like she wasn’t on his side right now, but he knew she was just trying to help.

“I’m not saying you should admit wrongdoing.” Vanessa spoke in a voice that couldn’t easily be heard by others at the table, although he had no doubt it was picked up on her mic pack. “I’m saying that sometimes an apology breaks the ice. Next thing you know, the other person is apologizing, too.”

He started thinking about that, processing what she was saying. But before he could respond, a voice blared out over the speakers placed around the room. Someone was standing at the podium, ready to make announcements.

That someone was Brooke.