Fade Into You by Kate Dawes Page A

opportunity for me to appear completely idiotic and useless. But there was no way I was going to let that happen.
    Without missing a beat I said, “With all due respect, Mr. Dalton, I appreciate being asked for my input, but Mr. Anderson is the pro here.” I said it with a smile and a glance toward Kevin Anderson.
    Luckily, Kevin picked up where I left off and launched into his closing argument in favor of our client.
    Saved by a little wit. It doesn’t happen often for me, but when it does, it always seems to happen when it really counts.
    This is the part where you’d think I would have gotten control of myself and paid attention to what was being said. But as Kevin spoke, I stared at Max. Staring was okay; after all, he could have thought I was simply watching his reaction to Kevin’s spiel. But that wasn’t at all what I was doing.
    I’m a Midwestern girl. Fairly normal. Pretty tame, actually. I’m not a virgin, and I’ve had my share of sex. I’ve never watched pornography, though, which made it even more strange that such images were in my head. They were like the flash scenes in a movie, the kind where the light flickers and increases and you catch a couple of seconds of the action. In this case, the action was me, facedown, with Max behind me…the kind of fucking that rips the sheets right off the bed.
    The few times he glanced at me, my paranoia worried that he could see what I was thinking. Crazy, I know.
     
     
     
    When the meeting was over, Max rose and came around the desk. He shook Kevin’s hand, placing his other hand on the back of Kevin’s arm. I’d learned in a Psych class that it was a show of power and dominance. I wasn’t surprised to see it in a Hollywood meeting.
    Max looked at me. “Ms. Rowland, it was a pleasure meeting you.”
    “Thank you, Mr. Dalton.”
    I reached to offer and handshake as he was saying, “Please call me Max.”
    His hand was large and strong, and he gave a firm yet warm handshake. If I wanted to be melodramatic about it, I would say a tiny bolt of electricity jumped between our hands. But nothing like that happened. The smooth firmness and inviting warmth of his hand was thrilling enough.
    “Okay, Max. Please call me Olivia.”
    He smiled, said, “Olivia it is,” and we all turned toward the doors.
    Kevin went through first, stepping out into the reception area, where he quickly struck up a conversation with Max’s secretary. “It seems like we talk on the phone almost every day…”
    Their conversation faded out as I felt Max’s hand at the small of my back. He leaned over my shoulder, his mouth close to my ear. “Nice dodge in there.”
    I turned my head. “What do you mean?”
    “When I asked what you thought. Very nicely handled, Olivia.”
    “I don’t—” I started to lie but he interrupted me.
    “It’s okay.” He laughed. “Really. I’m just giving you a hard time. We’ll talk soon, I’m sure.”
    I felt the blood rush to my face. Great. Blushing in a professional setting.
    Kevin faced us again and thanked Max once more for the meeting and I couldn’t have been happier that we were on our way out of there.
    The ride back to the office from the studio was a short one. As Kevin drove he kept saying he thought the meeting went well and that Jacqueline Mathers, our actress client, was almost sure to get the part and that meant a big deal to the agency.
    At a stop light he looked over at me. “By the way, that was great what you did in there. I appreciate it.”
    “What’s that?”
    “The way you deferred to me. I mean, you’re familiar enough with the issue to comment, otherwise I wouldn’t have brought you along at all, but…well, thanks.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    I’d been a little worried that he knew the real reason I had deferred to him. Max had sure picked up on it. But Kevin thought I was just being a good assistant and letting the boss handle the matter. Good enough.
     
     
     
    The rest of the day went well, though