The Demise by Diane Moody Page B

she thought I was just another one of Mr. Lanham’s bimbos . . . as if ?”
    “Well, you do have that blonde thing going for you.”
    “Hey!”
    He smiled again. “I meant that as a compliment.”
    “Sure you did.”
    “Back up a minute. Donella thought you were just another one of Mr. Lanham’s bimbos. Inferring there had been many others before you?”
    “Hey, don’t include me! I am not, nor have I ever been a bimbo.”
    “My apologies. I didn’t mean to infer that you were. But tell me, did she expound on these other women? She didn’t tell me much about that in my interrogation with her. Did she mention any names? Or what relationship they had with Lanham?”
    “No, not really. Though I’m pretty sure some of them might have been the girls he always invited on his yacht.”
    Matt snapped his fingers. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about those girls. When we were on the water tower last night, you started to tell me about them before we . . . got distracted.”
    Julie remembered the moment when Matt took her into his arms and kissed her. She couldn’t help grinning as the familiar blush crept across his face and warmed his cheeks. “Distracted, huh? Is that what you city boys call it?”
    He scratched behind his ear. “Staying on topic here . . . by the pictures on Mr. Lanham’s office walls, I’d say most of these girls look like they might work at Hooters or somewhere like that?”
    “Right. Or even your Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.”
    “Got it.”
    “You know the type.”
    “Yeah,” he said. “Though some would use the term ‘bimbos’ to describe them.”
    “Well, there you go.”
    “So when Mr. Lanham hired you, Donella thought you were one of his bimbos, and for that reason she didn’t like you?”
    “Exactly.”
    “Go on. What else did she say?”
    “I assured her I was certainly not one of his bimbos, and let her know I had set him straight the first time he placed a hand on my knee.”
    “When did he do that?”
    “Oh, early on. I think it was after the first commercial I did as the Lanham’s Girl. He was really pleased with how the commercial came out, and wanted to thank me.”
    “And he thought he could do that by placing his hand on your knee. Interesting fellow. How exactly did you set him straight?”
    She leveled a gaze at him. “I’ll be honest. I was tempted to ad lib that scene in Legally Blonde when Reese Witherspoon’s professor-boss makes a move on her. When she realizes what he’s doing, she—” Julie caught herself.
    “She what?”
    “Um, let’s just say she tells him what she thinks of him in rather colorful language, if you will, then makes an exit.”
    Matt smiled. “What did you say to Lanham?”
    “I told him the next time he tried something like that, I would file a sexual harassment complaint and wouldn’t hesitate to round up all those other girls I’d seen him with and invite them to join me.”
    “What did he say to that?”
    Julie snickered. “He laughed! But not in a bad way. He said I was the first one who’d ever rebuffed his advances, and that he actually admired the fact that I stood on my convictions. Can you imagine? And right then and there, he promised he’d behave himself around me. And he did. He treated me with respect from that day on.”
    “Good for you. That took guts.”
    “No kidding. And the crazy thing is, I’ve been able to use that whole scenario with him as a motivation for roles I’ve had on stage. I just walk myself back through it, and it always puts me in the right place, mentally.”
    “Proving yet again that the world’s a stage for Julie Parker.”
    “But of course. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Chapter 11
     
    “Hey, do you want more coffee?”
    “Sure.” He handed her his empty mug. “What else did Donella talk to you about this morning?”
    “Oh, yeah,” she said, filling their mugs then suggesting they go sit on the sofa. She propped her feet on the coffee table