“Later,” she said.
He nodded once. “Got it.”
They finished dinner, conversation easy between them just like when they were Jenny and Josh. It only made him more certain that this thing between them was real, always had been, and it would build from there. He coaxed Claire into having a drink at his friend’s bar downtown. He’d reserved the private room on the third floor, a favorite place of his to take clients or friends. Occasionally a woman.
On the drive over, she snuggled against his side and filled him in on Blake.
“I told his agent he was in breach of contract, threatened with my lawyer, and Blake shows up two hours later drunk off his ass.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “That’s terrible.”
“Yup. And then today he showed up an hour late, hungover and snarling at everyone. He fired his assistant and then threw a fit that no one brought him his specialty coffee, which was what his assistant would have done if he hadn’t been fired.” She let out a long sigh. “He’s been harassing me about Josh too, saying the guy just wants me for publicity for his bar.”
“You didn’t tell him about me?”
“I don’t want anyone to know about you. They have enough to talk about with the Josh thing.”
“We should go public. It’s not fair to Josh. He’s been dodging the press and it stresses him out to have a crowd near him.”
“But he works at a bar. Isn’t he always in a crowd of people? Or at weddings?”
“He can handle the bar because there’s a barrier between him and other people, but it’s different when he steps outside and there’s a bunch of reporters. I imagine he sticks to the edges of the room at weddings.”
She sank further into the seat. “I don’t want people to know about us. It’ll ruin it. I just found you, and I want to keep us private. It’s especially important for the fans to keep the focus on Damon and Mia.” He didn’t like the way she let the press dictate her life, especially when his brother had to deal with the fallout.
He shifted to meet her eyes. “Forever?”
“No, not forever. For a while. Until I’m sure that we’re at a level that it doesn’t matter what the press says. And that everything is all set for the movie.” She sighed. “It’s better this way. You don’t understand what you’re in for.” Her voice dropped, sad and resigned. “It’s a nightmare.”
He tried to lighten the mood. “You don’t even know what you’re in for with all my Silicon Valley peeps. Talk about a nightmare.”
The corners of her mouth tilted up. “Oh yeah?”
“Oh yeah.” He played with a lock of her hair. “Computer bugs that’ll keep you up at night. Shareholder meetings that’ll put you to sleep.”
She wrapped an arm around his middle. “Tell me what you do. I read it’s something to do with sharing information.”
“Your Google fu powers are impressive.”
She laughed. He told her, explaining why he’d started the company and the technology’s uses all over the world. He also told her about the offers he’d had to buy his company, so she’d know that he could be flexible with where he lived and how he spent his time for a future with her. Though he didn’t state the future-with-her part out loud. He never laid all his cards on the table this early in the game.
“Impressive,” she said.
He dipped his head to whisper in her ear, “Now if you’ll just say that tonight when I drop my pants.”
She smacked his shoulder and laughed.
They were off to a flying start. A second start, actually, even better than the first because it was real.
Chapter Thirteen
Claire was a little nervous about the unexpected stop for a drink with Jake—she normally gave a heads-up ahead of her arrival and Frank scouted out the location. But, at the same time, she wanted to continue their date. She hated feeling like she had to stop having fun just because she was famous. It turned out that the bar was the Irish pub they’d stopped at on their second Jenny and Josh date. Jake described how to get to the private room on the third floor to both her and Frank, who was sitting up front with the driver.
“So I take it you know the owner?” she asked.
He laced his fingers with hers in that easy affectionate way he had. “My friend Marcus owns it. I was one of his original investors. He paid me back within the year, but I always get the VIP treatment.”
Okay, it would be okay. It was a controlled environment. He knew the owner. The room was reserved just for them, and she knew Frank would stick close.