Beauty and Her Boss

After Mrs. Kupps departed, Gabrielle turned to him. “Now, what were you saying about the fund-raiser?”

“I don’t think people are going to attend.”

“Why would you think that? Are my plans that bad?”

He shook his head. “It isn’t anything you’ve done.” Surely he didn’t have to spell this out for her. “I’m the problem.”

“Oh.” Her good mood seemed to have diminished a bit. She sat there and stared off at the shimmering ocean for a moment. When she turned to him again, she had a glint in her eye. “Actually, I think all of your notoriety will work to our advantage.”

He had a feeling he wouldn’t like where she was going with this line of thought. But it was too late, he’d already been drawn down the rabbit hole. “How’s that?”

“You forget that in addition to the car a

ccident, you also have a movie being released next month.”

“What about it?”

“I couldn’t sleep last night, so I turned on the television. And guess what I saw?”

He sighed. “I don’t know, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”

“I saw the promo for your movie. Your name and face were all over the ad. Your movie sponsors aren’t backing down from using your brand and you shouldn’t, either.”

If only people still thought he was that man. Now they all questioned him and his actions—including himself. “I’m not that man anymore.”

“Which makes people all the more curious about you—”

“I’m not going to be some sort of freak show for them to come here and stare at.”

“Relax.” She reached across the table and placed her hand on his. “I promise you, it won’t be like that. I believe that people will come out for the event. They will want to get behind a great cause because so many lives have been touched in one way or another by breast cancer.”

When she put it that way, he felt guilty for making such a big deal about his circumstances. Some people had it much worse. “So you’ll make sure to keep the emphasis of the event on the reason for it and not on the sponsor?”

“Um, yes.” Worry clouded her eyes. “Does that mean you don’t want to be mentioned at all?”

“That is what I’d hoped.”

She worried her bottom lip but didn’t respond.

“Go ahead and say it.”

“It’s just that without your name, I don’t know how to make the event stand out.”

He reminded himself that raising funds would help save other families from having to go through the pain, the uncertainty and, for some, the loss of a loved one, like he’d experienced. And when it came down to it, if using his name would help raise awareness of the event, didn’t he owe that to his mother’s memory?

“Okay. You can use my name, if you think it will help.”

“I do.” Gabrielle pulled out a legal pad from a colorful bag she had on the ground next to her chair. There were handwritten notes on the top sheet. It was a long list. It appeared they were going to be here a while. She sent him a sideways glance. “You aren’t going to change your mind after we get this all started, are you?”

He knew once news of the fund-raiser was out there that his world would get a lot smaller, with paparazzi hanging from trees and sneaking onto the property. It would be chaos and he’d want to back out. “No. I’ll manage.”

“Good.” A smile eased the worry lines bracketing her beautiful face. “And I think they are really going to have a great time.”

He filled his coffee cup, then added a dash of sugar. He’d forgotten how much he enjoyed sitting outside in the morning with the bright sunshine and the cool breeze. He could feel Gabrielle’s gaze on him. She was anxious to hear his thoughts, but he didn’t think that she’d like what he was about to say.

As he stirred the coffee, his gaze skimmed down over the printout that Gabrielle had given him the night before. She had certainly paid attention to details and made certain that there was plenty of entertainment.

He took a drink of the dark brew and then returned the cup to the saucer. “You do realize that you have so many events listed that it dilutes the entire event.”