long do you think it’ll take?”
“Hard to tell.” She closed the door behind them and then checked the doorknob to make sure it was locked. “Depends on how—What?”
He was trying to hide a smile but doing a poor job of it. “Nothing. You were saying…”
She stopped and frowned at him. “Come on. What?”
He absently shook his head. “You remind me of my sister. She always has to check the doors and stove twice before leaving the house.”
“I checked it once. That doesn’t make me neurotic,” she said, not sure which annoyed her more, the neurosis implication or being likened to his sister.
“I never accused you of being neurotic. Now if you always get a block away from your apartment and have to keep going back—”
“I did that only one time,” she blurted before she censored herself, and then as she turned back toward the elevator, muttered, “I thought I’d left the iron on.”
He laughed. “Didn’t mean to strike a nerve.”
“You didn’t.” As soon as she depressed the down button, the elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. He stood close, closer than was necessary in the empty car.
She breathed in slowly and deeply, tried to exhale without making too much noise, and stared straight ahead at the doors. His nearness meant nothing, of course. It wasn’t deliberate on his part, more an absence of thought. That certain knowledge didn’t stop her pulse from accelerating or her mouth from going totally dry.
Jack said nothing during the ride down to the lobby. Which suited Madison just fine. She didn’t trust herself to speak. Anyway, his thoughts had probably already strayed to whichever nubile young starlet he was meeting for dinner tonight.
Over the past couple of years he’d been linked to a number of actresses and models, from New York to Sweden. Nothing had seriously developed. As far as she knew. Obviously he subscribed to the variety-is-the-spice-of-life philosophy. But then again, who in their right mind believed the tabloids.
The doors opened to the lobby and its lush expanse of sea-foam-green carpeting, and he asked, “Need a ride?”
“Thanks, but I’m going the other way.”
His lips twitched. “How do you know where I’m going?” He put on his coat.
She sighed and turned up her collar in anticipation of the chilly fall air. “I like to walk or take the subway.”
“It’s cold out there.”
“I know.” She stopped at the front desk and dropped off the key. “Cold, dark and full of surprises.”
He looked warily at her as if she’d really creeped him out.
Grinning, she buttoned her blazer as they made their way to the door. “Good surprises, that make me want to stop and whip out my camera. The kind you miss when you’re riding in a car.”
“Right.”
She offered her hand. “I look forward to working with you, Jack.”
“Me, too.”
“Liar.” Laughing, she turned up her collar and headed home.
JACK SLID INTO THE BACKSEAT and leaned against the leather upholstery, watching her stride along Forty-sixth. No jacket, just her thin coat, even though it had to be only forty degrees.
“Where to, boss?” Dutch looked at him in the rearview mirror. “Your apartment?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” He’d have dinner, something disgustingly healthy his housekeeper had left in the refrigerator for him. Then watch some boring television. “Dutch, I’ve changed my mind.”
The young man’s eyes instantly met his. “Okay,” he said, disappointment in his voice. Probably thought his day wouldn’t be over yet. “Where to?”
“Drop me at the studio, and then go home.”
“But how will—”
“I think I remember how to hail a cab.” Hell, maybe he’d even walk the three miles and skip the treadmill tomorrow morning.
“But, boss—”
“Dutch, don’t argue.”
The man said nothing, only frowned and then concentrated on pulling the black Lincoln Town Car away from the curb and into traffic.
Jack sighed. He hadn’t meant to sound short. “So how are Jenny and the kids these days?”
“Noisy and expensive.” Dutch snorted. “The three of them are gonna land me in the poor house.”
Jack smiled. He’d known the man for five years, and the litany had been the same. But everyone who knew him also knew he lived and breathed for his family.
“Yep, don’t ever have girls, boss. Too high maintenance. I ought to send them to Catholic school. Make ’em wear uniforms. No more whining for designer jeans.”
“I doubt that would stop them. Well, maybe when they’re forty.”
“I won’t care then. They’ll be somebody else’s problem.”
Jack chuckled, his gaze lingering in Madison’s direction, but she’d already disappeared. Laying his head back, he briefly closed his eyes.
Saturday was going to be hell. Why had he ever agreed to this absurdity? How could people regard him as a serious newsman with his face spread across the pages of a magazine? He understood why so many celebrities had to accept that kind of exposure. They had to promote their new movies and themselves. He’d interviewed enough of them himself. Most of them didn’t like to do it, but they understood that the hype was part of the business.
He didn’t fall into that category. He just investigated and reported the news. Not that he did half the amount of investigation he’d like. His main job was to look good in front of the camera each morning, banter with his cohost and, yeah, subtly flirt with his female audience. He knew all that, and he’d played the game. But it was getting old. Fast.
Sighing, he brought his head up and pinched the bridge of his nose. His temples were starting to throb. Probably from the scotch. He didn’t drink often and generally not on an empty stomach. He should’ve offered to buy Madison dinner. Better than going back to his apartment and eating alone. Just like he did most nights. Something he normally preferred.
Not tonight, though.
He looked out the heavily tinted window and watched two young women chatting as they walked, one of them tugging at the leash of a black Great Dane, who seemed hell-bent on stopping at every trash receptacle and tree. Other pedestrians gave them a wide berth, dodging out of the way when the dog started sniffing too intimately.
Jack smiled. He didn’t see many big dogs in the city. People mostly kept smaller dogs, which made sense because of
