for the show,” Russell said. “I can see the headlines now. Respectable woman pushes rogue Kiwi playboy off roof in hopes of finding a better match.”
Gail had to laugh. “I won’t push you … yet.”
“I guess I better step it up in the charm department,” he said.
Before she could answer, Kat was back and taking her by the arm. “Chat on camera, guys. We need you on the roof now.”
They were escorted to a private elevator and soon were on the rooftop helipad, where a chopper waited for them. “Is this for us?”
“Surprise,” Russell said. “I thought an evening ride over Manhattan would be nice.”
“I am surprised,” Gail said. “I’ve always wanted to do this.”
“Good. Also, cameras can’t come with us, so we will have some time alone to get to know one another.”
Gail didn’t say anything else as their microphones were removed and they were escorted to the chopper. She saw the cameraman at a distance, no doubt filming them so they’d have something to show later, but she was relieved that they were going to be alone.
Russell gallantly helped her into the chopper and was seated next to her a short time later. He handed her some headphones, which she donned, and then she adjusted her microphone. “I’m sure I look pretty glamorous with these on my head.”
“You look great,” he said.
In a matter of minutes, they were in the air and flying over Manhattan. Russell’s voice was soft and intimate in her ears.
“When I first came to the States, I wanted to make my mark here. We started in Vegas because that suited the Kiwi Klubs’ reputation, but I wanted to own a building in New York City,” he said.
She looked over at him. “How did you get started?”
“With a small run-down hotel in Sydney,” he said. “I won it in a high-stakes poker game.”
“I though you were a New Zealander from the South Island?”
“I am. I left home when I was sixteen and never looked back,” he said.
“I didn’t see any of that on the internet when I was reading up on you,” she said. “I’m embarrassed to say, I only know the gossip I’ve read about you.”
He shrugged. “That’s the easy stuff to know.”
“But is it true?” she asked. “I’ve been in PR long enough to know that sometimes bad publicity can work in your favor.”
“Exactly,” he said. “I’m known for having rich and famous friends and for being a bit of a player, and that is exactly what my clientele wants.”
“So why change now?” she asked. “Is this more than a publicity stunt?”
“Of course it is. I’m not going to get married as a stunt,” he said.
“Many have done it before. Even if they weren’t just for show, marriages of convenience have been around for centuries.”
“I’d find it very convenient to have to look at you at breakfast every day,” he said in that flirty way of his.
“Me, too, but I need more sustenance than flash,” she said.
“Don’t we all. It’s easy to think that something or someone flashy has what you need, but after a short while you find that’s not true,” he said.
She glanced over at him. Surprised to hear something so … well, deep from him.
He arched an eyebrow at her. “I’m not just a playboy.”
She smiled at him. “You couldn’t be and be on the cover of Fortune magazine.”
“True. What about you?”
“Me?” she asked. “I’m not flashy at all. This is me at my most flashy.”
He chuckled. “I’m not shocked. You strike me as someone who is very sure of herself and where she is going.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “I love to have a plan and then execute it. But when I have to depend on someone else … well, let’s just say sometimes things get messed up.”
“Like this?”
She bit her lower lip. She didn’t want to lie to him, but then she had nothing to lose. Russell wasn’t the kind of guy she usually went for, so being brutally honest wasn’t going to cost her anything. “Yes, like this situation with you. I mean, I planned to go to the matchmaker and find the perfect guy. I have a checklist in my head with all his qualities.”
“And I don’t measure up?” he asked. “That’s not fair, Gail. You don’t know if I have those qualities yet.”
“You’re right. But you are flashy,” she said with a grin. “And I’m a bit afraid to risk getting to know the real man.”
“I can understand that. I’m coming at this from the opposite point of view. If you aren’t the woman I think you are … then I’m screwed.”
She laughed at how he’d said that. “I guess we both are.”
He reached over, took her hand in his and lifted it to his mouth, rubbing his lips over the back of her knuckles. “I don’t want that. Let’s start over. I’ll try to be more the man of your dreams and you can …”
“Yes?”
“Give me a chance and not judge me so harshly.”
“I will try. It’s one of my worst faults,” she said, liking the way her hand felt in his.
“What is?”
“Not being able to accept failure.”
“In others?” he asked, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand before slowly letting it go.
Chills spread up her arm, and she knew she wanted to keep touching him. It was unexpected. She didn’t know why and couldn’t really explain it, but there was something about Russell Holloway that made her forget about lists and plans.
“And in myself,” she said softly, almost to herself. But she knew he’d heard her because he nodded.
“I’ll try not to let you down,” he said.
And just like that, she was hooked on giving him a chance. She wanted to guard her emotions, to warn her heart to be careful where he was concerned, because her common sense told her there was more to Russell’s move than just his wanting to change. But she couldn’t help herself. For these next six weeks she wanted to be the kind of girl who’d allow herself to be caught up in a man. Even if she knew he was at his core a bad boy who would probably break her heart.
Russell knew that he was luckier than many men. He had his secrets
