Page 34 of Indescribable Love
“Oh.”
“And we still have to decide who’s going to break the news to him about the call this afternoon. Can I just yell ‘not it,’ and that be okay?” Then she laughed nervously. “Or…maybe something a little more mature?”
Juliette already knew how this call needed to go and what she needed to do. “I say we wait until Simon’s sitting down with us for lunch and then you tell him. If he starts to freak out, I’ll jump in and put his mind at ease.” Standing, she walked over to the kitchen island and began putting their meal together. “This is where I’m going to do what you’re all paying me to do. If this call gets out of hand today, I’ll smooth that over too.”
Nikki eyed her warily. “I don’t know how you’re going to convince Mick not to side with the producers, but I have faith in you. And it’s kind of like we’re both breaking the news to him, so…”
“Breaking the news to who?” Simon asked as he strolled into the room.
Juliette’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. His jaw was still scruffy, his hair was in wild disarray, and with the snug t-shirt and ripped jeans, he was too sexy for his own good.
Damn him.
If Nikki weren’t standing right there, Juliette could just walk right up to Simon and kiss him and tell him how good he looked, effectively starting her seduction. Unfortunately, they were not alone and they were about to drop some unpleasant news on him.
“Um…what?” Nikki said, putting slices of brioche bread on the plates. “What are you even talking about?”
Laughing softly, Simon came closer, took one of the plates, and began putting his own sandwich together. “I just heard you saying you were both going to break the news to him. I’m guessing you were talking about me unless you’re suddenly getting Juliette involved in something with Alex.”
“Maybe the ‘we’ I was referring to was me and Celia. Ever think of that?”
“Oh, uh…” Simon looked over at Juliette and she could tell he was embarrassed, but she could also tell that Nikki was stalling. So she threw herself on the grenade.
“Actually, Simon,” she began carefully. “Mick scheduled a call for you and all of us, along with the documentary producers this afternoon.” Pausing, she tried to gauge his reaction.
He didn’t say a word.
“You don’t have to worry,” she went on. “Any pushback they give you on certain topics, I will step in and tell them how this is going to go. I’ve got this.”
Still he said nothing.
“Simon?” Nikki prompted. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
He shrugged. “I’ve resigned myself to this,” he said casually, but Juliette and Nikki exchanged glances because neither of them was buying it. “All I can do is listen to what they have to say and hope they’ll show me the same courtesy.” Then he reached for the provolone cheese. “Do we have any mayo?”
So many questions were swirling in Juliette’s head, but she didn’t want to get into it right now. What she wanted was a few minutes alone on the phone with everyone to tell them all to back the hell off. That wasn’t going to happen and she knew she’d sound way more believable if Simon would just tell her the specifics of what he wanted avoided. Other than just saying he didn’t want his father mentioned, she was going into this blind. That told her that the likely reason was abuse, but…she hated not knowing for sure.
And how crappy would it be if that was the reason and I made him relive it just to settle my own damn curiosity?
Yeah, that would be awful.
Her only option was to go into this call with confidence and shut down anything even remotely referencing his childhood and his father.
As long as I come off sounding like a badass, I should be fine.
“If it’s okay with you guys, I’m going to take lunch over to the guest house and eat with Celia and Alex,” Nikki told them. “The call is at three, so I’ll be back over at 2:30 so we can go over anything we need to before we go live. Will that work?”
“Of course,” he replied with his usual smile. “Go and have lunch with your family. Tell them I said hi.”
And while that was a very Simon thing to say, it still felt a little off. The last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to it or delay Nikki’s leaving, so Juliette waited until she was out the door and she and Simon were sitting down to eat.
“How’s the music coming?” she asked to break the ice, but the look he gave her told her he knew exactly what she was trying to do.
“Really?” he asked, and it was the first time she caught a hint of sarcasm coming from him.
“What? I’m genuinely curious,” she said sweetly. “Plus, I want to be able to back you up if anyone asks what you’re working on.”
Tossing his sandwich down, he leveled her with a hard stare. It shouldn’t have been sexy, but it was.