He might not have, except he needed air.
“What was that for?” he asked, delightedly trying to catch his breath.
Her thumbs stroked the sides of his mouth gently. “That’s for making me laugh even when you’re annoyed and sad.”
This was a pretty good assessment of his emotions. Luke rubbed her waist and smiled. “Are you sure it’s not for how fine I looked in that towel?”
“That, too. I don’t think I’ve been jealous of a man before.”
“You mean Sven and his not-very-magic hands?”
She laughed at his imitation of Sven’s accent. “His hands
were
all over you.”
“I’m sorry you were stuck here for that nonsense.”
“It wasn’t bad. Christie’s recruits did make the place pretty. And sunset was nice.” Her mouth crooked with mischief. “Sven’s skills can’t be as bad as you claim. I think you dozed through that bit.”
He searched her eyes, which only looked happy. The mood between them was warm and easy. Maybe it was time to broach a few of the trickier facts he’d been withholding.
“A.J., there are a couple things I’ve been meaning to tell you . . .”
Naturally, her phone vibrated. She dug it out of her pocket. “Sorry, I need to take this. It might be important. Hey, Dad. What’s going on?”
Luke stood close enough to hear Parker Hoyt’s response. “Check your feed. A new story about Luke is trending on Twitter.”
A.J. swiped it onto her screen. “Well, that was fast.”
“What?” Luke asked.
She read the headlines aloud to him. “‘Rumored Romance Heating Up for Luke Channing and Costar.’ ‘Christie James Gets Naked with Real Life Beau.’ Shit. There are pictures.”
She turned the phone to show him. Though he and Christie weren’t naked in the shots, they did make the massage look more blissful than it was. His mouth pulled sideways with wry humor. His staff would be pleased to see how well their decorations photographed. Between the twinkly lights and the candles, the effect was fabulous.
“Wait a second,” he said. “I thought you confiscated Wilhelmina and Sven’s phones.”
“I did.” She frowned as she considered the screen again. “The angle is wrong for either of them to have snapped these.” She shifted position to recreate what it must have been through the viewfinder—just inside the archway from the house. This seemed to confirm a guess for her. “I
thought
Eliza was acting squirrely when she showed up. I chalked it up to seeing her boss half naked, but I suppose she was concealing the camera behind the outer layer of her sweater set.”
“Not Eliza,” he said, dismayed by A.J.’s conclusion.
“Your PA is the likeliest choice. No one else came by that I saw.” She brought the phone to her ear again. “Dad, I think we know who leaked the story.”
Luke was no longer close enough to eavesdrop.
“Really,” A.J. responded after a pause. “You’re sure?” She listened for what felt like a very long minute. “Okay, I’ll relay what you found and see what Luke wants to do. I’ll call you later with updates.”
She slid the phone away and stared into space for a few moments. Her face was serious but not alarmed. Then again, who knew what it would take to panic her? When she pinched her lip between two fingers, Luke lost patience.
“What did your dad find out?” he asked.
“He traced the buyer for the $10,000 Erté hanging on Eliza’s wall. The auction house lists the purchaser as Christie James’s manager, but the actual funds came from James’s account. So either her manager is writing checks without her knowledge, or your costar gave your PA an extremely generous gift.”
“Christie controls that kind of thing,” Luke said. “No one signs stuff on her behalf.”
“Then the Erté could have been a payoff. The date of the purchase was shortly before Eliza came to work for you. Remember the salon Eliza used to do PR for? Christie James was one of their prize clients. They could have met each other there.”
“So . . . what? Christie planted Eliza on my staff? Why? To be her personal mole?”
“That’s how it looks to me.”
Luke rubbed his jaw and tried to consider A.J.’s theory dispassionately. “I guess she could have been worried about the security of her role in the
Final
films. She might have wanted advance notice if we decided to kill off her character or something.”
“The security of her role in the
Final
films isn’t the only thing she’s paranoid about.”
“Well, I know she doesn’t want to be outed, but she can’t be so desperate
she’d
be behind the attacks. She’s not capable of mowing down that girl!”
He realized as he said it that he wasn’t a hundred percent certain. That was a shocking thought: that someone he worked with might be a heartless killer.
A.J. didn’t seem offended by his outburst. “You may be right. All I know is I’d like to have a chat with both women.”
“Not alone,” he responded instantly.
“I won’t bully them. Just ask a few questions.”
“I mean I want to be there too. Christie is my colleague. And Eliza’s my employee. I have a right to know what they’re doing behind my back.”
A.J. cocked her head at him. He sensed her weighing the pros and cons. “Okay. We’ll tackle Christie first. Swing at someone our own size, so to speak. If she won’t provide satisfactory answers, we’ll try Eliza.”
He’d have guessed she’d start with the weaker link. A.J. read the assumption in his expression. “I said we’d tackle Christie
first
. I don’t promise not to swing at your PA at all.” She paused to scan him up and down. “You have to put on real clothes. You’re too distracting in that robe.”
Luke did his best to repress his grin. A.J. meant he distracted
her
. Christie wouldn’t have cared if he questioned her stark naked.
*
The actress was in her room on the second floor. She’d changed into Hugh Hefner-style silk pajamas in baby blue paisley. The things were adorable, and looked comfy. Because it wasn’t why they were there, A.J. squashed her urge to ask where she’d bought them. This was no time to start thinking like a girl. Despite appearances, Christie James was no softie.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.
“You bought an expensive painting for Luke’s PA,” A.J. repeated patiently. “Right around the time she interviewed for this job. We’ve traced the purchase. I’d like you to explain why you gave her such a generous gift.”
“Who knows?” Christie tossed off impatiently. “You say she worked at the salon I used. Maybe she did me a favor. I suppose I was grateful.”
“It was six months ago.
I’d
remember a favor I was ten-grand grateful for.”
“Well, you don’t earn what I do, do you?”
A.J. fought a smile at this undeniable fact. “I don’t,” she admitted. “And neither does Eliza. Perhaps that’s why she was willing to snap pictures of you and Luke to post online.”
Christie’s eyes flashed with anger. “You don’t have a shred of proof she did that at my behest!”
“I can get proof,” A.J. said, confident of it. “How many emails and texts has she sent you using Luke’s house network? He pays for that, you know. Were you always careful about what you said? Was she? Or did she try to please you by being an informative spy?”
“His employees have a right to privacy!”
“I’m sure he usually honors it. Luke is a standup guy. The thing is, a nineteen-year-old girl has died. If he can help find who did it, he’ll say to hell with Eliza’s privacy.”
She appreciated Luke not contradicting her. He was a little distance from her and Christie, his shoulder propped on the wall next to the hall doorway. He was giving A.J. space to work—staying out of it until it seemed he could contribute.
That time was now, she guessed.
“Just tell us what you know,” he said gently.
“There’s nothing to tell,” Christie protested. Her demeanor cracking, she flapped her hands toward A.J. “She’s blowing a simple gift out of proportion.”
“You see how it looks, though.” Luke pushed calmly off the wall, Good Cop personified. “You buy Eliza’s loyalty. She sends proof of our ‘relationship’ to the world. Maybe you’re involved with the
Luke and Christie Forever
folks, keeping those rumors that we’re an item fresh. You could have overheard that Jerry and I were eating at Michelson’s. You could have told the shippers where to find us.”
“I didn’t!” she denied. “It’s nothing to do with that!”
“What is it to do with then?”
Christie’s expression tightened, but she knew she was on the ropes. “It’s Naomi. I’m in love with her, and
you
won’t leave her alone.”
This revelation startled Luke as much as it did A.J. “What are you talking about? Naomi and I haven’t been together for a long time. Hell, her thing with Tommy Hazard overlapped the one with you.”
“Oh, but you’re
besties
, aren’t you? Always calling each other. Always each other’s backup date. Always saying how
grateful
you are that you’ve stayed mates. That stupid rocker was nothing compared to you. ‘Total rubbish in bed,’ she says. You, though, she still looks at you like you’re worth eating up. Don’t you see? I had to know if she was going to cheat on me!”
Luke gaped at her. “That’s crazy.”
“Don’t talk to me about crazy,” she spat back. “You don’t know the first thing about it. Everyone falls for you.”
Her pretty eyes spilled over. A.J. thought the tears were real but wouldn’t have bet money. Luke being who he was, he couldn’t help expressing compassion.
“Christie, can’t you count your own blessings? Looks, talent—”
“Hush,” A.J. said, holding up a hand for quiet. “I heard something.”
Somewhat amazingly, both her companions fell silent. The noise had come from behind her—a muffled gasp, she thought. Though she had a fair idea who’d made it, her thumb flipped up the tab on her holster before she turned the knob on the adjoining guest room’s door.
Better to look over-suspicious than be unprepared to draw.
As she’d anticipated, Naomi was standing there. She jerked at being discovered but didn’t deny she’d been listening in. Her gaze went straight to her girlfriend.
“Why?” she asked. “Why do you have to be so jealous?”
*
Tensions must have been building between the couple for a while. The scene that played out between them wasn’t one A.J. wanted to witness. She stayed just long enough to make sure the fight wouldn’t include any more useful surprises. Then she nudged Luke into the corridor. As she pulled the door shut behind them, Christie and Naomi were yelling at each other.
“You always make everything about you!” they heard Naomi accusing.
“At least I shut my knees occasionally!” Christie fired back.
“Sheesh,” Luke said. “I didn’t expect that to be the explanation.”
“Me, either,” A.J. confessed. “Christie hides her crazy well.”
Luke wagged his head. “Actresses.”
A.J. snorted at the way he said it.
“I know,” he said. “Whatever Christie claims about everyone loving me, I’ve got my share of eccentricity.”
Eliza had the bad luck of turning the corner ahead of them. This hall wasn’t one of the house’s public areas. Aside from visiting Christie, the PA had no reason to be there. Also to her misfortune, she wasn’t as facile a liar as her clandestine employer.
“Uh,” she said, jolting short in her tracks. “I, um, just wanted to make sure Chr— Miss James was happy with the staff’s efforts this evening.”
“You can drop the act,” Luke said wearily. “We know all about your and Christie’s arrangement . . .”
“YOU have to throw Christie out!” Naomi cried passionately. “She spied on you. And me. She planted Eliza in your household one whole week after our first date. We hadn’t even slept together. She’s totally off her trolley!”
Naomi had knocked before bursting into Luke’s rooms . . . but only just. Luke couldn’t blame Szymanski for not preventing her entry. Even barefoot and clad in a thin silk robe, Naomi in a rage was daunting.
Luke gave A.J.’s coworker credit for having the stones to follow the model in. It took even more nerve to argue against her demand.
“Luke can’t throw her out,” Szymanski said. “We’re trying to lull the Listie shipper into thinking she and Luke really are together. We shouldn’t screw up that plan—no matter how much your girlfriend deserves ejection.”
“Ex,” Naomi corrected, her voice rising dangerously. “Ex, ex,
ex!
”
“Right,” Szymanski said, at which Naomi burst into tears.
Because Szymanski’s eyes widened in alarm, Luke knew it was up to him to provide comfort.
“Hey, hey,” he soothed, pulling Naomi against him. His chest was bare. She’d caught him in a pair of pajama bottoms, which he’d hoped would be sufficient coverage for sneaking to A.J.’s room. Probably he was lucky he wore that much. As his old friend sobbed, she clung with surprising strength. “We’ll put you in a different room, far, far away from her.”
“She wants me to forgive her. She says if I loved her, I’d understand what she did. I don’t think I do love her, though. I mean, the sex is terrific, but I never fancied her as much as she did me. Jesus, what’s wrong with me?”
Luke rubbed her back helplessly. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with you.”
“Why couldn’t I fall for you when we were together?”
“Um, because I’m not the right guy for you?”
Naomi pushed back and wiped her eyes. “You should have been. Obviously, I have shite taste in partners. I thought Christie was an improvement over Tommy Hazard. And I went with him because he was hot on stage.”
“Nobody makes perfect choices.” Luke helped her dry her cheeks, secretly amused that her admitting she hadn’t fallen for him stung his ego. He hadn’t been in love with her either. To be honest, A.J. was the only woman he’d tumbled for that hard. “You and I are better as friends.”
“We are.” Naomi petted his bare chest, tearing up again sentimentally.
“So you think you can stand Christie staying here a bit longer?”
“
I
could leave.”
“No, you can’t,” Luke and Szymanski said simultaneously.
“You can’t,” Luke repeated, stroking her super short curls around her skull. “You’ve already been a target. We don’t want this nutcase zeroing in on you again. Stay here where Alexandra’s people can keep an eye on you.”