Nothing to Hide

FIVE

FIVE

Jail wasn’t on her sightseeing list.

The cops had their work cut out for them. Dealing with such an influx of people took time. Other than the noise and the sick-scented stale air, the experience was a blur.

Scraping together change took time. Most of it went on tracking down the number of the Grand Hotel and trying to convince the receptionist that she really did know Astrid. Yes, uh huh, she did… even though she was drawing a blank on the young woman’s last name.

Talking on the phone wasn’t easy in a room of drunks. Especially when she was one of them. By the end of the exhausting episode, Roxie had sobered up some.

The call was easy in comparison to the experience of walking up to the front desk where Astrid waited. The blonde assistant didn’t say a word, not a single word while the cop guy took Roxie through the process required to cut her loose.

She put on her necklace and started for the front door, assuming they were leaving, but didn’t get more than a couple of steps. Astrid hurried over to urge her in a different direction.

“This way.”

Astrid crowded her through a side door, down a blah grey hallway to an exit. It wasn’t unlike leaving the studio, except an Escalade awaited them this time… Oh, and it was beginning to get light out.

Bundled inside, the vehicle started to move before Astrid closed the door. Despite the tinted windows, daylight still managed to hurt her eyes.

“I need to get my emergency credit card to bail out—”

“Your friends and their friends will be taken care of.”

Astrid’s cold, curt tone was expected… justified. They’d only known each other for a day. Great first impression. Hmm. No wiggle room. Astrid was young but already a pro at playing the disapproving principal.

In this production, Roxie was the naughty schoolgirl. “I’m sorry.” Apologizing was the right thing to do. “Things got out of hand.”

“Crimson is in the press… for all the wrong reasons… again.”

Lomond put it to the world that he had nothing to hide and wasn’t debauched. Then she’d gone out and started a riot on the doorstep of his club.

Oh, wasn’t she a treat?

“It wasn’t meant to be… we were going for dinner and drinks… I didn’t know there would be so many people.”

“Why did you leave the hotel?” Astrid asked. “If I’d known you were going to be slippery, I’d have put security on your door.” The woman focused straight ahead. “Usually women have to be torn away from Mr. Lomond’s hospitality. They don’t leave voluntarily.”

“I guess I’m not a usual woman,” Roxie said. There were probably a lot of ways in which she wasn’t like one of Lomond’s women. “I went to see my friends. Did you think I’d just sit around in a hotel room alone all day and all night? What was I supposed to do? I didn’t know I was breaking any rules. Winning the contest wasn’t supposed to be a jail sentence, was it? I don’t do well caged.”

Something that had been reinforced to her while “enjoying” last night’s accommodation.

“We haven’t received your contracts,” Astrid said.

“That’s not my fault. They’re on the table in my room. No one came looking for them. Was I supposed to knock on every door in the hotel until I found whoever wanted them?”

“Og thinks you’re going to be trouble.”

Roxie sighed and settled back. “I don’t know what that means.”

“The wrong kind of trouble, he says. Exactly the kind of trouble Mr. Lomond doesn’t need.”

What kind of an asshole…? Why did people make judgments about those they didn’t know? Superior sonofabitch no doubt. Lomond sure liked to surround himself with uptight people.

Folding her arms, Roxie shifted to get a better view of Astrid’s profile. “Does this Og plan to say that to my face?”

On glancing her way for the first time, Astrid became a little less severe. “You don’t want to talk to Ogilvie. No one messes with him.”

“If he doesn’t want to mess with me, maybe he shouldn’t go around casting aspersions behind my back… Who is he anyway?”

“Mr. Lomond’s most trusted advisor.”

“Can’t be that good at his job if he’s telling Lomond I’m trouble. Og doesn’t do very thorough research, does he? Seems he jumps to conclusions. All the wrong conclusions.”

Vacant, Astrid blinked a couple of times. “You refused to sign the contracts—”

“Without reading them. That’s sensible.”

“Snuck out of the hotel—”

“I walked out like everyone else does,” Roxie said. “I’m not Lomond’s prisoner.”

“You fought with a security guard—”

“I argued with him,” Roxie said, raising a straight finger before folding her arms again. “And he was rude.”

“You started a riot outside his club.”

“I didn’t start the riot.” Roxie waved a dismissive hand. “I was just… an un-instigating, totally passive participant.”

“You got arrested.”

Filling her lungs, Roxie prepared to fight the charge, except… yeah. “Okay, I’ll give you that one.” She released the fortifying air. “If I’m that much trouble, why didn’t you say to hell with me? You didn’t have to come and bail me out. You could’ve left me there. I’m sure there’s something sneaky in the small print, some loophole you could’ve exploited.”

“That’s what Og told Mr. Lomond.”

Roxie nodded once. “Good. First smart piece of advice I’ve heard him give… I would’ve said to hell with me.”

“Mr. Lomond doesn’t retreat from challenges.”

Hit by offense, Roxie forced her arms back to push herself upright. “A challenge? Is that what the asshole called me?”

Astrid squirmed in her seat and averted her gaze.

No way she’d give up just because the assistant was uncomfortable. Being such a hot topic of conversation, there should be plenty to say about it.

“Mr. Lomond isn’t… I’d never use that word to describe him.”

Roxie scoffed, dragging her attention to the window. “That’s ‘cause you work for him,” she muttered. “He can’t fire me.”

“He’s dedicated to his work. He’s a serious person.”

“A serious person?” Roxie said, spitting out a burst of laughter. Hilarious! Lomond? A serious person? Yeah, right. “Playboy of the century? Yeah, I can see that about him… Uh huh, totally… He’s sure serious about his own hubris.” She couldn’t resist whispering, “Asshole.”

“Mr. Lomond is… he is…”

The pretty assistant puffed up and moved with a little more purpose, though it was clear she didn’t know what to do with it. Roxie couldn’t see Astrid’s face, but the woman was blushing, without a doubt.

Blushing and bluster. They were screwing. Had to be. Playboy of the century probably screwed everything in a skirt that he stumbled across.

Roxie set a discerning eye on Astrid. “It’s never a good idea to screw your boss.” Astrid’s eyes and mouth widened. “Don’t worry, honey, we’ve all done it. It’s something about the power… frowned upon these days for sure. As it should be, too many people a***e their power. But when they look like Lomond, I can see how you could get sucked in… You’ve gotta see past the cut of his fancy suit and the perfect hair. A guy like that isn’t capable of loving anything as much as he loves himself.”

“Mr. Lomond is a thorough and considerate employer. Why would you accept the prize if you despise him?”

“I don’t despise him.” Roxie shrugged. “I just know his type.”

“So you’re putting him in a box… like you think Og did with you.”

Their eyes met.

Young and smart. Impressive. Maybe, one day, Lomond would see past the perkiness and give the beautiful woman a little respect too. Except, hmm, yeah, Astrid was right. She’d judged Lomond by his reputation. In her defense, there was more of his than hers. Roxie didn’t have internationally renowned status, she was shiny new, and already Lomond’s people were putting her in a box.

“Touché.” Roxie smiled. “Okay, you think I’m talking out my a*s, that’s fine. We’ll ignore his press, ignore everything that’s ever been written about him, ignore every report.”

“The media have an agenda.”

Sinking back in the seat, Roxie closed her tired eyes. “Everyone has an agenda,” she said, opening one eye a little to peek at Astrid. “That’s what I was trying to tell you. Men especially, they usually have two motives, and at least one of them will be related to their cock.” Her eyes sank closed again as her lips stretched in response to the innuendo. “And, honey, if it’s a c**k that belongs to you, it’s your responsibility to own its priorities.”

“There isn’t much time for… men.” The squirming was back again, it was in Astrid’s voice. The woman seriously lacked confidence. “We’re on the road a lot.”

“You’re young though, right?” Roxie wriggled to get more comfortable. Exhaustion was beginning to weigh her down. “Or does Lomond have the secret to eternal youth too?”

“I’m twenty-three,” Astrid said. “I’ve worked for Mr. Lomond since I left college. I interned for Tibbs for two summers before that.”

“I don’t know who Tibbs is,” Roxie said and yawned. “I think I’ll sleep for twenty-four hours and then avail myself of the hotel gym… I am allowed to use the gym, right?”

“I think so… We’ll have to check with Ballard.”

“You keep talking about people I’ve never met like I should know them.”

“We get pretty insular… Sometimes we forget there’s a world beyond Crimson.”

“A whole universe,” Roxie said, almost losing the words to another yawn. Covering her mouth, she exhaled a whine. “Sorry, that was rude.”

“Didn’t you sleep in jail?”

Roxie was a big believer in the value of experience and wasn’t ashamed of her run in with LAPD’s finest.

“Never been to jail, have you?” That tease lingered in the air. “You promise my friends will be free?”

“They’re already on their way back to their hotel.”

Astrid was thorough. Maybe she’d learned that from Lomond or maybe she was eager to maintain her position.

Breathing out, Roxie couldn’t think anymore. It had been a strange couple of days. She needed to reboot.