When the passing traffic lessened and I could actually hear myself think, I punched SEND and started chewing nervously on my thumb as the phone rang. With shaky legs, I hopped up to sit on the decorative concrete wall that circled my office building.
“Hello?” Walker’s groggy voice filtered into my ears and I instantly flashed back to being onstage with him. And his incredible eyes.
Good Lord.
“Hello?” he asked again.
I cleared my throat before responding. “Walker? It’s Madison.”
What the hell was I supposed to say to him? What if he hadn’t even planned on asking me out? This had been a stupid idea.
“Madison!” His voice instantly cleared and he suddenly sounded chipper. “I’m so glad you called. Paige said she didn’t think you would. What changed your mind?”
“Uh, I don’t know?” I smacked my head with the palm of my hand.
He laughed, and it made me smile. “Okay, Sparkles. I’ll cut to the chase. Will you please let me take you to dinner tonight?”
“Tonight?” I almost choked, the balmy Southern California air suddenly feeling thick and suffocating.
“Yeah. Tonight. Why waste time? I want to see you.”
Still unable to wrap my head around the fact that Walker Rhodes was interested in me, I stuttered, “Why? You don’t even know me.”
The line was silent and I actually pulled the phone away from my ear to make sure our call hadn’t disconnected. W
hen I realized it hadn’t, I pressed it back against my head and waited for his response.
“I’d really like to,” he finally said. “Get to know you, that is. Let me take you to dinner. I can pick you up, or meet you there. Whatever makes you the most comfortable.”
Frustrated that I was being forced to do this to keep my job, I said tightly, “I’ll meet you there. I’d rather take my own car. What time and where?”
“Eight o’clock at Vine’s.”
I clenched my teeth, knowing how fancy a restaurant Vine’s was. It catered to the celebrities and always made their clientele comfortable, but it was ridiculously expensive. Dealing with the rich and famous all day long definitely helped fuel my need for normalcy at night. A place like Vine’s was somewhere I’d never normally frequent, not that I hadn’t eaten there before. I had. Many times. But truth be told, I always hated it. I wasn’t into the whole “see and be seen” lifestyle, and it made me uncomfortable.
Glancing down at my work attire, I was thankful I hadn’t worn jeans that day. My knee-length leopard print skirt that I’d paired with a long-sleeved black silk blouse would definitely work for dinner. Not to mention the killer black heels I sported. I wouldn’t have to go home and change if I needed to work late; I could just head straight there from the office.
“Madison? You know where it is, right? The one in the city, not the one in Santa Monica.”
I resigned myself to a night of uncomfortable opulence. “I know where it is. I’ll see you there.” Ending the call before he could say anything more, I immediately regretted that I hadn’t called him from my work phone. Now Walker Rhodes had my cell phone number.
Damn it.
I’d have to deal with that later.
Carefully, I hopped off the wall and thought about looking up the Vine’s website when I got back to my desk. It had been over a year since I’d last been there and I liked to be prepared, so I would check out their dinner menu online and have my order carefully picked out before I arrived. At least the fake dinner date would go quicker that way. No pesky details to hem and haw over.
I typed out a text message to Keri as I walked toward my building’s entrance.
GOT BLACKMAILED INTO GOING OUT WITH WALKER TONIGHT. JAYSON SAID IF I DIDN’T GO OUT WITH HIM HE’D FIRE ME. GOING TO VINE’S TONIGHT AT 8. KILL ME NOW.
My phone beeped with a text response as I entered the elevator and pressed the button for the eighth floor.
KILL YOU? I’LL KILL JAYSON. YOU KNOW THAT’S NOT LEGAL. IF HE FIRES YOU, I’LL HELP YOU SUE THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF HIM AND THEN YOU CAN RUN THAT COMPANY.
A quiet giggle escaped as I read her words and I knew she was right. What Jayson was doing wasn’t legal. But I felt trapped, and I knew how things in this industry worked. Shit like this happened all the time, and if you filed a lawsuit, the whole town would know about it and you’d be blacklisted before you updated your résumé. This was a who-you-know industry in a big who-you-know town. I planned to keep my mouth shut and do what I was told, no matter how much I hated it.
I popped my head around Jayson’s door and knocked quietly before announcing, “I have dinner with Walker tonight. Just thought you’d want to know.”