If Rhiannon’s tires squealed when she peeled out of the driveway, well . . . that must be what closure sounded like.
Chapter Nine
HEYYYYYYY, SAMSON.”
Samson groaned and lifted his head from his cupped palms. The fancy hotel restaurant was deserted except for him and Tina. “You don’t have to use that tone.”
“What tone?” The blonde slipped into the chair opposite him, where his “date” had sat twenty minutes ago.
“That mustn’t upset the talent tone.” Samson grimaced. “I know I stank.”
Tina interlaced her fingers on the snowy tablecloth. There was a wine stain next to her thumb. “You didn’t stink, exactly . . .” She stopped when he growled in disgust. “Okay. That was not you at your best.”
Samson grimaced. That was a severe understatement. “Can we get that poor girl a consolation prize? Disneyland tickets?”
Tina cracked a smile. “She doesn’t need Disneyland tickets. I told her we would reimburse her for dry-cleaning or replacing her dress.”
Samson groaned again. The red wine he’d accidentally knocked over onto the woman’s lap had left a glaring stain. “I don’t know what happened.” He wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself or Tina.
Tina patted his hand. “Listen, we all have off days. Sometimes there’s no chemistry between two people, no matter what the match percentages say. Don’t tell Belle I said that, though.”
“She’s going to be disappointed.”
“We can work some editing magic, probably, and cobble together a few minutes, at least, of you two looking at each other like you were enjoying each other’s company.” She hesitated. “Or at least, not actively disliking and boring each other.”
“You know, my friend Harris, he mentioned that I may be out of practice when it comes to dating. It’s possible he got in my head? That’s the only explanation.” It was true, he hadn’t dated for a long time. But he’d broken the seal with Rhi months ago. That Night hadn’t felt so weird and awkward. When they hadn’t been talking in that dark bar, they’d sat in comfortable silence, their knees pressing together.
Speaking of whom . . .
“Can you edit out the part where I called her by the wrong name?” he asked grimly.
Tina winced. “Yeah, that probably wasn’t your smoothest move. In your defense, Rachel and Rhi do both, um, start with the same letter.”
He scrubbed his hands over his face, then remembered that the makeup artist had blotted something on him to mystically create shadows where there were none. He used the towel to wipe the brown makeup off his palm.
“Also, you’d just seen her. Easy to misspeak.” Then, more casually, she said, “I didn’t realize you and Hunter were so close. I heard your interview when you were at CREATE, your rapport was good, but you, like, know each other otherwise?”
“Uh, yes. We’re . . .” Friends? Exes? Neither of those terms really fit, and something made him viscerally cringe away from using the word colleague as lightly as Rhi had. “We know each other. From before. Somewhere else.”
Curiosity brightened her eyes, but Tina only nodded. “Ah, gotcha. What did she want? How did she even know you were here?”
“I had some questions for her, at the conference,” he lied. “She was kind enough to come by and talk to me in person. You know, since I’m new to the industry.”
Tina raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I’ve never heard her called kind.”
“What have you heard her called?” His tone may have been a bit sharp, but he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what she’d said.
Specifically, why did she fear Annabelle thinking poorly of her? What had her former employer said about her? And why?
He knew how rumors and backstabbing and blacklisting worked. This wasn’t something he could google. And even if he could, he wouldn’t want to. They’d made a pact.
“I stay pretty isolated from the industry, too, working with Belle on behind-the-scenes stuff for as long as I have. I don’t know Rhiannon personally, but I’ve heard she’s a shark.” Tina perked up. “Actually, that’s not quite right. I’ve also heard she’s a fantastic and fair employer. Not always easy to find.”
I play fair. “Fair is a good word for her.” No wonder his behavior had so bothered her. It hadn’t been fair.
He’d felt like a million pounds had lifted off him when she’d accepted his apology. Oh, she was still clearly and obviously wary of him, but at least she knew what had motivated his ghosting.
Closure.
Whatever had brought her to him, he’d take. He’d shoot Belle an email in