Vicki Lewis Thompson - In The Cowboy's Arms

“I’m sure it has.” And she was determined to help him sort it out, since Harvey had obviously dismissed the issue.

Pulling off his cap, Matt tunneled his fingers through his hair. “I never expected Briana to behave like that or say those things about me.” The words were laced with pain.

Geena wondered if she should have seen this train wreck coming and warned him. Briana was seductive, both onscreen and off. The poor guy had probably become lost in the fantasy. “It’s easy to develop feelings for a costar. You wouldn’t be the first and you won’t be the last.”

“That’s just it. I knew I couldn’t let anything happen.” He sat forward in his chair, his expression tense. “First of all, she’s married, and second, her husband is Clifton effing Wallace, everyone’s favorite, including my mom’s. And mine, actually. He reminds me so much of the Duke.”

High praise from Matt. Early on he’d told her that he knew all of John Wayne’s movies by heart and repeatedly watched them for inspiration. “It’s not the end of the world, Matt. Don’t beat yourself up for being human.”

“No, ma’am, I’m not.” The chair squeaked as he leaned back and gazed at the ceiling. “I’m beating myself up for being stupid. A complete idiot.”

Her heart went out to him. Had they not been separated by her desk, she would have squeezed his arm or given him a hug. Then she caught herself imagining that potential hug in far too much detail.

She cleared her throat. “It’ll be okay.”

“Eventually, I guess.” He met her gaze. “I’m sure Harvey has a point. But being called a home wrecker is humiliating. I can take it, but I hate that my folks will have to hear such things.”

“They’re in Wyoming, right?”

“Yes, ma’am. But they’ll have to face their friends and neighbors, and Sheridan’s a fairly small town. They’ve been so proud of me...” His voice trailed off.

“Like I said, we’ll handle it. The key is to appear contrite and apologetic. Then I can set you up with some visually appealing charity work, like organizing a benefit for a local animal rescue organization. Fans will overlook this, especially if you seem sufficiently remorseful.”

He went very still. “Surely you don’t believe I hit on her.”

“What I think doesn’t matter. The media is running a picture of you kissing her outside a café in Burbank. We need to—”

“I didn’t kiss her.”

“But—”

“She kissed me.”

Judging from the mutual lip-lock Geena had seen in the picture, it was all semantics. “The specific details aren’t important. To be honest, getting labeled as a bad boy isn’t the worst thing that could happen, especially if we demonstrate that you regret your behavior. Up to now, I’ve promoted you as Hollywood’s fresh new face, a handsome guy with a squeaky clean rep. But fans may like discovering you’re not perfect.”

His blue eyes lost all expression. “So you think I forced my attentions on Briana.”

She would love to believe that he hadn’t at least invited that kiss, even if he hadn’t initiated it. The pictures were pretty damning. She understood why he wanted to put a different spin on the encounter, but that strategy could backfire into a he-said-she-said nightmare. “It makes no difference who started it. If we jump on the story right away we can take control of the narrative before it gets blown out of proportion.”

“I see.”

His icy tone made her blink. One glance at his face told her that a wall had gone up. She’d seen that protective shield a couple of times before and had thought the device would serve him well in a brutal business. But employing it against her was counterproductive. “Matt, listen. We can—”

“Sorry, ma’am.” He stood and put on his hat and shades. “But I’m outta here.”

“Wait!” She leaped up. “You can’t leave now. It’ll look like you’re running away.”

“That’s fine with me.” He turned toward the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Home.”

* * *

The minute Matt stepped out on the sidewalk they were on him with their cameras, mikes and invasive questions. Must be a slow news day if someone had tracked him over here. Too bad he hadn’t called a cab. None were in sight, either.

He shouldered his way through what felt like a mob, but was only five or six reporters, and sprinted toward the nearest bus stop. Three years of running all over town auditioning for commercials had forced him to memorize the public transportation system. There was a bus stop a couple of blocks from here. Thanks to a rigorous training schedule, he was in shape.

He outran the paparazzi and caught the bus right before it pulled away from the curb. After paying the fare he sank gratefully into a seat. Adrenaline plus the blast of A/C made him shiver as he ran through his options.

Going back to his apartment wouldn’t work. Even if he made it inside without being accosted, he’d be a virtual prisoner in there until this thing died down. He believed it would. That was what he’d expected Geena to say.

She was a super-smart lady. A little nerdy, but he liked that about her. Tall and slender, she dressed in conservative suits and wore her brown hair up in an arrangement on top of her head. She had a sexy librarian thing going on that had fascinated him from the get-go.

When she was thinking real hard she took off her glasses and stuck them in her hairdo. He’d envisioned her thinking hard about this mess and coming up with a plan that included hustling him out the back entrance of the building. Then she’d hire a car to spirit him away to some remote cabin in the mountains for a week or so.

He’d even fantasized that she’d take time off and go with him. They could strategize how to deal with this and...yeah, get cozy in the cabin. He’d allowed his brain to come up with an intimate scenario that would never happen, but it had been fun to think about.

Instead, she wanted him to publicly apologize for something he hadn’t done and then become proactive by supporting animal rescue. He loved helping a good cause, and animal rescue was dear to his heart. His foster father had devoted his life to a well-respected practice as a large-animal vet.

But Matt balked at using homeless animals as a publicity stunt to prove he was a nice guy. Her plan sucked, but that wasn’t the worst part. The real kicker was realizing that Geena believed he’d done what Briana had accused him of.

He felt like ending the relationship with her PR company ASAP, but that was a knee-jerk reaction. He’d give himself time to think about it before doing anything drastic. Aside from being attracted to her, he also liked her and admired that she’d built the company herself. She looked too young to be the head of the firm, and once he’d asked her how old she was. Turned out she was twenty-seven, same as him.

Being near her gave him a buzz, no question, and he’d caught her giving him the eye, too.

He’d debated asking her to dinner to see what might happen. He’d come close to doing it once, but he wasn’t sure if asking his PR rep for a date would be an unprofessional move. Making that call wasn’t easy in an industry where the lines seemed to blur, but in the end he’d decided to err on the side of caution.

When it came to Briana Danvers, though, his thoughts had been crystal clear. During the filming of Preston’s Revenge she’d kissed him like she meant it, but he’d never for one second contemplated making a move in private, let alone in a public setting. If Geena thought he had, then she’d seriously misjudged him.

Being blamed for something he didn’t do was a hot button. His mom used to do it all the time. Thanks to some counseling, now he could handle the issue if he didn’t respect the person doing the judging. But he respected Geena and it bothered him that she thought he could have made a move on Cliff Wallace’s wife.