Katherine Garbera - Ready for Her Close-up

Russell gallantly helped her into the chopper and was seated next to her a short time later. He handed her some headphones, which she donned, and then she adjusted her microphone. “I’m sure I look pretty glamorous with these on my head.”

“You look great,” he said.

In a matter of minutes, they were in the air and flying over Manhattan. Russell’s voice was soft and intimate in her ears.

“When I first came to the States, I wanted to make my mark here. We started in Vegas because that suited the Kiwi Klubs’ reputation, but I wanted to own a building in New York City,” he said.

She looked over at him. “How did you get started?”

“With a small run-down hotel in Sydney,” he said. “I won it in a high-stakes poker game.”

“I though you were a New Zealander from the South Island?”

“I am. I left home when I was sixteen and never looked back,” he said.

“I didn’t see any of that on the internet when I was reading up on you,” she said. “I’m embarrassed to say, I only know the gossip I’ve read about you.”

He shrugged. “That’s the easy stuff to know.”

“But is it true?” she asked. “I’ve been in PR long enough to know that sometimes bad publicity can work in your favor.”

“Exactly,” he said. “I’m known for having rich and famous friends and for being a bit of a player, and that is exactly what my clientele wants.”

“So why change now?” she asked. “Is this more than a publicity stunt?”

“Of course it is. I’m not going to get married as a stunt,” he said.

“Many have done it before. Even if they weren’t just for show, marriages of convenience have been around for centuries.”

“I’d find it very convenient to have to look at you at breakfast every day,” he said in that flirty way of his.

“Me, too, but I need more sustenance than flash,” she said.

“Don’t we all. It’s easy to think that something or someone flashy has what you need, but after a short while you find that’s not true,” he said.

She glanced over at him. Surprised to hear something so … well, deep from him.

He arched an eyebrow at her. “I’m not just a playboy.”

She smiled at him. “You couldn’t be and be on the cover of Fortune magazine.”

“True. What about you?”

“Me?” she asked. “I’m not flashy at all. This is me at my most flashy.”

He chuckled. “I’m not shocked. You strike me as someone who is very sure of herself and where she is going.”

She shrugged one shoulder. “I love to have a plan and then execute it. But when I have to depend on someone else … well, let’s just say sometimes things get messed up.”

“Like this?”

She bit her lower lip. She didn’t want to lie to him, but then she had nothing to lose. Russell wasn’t the kind of guy she usually went for, so being brutally honest wasn’t going to cost her anything. “Yes, like this situation with you. I mean, I planned to go to the matchmaker and find the perfect guy. I have a checklist in my head with all his qualities.”

“And I don’t measure up?” he asked. “That’s not fair, Gail. You don’t know if I have those qualities yet.”

“You’re right. But you are flashy,” she said with a grin. “And I’m a bit afraid to risk getting to know the real man.”

“I can understand that. I’m coming at this from the opposite point of view. If you aren’t the woman I think you are … then I’m screwed.”

She laughed at how he’d said that. “I guess we both are.”

He reached over, took her hand in his and lifted it to his mouth, rubbing his lips over the back of her knuckles. “I don’t want that. Let’s start over. I’ll try to be more the man of your dreams and you can …”

“Yes?”

“Give me a chance and not judge me so harshly.”

“I will try. It’s one of my worst faults,” she said, liking the way her hand felt in his.

“What is?”

“Not being able to accept failure.”

“In others?” he asked, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand before slowly letting it go.

Chills spread up her arm, and she knew she wanted to keep touching him. It was unexpected. She didn’t know why and couldn’t really explain it, but there was something about Russell Holloway that made her forget about lists and plans.

“And in myself,” she said softly, almost to herself. But she knew he’d heard her because he nodded.

“I’ll try not to let you down,” he said.

And just like that, she was hooked on giving him a chance. She wanted to guard her emotions, to warn her heart to be careful where he was concerned, because her common sense told her there was more to Russell’s move than just his wanting to change. But she couldn’t help herself. For these next six weeks she wanted to be the kind of girl who’d allow herself to be caught up in a man. Even if she knew he was at his core a bad boy who would probably break her heart.

Russell knew that he was luckier than many men. He had his secrets and more than his share of hardships, but life had been good to him. And this was one of the moments when he realized he’d gotten lucky. He needed a woman like Gail and here she was, dropped into his lap.

Her skin was soft and smooth and he liked touching her, holding her hand. But he didn’t want to crowd her. She smelled nice and clean, a pretty floral fragrance that he knew he’d remember long after he left her tonight.

“Thank you, Russell,” she said.

“For?”

“This ride. It’s really nice being up here, and I needed some time away from the cameras.”

“I did too. I’m not used to conducting my dates in front of an audience,” he said. Even though most of the women he dated were famous and they always had their pictures in the tabloids, Russell did try to avoid the spotlight.

“Me either. In fact, this is the first date I’ve been on that has felt this … high profile,” she said. “Not at all what I expected.”

“Is it on your list?” he asked.

“What list?”

“The Mr. Right checklist,” he said. He liked the forthright way she spoke and how she always looked him straight in the eye when she talked to him. It made him aware that she was weighing everything he did and said. He needed to be careful to watch himself around her.

“Well … it’s not real. Just a bunch of feelings and qualities that I think a man should have that would be compatible with mine.”

He tipped his head to the side. “That’s a checklist.”

She shrugged delicately, drawing his gaze to her shoulders. They were left bare by the sleeveless dress she wore. Her arms were toned and muscled, so she must work out, he guessed.

“You’re right. It is a list. I’m looking for someone with a good job.”

“Easy! Check one off for me.”

She smiled at him. “I’ll give you that.”

“What else?”

“He has to be … committed to the person he’s dating.”

“Ah. That one will be harder to convince you of, won’t it?”

“Yes. You aren’t exactly known for monogamy.”

“I am here, aren’t I?”

“Yes. So that one is a maybe,” she said.

“What else?”

“Um …” She hesitated, then a pretty pink blush spread up from her neck to her cheeks.

“What could be next?” he asked. “Why are you so shy now?”

She wrapped her arms around her waist and looked out at the skyline of Manhattan. He saw the reflection of her face in the window of the chopper as she absently brought her hand up to toy with the charm on the gold necklace she wore.

“I have to be attracted to you. A healthy sex life is on my checklist.”

“When the time is right, Gail, you will have no doubts that I can fulfill your needs on that count.”