Page 59 of Reckless Kiss

Chapter 19

Normally I loved visiting New York. Seth Butler, my Mantas left fielder, was quickly making me hate it. We were only in town for two days while he shot a shaving commercial, underwear ad, and did a series of interviews. It was supposed to be a lot of standing around and eating at great restaurants. Instead I was bailing him out of a colossally stupid fuckup.

Claudia—the vapid movie star he’d been dating for the last few months—was shooting a movie in the city so they planned to see each other. I’d actually come to enjoy Claudia’s company after spending several more games with her and realizing she wasn’t actually a self-important snob. That was the act she put on to go with her image. In reality she was a very smart, if not slightly angry, woman.

Claudia wasn’t the problem. Nope. It was Shannon. Who’s Shannon you might be asking? Well, I had the same question when Seth called me from the photo shoot frantic that I intercept Claudia and keep her busy for an hour.

Shannon, it turns out, was also dating Seth. Her R&B career was taking off and the two of them had been on a few dates. (When he had time to date all these women I had no idea.) She’d wound up in the city to meet with her producer and surprised Seth at the shoot.

So now Seth was dealing with Shannon while I treated Claudia to lunch under the guise that the shoot was in the middle of some chaos and we didn’t need to be there yet. It wasn’t the first time I’d juggled lovers for my clients and it wouldn’t be the last, but for some reason this pissed me off. I didn’t know if it was because I’d started to like Claudia and didn’t think she deserved to be treated this way, or if it was because I was disappointed in Seth. Don’t get me wrong; Seth wasn’t a saint. Far from it. He was young and selfish and riding a World Series Championship high. But he’d never been an asshole.

Right now he was crossing the asshole line and that made me angry.

Angry for Claudia and Shannon. Angry for the man I expected Seth to be. Angry for women everywhere. Everyone—man or woman—should have the right to be vulnerable and fulfill their physical need for intimacy. Right now Seth was violating all of the things I held dear.

“You’re very moody today.” Claudia popped a French fry in her mouth and cocked an eyebrow.

“That’s because I’m angry and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Why are you angry?” Then she frowned. “That is, if you’re comfortable talking to me about whatever it is.”

See? Underneath the prima donna movie star act she was a well-spoken and kind person. I considered what to say. It wasn’t like I could come right out and say, “Seth is with another woman right now and I’m pissed off that he’s lying to you both.”

So instead I said, “I’m trying to figure out how to tell someone they need to get their act together. But in a way that will get through to them.”

“Ah, good luck with that. Unfortunately most people hear criticism and immediately stop listening. They go on defense.”

Which was exactly why I didn’t know how to deal with Seth. He was a good guy who was going down a bad path. I’d seen it so many times before. Money and fame made people feel invincible. I wanted better for Seth.

“Let’s not talk about my troubles.” I pushed my food away and smiled at Claudia, hoping she’d indulge me. “What’s up with you and Butler?”

Her smile disappeared almost immediately and she sat back. “I’m not sure. Why?”

If I wasn’t mistaken, Claudia had feelings for Seth she was attempting to hide. “In the beginning this was good publicity for you both...but it’s been months and you’re still together. I was just wondering if maybe there was more than good optics at play.”

She fidgeted, rearranged her silverware, didn’t make eye contact. “I can see why the two of you get along so well.”

“Oh?” She was right, of course. Well, until this week.

“You’re very similar. Or I’m just that bad of an actress. You both saw right through my image.”

It’s seductive to be seen for who you really are. I knew that intimately now. The way Esme understood me, accepted me for who I was, faults and all, was a huge part of why I’d fallen so hard for her.

“You’re a very good actress, Claudia. I think you enjoy our company and that’s why it’s hard to keep up the act. You want to beyou.”

“You might be right,” she said very quietly. “I enjoy spending time with Seth. I would enjoy continuing to spend more time with him if I thought that was what he wanted.” She met my gaze. “But I don’t believe that’s the case. I’m not the kind of woman who can open her morning news and see the man she’s dating in the headlines with other women. The longer I’m in the industry the less I’m willing to put up with the crap. The last thing I want is for it to trickle into my personal life too.”

And that’s why I was so angry. Claudia deserved honesty. Seth was about to lose her because he couldn’t be honest with himself, let alone anyone else.

“That’s understandable. Have you talked to him about this?”

She huffed a laugh. “Yep. He changed the subject.” Then she shrugged and sighed. “I know this is the end for us. I hope you won’t judge me for waiting until tomorrow to tell him. I justwant one more day.”

If someone had told me that in three months time Claudia Siolo’s confession would rip my heart out and put it on a spike I would have laughed. But that’s what happens when you get to know someone—you learn everyone is putting on an act of some kind, and that act is there to protect us from a world that is always trying to attack us. The people we let behind our walls are few and if we choose wrong, they have the sole power to hurt us.

“Trust me, I understand how you feel Claudia. I don’t judge you at all. I’m living day to day too.”

“You are?” She leaned forward and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Do tell.”

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