The natural light in this ground-level space had never been great, and today was overcast and wet. Maybe she’d walk up the three flights of stairs to her own apartment and work there since she didn’t have anyone to supervise today. She was between interns because the school term at the nearby fashion schools was ending.

  Her phone buzzed, and she straightened, pushing hair away from her face.

  Looking around, she spotted her cell peeking out from underneath a copy of Brilliance magazine, which sat atop Vogue, InStyle, and back issues of some other titles.

  Glancing at the screen, she was surprised to discover that the text was from Katie. She sucked in a breath. Alison had insisted on passing along her personal contact info.

  The word interview jumped out.

  Excitement bubbled up.

  Then she typed a reply. Sure...

  Hitting Send, she blew some lingering stray strands away from her face.

  Soon enough, a reply came from Katie.

  I’d like to include some words from Damian in the interview. It helps to round it out. I can also reach out to any fashion industry names who’d like to say nice things about you.

  Ugh. Mia lowered her shoulders. Damian wasn’t really her boyfriend? Instead, she found herself typing again. Sure.

  Then she bit her lip. She couldn’t even call Gia to talk. Her cousin was abroad—accompanying her husband, Alex, on a brief business trip to Japan. And anyway, there was a good chance Gia would egg her on.

  She was about to land a prime spotlight on her company. She was beyond thrilled. But...

  Before her bravado failed her, she raised her phone and called.

  Thanks to planning for the Ruby Ball, she had Damian’s number.

  “Hello.” The timber of his voice was low, deep, not at all surprised. “Mia.”

  His voice stole through her like the hit of a shot.

  “Katie Bensen wants to interview me,” she blurted.

  “And that’s a bad thing?”

  “Yes... No.”

  “And here I was thinking this was the booty call that I was waiting for.”

  “Wishful thinking.”

  “Never stop dreaming.”

  His irreverence fortified her, and strangely helped overcome her anxiety and misgivings. “I need you—”

  “Finally.”

  “Will you cut it out?”

  “Why, when it’s so much fun?”

  “I need you to be interviewed, too.”

  “My turn in the limelight,” he quipped.

  She pasted a tight smile on her face even though he couldn’t see it. “Brilliance magazine wants to include some words from you because Katie thinks we’re—”

  “Ah.”

  “—together,” she finished lamely. “Everyone believes you’re—”

  “A boyfriend,” he finished for her.

  This was so humiliating. “Thanks partly to you!”

  She should have gone with the idea of hiring a model or escort to accompany her to the Ruby Ball. Now Katie had recommended making Damian a part of the magazine piece...and she’d agreed, jumping at a chance that was too good to pass up.

  And, really, what else could she have said? No doubt the readers of Brilliance would savor every word about Damian... If only they knew. Their coupledom was a stunt. But if she was lucky, maybe a few of those single readers would contact him. The thought left a sour taste.

  “All right, I have a suggestion.”

  Mia stilled.

  “You conduct the interview at my offices.”

  “That’s it?” She dropped her shoulders. The truth was, she hadn’t relished the possibility of an interview in her cramped studio—one where she and an intern often had to sidestep each other.

  “If you’re doing the interview here, it’ll lend credibility to our—”

  “Coupledom?”

  “Connection.”

  “Like the One Republic song?”

  “You’re a fan?”

  “I have wide musical tastes. I was the designated DJ at slumber parties.” When she hadn’t been sneaking backstage at rock concerts...

  Damian’s rich laugh felt like a warm embrace. Then he started humming “All I Ever Need Is You.”

  His voice spread through her...heating, warming, kindling her senses. He had her off-balance, and thinking back to their weekend together, though she would never admit it. “You’re going to make this ask as hard as possible, aren’t you?”

  Damian’s voice trailed off. “Drop me a text with the details, and I’ll arrange an empty office space to conduct the interview.”

  “Great.” She paused a beat. “Thanks.”

  “No problem. And since we’re exchanging favors—”

  “Exchanging?” Why did that word sound foreboding?

  “I’ve got a charity dinner to attend at the end of next week. A lot of the East Coast tech crowd will be there. The extra ticket is yours.”

  Wait—what? It sounded a lot like...a date. “We’re not a couple. We agreed.”

  “Did we?”

  “You know we did. Or I said it, and you didn’t disagree. So it was a meeting of the minds.”

  She pulled her thoughts away from the other ways they’d made a connection last weekend...

  “Maybe I’m clueless.”

  “Oh, puh-leeze.”

  He gave a low laugh. “You don’t believe me? It was just me, Dad and Valentin over at the Musil shack.”

  She snapped her mouth shut—chagrined. Of course. He’d lost his mother, and hadn’t she spotted his remembrance necklace this weekend? But he couldn’t be that clueless about women...could he?

  She’d grown up with three older brothers who were all smooth guys, able to charm their way through innumerable girlfriends. Of course, her brothers had all been in the public eye and magnets for the opposite gender. Cole and Jordan had played for the NHL, and Rick had spent time as a stuntman with name-brand actresses on the big screen.

  “On the other hand, you were holed up in the Serenghetti castle.”

  “Hardly.”

  He cut off a laugh. “I’m supposed to say I agree, right?”

  “See, you are a quick study.”

  “What if I claimed I’ve learned a lot from you?”

  She shivered with awareness even as she felt flustered by the flattery. For a guy who hadn’t grown up around women, he was doing just fine. So instead of answering him directly, she said, “Fine, if that’s what it takes to make this interview happen, get back to me with the details about the dinner.”

  “Great.”

  Just what she thought he might say. Sweet heaven...

  * * *

  Mia sat across from Katie in one of the empty glass-walled conference rooms at CyberSilver Technologies. They were taking a break from the interview so Katie could review her notes. The room was spare, as befitted a cutting-edge tech company, but plenty of light filtered in from the pre-war building’s generous windows overlooking Fifth Avenue from twenty-three stories above.

  Damian’s employees walked by outside. They were dressed casually and seemed very laid-back, like they weren’t at work. She could see them through the glass walls, but they couldn’t hear her.

  Fortunately. If they wondered what she and Katie were doing in their offices, no one said anything.

  They could read all about it in Brilliance. And then she’d have some quick footwork and explaining to do with her family. She’d left her mother with the impression there was nothing to be concerned about beyond a few dates that had fizzled...

  She’d have to claim that she and Damian had delayed their conscious uncoupling. She almost winced at the increasing tangle that she had to extricate herself from...

  Mia shifted on her stool. It was hard to relax when this interview was so fraught with potential pitfalls.

  So far, she’d been able to toss out some good details about her business in response to Katie’s questions. Her brand was affordable, environmentally conscious, and easy to wear. She’d hit all the keywords, sprinkling her answers with the bold terms in her business plan. All her best designs were displayed on some mannequins in the room. A photographer and assistant from Brilliance were busy photographing them. She’d also already emailed some pictures to the magazine.

  Katie flipped a page in her notepad and looked up. “Ready to resume the interview?”

  “Sure!” Had she sounded peppy enough?

  “So tell me how you and Damian met,” Katie gushed.

  Huh? The questioning had suddenly taken a dangerous turn, and Mia straightened. “We grew up in the same town in Massachusetts, so, uh, of course we knew of each other.”

  “But there wasn’t a spark of attraction back then?”

  “Well, no.” Liar, liar.

  “We don’t see you two together often. He doesn’t show up on your social media.”

  “We wanted to keep our relationship private until now.” Yeah, right. They’d done a crummy job keeping their nonrelationship under wraps. The people whom she wanted most of all to keep in the dark—her family—had found out anyway.

  “Isn’t social media how you got your start in fashion?” Katie asked, changing her tactics.

  Mia nodded. Phew. At least they were off the topic of Damian. “I started out as an influencer back in high school and college. Then I kept building a following.” She laughed. “I spent too much time on filming videos and not so much on chemistry.”

  Katie grinned. “Me, too. Well, not so much making my own stuff, but posting what I liked about other designs. I guess my father was disappointed. I didn’t show much interest in the family company.”

  Mia found herself warming to Katie Bensen even apart from their work-related connection. “Hey, it’s okay.” She shrugged. “I wasn’t much into construction, which was my family’s business. The way I see it, I liked to create stuff but with different materials.”

  “So how do you stay fresh? With designs, I mean?”

  “I take inspiration where I find it. It could be the color of a sunset.” Or the look and feel of a thunderstorm on a night when you were trying not to be aware of temptation sleeping a few feet away.

  At the sound of the door opening, they both turned. Damian sauntered in, looking every inch the rich tech startup owner, dressed down in jeans and an open-collar shirt. Since the interview was being conducted at CyberSilver, everyone had agreed that Damian would stop by in person for some questions from Katie.

  There was an air of authority about Damian here in his corporate headquarters that was downplayed when he was socializing outside work. With her fashion eye, though, Mia could tell his shoes were expensive and his shirt was impeccably tailored—which helped advertise the lithe, muscular physique that she was all too well acquainted with.

  Her heartbeat ticked up a notch.

  She’d dressed carefully for this interview—striving for professional but edgy to match her brand. She’d finally settled on a black-and-white jumpsuit. The black trousers were attached to a white bodice with a sweetheart neckline and short puff sleeves. The bottom was conservative, but the top looked as if it could have been cut off a bridal dress. The construction was clever; it looked like two pieces when it was actually one, since jumpsuits had started as her signature item and her market niche...

  She’d thought she’d hit the right note sartorially. But she hadn’t anticipated Damian’s look of appreciation—as if he was drinking her in.

  He quickly replaced it with a bland expression and came toward her with a slight smile.

  She shifted again on her seat and wished that she’d thought of nudging the empty stool next to her farther away. So she could breathe, think, focus.

  Damian stopped next to her and leaned down. She widened her eyes.

  He brushed her lips with his. “Hi, babe.”

  She sucked in a breath, and he gave her a slightly crooked smile.

  Babe...? And what was he up to with the public display of affection?

  When he sat next to her, she crossed her legs.

  “I’m so glad you could join us,” Katie bubbled. “And thanks for the use of your office. Mia suggested we’d be more comfortable here.”

  Mia avoided Damian’s laughing eyes.

  “No problem,” he responded easily. “Anything to help.”

  Katie looked between them. “How long have you two been dating, if I can ask? I couldn’t find anything about you before the Ruby Ball.”

  Mia knew she had to jump in. “Not long—”

  “But I’ve been watching Mia forever.”

  Katie perked up. “Waiting for your chance?”

  Along with Katie, Mia turned to look at Damian.

  “Well, Mia was dating my former employee. You may have heard of him, Carl Eshoo.”

  Katie leaned forward. “Ooh, a love triangle.”

  “Not quite,” Mia said hurriedly.

  What was this? A fashion profile or a gossip piece?

  Katie looked down at the pad in her hand. “My research showed he and Mia were an item—” she glanced at Mia apologetically “—but Carl recently got married.”

  So Katie had done her homework.

  “His loss, my gain.”

  Wow, Damian was laying it on thick.

  “But wait,” Katie persisted, glancing from Mia to Damian and back, “if you’ve known each other for a long time, why did things never, uh, happen between you?”

  Crap. “We were like two ships passing in the night—”

  “And our families didn’t like each other.”

  Mia resisted the urge to kick him. If she swung her crossed leg, could she make it look like an accident if it connected with his shin?

  Katie, though, leaned back with delight. “Oh, so romantic. Like Romeo and Juliet.”

  Mia moved her elbow in position to give Damian a poke. He was inches away...but she had no room for error with a stealth maneuver.

  “And it’s so cute the way you finish each other’s sentences.”

  Mia gave the semblance of a smile. “Isn’t it just?”

  This was playing out to her advantage in at least one way, she belatedly realized. The story now wasn’t that she’d been dumped by a guy who’d raced to the altar with someone else. Instead, she’d moved on with the boss—who’d had the hots for her all along. While her family would have a conniption, the Brilliance readers would love it.

  But what was Damian up to? It was one thing to tease her in bed about how he’d always been attracted to her. It was another to lay it on thick for a reporter...

  Katie leaned in. “So your families are what kept you apart.”

  “Well, I can’t speak for Mia,” Damian demurred, “but I was crushing on her.”

  Both Katie and Damian turned to look at her, and Mia wet her lips.

  “I, uh, was oblivious?” She tacked on a small laugh.

  Damian lifted the side of his mouth. “Babe, you know I’m usually subtle—”

  As a sledgehammer.

  “—but you definitely had the hots for me.”

  She blinked at him—hard.

  Katie, though, seemed to be eating up every juicy, duplicitous morsel.

  Mia smiled brightly at the younger woman. “Well, there you have it. Damian is subtle...and I’m not.”

  Katie laughed. “Sort of like the Mia Serenghetti brand?”

  As Mia widened her eyes, Damian nodded and folded his arms. “Bold, brave and badass.”

  ELEVEN

  “I’ve instructed my lawyers to get everything in order for the closing date that we agreed to,” Larry Bensen said, sounding pleasant and relaxed over the phone.

  Damian sank back against his office chair. “Great. I’m looking forward to it. How does it feel now that things are nearly settled?”

  Larry chuckled. “Like a weight has almost lifted from my shoulders.”

  “The company will be in good hands, Larry.”

  “I’m counting on it.”

  “I’m from Welsdale. It’s important to me to help preserve the town and to keep connected to it.” This was as personal as he’d ever gotten in a business deal.

  “I figured as much.”

  They talked some more about the closing, and when the call ended, Damian rubbed the back of his neck.

  The business with Larry was as good as a done deal. All they needed was for the lawyers to finish the drafting of purchase documents. Because Larry had been ready to sell and had been looking for a buyer, he’d already had his house in order. With any luck, now the deal would close on time and without a hitch.

  Soon, very soon, Damian would be the new owner of a local Welsdale television station. The native son done good and come home. The name Musil would be associated with a whole new venture and industry. Short of sticking his name on a park, street or impressive downtown building—but that might come in time—he’d gone a long way toward bolstering the family name. On top of it, he’d be investing in his hometown, which had helped mold him into who he was.

  Damian thought back to Mia, because that’s where his mind often went these days.

  The interview with Katie had gone great. Sure, he’d laid it on a little thick—he could see the sparks in Mia’s eyes when he’d called her babe—but he hadn’t lied, either.

  Because this was no longer solely about a business deal with Larry Bensen—if it ever was. Somewhere along the way, Damian acknowledged, his motives had morphed.

  This was about the Serenghettis and Musils, and the fact that he and Mia had been dancing around each other for years because they’d gotten tangled up in simmering family rivalries.

  Damian steepled his fingers, and then turned his chair to look out the windows behind his office desk. And now, damn it, that rivalry had raised its head again, threatening to upend things. Because JM Construction and Serenghetti Construction were vying to purchase the same company.