Dare to Desire (Dare to Love #2)(45)
Author: Carly Phillips

“Incredible.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Did you or my genius agent, or even the network executives, ever hear of the concept of free will?” he asked, rising from his seat. “You can set up all the press and fake publicity you want, but it won’t make it real. You can’t make me want to take this job.”

He’d been counting on the test to see how he felt in front of the camera. He’d needed to hear the concept for the show, to know what kind of commute it’d entail. But nobody had laid out details for him yet. And he’d been taken in by his own agent, someone he ought to be able to trust.

“You can’t say you don’t want it,” Allison said. “Or that you wouldn’t be great doing it.”

“None of that matters when I can’t trust the people around me.” He stormed away from the table, pausing at the front to take care of the bill. Afterwards, he headed back to his hotel, furious and frustrated.

What a bust the entire day had been. And by the time he finally ended up in his hotel room, it was close to midnight, and he couldn’t call Madison because, after the day she’d probably had, she would be fast asleep.

* * *

Madison arrived at work in the morning, her mood down and foul. Not hearing from Alex had her on edge, and it took everything inside her to think positively and not jump to the worst possible conclusions. If this relationship was going to work, she needed to learn how to trust.

She walked into the office and immediately headed for the break room, needing coffee to keep herself running this morning. As soon as she entered the small room, conversation stopped.

Madison glanced at the two women she recognized as secretaries for the PR people. “Hi,” Madison said. “I don’t mean to interrupt. I’m just going to get coffee, and I’ll let you get back to your conversation.”

“Have you seen the sports blogs this morning?” Gail, one of the women, asked Madison.

Madison shook her head. “No. Is there something good in them?” She added milk and one sugar packet to her coffee, stirring as she asked.

“Yes, actually,” the other woman said.

“Madison!” Riley came running into the room, interrupting the conversation. “I’ve been looking all over for you. We need to talk.”

Madison turned to her friend. “Sure. I just want to see what has them so interested,” she said, gesturing to the other women.

Riley shot them a glare Madison didn’t understand. “Later. What I have to say is urgent,” she said, grasping Madison’s hand and pulling her out of the room.

“What’s wrong?” she asked Riley, digging her heels into the carpet, concerned.

“Not here. Come on. Let’s go into your office.” Riley began pulling her once more.

“You’re scaring me,” Madison muttered, letting her friend drag her into the room, where she shut the door and locked it behind them. “Riley—”

“Okay, sit. And listen. There’s something in the morning gossip columns that you need to see. But you need to let me show you, and you need to not jump to conclusions, no matter how bad things look.”

Her stomach flipped over, and she lowered herself into her chair. “He hasn’t been in touch.”

“What?” Riley pulled a chair close to her and sat down.

“Alex. That’s what you want to show me, right? There’s something about him in the blogs? It makes sense. Because since he left, I haven’t heard from him. Not once.”

Riley clasped their hands together, but Madison was numb inside and out and barely felt her friend’s touch. “There is an explanation. I’m sure.”

“Just show me. Is it in Behind the Bleachers with Ben?” Madison asked of the infamous website.

Riley nodded.

Madison turned and hit a button to bring her computer to life. She typed in the sports blog that was standard for everyone in the sports world to read. Sometimes Ben hit it head on, and other times, he missed the mark completely. But there was no doubt the man had reach.

The blog came onto the screen along with a set of photographs. Alex and a beautiful blonde Madison recognized as Allison Edwards, the woman he was to screen-test with. In one shot, they were laughing across from one another. In another photo, they were side by side, heads together, obviously talking intimately. And in the third picture, Allison held out her spoon, and Alex’s mouth was open and waiting.

Pain gripped her heart. “Well, that explains the silence.”

“No. Listen to me. I used to work in PR, and I know not everything is what it seems.”

She managed a smile. “I know you’re right. But even if it’s perfectly innocent, I don’t know that I can deal with this part of his life.” Looking at the photos made her nauseous. Not hearing from him left her mind spinning and creating all sorts of awful possibilities.

“Why don’t you take the day off,” Riley suggested. “You’ve had a rough couple of days. Plus the judge is due to rule soon, and you’d have to leave anyway.”

Normally Madison would argue, but not today. “Thanks. I think I’ll do that.”

They rose, and Riley pulled Madison into a hug. “I’ll call you later and check in.”

“Thanks,” she whispered, not wanting to give in to the overwhelming emotions swamping her and cry.

She packed up her bag and headed home, her thoughts on Alex and all the reasons she couldn’t deal with this part of his life. Even if those photographs were deliberately misleading, it didn’t change what was broken inside of Madison. Yes, Alex had proven himself to her over and over, but her insecurities and issues were real and deep-seated enough that she couldn’t imagine living with those feelings of abandonment being brought up over and over again.

* * *

Alex woke up at three, having booked the earliest flight he could manage out of New York the night before. He’d paid a premium, but he didn’t care. He arrived at the airport in Miami and immediately took a cab straight to the stadium.

He’d never been so wired in his life. He’d barely gotten any sleep last night, and taking a six a.m. flight meant he still hadn’t called Madison.

He strode through the hallway leading to his office, needing one thing and one thing only. To see Madison. Everything else could wait.

Riley barreled out of her office, stopping in front him. “You. Me. Talk. Now.”

“No. I need to see Madison.”

“She’s not here. She left early.”