Page 108 of Heartsick & Lipsticks
“Kurt!” I waved as I rushed over to him. “Is Nick around? I need to speak to him.”
Ever the gentleman, he didn’t even bat an eye at my appearance. “I’ll take you up, Miss Taylor.”
Relief washed over me as I got onto the elevator and Kurt pressed the button for the thirty-sixth floor.
“Is everything okay?” he asked as we ascended.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.
The ride up to the thirty-sixth floor went by in the blink of an eye, and before I knew it, we were stepping out.
“This way.” He motioned and I followed beside him.
We stopped in front of two large double doors, and Kurt lifted his hand and knocked on them. Seconds later, the door on the right opened, and Jada appeared.
“Skye, hi.” She looked surprised to see me.
“Hi, is Nick around?”
“Skye?” I heard his voice from inside the room.
The door opened wider, and I saw Nick seated behind a large desk. A camera was set up in front of it, as well as two large ring lights. Two people flanked him. On his right, a middle-aged man with a neck tattoo of sound waves adjusted a lapel mic on his shirt. On his right, a stunning redhead was leaning over, pointing to something on his desk as she spoke.
He stood as I walked in.
“You’re going live in two minutes, Nick,” Jada said as he came around the desk and met me in the middle of the room.
He didn’t acknowledge that she’d spoken or break eye contact with me. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
At the same time, the redhead called his name. “Nick.”
The tension in the room was thicker than a stale pound cake.
“I can wait,” I offered.
“No.” His tone left no room for argument. “Give me the room.”
On his command, the room cleared, leaving just the two of us. I tried not to be turned on by the scenario, but it was giving me Christian Gray vibes, and I couldn’t help myself.
“What’s wrong?” he asked again once we were alone.
Trying to see through the lust fog that had just settled in my brain, I did my best to explain the situation as succinctly as possible. “On Saturday, a man that Lola dated over a year ago DM’d her and asked her to go for drinks. They were catching up, and she told him about meeting Naomi and discussed your mother’s past in depth in the context of their friendship. She totally forgot that Charles, the guy she used to date, is a journalist until she saw that he’d written an article about everything they’d discussed. Other sites have picked it up—”
“I know. I mean, I know about the articles; I didn’t know it was Lola.”
“I’m so sorry, Nick, and so is Lola. I know that doesn’t make it—”
“It’s fine. Really. I’m glad it came out.”
“You are?” I asked.
“Yes. It’s been something that I’ve hidden for twenty years. I feel relieved that it’s not a secret anymore. I’m going live to address it now.” He motioned to the desk behind him.
I blinked. “Oh, okay.”
There was a knock at the door, and Nick asked, “Was that all, or is there something else?”
“No, that was it. I just wanted to come tell you in person.”
