Caught on Camera (47 page)

“I have something to admit,” he spoke quietly. She raised her head, the room suddenly sizzling with electricity.

She repeatedly clicked the pen in her hands, the ink cartridge pushing in and out. “What’s that?”

His gaze found a spot on the opposite wall. “I’ve always known who you are.”

“What?” Her eyes bugged, and her breathing became heavy.

He nodded, facing her with chagrin. “I’m sorry. I should have told you a long time ago, it just wasn’t something that I could easily bring up in conversation.”

Shock held her to the seat. “But…how? I changed my hair, my looks. I made myself as plain as I could possibly get.”

She glanced down at the clothes she was wearing today, one of the outfits she’d bought in Atlanta. She was tired of hiding behind plainness.

Bob laughed softly, then shrugged, a bit of a smug smile on his face. “I didn’t win all those awards on my wall for nothing, kid. I sensed something was weighing pretty heavy on you and went in search of the answer. Of course, I was blown away to realize who I’d just hired, but that didn’t change my opinion of you.”

She was almost afraid to ask. “And what was that opinion?”

She’d definitely been a different person when she’d first graduated from school and landed the job here.

He reached over and patted her knee once more. “I thought I’d just hired someone who would one day become one of the best. I could see my drive in you, and I wanted to do everything I could to help you get there.”

Pride swelled in her at his words, and before she could ask, he gave a nod. “And yes, you’ve lived up to all my expectations.”

Love grew inside her. She was definitely going to miss this man, no matter where she ended up. “I can’t go back to Atlanta today, Bob.” She looked over at him. “Can you send Darrin to cover the press conference?”

“He’s already on his way. I can’t say he was upset about the fact.”

She chuckled, a soft, exhausted sound. “I’m sure that’s an understatement.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments before Vega looked over at her boss. “I appreciate you putting in a good word for me in Atlanta.”

“But?”

He knew her so well. “But I don’t want to be a videographer anymore.”

“No?”

She shook her head. “No. At least not a regular news photographer. There are stories I want to tell, yes, but stories that touch people’s hearts. And I want to be the one in front of the camera when I report on them. It’s what I’ve always wanted.”

Bob reached one long arm over and wrapped it around her shoulders. He squeezed her to his side so hard she thought the metal arm of the seat might crack one of her ribs. “That a girl.”

Rightness filled her. She rested her cheek on his shoulder and breathed out a long breath.

“I’m going to do absolutely everything I can to get a position reporting on exactly the kind of stories I believe in.”

He pointed a finger at the screen. “You show them what you just showed me, my dear, and you’ll get a chance anywhere you want it.”

“You think?” Pride took hold inside her and ballooned in size.

“Not a doubt in the world.”

She sat up and eyed him, wanting to make sure he wasn’t just saying what she wanted to hear. “Even with my past? And everyone talking about me again?”

“Even then. But for your sake, I think you need to come clean. Clear the air about it all.”

Her brow scrunched together. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, tell your story. Ted Pritchard may be out of your life and out of the picture, but his lies still haunt you. They cripple you to the point that you continue to worry you did something wrong.” He shook his head. “It’s time to quit hiding, Vega. Completely. Stand up, fight back, and go take everything you want.”

His speech resonated within her. Both because she thought he might be right, but also because without even asking, he believed in her. He trusted that Ted had been at fault without asking for her explanation.

Maybe it
was
time to take what she wanted. But the thing was, she also wanted JP.

Sadness feathered over her heart. He’d called several times the day before, but she hadn’t wanted to talk. With the combination of realizing he wouldn’t be standing up to his mother, and Greta accosting her in the hotel lobby, Vega hadn’t been able to stomach the thought of dealing with one more thing. She’d needed escape. So she’d taken it.

But since returning to Savannah, she’d been doing a lot of thinking about JP. And she missed him. A lot. Was she really ready to give him up without a fight? And if she wasn’t, that meant she’d have to risk being in the daily glare of the tabloids.

She had no idea if she could even convince him to take the chance on her.

All kinds of footage had floated around since Greta had outed her. She might be too much trouble in his eyes. After all, it wasn’t like he’d called even once today.

Vega sighed and pushed her maudlin thoughts to the back of her mind. She pressed her palms down on the armrests, propelling herself up. “Thanks, Bob. I think you might be right.”

He winked. “Want me to set you up to make a statement?”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head. “We’re doing better than that. I want a press conference. First though, I have makeup and hair to do, along with new shoes to buy. If I’m going to announce to the world I did nothing wrong and have no reason to hide, then I’m going to come back in my own way.”

A laugh echoed through the small room as Bob rose and patted her on the back. “That’s my girl. I’m proud of you.”

She straightened with pride. She was back, and she wasn’t letting anyone push her down again.

And if that meant living the rest of her life without JP because he couldn’t handle being by
her
side…well, she’d eventually get over him. But she would be glad to have known him.

V
EGA TIPPED UP
the bottle of water and drained it, her throat parched with nerves before ever taking a step outside to the waiting crowd. She glanced at the clock on the wall. Five minutes.

She wiggled her fingers at her side, trying to calm the anxiety, but nothing was working. This was going to be brutal. And she’d set this up herself, so she had no one to blame. She turned to Bob.

“You can do it,” he soothed.

“I’m not sure,” she groaned. She wanted to chew on her nails—a habit she’d broken years ago as a teenager—but the sight of the French-tipped acrylics reminded her she was different today. She was herself again.

She glanced in the glass door of the darkened office to her right and studied her reflection. A little curvier than she’d once been, her skin not quite as youthful, but all in all, she still had it. And though the makeup wasn’t so heavy to totally change her appearance, she absolutely hadn’t lost her touch.

She fingered a curl draped over her shoulder. There was a good chance if the crowd didn’t know it was her who would be coming out that door, they would have never guessed it to be the same woman who’d quietly been capturing the news around the city for the last few years.

“You know they’re going to bring up Davenport’s canceled press conference, right?” Bob asked.

“I would expect nothing less.” She took a fresh bottle of water from a colleague and rolled it between her hands. “Any word yet on what happened?”

“None. Darrin stuck around to see if he could find out, but so far, all is silent from the governor’s office.”

She pressed the bottle to her throat, hoping its refrigerated temperature would calm her nerves. No such luck.

“I was counting on the news of that announcement to overshadow this one.”

Bob laughed. “No such luck, kid. I took a peek outside. There’s a crowd here.”

“Freaking slow news day,” she mumbled.

They both smiled at each other, enjoying the moment before things could go either really good, or really bad, then Bob broke eye contact. “There’s…uh…something I should probably tell you.”

“Are you kidding me? What?”
Geez, what now?

“Davenport called earlier.”

“Here?” That hadn’t been what she’d expected to hear. She studied him, trying to figure out if she wanted to know why. Curiosity won. “What did he want?”

“To make sure you were here and not…gone.”

So he’d worried she’d taken a hike. She wondered if that meant he wanted to see her. Could she have anything to do with the canceled press conference? Anything good? She’d been shocked not to hear a word from his family’s publicist yesterday or today, releasing any sort of statement about their relationship. Everything had been strangely quiet.

She nodded, unsure what her movement meant, but unable to think of anything to say.

Bob tapped his watch. “It’s go time. You okay?”

A surprising calmness settled over her, and she nodded. “I’m ready.”

With a quick nod, Bob stepped in front of her and exited the building, moving toward the small podium he’d erected at the edge of Oglethorpe Square. A small gathering of colleagues patted her on the shoulder in encouragement as she followed him out the door.

Security guards lined the walk across the street, and she held her head high and proud as she crossed.

Once in front of everyone, she scanned out over the gathered crowd, and wished with all her might she wasn’t up there alone. The old feeling of being one against the world returned, and it saddened her. She knew nothing had really changed yet, but then, everything had.

She would no longer let past lies hold her down. Instead, she’d now go after each and every single thing she wanted. Including JP.

When she finished here, she’d go after JP to convince him he couldn’t live without her, even if he did one day want to be president. She might bring a little tarnish to his name, but she would spend the remainder of her days doing nothing but polishing it.

Darkness surrounded the outer edges of the square, but the space immediately in front of her was lit so brightly she could barely make out any faces. Might as well get this over with.

She leaned forward and pulled the microphone to her.

JP edged around a crowd of people, a baseball cap low on his head and his gaze on the ground, hoping no one recognized him before he wanted them to. He wanted to do this on his own terms—and the way it would make the biggest impression on Vega.

He might have only one chance to win her, so it had to be perfect.

Well, that wasn’t true. If he didn’t make her see reason tonight, he wouldn’t stop until he did get her. But for her sake, he wanted it to be perfect tonight.

Another question about her past relationship was lobbied up through the crowd, and the sound of Vega’s voice soothed him. He’d refused to watch the sex video that had apparently made the rounds over the Internet, and hearing her talk about another man was seriously irritating. Not just because she’d been in that relationship—though knowing the man had touched her in those ways fed JP’s urge to hunt him up and take him out—but because she’d been treated so poorly. She hadn’t deserved that, and she didn’t deserve to have to be up there defending herself now, either.

He hated that he’d gotten here late. The plan had been to find her beforehand and be onstage with her from moment one, whether she wanted him to or not. Traffic on the drive from Atlanta had dictated he go to plan B.

“James Lewis,
Savannah Chronicle
. Ms. Zaragoza, If what you say is true, why did you disappear instead of explaining all this back then? It makes it look like you’re trying to sail in on your notoriety now, without having to deal with all the consequences in the heat of the moment.”

JP caught a glimpse of Vega as he continued to jockey for a position in the dead center of the crowd, and stopped in his tracks. She looked amazing. Hair flowing in long curls, eyes shining and sexy hot, and oh my God, those lips. She had a deep crimson painted on her gloriously wide mouth, and he suddenly wanted to punch every man in the crowd, because he knew what they were all thinking.

Picking his jaw up, he pulled his gaze from the black-and-white dress clinging to her every curve, ducked his head, and continued quickly through the crowd.