More Nights With Kate (Jack Ryker) (4 page)

Jack

“Hey, Boss.  You might want to sneak out a little early
this morning,” was the text message that I received from my driver, Tim, just
after 6 am.  I knew that he wouldn’t bother me that early unless there was
a problem.  I slipped out of bed, grabbed my robe, and headed out to the
other room to call him back.

“Good morning Tim, what’s going on?” I asked while
struggling to think clearly.

“That’s what I was going to ask you, Jack.  I never
thought that I would see you on the front page of the
Daily News
because
of something like this.  There are about a dozen photographers outside of
the hotel waiting to get a picture of you and Kate.”

“Really?” was my only response as I felt my stomach turn
over. 
I should’ve taken a moment to shut off the lights last
night.  How stupid. 
“What’s the damage?”

“Judging by the pictures, I would say that someone across
from you had a professional camera with a zoom lens.  You do know that the
Atrium Suite is a frequent target, right?”

“I guess I probably should’ve known.”

“Alright, I’m in the parking garage, and it’s quiet right
now.  If you guys take the stairs, we can probably make it past the
paparazzi without too much hassle,” he said trying to reassure me.

“Alright, I’ll wake up Kate and we’ll be right down.”

I threw on my clothes and ran my fingers through my
hair.  Kate, however, wasn’t exactly the type to get out of bed, throw on
a baseball cap, and head out the door.  She was going to need a few
minutes to get ready.

“What’s going on?” she asked, slowly peeling herself out of
bed.

“You really don’t want to know.”  I paused for a moment
to think of the best way to tell her what had happened.

“Well now I definitely want to know.  What’s going on?”

“Remember when you thought that you saw someone looking at
us last night?”

“Yes,” she replied hesitantly. 

“It wasn’t your imagination.  We apparently made the
front page of the
Daily News
this morning.”

The color immediately drained from Kate’s face.  I
honestly thought that she was going to be sick.

“Were there pictures?” she asked, taking a seat as if to
brace herself.

“According to Tim, someone took them while we were in front
of the window.  Don’t worry about it right now.  Just get ready and
we’ll get out of here.  Apparently, paparazzi are waiting for us out
front.  Tim is sitting in the parking garage.  He says it’s quiet
down there right now.”

“Paparazzi?” Kate asked with a look of amazement washing
across her face.

“I’m a little shocked, too.  I’ve been in the news
quite a bit lately because of the merger, but no one has ever shown the slightest
bit of interest in my personal life.”

“Well, most people like you are only targets when they cheat
on their wives.  I suppose dating someone less than half your age makes
you interesting as well.”

Kate fell quiet as she finished getting ready.  I sat
and thought about how the sudden burst of publicity could be spun in a positive
direction.  Then my mother flashed into my mind. 
Ugh…
 
That of course led to Kate’s mother, Cynthia.  D
ouble ugh...
 
It would obviously be a bad way for our mothers to find out that Kate and I
were dating. 
At least Jayne and Brandon know about our relationship,
but they’ll still be shocked to say the least.
 

I grabbed my iPad and searched for the article
. 
They definitely caught Kate in all her glory.  At least they had the
decency to blur out her nipples.  At least no one can really see me in the
pictures.
 
Maybe we could say that it was a publicity stunt for her
new clothing line.

“You look like you’re formulating a plan.”

“I’m that transparent, huh?”

“Your eyes go up to the left a lot when you’re working on a
plan.”

“So you’ve figured out my tell.  Do you play poker?”

“Yeah, my dad taught me how to play when I was young. 
I don’t have a knack for numbers, so I learned to read people.  I’ve
played a few times online, but I do much better in a live game.”

“I’ve never had time to play poker.  Maybe you can
teach me how to play.  I think that I would like it.”

“Sure… I’m almost ready to go.”

Kate

I never dreamt I would ever have a run-in with paparazzi.  This would’ve
been really cool - if I hadn’t been naked.  Luckily, Mom hates gossip and
especially despises the Daily News, so maybe this little incident can slip
under her radar.
  Just as I finished up my makeup, there was some kind
of scuffle outside our door.

“You guys aren’t allowed up here,” someone said in a booming
voice. 

“It sounds like a good time to make a break for it,” Jack
whispered.

“I’m ready, just lead the way.”

Jack cracked open the door and saw the security guards to
our left.  The stairwell was just to the right, so we quietly made our way
to the exit.  The first flight of stairs was completely clear, so I got my
hopes up.  As we turned the first corner, however, the cameras were
unleashed, along with a blinding torrent of flashing lights.

“Alright, that’s enough guys,” Jack yelled as he approached
them, trying to block their cameras with his hand.  “I’ll give you the
scoop, just stop taking pictures.”

“Really?” one of the guys responded, looking at us
suspiciously. 

“Put down the cameras and I’ll tell you who she is.”

“Alright, they both replied,” lowering their cameras and
grabbing their notepads. 

“Her name is Kate and I’m helping her launch a new clothing
line,” I explained.

“Okay, but why were you guys naked in the window?” one of
them questioned.

“Every new designer needs a little publicity right?” I
responded with a smirk.

“Publicity, huh?  Looked more like a booty call to me,”
the other replied.

“Let’s just go with a publicity stunt,” Jack reiterated as
he began to push by them.

“Anything else you want to add to the story?”

“The line is called ‘Kate’s Collection,’ and it will be in
stores next summer,” Jack yelled as we picked up our pace down the
stairwell.  Once we reached the lower level, he called Tim to confirm that
the garage was still clear.

“You’re all clear,” Tim replied. 

We quickly headed out and ducked into the waiting
limo. 
What an insane way to start the day!

Jack

“Do you think they bought it?” Kate asked as we settled into
the back seat.

“It doesn’t really matter.  They’ll print whatever gets
them more clicks and sells more papers.”

“I’m not so sure that I would want them to buy your story
anyway.  I would’ve never thought of doing something like that to get
publicity for my line.  I would rather just make great clothes,” she
replied with a look of disapproval.

“Don’t worry, no one is going to believe it anyway,” I
assured her.  “I just thought that we could get your name out there. 
Make something positive out of a bad situation.”

“Shit, we’re going to have to go right by them,” Tim yelled
back to us.

“That’s alright,” I replied after seeing the look on Kate’s
face.  “I need to set the record straight anyway.”

As traffic stalled, several photographers and reporters
approached the car trying to see who was inside.  I sat with my finger on
the sunroof button, waiting for the traffic light to turn green.  I knew
that it would take a full minute for traffic to get moving once the light
turned and that was all of the time I wanted to spend with them.

“It’s show time,” I told Kate as the light turned
green. 

Kate

As the sunroof began to slide open, I got so nervous that I
could feel my heart pounding in my chest.  I had never imagined myself
being in a situation like this.  I almost peed when Jack reached for my
hand wanting me to join him. 
Oh, God no!
   Cameras began
to click and people started yelling questions at us as Jack pulled me up
through the sunroof.

“I want to introduce you to Kate,” Jack yelled over all of
the noise.

“Is she another daughter?” some smart ass yelled back.

Jack let out a laugh before saying, “As you have noticed,
Kate is 27 years younger than me.  She’s a fashion designer and just
happens to be the new love of my life.”  There were a variety of reactions
as the small mob scrutinized Jack’s words. 

“As most of you know, I lost my wife a few years ago, and
Kate is the one person who is healing my broken heart,” he added as traffic
began to move.

“Thanks, Jack,” I said as we retook our seats in the back of
the car.

“I love you, Kate, and I want everyone to know it.  In
fact, there’s another call that I need to make,” he replied, picking up his
phone.

I knew that the next call would be to his mother.  He
had been avoiding her for the past month and it had been bothering him. 
Shit,
I’m going to have to talk to my mom, too. 
I really wasn’t looking
forward to untangling a month’s worth of lies. 
I’ll give her a call
this evening.  I definitely can’t handle her right now.  I haven’t
even had my latte yet.

Jack

As Mom’s phone began to ring, I found myself hoping it would
go to voicemail
.  It’s pretty early, I might get lucky. 

“Jack, is everything alright?” she asked, sounding as if she
had been up for hours.

“Everything’s fine, Mom. I didn’t realize that it was so
early until I had already dialed your number.”

“That’s fine.  What’s going on?”

I took the time to go back to the beginning, telling her a
slightly modified version of our story.  In this version, Kate and I had
begun working together about a month ago and had slowly fallen in love.  I
also explained that there would probably be some press coverage in the near
future due to our age difference.

“Don’t they have anything better to fuss about?” Mom replied
in a surprisingly supportive tone.

“Anything to sell a few papers, Mom, you know that.  I
just wanted you to know about Kate and me before you read it somewhere.”

“You know that I don’t read that crap, Jack.  Besides,
Jayne and I had you two figured out a couple of weeks ago.  If you think
that you can hide something like that from your mother and your daughter, you
are sadly mistaken.”  I could somehow hear the smile crossing her
face. 
Apparently, everyone had been keeping closer tabs on me than I
thought.

“So you and Jayne have been talking about us?” I asked
instantly causing Kate’s cheeks to flush.  I patted her knee and gave her
a reassuring smile.  Judging from my mother’s tone, she didn’t have
anything to worry about, other than maybe being teased by her at some point.

“Yes, I’m afraid we’ve had some good laughs at your
expense,” she continued.  “You should never try to keep secrets from
me.  You should know by now that it just makes me more curious.” 

I suddenly had visions of my mother tailing us in her Buick
Lacrosse.

“I’m glad that you and Jayne can laugh about it, Mom. 
I wasn’t sure how you would handle it.”

“We’ve both spent plenty of time worrying about you the last
few years.  We’re just glad to see you happy.  Oh, lord….  You
may want to get a hotel room with curtains next time, though.”

“Mom, get off the iPad.  I thought that you didn’t read
that crap.”

“I didn’t read it.  I just looked at the
pictures.  Very tasteful, Jack, your father will be so proud.”

“On that note, have a good day, Mom.”  I hung up the
phone and shook my head in disbelief.  “I can’t believe my mother
sometimes.”

“Well, at least she has a sense of humor about it. 
That’s more than I can say for mine,” Kate replied as she began fidgeting
nervously.

“I’ll talk to her if you want me to,” I offered.

“No, that’s fine.  I’m planning to call her
tonight.  I’m sure she will have already heard about it from
somebody.  That way, she’ll have had some time to cool off,” Kate replied
looking preoccupied.

“Yeah, she’s probably going to need a little time to
adjust.” 
Like a year or two…

As I looked out the window, my thoughts began to drift as
well.  I knew the paparazzi stunt was tied to the other strange things
that had been going on the past several weeks.  Someone had been
threatening me ever since they caught wind of our little
Made in America
clothing venture. 

I’ll bet it’s the Ricci brothers.
  Their father,
Alfonso, was one of the largest contract manufacturers in the U.S. for the
clothing industry.  More than a dozen designers had switched from using
his services to my outsourcing platform in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. 
His business declined to the point where he ended up selling what was left, and
his boys had turned to less honorable business dealings.  They did not
intend to ever revive their father’s business, but at the same time, they were
determined to cause as many waves as possible for me. 
I’m going to get
in touch with a guy that I grew up with.  These two punks need to be shut
down.  If I hadn’t put their dad out of business, someone else would’ve
done it.  All of the old-school manufacturers are gone.  It was
nothing personal for Christ sake.

Kate

Judging by the intense look on his face, Jack was
contemplating something pretty serious.  I began to think about Jack’s
weakening heart and wondered if that was his concern.  Tim stopped by my
place so I could change into some fresh clothes.  I didn’t want to show up
at the office in the same outfit that I had worn on Monday. 

Jack said he was going to make a coffee run while I changed,
but instead he stopped by Café Boulud.  Between his love of beef, and his
fascination with French cuisine, it was easy to see why he would choose stem
cell therapy instead of following his father’s strict regimen.  On the way
to the office, I enjoyed Brioche French toast with orange butter and passion
fruit syrup, while he had short rib hash with caramelized onions and eggs over
the top
.  Heavenly…