When Dreams Cross (7 page)

R
eminding herself of the reason for this party, Andi decided it was time to get the announcement over with. Catching Justin’s eyes again, she started to gesture for him to come to her but thought better of it, and made her way to his side instead. His eyes anticipated her through the crowd, the thick webbing of black lashes hooding them with a maddening arrogance. Chagrined, she realized as she approached him that she had never seen him dressed in evening attire, and the sight of the lean lines of his coat and the ruffled contrast of the white shirt against his skin made her wish she hadn’t seen him that way now. But she would die before letting him know it looked good on him.

Their eyes locked intimately when she was face-to-face with him, each acknowledging the temporary standoff that would have to serve as a truce. “Shall we?” Andi asked, not quite able to feign a smile at him yet.

“Of course,” he answered, setting an infuriatingly proprietary hand on her back as she called for the group’s attention. His touch—which gave him the look of control, as if she were a mere puppet-infuriated her. She took a step forward to make him drop his hand.

The announcement was short and straightforward, and once it was made, Andi stepped back to allow the reporters to direct questions at the animator whom she had dubbed “the best in the field and the only one who provided exactly the right elements for Promised Land’s needs.”

When the obvious, expected questions had been answered, Jeanine Calaveras, a shrewd reporter for Given’s television station, stepped forward. “Justin, tell us about your past relationship with Miss Sherman.”

An amused half-grin broke out on his face, spreading maliciously to his eyes, and he glanced askance at Andi, who seemed undaunted. He started to answer, but Andi jumped in instead.

“We’re old college friends,” Andi explained with a dazzling smile. “We haven’t seen each other in eight years, but we’re delighted to be working together now.”

The obvious way she tried to steer Justin from making a public blunder stung him.

“Justin,” Jeanine tried again, rephrasing the question. “I understand that the two of you were more than just friends.”

Justin shrugged and set his hand on the back of Andi’s neck, the pressure of his fingers warning her into silence.

“You’re quite right,” he said, feeling Andi’s muscles knotting with dread. Pencils began to jot wildly.

Andi’s smile did not waiver, but her eyes glassed over with guarded contempt.

“Is that the real reason you chose him as your animator?” someone asked.

“Actually,” Andi cut in again, determined to set the record straight, “Mr. Pierce’s cartoon was one of several my staff brought to my attention. I had no idea he had animated Khaki’s Krewe when I chose it, and if I had, the knowledge might very well have gone against him.”

Justin swallowed back his distaste at her comment and parried it with one of his own. “Miss Sherman was afraid that the extent of our previous involvement may have kept her from maintaining the authority she’s so used to. However, since I don’t actually work
for
her and since our agreement clearly outlines both of our territories of control, we don’t anticipate any problems with that.” He could almost feel the hairs on her neck bristling.

“Can we expect this relationship to turn romantic again?” another bold reporter asked.

“Absolutely not,” Andi said with amused resolution, taking a step forward to make Justin drop his hand. “There is no chance of that.”

Although he had been about to offer a similar answer, the casual way with which Andi dismissed the possibility irked him. “None at all,” he assured with chuckling certainty.

His laugh, as if the possibility were an absurdity, forced Andi to cast one last cutting remark. “I make it a policy never to date my staff members.”

Staff member?
Since there was no way to parry that one without continuing a verbal sparring match, Justin surrendered the last word to her. He silently vowed to confront her later, however, when the last word would be his.

When the questioning died down enough, Andi and Justin went their separate ways, mingling as they answered questions, most of a business nature, though an occasional additional query was cast from time to time about their past relationship. It became increasingly apparent as the night wore on that Andi’s personal life was fascinating to the reporters, and they clung to the tidbits of information like British reporters to stories of Diana.

When the crowd had thinned down to just the Promised Land executives and a few straggling reporters, Andi found Justin leaning against a wall in what seemed to be intimate conversation with Jeanine Calaveras. The sight of his delighted smile and the woman’s obvious attraction to him sent a wave of worry—not to mention jealousy—coursing through Andi. If he said the wrong thing to this woman, anything could happen. Stepping to his side, she touched his arm and smiled. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

Justin shrugged. “Jeanine was just asking me about some rumors she’d heard about construction problems at Promised Land. I told her that you were the person to ask.”

“Ask away,” Andi said, knowing from experience with this reporter that she had probably manufactured the rumors herself.

“Well, I heard—”

A big hand landed on the woman’s shoulder to stop her words, and Andi found herself looking into the benign features of B.W. Givens, the man who had made her life miserable since she’d begun work on Promised Land, the man she had made a point to avoid all evening. “No need to bother Miss Sherman with those little rumors, Jeanine,” he said, his sagging jowls creasing with his false smile. “We got all we needed from her engineers.”

The remark, designed to worry Andi, left her undaunted. “Good,” she said in a saccharine voice. “That’s why I wanted them here.” Glancing back at the woman whose eyes were glued to Justin’s, Andi cleared her throat. “I think it’s been a productive evening,” she said in dismissal of the reporter and her employer.

“Yes,” Givens agreed with smug assurance. “Quite productive.”

With a sigh, Jeanine stuffed her notebook back into her clutch purse and extended a hand to the animator. “I hope we’ll have the pleasure of meeting again, Justin,” she said, the familiar use of his name galling Andi.

“I’m sure we will,” Justin said with a smile. His eyes followed the two out of the room, and then he took Andi by the arm and turned her to face him. “I think we have some unfinished business,” he clipped, glancing at the others in the room. “What do you say we go to your office?”

Accepting the challenge in his eyes, she simply nodded and started toward the door.

Chapter Nine

J
ustin slammed the office door behind him when they were in Andi’s office, the sound echoing like the crashing masks of civility they had been struggling to wear all evening. When Andi turned to face him, he saw that the look of undisguised anger on her face matched his own. “You’ve got a lot of nerve,” he bit out, taking off his coat and tossing it on the sofa beside the wall. “I thought you would have learned a long time ago that I don’t intend to kowtow for anyone, especially you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about you on your little pedestal, making me out to be the grantee of your good graces. A lowly staff member.” With a flip of his wrist, he tossed the tie on top of his coat.

“As usual, Justin,” Andi said, planting her fists on her hips, “you are blowing things way out of proportion. I never called you my subordinate because I know better than to puncture that outrageous ego of yours.”

A sarcastic laugh cut from Justin’s throat. “You think it’s my ego that’s outrageous? You’re the one who can’t abide the fact that I’ve agreed to work
with
you, not
for
you.”

“Your acceptance of my offer gives me some rights where you’re concerned, Justin. Like it or not, it’s a trade-off.”

“Fine,” Justin said stridently, stepping toward her. “Then let’s just make it a little clearer what it is we’re trading off. As far as I remember, there was nothing in our agreement about my becoming your doormat …”

“Where are you getting this stuff?” she threw back. “What did I say in that press conference that sounded like you were a doormat?”

“The stuff about your not dating staff members. Come on, Andi. Number one, we’re each fifty percent partners in Pierce Productions, so I’m not a staff member, and number two, who asked you to date me anyway?”

“The press asked,” she said, her face reddening. “They were trying to latch onto a new romance that would have wound up in the tabloids by tomorrow morning. You fed it, Justin, and you know you did. And you did it out of spite, to show me that you couldn’t be harnessed!”

He knew that was true, but he didn’t want to admit it. He turned away with his hands on his hips and strode to the big window of her office. How did this always happen between them? Why did he act like a child with her? Like an angry little boy bent on proving something? He turned back to her.

“You’re right,” he said. “I shouldn’t have fed the rumor mill. I guess I just wanted to see you squirm.”

“At what cost?” she asked, stepping toward him. “You’d deliberately try to make me look stupid in front of the media just so you could feel more important? Lines have to be drawn, Justin. This isn’t like old times. If we’re going to be working together, you need to keep your hands to yourself. The familiarity you demonstrated out there was false, and even worse, it was inappropriate. My reputation is important. People want to find something about my life that isn’t right, so they can say that Promised Land is just a scam that preys on families’ sense of morality. They can’t believe the Shermans could really be devoted to spreading the gospel.

They want to shake it all down, Justin. I get it from every angle, every single day. Why do I have to get it from you, too?”

She could see from his face that he hadn’t meant to be that to her. His face twisted as he looked down at her, and she saw the honesty, the reality, in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I really didn’t mean to contribute to that. There’s just something about you that … rubs me the wrong way.”

She swallowed the emotion in her throat and looked quickly away.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” he said. He reached out to touch her reassuringly, but remembering her words, he stopped himself and dropped his hand to his side. “I just meant … well, tonight, when I got off the elevator and saw that icy rage in your eyes, it was like all my reason flicked off, and the barriers came up.” He closed his eyes, and shook his head slowly. “My pride is gonna really get me one day.”

When his eyes opened again, she was gazing up at him with eyes sadder than he’d ever seen. “So we’re both eaten up with pride. What else is new? We knew that eight years ago.”

“Yeah, I guess we did.”

“Is it going to ruin us this time?” she asked. “Is it going to keep us from having any harmony … or peace?”

“I hope not,” he whispered.

They stared at each other for a long, volatile moment. Justin felt a stronger desire to kiss her than he remembered ever feeling before. If he could just brush his lips across hers one more time, to convince himself that she didn’t move him like she once did, that their love had died, that it didn’t have to keep stalking him like something from which he could not escape.

But she had drawn the boundaries, and he supposed he deserved them—needed them. No touches. No familiarity. No hope.

Still, as his sad gaze swept across hers, he found himself being swept on a raging rush of memory. He had loved her. And he had loved her love for him. There had been nothing like it since.

Frightened of that realization, he dropped his head. “You win, Andi.” His voice was rough, hoarse, tremulous with alarming emotion.

“I don’t win, Justin,” she whispered. “We both lose. Neither of us can win when we’re together.”

The sorrow in her words made him hate himself. “If I’ve made that true, I’m so sorry. I might not see you as such a threat if the memories weren’t so …” His voice faltered, and he caught himself, sighing with resignation. He raised both hands and raked them roughly through his hair, closing his eyes with frustration and self-recrimination. “I’ll try not to let it invade our business relationship.”

Her eyes changed, grew harder, and for a moment, he wondered if, once again, he’d said the wrong thing. “That’s all I ever asked of you,” Andi said, her voice hard and controlled. “As a couple, we’re a nightmare. But as business partners, we can do a lot together.”

She moved to the door as if to dismiss him. “I think we’ve said enough for tonight,” she stated coldly. “Tomorrow we can start fresh. And we’ll work together as if we were friends. I’ll work on my temper.”

“And I’ll work on mine,” he agreed quietly. Without waiting for her reaction, he gathered his coat and left her standing there, cold, beautiful, and inconceivably alone.

Just the way he felt.

Chapter Ten

B
lowing a wisp of hair out of her face, Andi watched the ice cubes bob in her Coke and pushed her untouched lunch tray away from her. Absently, she glanced up at the men sitting with her, deep in discussion about when the lake should be filled and the first test run launched for the whales in the Jonah ride. For the past three days she had been supervising the artistic development of the underwater city, making absolutely certain that no details were forgotten or neglected from laziness. Although she had people to oversee each project, she could never resist being there herself when it neared completion. She had learned long ago that there was no substitute for hands-on participation.

Besides, that niggling voice inside her head taunted, she’d do just about anything to stay out of that office while Justin and his people were settling in. The activity on the sixteenth floor, the one she had given to Pierce Productions, had been nonstop for over a week. He was hiring new people and buying new equipment, yet the work on the cartoons continued around the clock. She had been waiting for the chaos to settle before she approached him to start working with her on the park. Unfortunately, she hadn’t yet seen a lull in the commotion. Whether she liked it or not, they would have to get down to business soon.

She dreaded their inevitable encounters. Since the night of the press party, Justin had avoided her as much as possible. And, she admitted ruefully, she had been avoiding him—against her better judgment, since her attempts to stay away from him were delaying some of the work on her park.

For heaven’s sake, she thought, setting her glass down too roughly. She was letting her authority slip because even the thought of him intimidated her. The realization infuriated her, for she had never let anyone undermine her position before, and it had taken her a long time to earn respect as the one at the helm of Promised Land.

“Have you read this, Andi?” a construction worker asked, cutting into her thoughts. Looking up, she saw that he brandished a newspaper that bore a bird’s-eye photograph of Promised Land on page one.

“No,” Andi said with a moan. The articles that had come out since the press party, elaborating more on her past relationship with Justin Pierce than with his present relationship to Promised Land, had given her a new distaste for the media. Wincing, she said, “Read me the headlines.”

With an amused half smile, the young man leaned back. “Electrical Problems in Promised Land Water Rides.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” she said wearily. “Let me see that.”

The man handed her the paper, and she set it on the table so the two men on either side of her could read with her. The article hinted at possible problems in the wiring and suggested that several accidents had occurred in test runs as a result of the malfunctions. “Wonderful,” Andi said in a dull monotone. “The next thing you know they’ll be labeling our whales electrocution chambers.”

“You think some of the building inspectors are behind this?” the contractor next to her asked.

“Of course they are. They can’t find anything wrong so they make it up. I’d revoke my offer to let them in if I thought it wouldn’t be read as an admission of guilt.”

With muttered remarks and whispered expletives at specific inspectors with whom they had collided at one point or another, the contractors cleaned their places and went back to work. Picking up the paper, Andi wondered if she should call another press conference to answer the allegations. No, she thought. It was too soon for that. Press Day, the preview day she had planned for media people from all over the country, was not that far away. If she could wait until then, she could let the park speak for itself.

Givens was obviously responsible for this. He owned the newspaper, a television station, a bank, and most of the town’s other larger businesses, as well as the mayor, the city council, and various officials who had tried to make her life miserable. He had tried to own her too, she thought with a wry smirk. Thinking she’d be an easy target because of her youth and gender, he had approached her with a heavy-handed offer of “protection” at what he considered a reasonable price. When she had added threats of her own to her refusal to comply with his extortion attempts—threats of exposing him nationally as well as locally for his tactics—he had seemed to back down. She wondered now if that was just an illusion.

Her reverie was broken when the woman she had met at Justin’s house the other night pulled out the chair next to her. “Thank goodness for a familiar face,” she said, plopping down. “It’s kind of weird walking around here with all these people I don’t know. Guess it’ll get worse, huh?”

Slightly taken aback by the familiarity, Andi struggled to remember her name. “I’m sorry … I know I met you at Justin’s the other night, but … what was your name?”

“Madeline,” she said. “Still is.”

“Oh, that’s right. And you’re on Justin’s staff.”

“That’s right. You should have stayed and had pizza with us the other night. It was great. A sweep-the-kitchen. Had everything on it. Even anchovies.” She leaned forward conspiratorially and lowered her voice. “Listen, don’t hold what happened the other night against Justin. He really couldn’t help it.”

Andi stared at her for a moment as every muscle in her body grew tense. “What night are you talking about?”

“The reception. You know, when he was late? It was kind of my fault he was late. Well, at least partially …”

Andi hadn’t yet heard an explanation for why he was late, and now she wondered if she even wanted to know. If it had something to do with Madeline …

“Look, all I’m saying is don’t be mad at the guy. He’s trying his hardest, in spite of the fact that it’s a little weird what with your history and all.”

A flicker of anger flashed like lightning through her mind, but she tempered her voice. “I appreciate your concern. If you’ll excuse me …” She got up and turned to leave but ran smack into Justin.

Frustration blended with the rage in her eyes, and she stepped back, glaring up into his face.

“Are you and Madeline getting to know each other?” he asked, casting his friend a worried glance.

Refusing to satisfy him with an answer, Andi pushed past Justin and started out of the little restaurant, feeling the heat of the sun warming her outside as she seethed within. Before she could get very far, Justin caught up with her. “What are you so mad about?”

“You!” she said. “I don’t want you talking about me to your employees. About our history and how ‘weird’ it is to be working here. I try to maintain a certain authority over the employees here, and it’s hard to do when people are gossiping about my old flame.”

He let out a Herculean sigh. “I think Madeline drinks phenobarbital for breakfast. She spills out everything she knows all the rest of the day. But she means well.”

Andi held her ground. “I’d appreciate it if you’d not talk about me from now on. I don’t like people knowing about my personal life.”

“They’re my friends, okay? I share my life with them, and all my frustrations. They know I used to be close to you, and they know how it went wrong. I can’t take it back, and if I could, I wouldn’t. So get over it. As a matter of fact, you might try making a few friends of your own.”

The comment made her even more furious. Without another word, she went to her electric car and drove rapidly out of his sight.