Jordan, Olivia - Carly's Two-Stepping Temptations [Studio Seductions 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (13 page)

Although he knew he needed to listen to the broadcast, Jared couldn’t stand listening to another second of lies. He mashed the power button into the console and the car went silent.

“Carly, they’re making shit up.”

“Are they?”

“Of course they are.”

“So the mayor never confided in you?”

“Well, she did, but I didn’t do anything to cover it up. I just didn’t go leaking it everywhere, either.”

“How long did you know about this?”

“About two weeks before the media did.”

“Yet you didn’t see fit to tell anyone.”

“Why would I?”

“Because she broke the law and stole taxpayer money to pay gambling debts!”

Jared winced at the irritation in Carly’s voice. “I found out by eavesdropping on a phone conversation. It’s bad enough that I was listening in. It would have been pretty nasty for me to rat her out when she didn’t offer that information to me.”

“Well, maybe if you had, you wouldn’t be in this mess now.”

“Come on, that’s not fair. Think about what she’s going through. Not only is she about to lose her job, but her husband, the person she risked everything to help, has abandoned her.”

“The losing her job part is her own damn fault.”

“Still, have a little pity on her. How would you feel if the person you’d just destroyed your career to help completely walked out on you once the shit hit the fan?”

Carly sighed. “I guess you’re right. Still, you should have said something.”

“No, I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have been listening in on her phone conversation in the first place. I just didn’t feel right blabbing information I wasn’t supposed to have had.”

“Fine.”

Jared could tell by the edge in Carly’s voice that everything wasn’t fine. “Okay, what else is wrong?”

“You didn’t—you didn’t fool around with her or anything, did you?”

Jared briefly considered the awkward almost-kiss that Melissa had tried to foist upon him but decided it wasn’t relevant. They hadn’t technically kissed, and he’d make sure to set up strict boundaries after that. His relationship with Melissa had been purely professional ever since. “No, I never fooled around with her.”

“Not even in your first weeks here, before we got together?”

“Of course not!”

“She’s pretty.”

“Why would I get involved with a married woman?”

Carly shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re right, though. I’m sorry. This news has thrown me for a loop, and I’m not thinking clearly.”

“It’s okay. I know, this is confusing. But I would never get involved with a married woman. And even if she’d been single, I wouldn’t have done anything.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I was carrying a torch for you.”

“You’d tell me if something did happen between the two of you, right?”

“Of course I would. Why are you asking?”

“I don’t care what you did before we were together. But if anything happened, it’s probably going to come to light at some point in the near future, and I just want to be prepared.”

“I promise, nothing else happened, but if something had, I would have told you. You won’t be blindsided again.”

“I love you,” Carly said, finally smiling.

Jared grinned. “I love you, too.”

The brief moment of relief that Carly’s smile brought him vanished as he pulled into the studio parking lot. He didn’t want to think about the anger that Taletha was probably going to unleash the second he walked in the door.

Carly squeezed his hand as they rushed into the building. “Don’t worry. No matter what happens, it will all work out, and I believe in you.”

As Jared walked through the front door, he froze in place. Taletha was standing at the front desk, waiting with a glare that sent chills through him. Carly gave his hand one more squeeze, and then rushed off to the locker room to finish getting ready.

“Give me one good reason not to fire you right now,” she snapped as soon as Carly was out of earshot. Lynne, who was famous for her sense of discretion, put on a pair of headphones and went on with her work as though drama wasn’t unfolding right before her eyes.

“Taletha, please, just let me explain. None of what they’re saying is true. Melissa never confided in me. I stood up for her yesterday when the crowds outside the studio were getting rough, but that’s it.”

“Then how did they come to that conclusion?”

“I don’t know! It’s a political-scandal feeding frenzy. Are you really expecting accurate reporting?”

“How did they know you were her teacher?”

“They knew she was doing the event, and I walked her to her car last week in order to protect her from those obnoxious reporters. I suppose it wouldn’t be unreasonable that some reporter put two and two together.”

Taletha started shaking. “Jared, this is completely unacceptable. Do you understand how bad this is for us? It’s one thing to try to get some publicity out of the scandal and try to look a little bit daring. It’s another thing entirely if we’re being implicated in that scandal.”

“I already told you that the stuff on the radio isn’t true! I never attempted to cover anything up. I might not have run to the press about it, but I didn’t try to keep the information back, either.”

“That doesn’t matter! Who cares if they’re lying? Who cares if you’re telling me the truth? My opinion of you doesn’t even factor in right now. It’s all about what the public thinks. And I’m willing to bet my entire business on the possibility that the entire public is believing you did try to help her cover things up.”

“Then I’ll just say it’s not true.”

“And why in the world would they believe you?”

Jared hung his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Taletha’s expression finally softened. “I know you didn’t. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s happening. We tried it your way, but that doesn’t seem to have done us any good. In fact, it’s only made things worse.”

Jared nodded. “I understand. I won’t try to contradict you anymore.”

Taletha walked up and gave Jared a gentle hug. “Try to cheer up. Yes, this is bad, and yes, I’m in a bad mood about it. But I realize that you had good intentions. Things are going to suck for a little while, but I promise that it will all get figured out sooner or later.”

Just then, a miserable-looking Melissa Roth walked in the door.

“Taletha, Jared…” Her voice trailed off, too shaky to complete the sentence.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in your impeachment hearings?” Jared asked. He immediately felt stupid for asking what was probably a painful question, but he’d been so shocked when she walked through the door that he hadn’t bothered to think before speaking.

“Not until afternoon today,” she gulped out through her tears.

“Why don’t the three of us all sit down in my office, where we can have a little more privacy?” Taletha escorted them both in and shut the door.

“I just—I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am,” Melissa said as soon as they had all settled in chairs. “I never meant for Jared, or the studio, to be implicated in all of this.”

“Melissa, it’s okay,” Jared said. “I know you never would have wanted this to happen. I’ll survive. The studio will survive. We’ve dealt with worse.”

“However,” Taletha said, “just because we’ve dealt with worse does not mean that this is an ideal solution.”

Melissa nodded. “I understand. If you’d like for me to make a statement to the media, I’d be glad to do it, if you think that will help.”

“No offense, Mayor Roth, but I’m not sure the public is going to consider you a credible source of information right now.”

Melissa sighed. “I know.”

“As much as it pains me to say this, I think you should step down from the show. I know Jared was looking forward to performing with you. We were all excited to have you on board, and I wish we could have remained an ally for you during your impeachment. I have a business to think about, though, and I can’t do anything that is going to put said business in harm’s way.”

Jared opened his mouth to object, but quickly snapped it shut. He knew better than to argue with Taletha. He’d already caused enough trouble and figured he was probably lucky he still had a job at all.

Melissa nodded. “I’m sad about that, too, but I understand where you’re coming from. I’d probably do the exact same thing if I was in your shoes. Hell, I probably would have kicked me out the day the scandal broke last week.”

Taletha smiled. “Well, you have Jared to thank for that not happening. For the record, I don’t regret listening to him, but I think now I have to take a hard line on this issue.”

“Of course.”

“I also think it would be best if we completely refunded your participation fee.”

Jared hadn’t thought it was possible for Melissa to look more dejected, but her face fell even further. “Of course it would. You shouldn’t be handling tainted money.”

“I really am sorry. I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”

“No, no, I understand completely. I appreciate you giving me this chance at all. And I really am sorry to have brought this upon you.”

“We appreciate your understanding. Now, Jared, if you want to walk Mayor Roth out to the front desk, Lynne will be sure to handle her refund.” She turned to her computer and began busying herself in work. At first, Jared thought she was being rude, but then he saw her struggling not to cry and realized she was just as upset as anyone else.

Jared put his arm around Melissa as they walked out of Taletha’s office. “I wish there was something I could have done to change her mind.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, wiping fresh tears from her eyes. “Let’s just get this refund taken care of so I can get out of here and face another round of hearings. I don’t know why they’re bothering. Hell, I don’t know why I’m bothering. I think I’m just going to resign.”

“You’re still going to have to face criminal prosecution.”

“Yeah, I know. Thanks for reminding me, though.”

Jared winced. “Sorry.”

He waited by the door as Lynne processed the refund and handed Melissa a check. Then, smiling as best he could, he walked her out to her car. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized he didn’t see any reporters.

“Are those media hounds finally starting to back off?”

Melissa shrugged. “Not exactly. They’ve just parked outside of City Hall, for the most part. That doesn’t mean we’re alone, though. Just because you can’t see any reporters doesn’t mean they’re not hiding somewhere.”

Jared scooped her into a strong hug when they arrived at her car. “I hope we have a chance to dance together again in the future. Maybe once everything settles down you can keep taking dance lessons.”

“We’ll see about that.” She broke away from the hug. “Aren’t you concerned about being noticed? I just told you that there could be cameras lurking about in the bushes and behind trees.”

“I don’t care. You deserve some comfort.” He gave her another hug.

“Sometimes I think you’re my only friend in all of this.”