Zach

Did she think I was weird? I was already in the elevator heading down to the first floor, but my knees were shaking. Sammie was very beautiful and could have given any actress a run for her money. But here she was working in the security field. During the attack, she looked like a goddess and in the hospital, she looked cute. But in the board room talking about her job, she was incredibly passionate and sexy.

I covered my mouth to keep from squealing like a fangirl. It wasn’t manly to let my emotions be seen, and I had three more floors to get ahold of myself. I took a deep breath. The elevator reached the main floor where Joe was waiting for me.

“Did she agree?” he asked. I nodded at him, and he grinned at me in relief. “That’s good. I was afraid you would make me come with you again and I already have a date.”

“You could have still brought your date.”

A few days later

I was starting at my phone. Sammie hadn’t called since we talked in her office. She had my number, but nothing. I know it is ridiculous for me to think she would want to call me, but part of me was hoping that the attraction I felt wasn’t one sided. My time as a famous singer had made me somewhat arrogant since I had so many women chasing after me. I had steered clear of relationships during that time which means that my experience was exactly nill.

After the attack, Tempo had closed so that the police could wrap up their investigations. Today was the first day that the Gallery had opened back up. We were working with Steele Security to bolster security including ordering additional equipment and having a rotation of guards come into the museum. They would all be in plain clothes for now. After the Shell exhibition, they would be assigned to the security stations currently occupied by TCSP personnel.

“Sir?” My secretary, Dana’s voice floated out over the intercom, startling me from my focus on my mobile. Clearing my throat, I pressed the intercom button.

“What is it Dana?”

“You have a visitor.” I started at the ancient intercom. We really should be moving to a better technology. Another thing to put on the list. An IT department that could bring that could bring the Gallery into the modern age. I don’t think there was a Tempo Art Gallery website. Right now I really didn’t want to talk to anyone, but because of this equipment, whoever was out there waiting on me would hear exactly what I said.

“Who is it and why are they here?”

“Her name is Samantha Steele, and she said just to let you know you were here.” I shoved my chair back and raced to the door before pausing and looking back at my office in horror. It was a disaster. I couldn’t bring her in here. It wasn’t like it was dirty, but paintings and papers were scattered around it what looked like a disorganized mess. There was no what I would be able to clean up. Instead, I grabbed my wallet and jacket.

Opening the door, my breath stopped as Sammie looked up at me and smiled. I could feel my heart begin to pound in my chest and tied to shake off the feeling. I took a deep breath and walked over to her.

“This is a surprise,” I said carefully. I wasn’t sure what she was doing here now, but my inner self was jumping up and down in joy.

“You promised me a tour, honey.” My eyes widened. Honey. She called me honey. My brain stalled until I felt the edges of my lips turn up. She was my date to the Shell debut, so I guess we were going to pretend to be a couple before the event. Was this like the shows that had contract relationships that ended with the couple falling in love and staying together? I can only hope. Taking a deep breath, I called on the acting gods for assistance.

“Of course, Sweetheart.” I reached over to grab her hand, bringing it up to my lips. I was worried Sammie might snatch her hand back, but save for an initial hesitance, she let me draw her in. Letting my lips leave the briefest of kisses on the back of her hand, I could see her lips part and a flush come to her face. Smiling, I kept her hand in mine before turning to Dana.

“What is the next meeting on my calendar?"

“You don’t have any meetings for the rest of the afternoon. Your next call is at 5pm with the Jonesonian. They wanted to begin a discussion on a future exhibit.”

“Plenty of time.” I smiled over at Sammie. “Let’s go.” For the next few hours, I took her around the building. I could see her making mental notes. Since she was pretending to be my girlfriend, I was able to take her into the Gallery’s private areas. Even though I could tell she was working, I had a really good time. I even got to hold her hand for most of the tour. Once we had gone everywhere, we still had some time before my next meeting.

“Would you like to go out for a late lunch?” I asked. Sammie nodded and we left the gallery. Instead of taking her to a restaurant, I took her back to my apartment. It was the one place I felt certain there would be no one to pretend for or listen in on. Her offices were off limits until after the transition had taken place.

I could tell that she was surprised that I had taken her here. Wolfgang ran to the door to greet us, and she bent down to scratch his head. I could tell that she liked dogs from how she was reacting.

“What’s his name?” Wolfgang had flopped onto his back and Sammie was giving him belly rubs.

“This shameless puff of fur is Wolfgang.” I laughed as my dog showed off for Sammie.

“He is so cute.” Standing, we went over to the kitchen.

“Would you like a drink?”

“Water is fine.” I grabbed two glasses from the cupboard and the water pitcher from the fridge.

“Do you like wontons?” I asked.

“I do, but you don’t have to…”she began to protest.

“It is fine, I like to cook, and this was the only place I could be sure of privacy. Feel free to write down all your notes. I know you have some thoughts related to Tempo’s security.” I pulled a bag of wontons out of the freezer and some eggs and spring onion out. “Do you want some rice, too?”

“Then, I’ll rely on you for lunch. If you want to make rice, I’ll eat some.” She pulled out her phone and a small keyboard. Setting her phone up, she began to type. I was surprised at the technology but then huffed at my ignorance.

As I continued making lunch, I kept peeking over at her, but she remained focused on the tiny mobile screen. Was it my arrogance that made me wish she would lose her focus at least for a moment and pay attention to me? Shaking my head, I pushed that thought away. She was only here to protect me and set up security for Tempo. The fact that she was pretending to be my girlfriend was only temporary and the moment we transitioned from TCSP, everyone would realize that today was just an act.

I started plating the food. Wonton soup with spring onion, a rolled omelet and some kimchi. It probably wouldn’t win any culinary awards, but it would be filling. The rice cooker had just finished and began beeping. Sammie looked up from her work and realizing that the table was set, she put her phone and keyboard away. I pulled two bowls out and began to fill them with rice before setting them on the table.

“This looks amazing.” She said before looking up at me. I basked under her praise. I grinned at her.

“Thank you, eat as much as you’d like!” We both dug in and the only thing that could be heard for the next few minutes was the slurping of the soup and crunch of the kimchi. I would have liked to talk a bit more, but I couldn’t figure out what to say and glancing over at her, I could see a look of enjoyment that made my heart beat faster.

I really needed to get ahold of myself before I did something that would offend her.