An Uncertain Affair (The Affair Series Book 2) (7 page)

 “Oh,
Sergio,” I said, throwing my arms around his neck, hugging him as the tears
came uncontrollably.

“Shh,”
he whispered. “It’s going to be okay.”

We
kissed tenderly, and then he poured another glass of wine for each of us. Once
again, he sat back on the couch a few feet away. It was a small gesture, but it
showed me he’d accepted putting some space between us.

“Tell
me about the conversation with Dane and Valerie about working with Nicole. What’s
their take on it?”

Relieved
we were back to discussing business, I recapped. “Well, Dane was a bit unsure
at first, but Valerie said she would do what was best for the project, and if
that meant working with Nicole as the assistant, she’d do it. Dane went out of
his way to be sure she was really on board with it but, in the end, I think we
all agree - this is too important to dig our heels in about it. If Valerie was
being cut out altogether, that would be different, but she wants to be a part
of it. We all want to do an amazing job for you, and that’s the bottom line. If
having Nicole there gives you and Adele a comfort factor, it’s done.”

Sergio
watched me as I talked, and a smile came over his face. “You really are
passionate about this, aren’t you?”

“More
than you will probably ever know,” I said, taking a sip of wine, trying to calm
down.

He
leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “Are you hungry?” he asked as he got up
and headed for the kitchen.

“I
haven’t eaten much in the last twenty-four hours. I’ve been so twisted up about
this. I could probably use a bite.”

“I
made some paella as a special on the menu and brought some leftovers up. Can I
heat some up for you?”

“That
sounds fabulous,” I said, relaxing more by the minute. I followed him to the
kitchen and watched as he fixed another exquisite meal effortlessly. He sautéed
some fresh shrimp and tossed them with the rice. Within fifteen minutes he produced
a meal fit for a queen.

“It’s
a joy to watch you in the kitchen. You’re such an artist,” I said, feeling my
resolve weakening for keeping this strictly a business relationship.

“Well,
you can’t walk around hungry,” Sergio said, joking with me.

He
sat down next to me at the counter and poured a Morandé pinot noir that
complimented the paella perfectly. “Bridget, I understand your passion for this
project. I will back off and give you the space you need to manage it to your
heart’s content. Just know that I adore you and long to be with you. If you
change your mind at any point along the journey, I’ll be waiting with open arms.”

I
was overwhelmed by his acceptance. He really did care for me and want to make
this work for everyone. “I appreciate that, Sergio. I want this to be your best
book ever. And it will be.”

Sergio
smiled and kissed me tenderly. “I know, Bridget. I have the utmost faith in
you.”

His
kiss reverberated through me. I wanted to make love to him, and I sensed he
felt the same way. “How about we start our celibacy tomorrow?” I teased.

He
laughed. “We could, but if we prolong the inevitable, it’s only going to be
harder for me to resist you.”

“You’re
right. I should probably go.”

“You’re
a true professional, Bridget. I love and respect you even more for what you’re
doing.”

“Thank
you, Sergio,” I said, trying to fight back tears again.

“My
sweet Bridget, please don’t cry. It’s all going to be okay,” Sergio comforted
me.

“I
know.” Tears streamed down my cheeks as he hugged me tightly. I didn’t want to
let go.

**

That
night, I was totally restless. It broke my heart to push Sergio away. I kept
hearing Sally’s voice telling me that it was possible neither one of us would
be safe if our relationship became public. Could those goons really still care
about me? The FBI had recorded video of my testimony about the mobsters and my
boss, Clint Sinclair, so the damage was done. But Sally seemed to think they
could come after me for revenge. She should know. There was no point in risking
my safety or Sergio’s. I’d come too far to take chances.

I
was wide awake when the alarm went off at six. I threw myself into the shower
and lingered a little longer than usual in the steamy water imagining Sergio’s tingling
touch skating over my bare skin. He’d connected with every corner of my being,
not just with his caresses, but with his charismatic personality. It was
torture to suppress my attraction to him, particularly when we would see each
other at work almost every day.

When
I got to the studio, I brewed a full pot of coffee. The caffeine would help
jump-start my concentration to review the contract Adele had sent over just as
we were walking out the door the night before. Neither Dane nor I had the
energy or brainpower to start going over it at that late hour.

I
downloaded the document and began to comb through it. It was a sloppy revision of
their standard form. There was one place where the company name still read
“Savory Shots,” another food photographer in town who had shot their last project.
I began to compare the details of our proposal and our stipulations with the details
of the contract. Very little of our proposal had been incorporated, and the
verbiage was extremely one-sided in their favor. The timeline for completion was
also fast-tracked, much more than I expected. When Dane and Valerie arrived, I’d
been through about half of it and was very charged up.

“How
does it look?” Dane asked.

I
scowled. “Well, I guess I should’ve expected it, since Adele was pushing for
another photographer, but it needs to be totally reworked.”

Valerie
was intrigued. “What’s up with that? You hadn’t mentioned anyone else was being
considered seriously.”

“Sergio
was sold from the moment I presented our proposal, but Adele and Sergio’s
brother had someone else in mind that they’d been pushing before we were in the
picture. He’s a friend of Sergio’s brother and I gather Nicole works with him a
lot.”

“Any
chance if we balk at their contract, they’ll go back to the other guy?” Dane
asked with concern.

“I’ll
make
sure
that doesn’t happen. They accepted the points in our proposal,
so hopefully it will be a formality to make the revisions. I’ll include Sergio
in the communication with the revised contract so he’s aware that Adele hasn’t
acknowledged our stipulations. He wants to work with you, Dane, so I’m sure he’ll
fight for it.”

“Whatever
you think, Bridget. I just don’t want to lose the job.”

“Please
don’t worry. I’ll make it happen.” Sergio would be a good sounding board if I
could talk to him, but I would hammer this out with Adele and the lawyers, and
stick with my commitment to put distance between us.

Dane,
Valerie, and I spent the next few hours dissecting the contract. I had plenty
of notes for revisions, but the timeline was probably going to be nonnegotiable.
Adele wanted everything completed by mid-February, and to make that happen,
Valerie would have to work straight through the holiday, prepping.

I
sifted through the particulars of the deliverables and payments. I had to be
sure there wouldn’t be any surprises or expectations that couldn’t be met. I
sent the red-lined document with our changes to the lawyer so she could get
going on our version while we continued wrestling with the schedule.

Dane’s
approach for the art direction of the book was to shoot the ingredients for the
recipes separately in addition to the finished plates. That’s what sold Sergio.
He loved the idea of showing the raw ingredients as still life, so that couldn’t
be trimmed, but we still needed to meet the deadline.

Dane
was frustrated. “It’s really pushing it to have all of this done by
mid-February. Can’t we open up it up a little bit to give us time to be
creative? It’ll become a very average book if we have to crank it out at this
pace.”

I
tried to calm him down. “Let’s give them a schedule that works for us, one that
gives you time to be creative and do the work they expect. We’ll keep it as
streamlined as possible, but they came to you because they love your work. That
style takes time, and I just need to help them understand that. Do you think it
can be done by the end of February?”

Dane
was mulling it over when Valerie brought up a very good point. “We know nothing
about how Nicole works. If she’s slow, she could throw off the whole process.”

“You’re
right!” I said. “I need to add a caveat in the contract that takes the onus off
us if she doesn’t deliver.” The realization hit me that Nicole could sabotage
the entire project.

“Now,
girls,” Dane said in the best fatherly voice he could muster, “let’s not go
into this thinking that it won’t be a team effort. We’re all in it together,
including Sergio and Adele. They aren’t going to settle for mediocre, either.”

I
agreed, “You’re right. I’ll feel better after we’ve met Nicole, though. And I’m
still going to add the language to the contract about her being their pick, and
if she causes schedule delays, it’s on them.”

Dane
warned me, “Okay, but be careful how it’s worded. As I said earlier, I don’t
want to lose this contract.”

“You’ve
got it.”

I
went to e-mail the additional stipulations to the lawyer while Dane and Valerie
finished up the schedule that extended the work for an extra two weeks. I
thought,
Surely by the end of February it’ll be safe to be with Sergio
.
Two
months. An eternity!

By
late afternoon we had the revised document back. It all looked good, and the
language wasn’t too heavy-handed. We added the calendar to the contract as an
addendum, and I sent the whole package, including the original red-lined
document, back to Adele and copied Sergio. I fiercely wanted to call him and
talk about it, but I knew if I did, I would be contradicting everything we’d
discussed the night before. I had to let it go.

After
the contract with all the revisions was successfully en route to Adele and Sergio,
I went back out to the studio to join Dane and Valerie. We hadn’t had a moment
to celebrate the award of the job until now. I popped a bottle of champagne
that had been sitting in the refrigerator, waiting for just such an occasion.

“Here’s
to another award-winning shoot!” I said, raising my glass to Dane and Valerie.

“Hear,
hear!” Valerie added.

“Thanks,
girls,” Dane said. “I’m pumped! I’m actually glad we’re getting started a
little sooner than we originally talked about. I’ve already got some ideas, and
can’t wait to get going on it. I’m going to pull some reference photos, and do
a test shot or two before next Tuesday’s meeting.”

“I’m
in if you want help,” said Valerie.

“I’m
around, too, even if you want to work over the weekend,” I added.

Dane
looked at me questioningly. “Don’t you have plans with ‘Mr. Red Roses’?”

“Yeah,
you’ve been holding out on me, girlfriend,” Valerie teased. “You haven’t told
me about your secret admirer.”

“That’s
because there’s nothing to tell. He
wants
there to be something to it,
but I’m not interested, so that’s that,” I said, as blasé as possible.

“Whatever
you say,” Valerie said, not believing a word of it.

“Well,
then, if you girls are up for it, let’s get a few shots done tomorrow.”

“Let’s
do it!” Valerie said.

Dane
laid out his plan so Valerie and I could prep before we came into the office.
He’d identified a simple recipe from one of Sergio’s previous books that hadn’t
been photographed. We’d shoot the ingredients and the dish in the style he imagined
shooting the Buena Comida book.  It was perfect. Dane didn’t want to be accused
of panning another photographer or stylist. He wanted to demonstrate his
understanding and immersion in the assignment. Sergio had fought for us, and we’d
make sure Adele realized it was the right decision.

Friday
morning, Valerie and I arrived around ten-thirty. Valerie had gone to the international
market for the fresh ingredients while I went to the pottery shop to find some
plates, baskets, and props. Once we laid everything out for Dane to review, I took
a moment to check my e-mail for anything new from Adele. An e-mail had come in
from her around ten Thursday night.

Bridget,

I’ve
left you a voicemail as well, but call me as soon as possible.

Adele

Adele
Westbook

Culinary
Director

Ramirez
Restaurant Group

503-555-5656

I
listened to her voicemail on the office line. She sounded quite agitated.

“Bridget,
it’s Adele. The business side of this project is none of Sergio’s concern. He has
way too much to deal with already to spend a moment worrying about these
details. Leave him out of any further communication about the contract. I’ll
review it and get back with you by Monday.”

She
hung up without even a good-bye. A shiver ran up my back as I wondered if there
was a chance she could try to sway Sergio away from working with us. I had to
reach out to him to be sure.

As
soon as I heard his voice, my heartbeat quickened. “Good morning, my sweet
Bridget.  I was just lying here thinking about you.” His voice had that “just
waking up” quality about it. He sounded extremely alluring. I wanted to jump
through the phone and be in his arms.

“Good
morning. I hope I’m not calling too early. You sound a little sleepy but
awfully dreamy,” I said, flirting way more than I should.

“You
could ….”

I
had to cut him off before he extended an invitation that I might not be able to
resist. “Sergio, I’m sorry to interrupt. I shouldn’t have included you in the
e-mail to Adele with our contract revisions. I didn’t mean to distract you from
your work. Adele’s asked me to leave you out of the negotiation, so please,
don’t spend a moment on it.”

“I
know this is Adele’s territory, but I’m curious to see what she sent you. I was
very busy last night, but I’m going to go through it this morning. Would you
care to come over for coffee and look through it with me?” he asked in his sexy
Latin accent, knowing full well that if I came for coffee, not much work would
get done. “I miss you, my sweet,” he added.

“I
miss you, too. I’m trying very hard to stay busy and stay away. I don’t think
coffee
would be a good idea right now.”

“You
are probably right…but that won’t stop me from dreaming about you,” he said
with a smile in his voice. “And if you change your mind, I’m here until four
o’clock.”

“I’m
helping Dane and Valerie prep some materials for our meeting with you next week.
We want you to see how cool this book is going to be.”

“You’re
handling it, so I know it’ll be fantastic,” he said.

“Thank
you for your confidence. It means the world to me.”

“
You
mean the world to me, Bridget. Don’t forget that.”

“I
won’t. See you soon.”

I
dreaded calling Adele, but I couldn’t ignore it. Thankfully, she didn’t pick
up. Even her voicemail message was stiff.

“It’s
Adele. Leave a message.”

“Hi,
Adele, this is Bridget. I got your message, and I apologize for including
Sergio on my e-mail. I’ve called him and asked him to ignore the correspondence,
and I’ll just communicate with you on anything contract-related from now on. No
need to call me back unless there’s something else you need to discuss. Talk to
you later. ‘Bye.” I had a feeling this was just the beginning of a lot of drama
before we settled this contract.

**

Dane
and Valerie were hard at work. The music was crankin’, and Dane was working his
magic. I loved watching him build each shot as if he was painting with light. Valerie
was strategically placing the glistening half-rounds of red onion on the shrimp
escabeche one at a time while Dane shot the ingredients from the sauce.

“Can
I help you, Dane?” I asked.

“You
already have,” he responded enthusiastically. “The props that you picked up
this morning are awesome.  And once we get these shot, you can be the Photoshop
bitch and make them really sing for the meeting.”

“Works
for me.” I went over to the kitchen to see if I could help Valerie. She had
everything under control. It was a simple recipe of shrimp in red sauce
garnished with onions and cilantro, but she made it look extraordinarily
elegant. Her specialty.

Dane
clicked away. It was almost lunchtime, so I set out to brave the noon crowd at Whole
Foods’ salad bar. I knew everyone’s usual choices, and so I could push my way
through and get in and out quickly.

The
market was exceptionally busy, even more so than the usual lunch rush. I was
compiling my stack of containers when I heard a familiar voice. “Are you
feeding an army?” Sally said as she leaned in to talk to me.

“Sally!
How are you?” I said, giving her a hug. “We’re shooting today, and I’m on the
lunch run for the gang.”

“Have
you seen the news today?” She asked.

“No,
I’ve been working since early this morning. What’s up?”

“They
finally tracked down Clint Sinclair. He surrendered, and he’s talking. He’s
naming names.”

“Wow,
that’s incredible! What does that mean for me!?” I hoped restitution might be
in my future.

“Not
too much, I’m afraid. You gave the Feds a lot of information that was
instrumental in cracking the case. As I said the other day, those crazies could
come after you for revenge if they knew where to find you. For now, the focus
will definitely be on Clint to see who he implicates and who goes down for the
forgeries and the art theft. But
do not
let your guard down.”

“I
know,” I conceded, understanding the consequences. “I’ll keep a close eye on
the story, though. It would be so amazing if this whole thing blew over and I
could get on with my life.”

“Bridget,
these things don’t just blow over. You have to take this very seriously.”

I
guessed it was too much to ask that I could resume a normal life, have friends
regardless of their celebrity, and not look over my shoulder every damn day. “I
know, you’re right,” I admitted. “A girl can dream, though, can’t she?” I asked,
joking with her.

“Of
course you can,” she laughed. “You’d better get going with that lunch. Your
compadres will be wondering what happened to you. I’ll talk to you soon,” Sally
gave me a hug and returned to her shopping.

When
I got back to the studio, Dane and Valerie were in the thick of it. I put out
the spread of food, and urged them to take a break and relax for a few minutes.
Valerie checked her phone and there was a message from Nicole.

“She
wants to meet for a drink at five o’clock at Familia Cucina. It would be great
to meet her at least once before our big meeting next week. Dane, do you think
we’ll be done in time for me to meet her at five?”

“Easily,”
he responded. “We’re more than halfway there. I think we can wrap up in a
couple of hours.”

“Bridget,
do you want to join us?” Valerie asked.

“It
probably wouldn’t hurt for me to meet her, too, if you don’t mind me hanging
with you. I’d love to get a feel for her demeanor, since part of my job will be
riding herd on her to keep the schedule on track.”

“Done,”
Valerie replied.

I
cleaned up lunch and washed some of Valerie’s dishes from her food prep to
expedite her wrap. When it didn’t appear there was anything else I could do to
help either her or Dane, I asked if I could leave a little early. I wanted to
get home and check out the latest on the Clint story before I went to meet Valerie
and Nicole.

“Yeah,
I think Val and I have the rest of this covered. Thanks for all your help
today,” Dane said.

“I’m
happy to be part of it. Valerie, I’ll see you at Familia Cucina at five, and
Dane, if you want to leave the drive on my desk, I’ll come in over the weekend
to pull selects for us to work from on Monday.”

“I’ll
do it.”

“See
ya there, girlfriend,” Valerie said. “You can be my Friday-night date. Let’s
plan to have dinner there, too.”

“Works
for me,” I said, and was out the door.

When
I got home, I pulled up CNN.com to get the latest scoop on the Clint Sinclair
story. He had been traced to a cabin in the woods in central Pennsylvania. He’d
been hiding out there since October after escaping a Mob hit at his studio. The
article recounted how one of Clint’s assistants had been killed when the studio
was broken into, presumably by the Mob. My stomach turned over as I remembered
the day I’d gone there with the FBI and they found Sam dead. It was such a
nightmare. My resolve strengthened to maintain my low profile as Bridget Stone
and not put anyone else in harm’s way, particularly Sergio.

**

At
a quarter to five, I headed over to Familia Cucina to meet Valerie and Nicole.
It was a casual place, so I just added a fashionable green scarf to my jeans
and red sweater to acknowledge the holiday. It was pretty quiet when I got
there, but they were obviously planning for a big night of parties. Valerie and
Nicole were already seated at a table.

“Hi,
Nicole, I’m Bridget. I’m the studio manager at Pratt Photography.”

She
stood to shake my hand. “Nicole Terry,” she said with a hint of formality.

“Am
I late? Looks like you girls are a little ahead of me,” I said, nodding toward
their drinks. There was a pitcher of margaritas on the table with some
guacamole, chips, and salsa.

Nicole
filled the empty glass that was waiting for me. “Not too far for you to catch
up. My boyfriend is one of the owners here, so he had the margaritas and snacks
waiting for us when we arrived.”

As
I sat down, Sergio’s brother, Cyrus, emerged from the kitchen with a cheese
plate. I was stunned; he looked so much like Sergio.

“Hello,
ladies,” he said cheerfully, putting the plate down on our table. “It’s a
pleasure to meet you.”

Nicole
introduced Valerie and me. “Cy, this is Valerie and Bridget. Girls, this is
Sergio’s brother, Cyrus. We call him Cy.”

He
kissed our hands, one at a time. “I understand you’re the amazing team that’s
going to assist in shooting the book. We’re excited to have you and Dane on
board.”

“Thanks,
Cy,” Valerie said. “We’re very happy to be working with Sergio and Nicole, too.
I think we’re going to have a lot of fun and create an awesome book.”

I
was still so overwhelmed by how much he looked like Sergio; I didn’t know what
to say. Then, to top it off, Sergio appeared.

“Well,
isn’t this a nice surprise,” Sergio beamed at me with a captivating stare. “I
heard the food mavens were getting together, but I didn’t realize you’d be joining
them. I’m happy to see all of you,” he added, addressing the whole group.

“I
didn’t expect to see you here either,” I mumbled. He kissed my hand, and then
held my gaze for a long moment. My heart pounded, and I could feel my face
flush. “It’s nice to see you.”

“This
is our busiest restaurant tonight,” Cy explained. “We have three parties along
with our regular service, so Sergio and I are double-teaming to be sure it all
goes flawlessly.” His voice pattern was so much like Sergio’s, it was eerie.

I
collected myself and tried to put words together and not sound as flustered as
I felt. “It’s nice to meet you, Cy. I know we’ll all be seeing a lot of each
other in a couple of weeks.”

Sergio
was about to comment when Cy interrupted, “We still have a lot of work to do,
so we’ll leave you ladies to talk. Have a nice evening,”

As
the men walked away, Nicole asked, “How long have you known Sergio?” She seemed
intrigued by our familiarity.

“We
met last week when he and Adele came to the studio to discuss the book,” I said,
trying to be nonchalant. “I’ve always admired him, though. I followed him when
he was on
Top Chef.
He’s very talented.”

“Yes,
he is,” Nicole agreed, “and so is Cy. He doesn’t get the recognition Sergio does,
but he’s really the mastermind behind Buena Comida.” Valerie and I exchanged
glances. This was news to both of us. Nicole sensed our surprise. “Cy was the
one who came up with the concept for an upscale Latin restaurant and found an
investor. He knew Sergio’s following would help fill seats, so he put him in
charge over there. I think it’s been a bigger success than even they imagined.
It was Adele’s idea to do the book when the restaurant became so popular. She’s
pushed hard to tailor the recipes for the home cook. It’s taken a couple of
years to accomplish.”