Page 18 of To Hate Adam Connor

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Page 18 of To Hate Adam Connor

“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you since this morning, Adam.”

“What do you need, Michel?”

“I talked to your parents and they think it’s a better idea to go ahead with the press release to cut off the rumors about the custody issue, Adam. We need to deny it, and we need to deny it today. You should consider doing this their way.”

Michel was the head of the publicity team that had handled the Connor family business for the last ten years, but our time together had come to an end. It would’ve been better if I’d had the time to handle it face to face, but I didn’t have time to go to his office and fire him there in person. I gritted my teeth and listened as he explained what they had come up with.

“Michel, I’m done doing things the way my parents want. I’ve told you that a thousand times. Look where they got me with their plans.”

“I understand where you’re coming from, Adam. Still, think about it and get back to me.” Either he was ignoring my words or just dismissing them entirely. “If you think a press release won’t be intimate enough, we’ll secure you a few interviews on a few select shows. With the amount of requests we’re getting, you can have your pick of them. Let me see who’d be the best choice in this situation.”

“Michel—”

“Give me one second. How about James Holden? He just took over the late night show and his numbers are going strong. We’ll provide him with the questions so things won’t get out of hand.”

“Michel,” I started again as he fired more names at me. I opened the fridge and reached for a water bottle. Michel had been a family friend even before becoming the head of the PR team, which was why my parents were okay with him knowing almost every secret they were trying to hide from the media. It wasn’t that the guy wasn’t good at his job; actually, he was one of the best in the industry. He already had a long list of clients waiting for him to take them on, and I was about to make someone’s day by opening up a spot for them. “With everything that’s been going on, I forgot to ask—are you still representing Adeline?”

The line went quiet for a beat. “What do you mean am I still representing your wife?”

I ground my teeth. “Ex-wife.”

“I’m sorry, Adam. It takes getting used to, you know. Well, of course we’re still representing Adeline. Actually, I talked to Helena earlier today and she thinks it’s smarter for you two to get in front of the cameras together and show the world that you’re a united front, that you’ll always do what’s best for Aiden and stay friends, but I assumed you wouldn’t go for that. Is that why you asked?”

“No.” His use of the word ‘world’ raised my hackles again, as if I gave a shit what the world thought of my relationship with Adeline. I managed to keep my anger under control and continued. “There won’t be any need for scheduling interviews, Michel.” I tapped my knuckles on the counter after I put the water bottle down. “I know you’re good at what you do, and I wish I had the time to do this face to face, but I’ve decided to get a different PR team.”

“Give me a second, my office is too crowded right now.” I heard a door click shut. “What do you mean? Is that why you asked about Adeline? I can put together another team to handle her PR if that’s the problem.”

“That’s not necessary. You can keep her on. I just think it’s time we went our separate ways. You do a great job for my parents, and from what I can see in the media, for Adeline too, but I don’t think we’re a good fit anymore.”

“Adam, why don’t you come down to my office so we can talk about what you want? This isn’t the right time for you to make big changes like this or to be irresponsible in your life. You need to focus on your image and let your team handle the rest. I highly suggest we create an opportunity where they can snap some photos of you and Adeline with Aiden.”

I let out a long, humorless laugh and shook my head. “You really have your priorities straight, don’t you? Unfortunately, you’re not that high on my list, Michel. Yes, I’ve had to make big changes lately, but this is definitely not one of them. I’ll have my attorneys contact you about our contract, and we’ll take it from there. You’re a beast, Michel, you really are a PR guru, but it’s just not working anymore.”

Ignoring his words, I ended the call and felt like a huge weight had lifted off my shoulders. This was the easy step. Finding another PR firm was going to be a different nightmare altogether, one I didn’t care for but knew was necessary.

Noticing Dan come back inside, I headed for my room to take a quick shower and change.

Chapter Five

Lucy

Since my feet were starting to kill me from standing on the ladder for almost an hour, when I saw Adam heading inside, I was just about ready to get down and head inside myself so I could bake some chocolate chip cookies for Olive and Jason before they arrived—or at least give it my best try—as a thank you for letting me stay with them.

But instead of following his father, the kid stayed back, so I assumed Adam was coming back too. However, that didn’t happen. Instead of Adam, the girl I’d seen around a few times—presumably the nanny—called out to the boy and then disappeared back inside.

Pretty sure the day’s festivities were over, I took a step down. When my eye caught the kid glancing back at the house and then back at the pool, I hesitated. Why would they leave him out there alone? Thinking a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt the cookie-making process, I decided to wait. Suddenly the boy smiled and reached for the arm floats Adam had taken off him.

Speaking of taking things off, I might have pictured him taking something—anything really—off me a few times here and there. I’m shameless, I know. Can’t help it; the guy looked too lickable for his own good when he was half-naked.

After a few tries, the kid managed to pull one of them on, leaving it around his elbow. However, the second one…despite multiple attempts, he couldn’t get that one on. So as any other kid his age would, he gave up and chucked it away. When he took his first step into the pool from the shallow end, I started to get nervous. Surely he knows how to swim, right? I mean, sure he had arm floats on whenever I saw him get in the water, but they would’ve taught him, right? They probably had an Olympic pool at their house—the one his wife was living in right now—not that I was keeping track or anything.

When the water reached almost to his chest, I started to panic earnestly. That float didn’t look secure on his arm at all, and if he didn’t know how to swim, would one arm float even keep him above the water? On top of all that, the kid didn’t look too sure in the water.

Risking getting caught, I tried to get his attention.

“Psssstttt! Hey, kid! Hello?”

He finally heard me and looked straight at me.