Page 46 of Every Step She Takes
She hung up and took a deep breath.
“Someone posted it on the Internet?” I said quietly.
“Ridiculous, isn’t it?” She shook her head. “They could have sold that to theEnquirerand made–” She stopped herself with a short laugh. “Well, they are fools, and that is all the better for us. It’ll be down before anyone sees it. I’ll get Colt’s lawyers involved. I’m sure there’s a law against posting things like that on the Internet.”
She lifted her BlackBerry and typed. I thought she was texting the lawyers when she stopped and inhaled sharply. As she composed herself, she lowered the phone to her lap. I could see the screen, and it took a moment to understand what I was seeing. I knew you could access the Internet with some cell phones, but I’d never actually seen it done. That’s what this was. Her BlackBerry browser open to a photograph…
It was us in the hot tub. Colt was lifting me out of the water, his hands cupping my breasts as I arched back.
“Oh!” I said, drawing back as if burned.
Karla looked down and realized what I’d seen. She snatched the phone up, as I heaved, gasping for air. She reached past me to put down the window.
“Breathe,” she said. “It’s all right. Everything will be all right.”
“I… I wasn’t. I swear.” I swallowed. “It looked as if we were… But we weren’t. I swear it.”
She didn’t ask what I meant. No one who looked at that photo would wonder what I meant. I was straddling Colt with my head thrown back, as if I were doing a lot more than kissing him.
“We will take care of this,” she said. “They made a mistake, putting it on the Internet, and we will take full advantage of that. However…”
She touched my arm, and I turned to look at her.
“This is going to be very difficult to hear, and I hate to say it,” she said. “I take responsibility for you because I hired you and because I know you do not deserve this. My priority though…”
“Your priority is Colt,” I murmured.
“Colt and Isabella. I need to handle this for them. I will give you advice, and I will give you money–”
“I don’t want money.” My chin shot up. “I don’t need it.”
“I don’t mean hush money, Lucy. I mean compensation for your early termination. Covering your wages for the rest of the summer.”
Wages? Did she mean I was fired?
A hysterical giggle bubbled up in me. Did I think I’d be going back? Living in Isabella’s house? Caring for her kids? With that photograph out there for the world–
Oh, God, Isabella was going to see–
“P-please don’t let her see it.” My words tumbled out. “Don’t let Isabella see that photo.”
“I will do my best to prevent that,” Karla said slowly. “For now, let’s worry about you. I’m going to have the driver pull over at a bank machine so I can withdraw money. Then we’ll find you a place for the night. Call your mother as soon as you can. Tell her what’s happened. Once I leave, Lucy, as much as I hate to say this, you’ll be on your own, and you’ll need your mother.”
But what about Colt? He promised to take care of me.
That laugh almost erupted again, and this time I had to cough to cover it.
You really are a little fool, aren’t you? What did you think you’d do, run away into the sunset together?
Of course not. If Colt Gordon appeared right now, racing after us in his Ferrari to proclaim his love, I’d tell the SUV driver to hit the gas. I didn’t want Colt. I just thought when he said he’d take care of me, he meant that he’d make sure I didn’t suffer any fallout. He’d protect me from that. He’d ensure I was okay.
Colt didn’t mean it. He’d been playing a role. We got caught, and he was in damage-control mode, and that meant getting me the hell away from his family before I caused a scene.
I’ll take care of this.
I’ll take care of you.
Now go. Please, just go.
