Pete waved a dismissive hand. “Flakey chick. Backed out at the last minute.”
“Backed out? Wow. She missed an opportunity like this?”
Pete shrugged. “Her loss. I’ve got other–”
“Or maybe she didn’t want to sleep with you to get the show?” Nick kept his face neutral of any emotion. For a split second, confusion flickered across Pete’s face, and he seemed unsure whether Nick’s question was a joke or not.
Then the scumbag grinned. “Ah, hell no. Nothing like that. She got her panties in a wad and–”
The exact wrong thing to say. Burning inside, Nick took a step closer. “I know what happened. And I know she could sue your ass.”
Pete’s eyes widened and he stepped back. “Who the hell are you? You come into my place and–”
“I know Katlyn Andrews. And I know she wasn’t the one who backed out, you sorry, sleazy–”
Pete’s face twisted into a sneer. “You can’t prove anything.”
“Maybe not, but I have the backlist of women who’ve shown here.” He tapped his computer case. “Maybe I give that list to the DA’s office. How many women did you coerce? How many did you pull the plug on at the last minute for not sleeping with you? And how many do you think it would take to step forward and put you out of business? Do the math.” He took a swig of the alcohol and sent Pete a cool glare.
“Let me tell you something else. I’m going to be watching you. And if you ever so much as hint…if you dare say one negative word about Katlyn Andrews or her work, you’ll be staring at a defamation suit faster than you can say her name. Got it?”
“Get out.” Pete lifted his chin and flailed toward the door.
Tough talk, but Nick saw the flash of fear in his eyes. “With pleasure.”
On his way to the door, Nick slammed the glass onto the counter where a stunned Matt stood gaping.
“You might want to think about getting a new job,” Nick told him. He yanked open the door and stepped outside. Relief mixed with elation, and he couldn’t contain his grin any longer. He was sorry to let down the artists Pete had contacted, but he figured the lesson for Pete was for the greater good of the art community. There’d better not be any negative impact for Kat, or he’d make good on his threat.
ChapterTwenty-Four
“Hey, Kat.”
Blake’s booming voice pulled Kat from her task.
She resisted the urge to ask him again not to sneak up on her. After six weeks of working with this guy, he still couldn’t gently tap on the wall of her cubicle like every normal person did. She hitsaveon her document and swiveled from her computer to face him. “Yeah?”
“We’re going to need to provide lunch for that vendor meeting next week.”
Kat cocked her head. “Um… Okay, that makes sense. Eleven o’clock, right?”
“Right. So you’ll take care of that?”
Confused, Kat raised her brows. “Take care of what?”
“Lunch.”
“Oh, Sara does that.” Blake frequently confused Kat with Amy’s assistant.
“She’s not around. Can you just do it?”
“Blake, I would, but that’s Sara’s area. She knows the procedure.”
“You’re telling me you can’t figure out how to order lunch?”
She could ask the same of him. “Do you mean from the MoMA cafe?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
