I want You Deeper

The end of the meeting was rushed because someone else had shown up and, soon after, a group of people who had a booth around the way. All had come over after talking to Vanessa, who had somehow managed to show them prototypes of Heath’s previous work. He assumed she’d tracked down his website and was showing it all off on her phone.

He didn’t have time to give it much thought, to be honest. The camera guy even seemed to be getting bored with it all. Half an hour in, he started wandering around, shooting footage of other booths.

As soon as he found himself alone again, Heath went out in search of Vanessa. The camera wasn’t even on him. He enjoyed having a few minutes to walk around and breathe. But just when he was finally feeling at peace, he saw something that sent tension spiraling through his entire body.

Vanessa. Up ahead. Surrounded by men. Two of them were hanging on every word she said.

Heath didn’t like the feeling that shot through him at the sight. He felt the sudden urge to fight these two men, which made no sense. He wasn’t a violent man. Never had been, never would be. There was only one word he could come up with to describe what he was feeling.

Jealousy.

He skidded to a halt, not sure what to do about the scene ahead of him. It wasn’t just Vanessa and a bunch of guys. There was a camera capturing the whole thing. If he walked up there and interrupted the conversation, he’d look like a possessive…boss?

Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be the image he’d want to portray on national TV. He was considering making a U-turn straight back for the booth when Vanessa suddenly spun around and shouted his name. Well, not his name. The name of his alter ego.

“Mac!”

Suddenly, the camera and the crowd were facing in his direction. He wanted to duck into one of the nearby booths and maybe even hide under a table. Not that he minded attention-in fact, he’d invited it when he agreed to do this show. But he felt particularly vulnerable right now since he’d uncovered his own jealousy.

But shying away from this wasn’t the answer, either. He took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and gave Vanessa a nod.

“There are some people I want you to meet. This is Derek Hughes. He makes boats. This is my boss, Mac Sutterfield.”

Derek Hughes. Was she kidding? No, she wasn’t. The guy turned and looked right at Heath.

Problem. Heath and Derek had met more than a few times. Derek was a big name around Silicon Valley, and his “boats” were actually yachts. Heath had talked to him a few times about designing one for him, but right now, that seemed like a long-ago dream.

“Nice to meet you.” Derek stepped forward, extending his hand for a shake.

Heath returned the shake, but averted his gaze slightly, as though that could keep the man from looking at him. Out of the corner of his eye, though, he saw Derek assessing him.

“You look familiar,” Derek said. “Have we met?”

Heath was ready with an explanation if anyone mentioned his resemblance to the head of Hardcastle Enterprises. It wasn’t like he was a celebrity or anything. In fact, the majority of the country had no idea what Hardcastle Enterprises even was. They operated in the background, serving big names like Derek Hughes. But Silicon Valley was a fairly small town, and business owners knew Heath, both by name and sight.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

The explanation, should he need it, was that he was Heath Hardcastle’s cousin. He’d been hired on as a favor. But he wanted to save that as an absolute last resort.

“I get that a lot,” Heath said. “I think I just have one of those faces.”

But Derek was still staring at him. Heath searched frantically for a way to quickly bring up something that would divert the guy’s attention from whatever thought train he was on.

“Derek and I came up with a great idea,” Vanessa, who apparently was on a first-name basis with one of the wealthiest men in the country, said.

Heath winced. He didn’t know Derek all that well, but he definitely could be one of the types who was offended when someone he’d just met referred to him by his first name.

“Your employee here knows her stuff.” Derek turned to look at Vanessa, who had stepped up to stand next to him. The second camera guy had suddenly caught up with them, and now there were two lenses on them.

“We’re going to set up a yacht for this boat show he’s doing in a few months.” Vanessa stood, hand on each hip, smiling up at Derek like he was her partner. “We’ll build a prototype of one of his yachts. On the trade show floor.”

Oh, no. Vanessa had gone off the rails.

Heath looked from Vanessa to Derek, a big smile on his face. “There are restrictions, of course.”

“Of course.” Derek clapped him on the shoulder. “But I’m sure you’ll make it work. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

Without further word, Derek turned and walked off. For a moment there, Heath would have sworn one of the camera guys was going to follow Derek, finding him more interesting than the person they were currently profiling. But the guy seemed to remember why he was here and turned the camera back on Heath and Vanessa.

“What exactly did you promise?” Heath asked Vanessa.

Vanessa looked around at the men still standing nearby. They were talking among themselves now, seemingly not even noticing Heath and Vanessa were standing there. But her nervous glance at them reminded Heath they needed to stay in character.

“We can make it work.” Vanessa shrugged. “Trust me.”

Trust her. He’d been doing this for long enough to know that Derek would want the moon and he’d have to work hard to talk him down. But if he could manage it, he’d have Derek Hughes as a client. And that would be huge for Hardcastle Enterprises, especially if it became a long-term thing.

“If you’ll excuse me, I have some more clients to round up.” Vanessa flashed Heath a big smile before turning and walking around the group of men still standing there. Both camera guys followed her.

“Hey!” Heath called out.

One of the guys turned, saw him standing there, no camera on him, and turned back to follow Heath. He didn’t look happy about it, though.

Even the camera crew realized Vanessa was doing better at this than he was. He had to get on his game soon, or the entire point of going undercover as Mac Sutterfield would be lost.