Bared to You

Beautiful, dahling. Show me
sassy. Show me sexy. Brilliant. Show me catty…
rawr…
Embarrassed, I squirmed a little on the seat.
“Like I said, you don’t have to keep—”
“I—” He cleared his throat. “Thank you, Eva.”
“Ah, well…” I was grateful to see the Crossfire
outside my window. I jumped out quickly when the
driver pulled over and ran my hands over my skirt,
feeling self-conscious. “If you want, I can hang on
to it until later.”
Gideon shut the door of the Bentley and shook
his head. “It’s mine. You’re not taking it back.”
He linked our fingers together and gestured
toward the revolving door with the hand holding
the frame. I warmed when I realized he intended to
take my picture into work with him.

---

One of the fun things about the ad business was
that no day was ever the same as the one before
it. I was hopping all morning and was just
beginning to contemplate what to do about lunch
when my phone rang. “Mark Garrity’s office, Eva
Tramell speaking.”
“I’ve got news,” Cary said by way of greeting.
“What?” I could tell by his voice that it was good
news, whatever it was.
“I landed a Grey Isles campaign.”
“Oh my God! Cary, that’s awesome! I love their
jeans.”
“What are you doing for lunch?”
I grinned. “Celebrating with you. Can you be
here at noon?”
“I’m already on my way.”
I hung up and rocked back in my chair, so
thrilled for Cary I felt like dancing. Needing
something to do to kill the fifteen minutes
remaining before my lunch break, I checked my
inbox again and found a Google alert digest for
Gideon’s name. Over thirty mentions, in just one
day.
I opened the e-mail and freaked out a little at
the numerous “mystery woman” headlines. I
clicked on the first link and found myself landing
on a gossip blog.
There, in living color, was a photo of Gideon
kissing me senseless on the sidewalk outside of
his gym. The accompanying article was short and
to the point:
“Gideon Cross, New York’s most eligible
bachelor since John F. Kennedy Jr., was spotted
yesterday in a passionate public embrace. A
source at Cross Industries identified the lucky
mystery woman as socialite Eva Tramell,
daughter of multimillionaire Richard Stanton and

---

his wife, Monica. When queried about the nature
of the relationship between Cross and Tramell,
the source confirmed that Miss Tramell is ‘the
significant woman’ in the mogul’s life at present.
We imagine hearts are breaking across the
country this morning.”
“Oh, crap,” I breathed.

---

I
quickly clicked through other links in the digest to
find the same picture with similar captions and
articles. Alarmed, I sat back and thought about
what this meant. If one kiss was headline news,
what chance would Gideon and I have to make a
relationship work?
My hands weren’t quite steady as I closed the
browser tabs. I hadn’t considered the press
coverage, but I should have. “Damn it.”
Anonymity was my friend. It protected me from
my 
past. 
It 
protected 
my 
family 
from
embarrassment, and Gideon, too. I didn’t even
have any social networking accounts so people
who weren’t actively in my life couldn’t find me.
A thin, invisible wall between me and exposure
was gone.
“Hell,” I breathed, finding myself in a painful
situation I could have avoided if I’d dedicated any
of my brain cells to something other than Gideon.
There was also 
his
reaction to this mess to

---

consider…I cringed inwardly just thinking about it.
And my mother. It wouldn’t be long before she was
calling and blowing everything out of—
“Shit.” Remembering that she didn’t have my
new cell number, I picked up my desk phone and
called my other voice mail to see if she’d already
tried to reach me. I winced when I heard that my
mailbox was full.
I hung up and grabbed my purse; then headed
off to lunch, knowing Cary would help me put it all
in perspective. I was so flustered when I reached
the lobby level that I rushed out of the elevator with
my only thought being to find my roommate. When
I spotted him, I didn’t take note of anyone else until
Gideon sidestepped smoothly in front of me and
blocked my path.
“Eva.” He frowned down at me. Cupping my
elbow, he turned me slightly around. That’s when I
saw the two women and a man who’d hidden him
from my view.
I managed to find a smile for them. “Hello.”
Gideon introduced me to his lunch dates. Then
he excused us and tugged me off to the side.
“What’s wrong? You’re upset.”
“It’s all over the place,” I whispered. “A picture of
us together.”
He nodded. “I’ve seen it.”
I blinked up at him, confused at his
nonchalance. “You’re okay with it?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? For once, they’re reporting
the truth.”
A sneaking suspicion niggled at me. “You
planned it. You planted the story.”
“Not entirely true,” he said smoothly. “The
photographer happened to be there. I just gave
him a picture worth printing, and told PR to make
it clear who you are and what you are to me.”
“Why? Why would you do that?”

---

“You have your way of dealing with jealousy and
I have mine. We’re both off the market and now
everyone knows it. Why is that a problem for you?”
“I was worried about your reaction, but there’s
more…There are things you don’t know and I—” I
took a deep, shaky breath. “It can’t be that way
between us, Gideon. We can’t be public. I don’t
want—Damn it. I’ll embarrass you.”
“You couldn’t. It’s not possible.” He brushed a
loose lock of hair off my face. “Can we talk about
this later? If you need me—”
“No, it’s okay. Go.”
Cary came over. Dressed in baggy black cargo
pants and a V-neck white undershirt, he still
managed to look expensive. “Everything all right?”
“Hi, Cary. Everything’s fine.” Gideon squeezed
my hand. “Enjoy your lunch and don’t worry.”
He could say that because he didn’t know
better.
And I didn’t know whether or not he’d still want
me once he did.
Cary faced me as Gideon walked away. “Worry
about what? What’s wrong?”
“Everything.” I sighed. “Let’s get out of here, and
I’ll tell you over lunch.”
“Well,” Cary murmured, looking at the link I’d
forwarded from my smartphone to his. “That’s
some kiss. The dip was a great touch. He couldn’t
look more into if he tried.”
“That’s the thing.” I took another big gulp of
water. “He did try.”
He shoved his phone into his pocket. “Last
week you kept shooting him down for only wanting
your vagina. This week he’s publicizing that he’s
in a committed, passionate relationship with you,

---

and you’re still unhappy. I’m starting to feel bad for
the guy. He can’t win for trying.”
That stung. “Reporters are going to dig, Cary,
and they’re going to find dirt. And since it’s juicy
dirt they’re going to splash it all over hell and
back, and it’s going to embarrass Gideon.”
“Baby girl.” He set his hand over mine. “Stanton
buried all that.”