Runaway Attraction Page 6

  “No.” Roger shook his head. The man seemed to have aged in the past five minutes, giving Micah a firsthand glimpse into the hell the past couple of months had been for his entire family.

  A hell he had created.

  His chest nearly caved in from the crushing guilt pushing down on it.

  “The investigation is still ongoing, of course. In fact, I just spoke to the detective in charge.”

  “What did he say?” Lila asked.

  “That there still is no solid lead,” Roger said with a weary sigh, turning his attention back to Micah, “which is why we cannot reveal anything to the press. I hate that Bailey’s name is being dragged through the mud, but they are trying to flush out the assailant, and at the moment, finding whoever did this is more important than her reputation.”

  “Of course,” Micah managed to get out.

  “It’s also the reason for the bodyguards who have been accompanying Bailey everywhere,” Lila stated.

  “But they will no longer be accompanying me,” Bailey interjected.

  Roger’s forehead creased with annoyance, and Micah could tell that the extra muscle was a point of contention. He was with her father on this one. Now that he knew the entire story, he wouldn’t blame the man if he locked her away somewhere.

  A thought occurred to him.

  “That’s why you were gone these past few weeks,” Micah said, the picture becoming clearer.

  Roger nodded. “We thought it was safer to have Bailey out of the country.”

  Micah turned to Bailey. “If the kidnapper hasn’t been caught, why did you come back?”

  Her father grunted, his lips thinned with irritation.

  “I refuse to hide anymore,” Bailey said with a defiant lift of her chin. “I didn’t leave one prison only to come back to New York and get locked in another one. That’s another reason I want to do this documentary—to show the person who kidnapped me that he did not break me.”

  “He could have killed you,” her father stated.

  “But he didn’t,” she countered. She turned to Micah. “I want to show all those people who doubted me that Bailey Hamilton is back and better than ever.”

  “Do we have your word you’ll keep this information that we’ve shared private?” Roger Hamilton asked.

  “Absolutely,” Micah said. “I truly am sorry for any role my show played in this. The last thing I want to do is cause any more harm.”

  “No one blames you,” Lila said.

  They didn’t have to blame him. Micah blamed himself.

  He turned to Bailey. “I don’t want anything else to happen to you.”

  “Let’s make sure that nothing does,” Roger said.

  * * *

  As they made their way down the hall to Daniel’s office, Bailey realized Micah had been eerily quiet in the ten minutes since the meeting with her mother and father had ended. She was still shocked at how quickly her parents had capitulated, and now that they were both on board, she was ready to move forward. The quicker they got started, the quicker she could get on the road to normalcy.

  Insisting that Daniel be part of the production team had popped into her head out of nowhere, but Bailey was grateful for the idea. Her brother had gone overboard in his overprotectiveness lately, but he would be an ally. Daniel wouldn’t let anyone take advantage of her.

  Although part of her wouldn’t mind if Micah decided to take advantage of her, just a little bit. Heat flushed Bailey’s skin at the deliciously wicked thought. She looked over at him and noticed the worry lines creasing his forehead.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  Micah glanced over at her, and the look in his eyes told the story of the turmoil undoubtedly taking place inside him.

  “I’m so sorry, Bailey. I had no idea what really happened to you.”

  “That’s a good thing,” she said. “It means we’re doing a good job of keeping it out of the news. According to the police, it’s imperative that the abduction is kept under wraps while they investigate.”

  “It sounds as if the investigation is going slowly,” he said.

  “As far as I know, they’ve questioned just about everyone I was in contact with that week, along with several models and a couple of my old boyfriends.” She shrugged. “But so far, nothing.”

  “This is my fault,” he said. Bailey was so shocked that she stopped walking.

  “Why would you say that?” she asked.

  “Because it is,” Micah said in a strained voice. He shut his eyes and pitched his head back. The pain on his face caused her heart to pinch. When he looked back at her, his eyes were filled with remorse. “I’m the one who pressured you into revealing your preshow ritual. It’s my fault that whoever kidnapped you knew you were going to be there alone.”

  “That’s completely ridiculous,” Bailey said. If anyone was to blame it was her. She should have known better than to put so much information about herself out there. “Micah, this was not your fault,” Bailey reiterated, but he was having none of that.

  He looked to be in absolute agony.

  Bailey put her hand on his forearm and gave him a gentle squeeze. “Micah, listen to me. This was not your fault.”

  Micah looked down at her hand, then back to her face, his eyes boring into hers. The power of their connection was unmistakable, its affects unavoidable. Her skin tingled where she touched him, and it took more effort than usual to push breath out of her lungs.

  Bailey removed her hand and took a step back. She cleared her throat and said, “My routine isn’t some highly guarded secret. My attacker could have found out about it from a number of different sources. Please, don’t blame yourself for this. The man who kidnapped me is to blame here, no one else.”

  The irony of her words smacked Bailey in the face. She had been blaming herself for weeks, trying to figure out what she could have done to prevent her kidnapping. Could she have been more vigilant? Could she have fought off the attacker if she had been paying closer attention to her surroundings? The second-guessing had become a constant part of her life.

  “Hopefully, eventually, the person who did this will be brought to justice,” she continued. “For now, I just want to get on with my life. And this documentary will be a huge step forward for me. I want to talk to Daniel right now so we can get started as soon as possible.”

  Bailey still wasn’t sure he was convinced, but he nodded.

  She forced a smile as she gestured for him to follow her to Daniel’s office. She found her brother behind his desk, hunched over his computer screen.

  Bailey rapped on his slightly ajar door. “Hey, are you busy?”

  Daniel’s head popped up and his eyes instantly zeroed in on Micah.

  “Give me a minute,” he said. He took a few moments to finish up whatever he was doing behind his massive computer screen before coming around his desk.

  “Daniel, this is Micah Jones. Micah, my brother Daniel Hamilton.”

  “Your reputation precedes you,” Micah said, extending his right hand.

  “Likewise,” Daniel replied, accepting the handshake. The tension radiating between the two of them was palpable. Bailey barely resisted rolling her eyes.

  Men.

  Daniel turned to her and gestured to Micah. “What’s going on here? I know you’re not going back on his show after the press conference debacle.”

  “It was not a debacle,” she argued, even though she knew full well it had been. “And I’m not doing an interview. I’ve agreed to participate in a documentary that Micah wants to premier on his show.”

  Daniel’s forehead immediately dipped into a frown. “A documentary? Whose idea was this?” he asked, his voice drenched in suspicion. He eyed Micah as if he were a snake ready to attack.

  Just as she’d anticipate
d, Bailey had to rehash the same pitch she and Micah had just presented to her parents, fighting off interruptions from Daniel after every other sentence.

  “Mom and Dad are both on board with this,” she told him. “They both see that this will be a good thing, not only for RHD, but for me, as well. Fashion Week was supposed to be my big moment, Daniel, but I never got the chance. This documentary can give me my second chance.”

  “You’re on the verge of becoming one of the most famous models in the world, Bailey. You don’t need some documentary.”

  Bailey’s shoulders wilted in exasperation. She was not up for fighting Daniel on this.

  “Your sister’s name is being dragged through the mud,” Micah said. “I want to give Bailey the opportunity to tell her side of the story.”

  “Exactly. This is a good thing, Daniel, but I told Micah that I wouldn’t do it if you weren’t part of it.”

  Bailey could tell that he was not happy about that, and it made her even more grateful that she’d gotten her parents’ blessing first. Their approval knocked the wind out of the sails of any protest Daniel could muster.

  “Please,” she told her brother. “I need to do this, Daniel.”

  “There’s only one thing you need to do right now—stay safe,” her brother said. His eyes widened as he looked at Micah, and Bailey realized that he thought he’d just let the cat out of the bag.

  “It’s okay,” Bailey said. “Micah knows about the abduction. Dad told him. He figured if we’re going to do this, then Micah needed to know the full story.”

  “How do you know you can trust him?”

  “Why wouldn’t she?” Micah asked.

  “We still don’t know who attacked Bailey. And you were the last person to interview her. I wouldn’t put it past a reporter to stage this whole thing, then come around offering to do an exclusive story on her,” Daniel said, taking a menacing step forward.

  Micah simply crossed his arms over his chest and maintained his cool and calm stance, which Bailey knew would only piss Daniel off even more. Her brother took another step forward, bringing himself and Micah practically nose to nose. Bailey stepped between the two men and spread her arms wide.

  “Seriously?” She turned to her brother. “Enough with the conspiracy theories, Daniel. Micah did not have me kidnapped. Think of how ridiculous that sounds.” She looked at her brother, pleading with him to look past his misgivings and focus on the bigger picture. “I want to do this. And I want you to be part of it. Please, say you’ll do it.”

  Although his eyes still shot daggers at Micah, Daniel reluctantly capitulated.

  “Fine,” he said. When he looked at her, the concern filling his eyes was so deep it tugged at Bailey’s soul. “I just want to make sure no one takes advantage of you.”

  “That’s a good thing, because I don’t want to be taken advantage of. That’s the reason I want you on this project.”

  “No one is going to take advantage of you,” Micah assured her.

  “You’re damn right about that,” Daniel spat.

  “I also want you in on this because I trust your insight and I know you’ll make sure the documentary is amazing,” Bailey said, trying to defuse the tension.

  “I can keep you safe and make sure the documentary is good,” Daniel said.

  “So can I,” Micah argued.

  Bailey shut her eyes and brought both hands up to rub her temples.

  What had she gotten herself into?

  Chapter 5

  It had only been an hour, but Bailey was already over the camera following her around. She was okay with the occasional interview, or being videoed when she was on the runway or during a photo shoot, but having a camera practically capturing her every move was a pain in the butt. Why on earth would reality-TV stars subject themselves to this?

  She pretended to pay attention to what Louisa Martinez, one of the junior designers of RHD’s resort-wear collection, was telling her, but Bailey’s focus was on Micah, who was standing just a few feet away, his eyes following her. It made her uncomfortable in an entirely different way. No, not uncomfortable, just...overly aware. Arousal prickled along her nerve endings at his nearness.

  “The sarong should drape effortlessly,” Louisa said. She took a length of sage-and-yellow-striped fabric and wrapped it around Bailey’s waist.

  Bailey raised her arms and peered down at the material, gently twisting her hips. “Seems pretty effortless to me.”

  “Do you like the pattern?”

  “I think this one is a lot better than the bright orange and yellow,” Bailey said. “It’s more subtle, and it complements the other pieces in the collection.”

  She may not have been a designer, but she had grown up in this place. She had an eye for fashion and was used to the junior designers seeking her opinion. Bailey didn’t mind, especially if it was for someone who had potential, like Louisa. The fashion industry was as cutthroat for designers as it was for models. She wanted the RHD team members who really put in the effort to succeed.

  “Bailey.” She looked up to find Brianna waving her over. “We’re ready for you.”

  Louisa unwrapped the fabric from her waist and Bailey started for the open space toward the back of the second floor, where a mock beach scene had been set up. They were doing a preliminary photo shoot featuring RHD’s new resort-wear line. The real shoot would take place on St. Barts, but Daniel wanted to get some initial shots so that he and his team could get a feel for the advertising campaign.

  Two reflective photography umbrellas and a lighting rig had been set up. A flowing silky blue fabric covered the rear wall. Sand had been brought in and liberally spread across the floor. Palm trees that looked remarkably real completed the set.

  “We’ll start with the swimwear first,” Brianna said, handing Bailey a two-piece.

  As she took the wisp of fabric from her sister’s hands, Bailey inadvertently felt her face heat with embarrassment.

  She was appalled at her reaction.

  She was a professional, damn it! She’d been modeling swimwear for a decade. What was the deal with this sudden awkwardness?

  Maybe it was because she could practically feel Micah’s eyes following her as she headed for the changing room at the end of the hallway. She glanced back to find him staring. His face was a blank mask, but the heat in his eyes scorched her.

  Bailey shut the door behind her and leaned against it, covering her chest with her hand.

  “Good God,” she whispered.

  Okay, so the camera constantly shadowing her wasn’t the only thing she had to worry about when it came to this documentary. She had to figure out a better way to deal with the hours she was destined to spend in close proximity to Micah.

  And to think she’d purposely signed herself up for this. She must be losing her mind.

  Bailey took a moment to remind herself of what was at stake. So what if she had to endure bouts of mind-altering lust under Micah’s heated gaze? The important thing was that the world would see that she was the same Bailey Hamilton she had always been. Even more important, her kidnapper would see it, too.

  Besides, she had ways of dealing with lust when she was alone at night. It had been so long since she’d been in a relationship that she had pretty much mastered every self-pleasuring technique out there.

  This is so not the time to think about that.

  She was finally back to work. She needed to focus.

  She donned the bikini. It was one of Kyle’s designs—bold fuchsia tropical flowers on a black background. She slipped into the wedge sandals Brianna had also given her, and wrapped a solid fuchsia sarong around her waist.

  The tidal wave of self-consciousness that pummeled her when she stepped out of the changing room was unappreciated, but completely understandable, and even a bit ex
pected.

  And it wasn’t just because of Micah and those hot glances he’d been sending her way all morning.

  This was the first time she’d worked in any capacity as a model since that fateful night back in September. For weeks Bailey had been telling herself that it would be easy to jump in right where she’d left off. This was, after all, what she did for a living.

  But deep down, Bailey had known the truth. The kidnapping had forever changed her. She would have to learn how to adjust to modeling in the AAE—the After-Abduction Era.

  And even though appearing in a bathing suit before Micah’s ever-watchful eyes wasn’t the only thing contributing to her self-consciousness, it was definitely a big factor. Pictures of her clad in similar—sometimes even tinier—bikinis had appeared in magazines, on billboards and all over the internet. Yet the thought of walking onto the beach set while he looked on had her skin pebbling with goose bumps and flushing with heat.

  It would have helped if Micah was just a bit more adept in hiding what he was thinking when he stared at her. The look in his eyes was so inappropriate that he could not have been conscious of what he was doing, especially with a half dozen people surrounding them. His gaze trailed her from the moment she returned to the set, traveling the length of her body in a slow perusal.

  Bailey resigned herself to the fact that her nipples would give her away. There was no chance of hiding her reaction in what she was wearing.

  “Are we going to do this or what?” Daniel practically growled. He was looking at Micah with daggers in his eyes, which told her that her brother hadn’t missed the way Micah had been staring at her.

  Micah coughed and averted his eyes. He walked over to his cameraman and began to consult with him.

  Daniel still looked ready to commit murder as he adjusted the seaweed that had been made to look as if it had washed ashore. Brianna stood to the side, smirking. The makeup artist was completely oblivious to the tension in the room as she touched up Bailey’s cheeks.

  Bailey forced Micah, her siblings, her nerves and everything else out of her mind as she took her spot next to the fake palm tree. As soon as their in-house photographer, Julian, raised his camera, everything else ceased to exist.