I want You Deeper

There was a camera in Heath’s face.

He’d seen it coming from the second he pulled into theCòntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

Hardcastle Enterprises parking lot. A big production truck had been parked on the edge of the lot, but there had been no sign of a camera until he exited the vehicle and started toward the building.

That was when the reporter stepped in front of him. “Renee Forrester, KSFT News,” she said, jabbing a mic toward his chin. “Everyone’s buzzing about you and Vanessa. I’d love to do a follow-up. A ‘where are they now?’ sort of piece. I know reality shows often film months in advance,

sometimes even a year. Are you two still together?” “We never were together,” he said.

She stepped in front of him, halting his progress. He probably could have pushed his way around her, but the last thing he needed was to give the appearance that he’d pushed a reporter out of the way. The camera guy had rolled into place behind her and had the lens pointed directly at him.

“The show didn’t exactly offer closure,” Renee said, her expression softening as she spoke. “We’re all just hopeless romantics, hoping to hear you guys had your happy ending. Maybe I could interview the two of you?”

“I don’t know where Vanessa is.”

That much was the truth. He knew she shared an apartment with Brooke Alexander, Justin’s girlfriend, and if he really wanted to track her down, he could. He did want to track her down, actually, so maybe that wasn’t the best way to put it. He wasn’t going to chase after someone who had only been using him to get her big TV break.

And now, thanks to the reality show he’d signed up to do, he’d somehow become linked to her in a way that wouldn’t let him easily escape her. Right now, all over social media, there was some sort of bizarre push for photos and information on #HeathandVanessa. Were they together?

Weren’t they? If not, why?

This reporter was here to find out.

“So, you’re no longer speaking,” Renee said. “Do you mind telling us a little more about where things stand between the two of you?”

“We did a reality show together. I tried to keep things professional as best I could. We’re just from two different worlds.”

“So, it didn’t work out because you’re a billionaire and she’s a model.”

He didn’t like the way that sounded. Billionaires and models certainly went together, but it was a stereotype. And it was a stereotype that didn’t fit here. His attraction to Vanessa went so much deeper than the way she looked. He’d connected with her-or at least he thought he had-in a way he hadn’t connected with a woman in a long, long time-if ever.

“What if we could arrange to fix the two of you back up again? Would you be up for that?”

He felt the glare of the camera pointed at him and knew he could undo everything he’d worked so hard to achieve with the reality show. It wasn’t just about what people thought of him. It was about his own personal growth from the whole thing. He was a better person and shouting that he didn’t want anything to do with this was not a fit for the new, improved Heath.

“Thank you, Renee, but right now, I’m focused on connecting with my team and growing my business.”

He didn’t wait for her response, just walked into his building and headed straight to his office. As he moved through his own lobby, he felt people staring, but he brushed it off. Then he walked down the hallway and saw the reaction of a woman who passed him in the hallway. He wasn’t just the boss now. He was the guy people had watched on TV.

When it came to fame, Heath couldn’t be more opposite of Vanessa. He didn’t want anything to do with it. He’d primarily done that TV show to turn things around with his business. The fact that he could complete the whole thing in disguise had been a huge selling point.

So here he was, a prisoner in his own office. He knew this brief bout of attention would pass quickly enough and it would be back to life as usual.

He could no doubt walk through an airport or even have dinner in a restaurant without anyone saying anything. It wasn’t like the entire country had watched the show. But here, in Silicon Valley, and particularly in his own office building, everyone now knew all his business.

Including that he’d fallen for Vanessa Gilbert.

He’d done his best to distance himself from Vanessa in his interviews throughout the show, but at the very end, they’d caught him. They’d inserted a clip from him talking about her with a look on his face that made it very clear he’d fallen head over heels in love with her. Naturally, they had no similar clip from Vanessa.

Sighing, Heath plopped down at his desk and fired up his computer. Might as well throw himself into his work. He’d walked away from the trade show with so many potential clients, he’d be busy in meetings for weeks. It was just what he needed to get his mind off things.

But he’d barely had time to open the first email when he heard a knock on his office door. His assistant peeked her head in. “Someone’s here to see you.”

“I don’t have time right now. Tell them to make an appointment.”

“It’s Justin Travers.”

Heath looked at her, sure this must be some kind of prank. Who would have put her up to it, though? This wasn’t the kind of joke his friends would play.

There was movement in the window next to the door to his office, followed by Justin standing behind Heath’s assistant. She retreated and Justin entered, a friendly smile on his face.

Wow. How things had changed.

“Watched your show, man,” Justin said as he entered. “Congratulations.

Hey, nice office.”

“Thanks.”

Heath wasn’t sure exactly what the “thanks” was for, though. The congratulations or the compliment on his office. He decided it would work for either.

“Did they tell you I lost my office in the downsizing?” Justin asked. He spread his arms wide, then moved them together, palms facing each other, to demonstrate a crushing motion. “We had to squeeze everything down to

just one floor to save office space. Downsizing sucks.”

“Agreed. But things have to be getting better.”

Justin shrugged and walked toward Heath’s desk, taking a seat in the guest chair across from him. “I guess my answer would be that I don’t really want things to get better. Not in the sense that I have hundreds of strangers working for me. There’s a benefit to keeping it small, you know?”

Heath laughed. “I’d say. I’ve been trying to figure out how I can be more involved in the day-to-day and I’m realizing it’s just…a lot.”

“Yeah, well, you’re running multiple ventures here. I just really have one now.”

Justin’s tutoring app-the one Heath had accidentally copied when he’d tried to launch his own education solution-was back at the top of app store rankings. Everything seemed to be on the rise.

“So, you aren’t growing your staff?” Heath asked.

“Nope.” Justin picked up the stress ball on Heath’s desk and started throwing it back and forth between hands. “Keeping it small.”

“Won’t they be overloaded?”

“Surprisingly, no. You’d be shocked how efficiently you can run when your back’s against the wall. I had a lot of vanity hires.”

Now he was at a loss. “Vanity hires. Hmm.”

Justin set the ball down on the desk. “Having a big staff was good for my overblown ego. If I do hire a few more people, it’ll be on the app development team, and I’m letting the head of that team take care of making those decisions.”

Sitting back in his chair, Heath took all that in. That was where he’d gone wrong. “I tried to outsource my development,” he said, thinking aloud.

Justin nodded. “You can outsource. That’s fine. But if you’re seriously interested in an app startup, you have to commit.”

“I didn’t commit.”

“Speaking of which, I was sent here on a mission.”

Cutting to the chase. Good. Heath had been wondering why Justin was here, but it seemed like it would have been rude to ask upfront. It wasn’t like the two of them had ever spent one-on-one time before the big incident.

“What’s that?” Heath dared to ask.

Justin sat up in his chair, elbows on the arms, hands clasped in front of him. “Brooke says Vanessa’s gone to L. A.”

On the inside, Heath’s heart sank a little. “Gone to L. A.” Did that mean she’d moved to L. A? Permanently? It shouldn’t bother him so much that she might have moved away, but it did.

But on the outside, Heath was cold as ice. “Okay.” He shrugged. “What does that have to do with me?”

“She’s there because of you.”

Heath nodded. “No surprise. The show boosted her career. She needs to make the most of the momentum. Still don’t get what that has to do with me.”

Justin shook his head. “She left to get away from you.”

At first, Heath wasn’t sure how to react to that. He spun around in his chair slightly, facing away from Justin. That in itself was an interesting maneuver-as though he subconsciously didn’t want Justin to read his reaction.

“So, she’s running from me. Why?”

Justin laughed. “I guess that didn’t come out the way I’d meant. She’s got it bad for you, bro. And you rejected her on national TV.”

Now Heath spun back to face him. “What? Where did you get that idea?”

“From Brooke. She watched the show with Vanessa. I don’t watch TV.”

“At the end of the show, I made it pretty clear-”

“Don’t shoot the messenger.” Justin stood, smoothing down nonexistent wrinkles in his jeans. “I need to get going. Just stopped by to keep my girlfriend happy. We should get together for lunch sometime. Shoot me an email and we’ll set something up.”

Heath nodded and pushed himself to his feet, feeling more than a little numb. What had just happened here? Vanessa’s friend had sent her boyfriend-one of Silicon Valley’s most well-known startup founders-to Heath’s office to tell him he’d broken Vanessa’s heart? It was like he’d fallen asleep and had the wackiest dream of his life.

“Piece of advice?” Justin stopped near the doorway and looked back at Heath. If there was one thing Heath could use right now, it was advice.

“Sure,” Heath said, not certain whether he should be eager or anxious about whatever Justin was going to say.

“Don’t let her get away.”

Heath let out the breath he’d been holding. “I’ll do my best.”

And that was when he knew he had to do something to get Vanessa Gilbert back.