Free Follow My Lead by Lisa Renée Jones Page B

did, but meant as much to her family as it did to her.
    “No. No. This is bad. This—” she waved a finger between them “—is not smart.” She grabbed her bag and tried to move around him. It caught on something, her own foot probably. She stumbled and fell forward and, once again, smack into Blake, just as she had done on the red carpet. His strong hands went to her elbows, his long, hard body catching hers. The concern in his blue eyes stirred a tidal wave inside her. She wanted this man in a bad way, but it was so much more than that. There was this warm feeling in her chest that seemed to expand and do funny things to her stomach.
    “It appears the universe is conspiring to throw you into my arms,” he suggested. “Maybe you should listen.”
    The door across from them opened. “I guess I know what ‘truce with benefits’ means,” came a female voice.
    Lana. The warm spot in Darla’s chest turned to ice. “It appears,” Darla said, replying to Blake, “that the universe has a wicked sense of humor.”
    Darla pushed out of Blake’s arms, and with no plan, turned to face Lana. She wore a black sweatsuit, her red hair falling in contrasting silky waves around her shoulders. She wore no makeup and she looked fabulous. Darla wilted, unable to find her voice.
    Blake came to the rescue, quickly explaining away their behavior. “The only ‘benefits’ being received this early in the morning are my personal baggage boy services.” He grabbed Darla’s suitcase and walked toward Lana, who had one as well, and motioned to her to hand it over. “I’ll take yours, too. You can both thank me by not giving me a hard time on camera later.”
    Lana’s lips lifted, and Darla couldn’t help but envy how pink and perfect they were. “There’s nothing wrong with a scandal,” she said. “It’s good for ratings. In fact, it’s job security.”
    “Meagan hates scandal,” Darla warned. “You have to know that.”
    “And the studio likes ratings,” Lana assured her, making Darla’s argument irrelevant. She scooted her bag in Blake’s direction. “I do love a man with muscle and manners.”
    Ratings. Darla heard that familiar bad word with shattering clarity. Lana was going to turn this into ratings, and say to hell with Meagan. Darla knew Meagan trusted her to help maintain a certain image for the show. She didn’t want to be the ratings boost—at least, not like this. She had to say something, do something. Fix this.
    “My father,” Blake said, speaking up in what Darla hoped might be that “fix” because she really had nothing of her own, “raised a scandal-free gentleman. He taught me that a good man carries a lady’s bag, holds doors and generally uses good manners. Most importantly, he taught me that a gentleman keeps his private life private. Exactly why I keep my attention, and camera, keenly focused accordingly.”
    In other words, Darla thought, reading between the lines, Blake wouldn’t be giving Lana any feature on his show if she burned him. Darla was thrilled. This was a perfect “fix.”
    Blake turned to Darla, his eyes lighting on hers as he added, “And a gentleman always catches a lady when she falls.”
    “I’m pretty sure you’re to blame for both of my falls,” Darla accused in jest, trying to play off his comment so that Lana wouldn’t pick up on the obvious deeper meaning. “The only two times I’ve stood close to this man, I’ve tripped over his big feet.”
    “Oh, I see,” Blake said, motioning them all forward. “Is that how it is? It’s my big feet, not your clumsiness?”
    Darla fell into step with him at the same time that Lana did. “I’m only clumsy when your big feet are in the way.” Her shoe caught on the carpet in that instant and she tripped, stumbling and barely catching her footing. She righted herself and ignored Lana, who most certainly was laughing. Her attention flashed to Blake and her gaze found his, they both burst into laughter at the