Page 115 of Ice Cold Hearts
All aboard the S.S. Bullshit. We’re ready to depart.
We all nod.
“It was definitely interesting,” Kim remarks.
“Yes, and it’s made several implications that impact the integrity of this team. We are, after all, being watched by the world. Children look up to us, and morally—” he starts.
“Actually, I’m going to jump in here. Is there a morality clause in their contract with the team?” Kim asks.
Cliff and his minions stare at her, mouths agape.
“Do I need to repeat the question?” Kim demands.
“No.” Cliff bristles. “And, no, there isn’t a specific morality clause in their contract, but?—”
“I didn’t think so,” Kim says smugly.
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Emily says, looking over at us, “but haven’t the three of you dated one woman at the same time before?”
The corner of my mouth twitches up into a smile. “We have. Twice before, in fact.”
“Now, I might be just some girl and I’m not familiar with these things.” Emily’s smile is feral. “But did management have meetings with you about these women?”
Oliver grins. “Come to think of it, they didn’t.”
“Now, were these girls socialites from wealthy families or connected to prominent families in politics?” Emily asks.
“I think they might have been,” I say dryly in an attempt to hide my smile.
Emily turns toward Cliff. “I think that’s very interesting that you didn’t have meetings with them over these women who came from elite backgrounds, but you are very concerned about a girl from a working class family. And if my social media research is accurate at the height of the media frenzy with these women, your PR team issued a statement in support of your ‘golden trio’, as you called them, and even demanded that the media leave those upstanding women alone.”
“I’m not sure I recall that,” Cliff sputters. “And frankly, the implications you’re making are quite offensive, young lady.”
Big mistake.
Emily bristles. “Implications? I’ll be clearer. Your protection of the socialite and the governor’s niece and your lack of protection of a working-class single mother in the exact same situation is elitist at best. Is that clear enough for you? Additionally, I’m a grown woman with multiple degrees, one of which is a DPT, so I suggest you refer to me as Doctor, or Ma’am.”
I don’t care that there are ten other people in this room. Seeing her stand up to the head toenail for herself and in defense of our relationship makes me want to throw her gorgeous round ass on top of this table and fuck her right here.
“Also, Cliff,” Kim adds, “I actually have the posts in support of both Ms. Jackson and Ms. Mayeski right here on page one of this packet.”
She takes the papers from in front of Emily and distributes one to every person at the table.
I take a moment to leaf through mine. There are at least ten pages of screenshots, graphs, and survey results, among other things. I’m not one to underestimate my woman, but I’d be surprised if she’d been able to get this done during the two hours she was gone last night. Maybe this is what she’s been so secretive about lately.
“Would you like me to highlight those posts for you?” Kim asks.
“No,” Cliff grumbles.
“Wonderful.” She smiles. “Now that we’re all on the same page, I’d like to walk you through the information in this packet. Emily and I have been working together for the past several days on a social media strategy for her family. She reached out after a mob of reporters swarmed her house in the hopes of finding a way to manage public interest in a way that keeps her family safe. As a courtesy, we’re informing you of our plans so you can decide which side of the issue you’d like to be on, though I’m sure once we’ve finished, you’ll see the sense in my plan and climb aboard.”
Emily sees me staring and rolls her chair closer to mine.
“What?” she whispers. “Too much? You had mentioned getting our own PR offhand before, so I thought I’d take the liberty to take that off your plate.”
“Kitten, I swear as soon as we get home, I’m dragging you into the house and throwing you on the bed,” I whisper back.
“Promise?” she murmurs.