A Case of Defamation

SIXTEEN

Daniel was holding open his apartment door because they didn't have a moment to spare. He'd just buzzed her into the building, and she must have broken every traffic law on the books to get here as fast as she did. They had three minutes before Lunch with Lois started, and she had work to do. The elevator doors were barely open before she squeezed through the widening gap and ran down the hall, breathing hard.

"I ran from the guest parking lot! Why is it so far away?" she panted as she burst through the open door, threw herself into a chair, and opened her computer. "Come on!" she yelled as it started up.

The moment the login screen came up, she started typing, her foot bouncing as she waited on the machine. As she waited, she removed the memory card from the camera, inserted it into the adapter, and plugged it into the computer. As she worked, he checked the television, which was showing a commercial for a feminine hygiene product.

She'd laid the plan out for him as she drove. As soon as she arrived, he was to call the station and try to get in touch with someone from the Lunch with Lois show. She wanted to be able to send the file while he was talking to them. While he worked his way through the bureaucracy, she was going to edit the video down to the juicy parts and email it to the station if they'd agree to run it.

Dan glanced between Shay and the television. "Can't you send it as is?"

"Too big. Not only will it not go, I don't want the punchline to get lost in the noise... and I misrepresented myself," she said as she stared at the screen while she typed and used the trackpad to steer the cursor.

The jaunty intro music for Lunch with Lois was just starting as he dialed. "KDLA, how may I direct your call?" a pleasant female voice said.

"This is Daniel Beckette. I'd like to speak with someone on the Lunch with Lois show, please. It's critically important."

"That show is running live at the moment. I'll have someone return your call."

"No. You don't understand. You're running a segment today about me, Daniel Beckette, and you're about to embarrass yourselves. I'm trying to save you from that."

"I'll have someone from the show call you back, Mr. Beckette."

"Let me speak to your supervisor."

There was a pause. "Hold please."

He covered the microphone with his thumb. "How's it coming?"

"Loading the video now. I need five minutes to cut out all the extra stuff and save it."

"This is Paul Jenson, Station Manager. Who is this please?"

"Mr. Jenson, this is Daniel Beckette. You're doing a hit piece on me today on the Lunch with Lois show. I have evidence that what Lindsey Rohmer is accusing me of is completely false."

"I see, Mr. Beckette. What, exactly, is your evidence?"

The manager was humoring him, and Dan imagined the man was smiling, but Dan was about to wipe that smile right off his face. "A video of Ms. Rohmer admitting she was paid to set me up, that she doesn't know me, and has never met me. Would you be interested in that?"

There was a long pause, and this time Dan was the one who was smiling. "You have a video of Ms. Rohmer admitting that?" Paul asked.

Dan's smile grew. "I do."

"Where did you get it?"

"You didn't think I was going to take this lying down did you? I did some checking and when an associate of mine confronted her, she admitted that it was an attempt to extort me for money."

"Can I get a copy of the video?"

"Depends. What are you going to do with it?"

"First I'll have to validate that it's authentic."

"Oh, so now you're concerned with journalistic integrity?" Dan asked, his tone biting. "It's authentic. After that?"

"What do you want me to do with it?"

"If you run that hit piece from Lindsey, I want the video aired in the same program."

"I don't---"

"Fine. I'll give it to one of your competitors and I'll sue you for slander as I'm telling you now, before the segment airs, that I have incontrovertible proof that my accuser, Lindsey Rohmer, is admitting in her own words that she lied, and you ran the interview anyway. I can positively prove harm from this event, there is someone here that will verify the time and the fact we're having this conversation, and if you run her interview without running the video I'm offering you, when I'm done with you, I'll own that damned station. Your call."

"The show is airing now. I don't know if I can---"

"You've got an hour to figure it out."

There was another long pause. "How soon can you get me the video?"

He looked at Shay with a questioning look. She held up one finger as a progress bar crept across the screen. "I can email it to you right now."

"Send it to my personal email," the manager said, giving Dan his email address. Dan scribbled it down and repeated it back. "If this is real, I'll either pull the video or run yours directly behind it," Paul said.

"Watch your inbox. It'll be there in a minute or two," Dan said, but then paused. "I could have used this to embarrass you, but I'm giving you a chance to make it right. Do the right thing."

"Thank you, Mr. Beckette."

Dan hung up and handed Shay the email address. She typed a moment, clicked send, and then sat back with a sigh. "That's cutting it close!"

"Maybe, but you did it."

"Not yet I didn't. Let's see if they run the piece. I cut all the setup and left just the part where she admitted it was all a scam."

"Can I see it?"

"Sure," she replied. "You want to see the whole thing, or just the part I sent them?"

"Show me the whole thing. You can tell me where you started and stopped the video."

"She said this happened on May eighteenth, at the center on Lawndale. That's a Thursday. Were you at the fitness center around three?" she asked as she cued up the full video.

He shrugged. "I have no idea. Maybe. I don't have a fixed schedule when I drop in." He picked up his phone and scrolled through it. "I didn't have anything on my calendar for that time, so yeah, I could have been I suppose."

"Shit..." she murmured. "I was hoping you'd say you were somewhere else."

He shrugged again. "I might have been. That was three months ago, and I don't remember."

"Ready?" she asked as she hovered the cursor over the play button.

"Yeah. Go ahead."

He turned the television down to a murmur and watched the video. Like the video of Gail, the quality wasn't great, but it was good enough that anyone watching could clearly tell the woman was Lindsey, and the two women's voices were loud and clear. He watched it all the way through.

"Squarepeg?" he growled when the video ended. "Did you say Squarepeg and selectcasting.com?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Son-of-a-

bitch

!" he snarled before turning away in disgust. "That rat bastard!"

"What about Squarepeg?"

"I'd bet good money that Squarepeg is owned by Neil Mitchell. He was my business partner."

"What? You have a business partner?"

"Not anymore."

She stared at him. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"I didn't---it's on," he said, picking up the television remote and turning up the volume.

They watched in silence as Lindsey spouted her bullshit in a prerecorded interview. He'd give Lindsey this, she was convincing because she had the tears and everything, but the more she talked, the tighter he clinched his jaws. When the interview was over, the show cut back to Lois, the host, in the studio.

That was an interview I conducted yesterday with Lindsey Rohmer, the woman accusing fitness expert Daniel Beckette of sexual harassment,

Lois said.

Since that interview, we have received shocking hidden camera footage that calls into question Ms. Rohmer's claims.

The screen cut to Lindsey.

I lied, okay! Some guy paid me five grand to say Daniel Beckette groped me. That's all I know!

The camera cut back to Lois, sitting stiff and formal, looking like she'd just bit into something sour.

We'll be right back.

He switched off the television as a commercial for a floor cleaner began. He'd give it an hour before his phone started ringing.

"What?" he asked as Shay glared at him.

"You didn't think telling me you had a business partner was a good idea?"

"I didn't think about it." She rolled her eyes, silently accusing him of being an idiot. "What?"

"I asked you if you knew of anyone with a grudge."

"Yeah, so?"

"Business partner?"

"Ex-business partner."

"Even more so!"

"Why? I bought him out and we parted as friends. Or I thought we had."

"What happened?"

"Nothing, really. I wanted to expand into gyms and he wanted to focus on the website. He thought the gyms were going to be a money sink, we'd get overextended, and then we'd either lose everything or have to bring in additional partners. He couldn't stop me, but we couldn't agree, and I got tired of arguing with him about it, so I went to the bank, took out another loan using the equity we'd built in the business, and bought him out. He got a good deal in the buyout. We had the company valued by an independent auditor, and I paid twenty-five percent more than the book value for his part of the company to account for future growth. My accountant said I over paid."

"When was this?"

"Three, four years ago."

"So you two parted on good terms?"

"Like I said, I thought we had. He was always interested in the website above everything else. He invested twenty percent to help me launch the site and then ran the business in the beginning while I focused on promotion. He took the money from the buyout and invested it in a new company. I can't remember if he told me the name, but Squarepeg sounds like a name he'd use because he always said something about a square peg fitting in a round hole when we argued over the direction of the company. I haven't spoken to him in a while, but I assume he's doing okay. Last I heard he was running selectcasting.com. It's an online system for matching actors to movie and television roles."

She continued to glare at him for a moment but then softened. "Yeah, okay. You should have told me, but I guess I can see why you didn't, if you really parted on good terms."

"I thought we had, I swear to God. I have no idea why he might be doing this, but I'm going to find out," he growled as he picked up his phone from the table.

She rose with him before placing her hand on his. "Wait. Don't do that. He'll deny it, you know he will, and say the woman is setting him up. His name wasn't mentioned in the video I sent to the station, so let's not tip our hand. Maybe he won't realize we're onto him. Let me see if I can find some proof linking him to the rumors."

"You said that was a dead end."

"That was before I had a name."

He nodded. "Okay. This is your game, not mine... but let me say, you're simply amazing. Four hours! From nothing to case closed in four hours!"

"Not case closed. We still have to do something to discredit the rumors. That video is going to put a major dent in them, but she wasn't the one spreading them so there's still going to be questions. I want to burn this asshole to the ground."

"No argument from me. What's the next step?"

"I don't know. Let me think."

"I know what

I

want the next step to be," he murmured.

"What?" she asked, her tone suggesting she was only partially listening to him.

He pulled her into his arms. "I believe we have some unfinished business," he rumbled.

Her attention instantly snapped from the best way to burn that asshole Neil Mitchell to Dan. She held his gaze a moment but didn't try to pull away. "I seem to recall that as well," she murmured before he took her lips in a long, slow kiss, their tongues dancing as he pulled her tighter to his chest.

"We shouldn't do this. You're still my client," she whispered as the kiss dissolved.

His lips, only millimeters from hers, twitched into a teasing smile. "Then you're fired."

"Oh, thank God," she breathed before covering his mouth with hers.

The kiss was electrifying in its intensity. He crouched slightly and picked her up, bringing her lips even with his own. She felt impossibly light and fragile, but as she surrounded him with her arms and legs, her embrace was strong. He left her lips, kissing along her jaw and down to her neck. She leaned back into his hands, holding his neck as her head tilted back to give him better access. His lips continued lower to kiss down the opening in her blouse.

"Oh, God, I want you," she murmured as she drew herself tight to his chest to take his lips. He needed no more encouragement, and as the kiss dissolved, he turned toward his bedroom. "Wait! Wait!" she cried. He felt a crushing disappointment, but before he could react, she continued. "Phones! Turn off the fucking phones!"

He stopped his nuzzling long enough to pick up his phone and silence the ringer before he tossed it onto the side table beside her computer. He started to put her down so she could do the same to her own device, but she tightened her grip, so still holding her tight, he bent, lowering her to the couch, his lips and tongue busy as she franticly fished in her purse to find her phone. When she had it, he straightened, enjoying the feel of her against him and the tightness of her embrace as he tasted the valley of her breasts.

When he heard the soft thump of her phone landing on the couch, he turned and started for his bedroom a second time, reluctantly leaving her breasts as he lowered her slightly so he could see where he was going. She was completely confident in his arms, holding him in an almost loving embrace with one arm around his neck, while the fingers of her other hand tangled in his hair as she rested her head against his. He tried to remember the last time he wanted a woman as badly as he wanted her... and failed.

When he reached his bed, he knee-walked to the center of it before gently lowering her. She seemed as reluctant to let him go as he was to release her, so he settled lightly over her while kissing her lips. It wasn't even one in the afternoon, and he smiled at the thought of making love to her repeatedly throughout the day, the evening, and long into the night.

He pulled back from the kiss with a soft release of breath before holding her gaze as he swam in the infinite depths of her eyes. She had such lovely eyes, perhaps the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen, with visible patterns that might be the eddies of her soul.

"What?" she whispered.

He couldn't stop his smile. "I was just thinking how beautiful you are."

She smiled in return. "You don't have to keep trying to seduce me. You're going to get some."

He brushed her lips, feather light, with his own. "I'm not trying to seduce you." Her smile flickered as her face softened. He kissed her again, very gently. He was sure now. "You have the most beautiful eyes of any woman I've ever met."

Her face softened further as her eyes became shiny. She held his gaze, and as her mouth opened slightly in invitation, he took her lips again. She seemed to love being in his arms, her intensity rising to match him, then going beyond, before his own desire rose to match, then exceed hers.

"Fuck!" she hissed as he devoured her neck and throat, her fingers digging into his back.

He needed to slow down. He wanted to draw this out, to enjoy her as long as possible, but he was awash in desire. He began unbuttoning her blouse as her fingers worked his belt. They rolled and tumbled as they undressed each other, taking longer than necessary because they couldn't pull their lips from each other for more than a few seconds at a time.

The last of their coverings finally removed, she shoved him hard onto his back before she took his manhood into her mouth. Shay was surprisingly strong for her size, but she was no match for Dan. Seizing her ankle, he hauled her around before lifting her hips over his face as his cock disappeared into her warm, soft mouth.

She was ready. He lapped at her nectar, his tongue delving deep into her secret places as he licked and teased with lips and tongue. He'd been with many women who were skilled in the art of pleasing a man, but Shay was a match for any of them.

Her soft grunts and moans of pleasure, the slow thrusting of her hips, and her skilled lips and tongue combined to push him inexorably toward his release. She plunged down his shaft again, taking all of him as her fingers tickled his balls. He was starting to grunt, moan, and slowly thrust his hips as he battled his rising tide of pleasure.

"Fuck!" she gasped as she pulled back. "You're going to make me come."

Straining to hold against his ever-increasing need, he redoubled his efforts, his tongue flashing and darting, slithering and probing, his lips tugging gently at the petals of her flower as she swiftly stroked his shaft while caressing the head with her lips and tongue.

"Fuck... fuck... fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck...

fuck

!" she chanted softly before thrusting hard and grinding her pussy into his face on her last, strained word.

He didn't let up, pinching softly at her clit with his lips as she squirmed and thrust before licking her with a hard, slow swipe with the flat of his tongue.

"Ah... shit! Fuck... fuck... fuck, fuck...

fuck

!" she gasped as she lunged again.

Now that she was no longer torturing him with pleasure, he delighted in the pleasure he was giving her as he continued to batter her with his tongue. He was pretty sure she'd just come again, and he was going for the trifecta, but she suddenly relaxed, settling over him with the sexiest growling giggle he'd ever heard. Realizing she was finished, at least for the moment, he slowly reduced the intensity of his kisses.

As he began kissing the inside of her thighs, she took a deep cleansing breath before giggling again, a soft bedroom twitter that made him ache for her. She slowly crawled off him, turned, and draped herself over his chest as she kissed him like he'd rarely been kissed before. The kiss was slow, deep, and pushed his desire for her to new heights. She slowly pulled back and smiled at him in a way that cut him to his core. Never had a woman turned him on more.

"That... was fucking amazing," she sighed. "I've never been eaten like that before."

"Pussy... it's all natural and organic."

She burst into laughter before kissing him again, this one full of lust and promises. He might have rocked her back on her heels, but she was recovering fast and coming back at him. He could tell from the sparkle in her eyes, and the set of her face, that she was relishing the challenge of matching him.

He tumbled her from his chest to her back. He was reaching for the bedside stand when she took his face and forced him to look at her. "Are you clean?"

"What?"

"Are you clean? Do I have anything to worry about?"

"No, I mean, yes, I'm clean, but..."

"I trust you," she said, holding his gaze in addition to his chin. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"I'm on the pill, and I'm clean. I want you. I want to feel you come inside me." He hesitated, and when he looked at the bedside stand again, she forcefully pulled his gaze back to hers. "I trust you. Trust me."

He did trust her. He smiled at her as he adjusted his position slightly and then slowly slid deep into her. It was so easy, so natural, it was as if they'd been fucking for years. He'd always been careful, and Brooke was the only woman he'd ever fucked unsheathed... until now. He wrapped Shay in his arms, supporting his weight on his elbows while holding her tight as he gradually sank into her depths. Fully inside her, he paused a moment before slowly pulling back, pausing with the tip of his rod just inside her flower, and then quickly plunging into her. She was amazingly tight, her pussy firmly caressing his cock with each cycle. Her fingers biting into his back, her soft gasp each time he drove into her, the look of pleasure on her face, and the feel of her body beneath him, was causing his rapture to build faster than he could control it. He pushed himself in as deep as he could and held himself there as he buried his face in her shoulder.