“That might be pushing it a little bit.”
“Well, like it or don't,” she said, reaching into the bar for a bottle of champagne and popping it open. “Just as long as you can play the part, that's all I care about. That, and how much of a boost this is going to give to our bottom line.”
“Same here,” I said. “This should give the charity line I'm putting out the attention it needs.”
She scrunched up her face a bit in thought.
“Oh, that's right, you're doing that hippie-dippie thing.”
“Cruelty-free.”
“Whatever,” she said flatly. “I mean, don't get me wrong—charity is charity and it's all very admirable. I just don't know why you're putting some nobody at your side when you should be the one in the spotlight.”
I bristled a bit at Cassidy being talked about like this. I wanted to say something, but realized that being Nina's “boyfriend” wasn't the only role I was playing—I also had to pretend that Cassidy was nothing more than my employee.
“I didn't just pick her name out of a hat,” I said coolly, watching her pour two glasses of champagne. “I chose her because she has talent.”
“And if there's one thing our industry doesn't lack, it's talent. You could have any designer you wanted working at your side, and you're choosing someone who doesn't even have a show to her name. Very unlike the meticulous Rhys that I've come to love.”
My face must've made quite the shocked expression, because Nina let out a wild peal of laughter.
“Look at you!” she said, handing me a glass. “You're white as a sheet! And all at the word ‘love'. Who knows, maybe this fake relationship will be just the thing to pry open that steely heart of yours.”
“I sincerely doubt that.”
“Maybe we'll fall in love for real, and you and I will be looking back on this in a year or so, a pair of beautiful twins on our laps as we relax on the balcony of some Tuscan villa, wondering how we could've denied the obvious attraction for so long. Hell, forget twins—how about triplets?!”
I could tell she was taking a sick pleasure in all of this.
“Very funny,” I said, taking a sip of my champagne.
“I'm just having fun,” she said, giving me a playful swat on the knee. “Don't be so dour—I'm ready to have a blast with all of this, and you should, too. A little silliness every now and then is good for the soul.”
She glanced out of the window and let out a noise of surprise.
“We're here!” she announced.
I looked ahead and saw that the front of the restaurant was already packed with paparazzi. I killed my champagne, knowing I'd need to buzz to get through this. The limo soon came to a halt.
“You ready, lover?” asked Nina.
“About as ready as I'll ever be.”
With that, she threw open the limo door and stepped out. I followed her and the two of us walked hand in hand through the maelstrom of cameras and reporters shouting out questions. Nina turned and placed her lips on my cheek and held them here, giving the photographers something to chew on.
Here goes nothing, I thought, forcing a broad smile for the clamoring crowd.
Chapter 13
Cassidy
One Month Later
I poked listlessly at the salmon salad in front of me, my head resting in my hand.
“Okay, lady,” said Erin, leaning forward across the table in the trendy little bistro where the two of us were grabbing a post-shopping dinner. “Spill it.”
I sat up in my chair, looking around at the bustling scene of diners and serving staff around us.
“What do you mean?”
“What do you mean ‘what do I mean'?” she asked. “You've been glum all day. Actually, to be more accurate, you've been glum since a very specific point this afternoon, when you were going through your phone while I was in the changing room.”
I had to hand it to Erin: she was dead-on. See, while Erin had been changing, I’d decided to pass the time by going through the front pages of some of the San Bravado gossip rags.
Big mistake.
All it had taken was one picture of Rhys and Nina walking arm in arm on the red carpet of some glitzy fashion event—big happy smiles on their faces and their bodies nearly smushed onto one other's—for me to feel like my heart had been ripped out and stomped on.
“Come on,” said Erin. “Give me the deets. There's no way it's not a guy thing, right?”
The gears in my mind started turning as I started to try to come up with a convincing lie. But I realized that Erin, as perceptive as she was, would instantly see through whatever I might put together. Not to mention that I'd been keeping a lid on this Rhys thing for over a month; I had to get it off my chest or I might literally explode.
“Okay,” I said, glancing around as if someone might be listening in on our conversation. “It's…um, it's Rhys Cole.”
“What about him?” asked Erin.
Then, her eyes went wide.
“Oh my God, you have a little crush on him, don't you? Aw, that's so cute! And, shit, I can't say I blame you.”
I watched as Erin stabbed an olive off of her plate and popped it into her mouth as she looked away and thought the matter over. Then, her eyes drifted back towards me and her chewing slowed down.
She'd made another realization.
“No, no,” she said. “It's not just a crush. There's something more to it than that.”
Then, her hands shot to her mouth, her fork falling onto her plate with a clatter.
“You fucked him!” she exclaimed, with complete disregard for any volume control.
The eyes of people at the nearby tables locked onto us and I felt the hot creep of embarrassment move up my neck. I looked down at my plate and began to wish I hadn't said a word.
“Ha, sorry,” she said.
The other patrons went back to their meals and Erin leaned in close.
“Details. Now,” she said. “Let's have ’em.”
I sat back in my chair and took a deep breath.
“Well, it all started that first day of work…”
I went through everything: the fire alarm, the wine bar, the instant connection, and the…other stuff. When I was all done, Erin swiped her glass of wine off the table, sat back in her chair, and began processing everything.
“That's, uh, some really, really juicy gossip,” she said finally.
“And I just feel so stupid about it,” I said. “Like, what was I thinking, hoping that Rhys is actually was into me or something? Of course, he'd go for someone like Nina. Girls like me and guys like him…just don't make any sense.”
“So now, whenever you see a picture of them, it reminds you of all that.”
“You got it.”
A serious expression formed on Erin's face. Finally, after a few moments, she spoke.
“First of all, that's stupid as hell.”
“What?”
“The idea that a girl like you isn't good enough for a guy like Rhys. That's ridiculous. You're awesome, Cass. And I don't know how many times I have to tell you how hot as shit you are before you start to believe it. I'm starting to sound like I have a crush on you or something.”
“Okay, that's enough complimenting,” I said, waving my hand through the air.
“Fine, fine,” said Erin. “But you need to get it into your head what a catch you are. And if you felt a connection with Rhys, there was probably something to it.”
“Yeah, that something being that I'm totally delusional.”
“Nah, your feelings are your feelings; don't act like they're nothing. But maybe, just maybe, he feels the same way. Maybe he feels like he's supposed to date someone like Nina, like it's what's expected of him. Or maybe he's not the type of guy to mix business and pleasure. Who knows? The point is that you're silly to go right to thinking that it's because you're a psycho or something.”
I took in Erin's words. After a moment or two, I actually did feel a little better.
&
nbsp; “You're right,” I said finally. “It's stupid of me to feel so down on myself. I mean, even if he is with Nina now, that doesn't mean we didn't have a special night.”
“That's the spirit,” said Erin with a wink. “You'll find a good man before too long; you just can't let stuff like this get you down.”
With that, Erin turned her attention to the after-dinner drink list.
“I know this sounds totally girly and lame, but what do you think of espresso martinis?”
“It kind of sounds really good,” I said. “Sweet and boozy.”
“Done. I'm gonna get two.”
Erin flagged down the waiter and put in the order.
“Oh, shit,” I realized. “I've been so self-absorbed about this Rhys stuff that I haven't even asked you about Ryan. How're things with him?”
“Perfect,” said Erin. “Totally perfect. Just last week he took me to Alan's, and while we were there…”
She went on like this for a time, telling me all about her perfect relationship with what sounded like the perfect guy. I was happy as could be for her, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that part of me wished that I had what she did. It was like there was a big hole in my life that I'd been trying to ignore, to pretend wasn't there. I was lonely and I hated it.
“…then, we're going to visit some of his family on his mom's side in Scotland. I'm so freaking excited.”
“I'm so happy for you, Erin,” I said.
And I meant it. But Erin, astute as ever, must've picked up on some microscopic change in my facial expression that made clear the feelings that I'd been keeping shoved away deep down.
“You'll get yours,” she said, reaching across the table and placing her hand on mine. “Just don't give up!”
Right at that moment, the waiter arrived with our cocktails. He set the two rich-looking drinks in front of us, a swirl of chocolate on the inside of the glasses. But as the coffee scent of the drink wafted up to my nose, a strange tinge of nausea formed in my gut and gave me pause.
“Yum, yum,” said Erin, drumming her fingers on the table in anticipation. She took her drink by the stem and raised it into the air. “To you getting a damn man,” she said. “It's gonna happen, just you wait.”
“I'll drink to that,” I said.
I lifted my glass, the smell of the drink drifting in front of my face again and making the odd, sudden nausea even worse. We tapped the rims of our glasses and took sips, but the instant the liquid touched my tongue, a disgusting taste flooded my mouth. It was like I'd just sipped a glass of curdled milk. I forced the drink down with a hard swallow.
“So good,” Erin sighed happily. “Like a milkshake that gets you drunk.”
Then, she noticed the grossed-out expression on my face.
“Whoa there, lady. What's up?”
“Yours tastes fine, right?” I asked. “Like, how you would expect a coffee and chocolate drink to taste?”
“It tastes better than fine. Something wrong with yours?”
“Just try mine,” I said, pushing the glass towards her.
She flashed me a quizzical expression before lifting the glass and taking a sip.
“Tastes just as good as mine does,” she said.
“That's so weird,” I said. “It's just making me nauseous; I don't know what's wrong.”
Erin sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her breasts.
“How long has it been since you and Rhys, you know, got down to business?”
“Like a month. Around a month.”
“And…you guys did it safely, right?”
“Wait a minute—are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”
Erin just shrugged.
“I had a friend who got pregnant when we were in college. She said she knew because weird stuff made her sick to her stomach.”
“But…I'm on birth control.”
“Are you taking it every day? Like you're supposed to?”
“Umm…”
Erin narrowed her eyes in a playfully skeptical way.
“I might've gotten a little busy with work and everything and forgotten once or twice.”
“Once or twice is all it takes.”
Erin flagged down the waiter and asked for the check.
“We're getting out of here, lady,” she said, knocking back the rest of her drink with a single swig.
“And going where?”
“To the pharmacy. You've got a date with a pee stick.”
Chapter 14
Cassidy
Back at my apartment, I paced back and forth as I waited in excruciating anticipation. Five minutes, the box had said, but it seemed to be taking forever.
“Anything yet?” I asked Erin, who was seated in front of the test where it lay on the coffee table.
“Nope,” she said. “And I still can't believe I'm staring at something that you peed on.”
“Don't make me feel any worse about this,” I said.
“Just trying to lighten the mood.”
I started pacing again, beside myself with anxiety. What if I was pregnant? In the past year, I'd only been with Rhys, so there was no doubt that the baby would be his. What would he think about the idea of being a father? What if he didn't want anything to do with the baby? Would I be a single mother? Would he even want me around the office knowing that I was about to give birth to his child? Questions whirled in my head.
“Whoa-whoa-whoa,” said Erin. “We got something. What do two lines mean?”
I rushed over to the test box and held it up, my hand shaking.
Two lines meant a positive. I was pregnant.
“Oh, no,” I said, my legs feeling as though they were about to give out from underneath me. “Oh, no.”
“I'm gonna guess that two lines mean pregnant,” said Erin.
“Yep.”
She jumped out of her seat and ran over to me, putting her arm around my shoulder and holding me close.
“Don't stress out, Cass,” she said. “You'll get through this.”
I nodded slowly.
“I just need to sit down.”
Erin led me to the couch and I plopped down onto it. Everything seemed like a blur around me.
“I need to call him,” I said.
“You do,” said Erin. “But you sure you want to do that now?”
“I am,” I said. “I need to let him know as soon as possible. And if I don't do it now, I'm just going to keep putting it off and putting it off.”
“Good call,” said Erin. “All you need to do is give him the news and let him think about. No need to rush to any decisions right now.”
I nodded and picked up my phone. My hands still shaking a bit, I brought up Rhys's number and hit “call.” The phone rang a few times before he answered.
“Miss May?” he asked, his voice just as lovely and rich over the phone.
“Yeah, Rhy—I mean, Mr. Cole. It's me.”
In the background, I could hear the sounds of lively talking mixed with live jazz. It sounded like he was at a party of some sort.
“There…something I can help you with?”
Ways to formulate what I had to say flashed in my mind. But, in the end, all I said was:
“I'm pregnant.”
He didn't speak for a moment, the sounds of the party the only noises on the other end.
“Are…are you sure?”
“About as sure as I can be with an over-the-counter pregnancy test.”
More silence.
“Those things aren't the most accurate tests in the world.”
“It says on the box that it's 99% accurate. False positives almost never happen.”
“I see.”
More silence. The knot in my stomach grew tighter.
“Well?” I asked. “What do…what do you think about all of this?”
Still more silence. I could tell that he was thinking, trying to choose his words very, very carefully.
“We need to have you take a paternity tes
t. That's step one.”
“Are you serious?” I hissed. “But you're the only guy that I've been with in…well, the less said about that the better.”
“Still,” he said. “I want this all to be as certain as possible. I'll set up an appointment with my doctor. He has all my information on record and can get all of this sorted out.”
I noticed Rhys's tone was dispassionate and business-like. It felt more like he was planning an overseas business trip than talking to the mother of his future child.
“Once it's certain that I'm the father, we can get the rest of the details worked out.”
“The rest of the details…?” I repeated, bristling at his choice of words.
“Yes. And my doctor is more or less on call, so he should be able to get you in no more than a day or so.”
“But…”
“Now,” he said, “I've got business to attend to, so I'm going to have to cut this conversation short. I'll be in touch.”
Then, the line went dead.
I felt dazed. Letting the hand holding the phone drop to my side, I exhaled sharply.
“What'd he say?” asked Erin, her tone laced with concern.
“He was, um, very professional about it.”
“That's good, right?”
“I don't know,” I said. “He just told me that he'll get me set up for a paternity test and then we'll be in touch once it's confirmed that the baby's his.”
“That's all he had to say?” asked Erin. “No ‘congratulations’? No ‘I can't wait to be a father’? Not even a freak-out?”
I shook my head sadly. Erin moved over to me, sat down on the couch's armrest, and put her hand on my shoulder.
“I don't know what I was expecting,” I said. “I don't even think I was expecting him to be happy. At least a little comforting, or something.”
“He's a businessman,” Erin said softly. “He probably knows how to compartmentalize all of this stuff. And I bet he knows that if he gets any shocking news like this, the best thing to do is just keep a cool head about it.”
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