by Ella Miles
The interview starts out pleasantly enough. But then Phoebe turns her questions in a harsher direction, like I was expecting.
“Are you and Phillip still together?” Phoebe asks.
“No, we aren’t,” Lily says.
I nod. Come on, you can do this, Lily.
“So, you are with Jacob?”
“No, I’m alone,” Lily says.
I wince when she says alone. She’s supposed to be coming across as a strong, independent woman. Not weak. Not a woman in need of a man.
“Alone? You don’t seem like the type of woman who likes to be alone. You were with two men at the same time after all. I don’t believe that there is no special someone in your life right now.”
Lily freezes.
I turn to Carter. “She’s fucked,” I say.
He nods, grabbing the nape of his neck while he watches the disaster begin to unfold.
Think, I say to myself, pacing.
There has to be a way to fix this. That is what I do. Maybe I can find a way to turn the power off and shut down the whole production. Maybe this won’t actually air. I might have to sleep with someone, but I can convince them to air an old episode instead of this one.
As I walk, Carter’s eyes stay fixed on the screen. Same goes for the backstage crew. Except for the women. Most of the women are either blatantly staring at Carter or sneaking a look. He’s attractive. One of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen. And he clearly has the attention of everyone in the room.
I wanted Lily to have her chance to do this on her own. But she fucked that up the second she wouldn’t prepare with me. So, now, she’s going to have to do this with a man by her side.
“Carter,” I hiss.
He turns toward me with a grin. He clearly thinks I think we should just sneak off and have sex somewhere since Lily is such a lost cause.
“Take off your jacket,” I say.
His grin brightens as he takes it off.
I undo the top couple of buttons on his shirt.
“You know I want you, Victoria, but I think we should go somewhere more private before you undress me completely,” he says with a wink.
I ignore him as I spit in my hand and then fluff his hair, making it a little messier.
“Roll up your sleeves.”
“Why?” he asks, realizing that I’m no longer doing this for sex.
“Because you are about to go on camera.”
His eyes widen, but I don’t give him time to fight me.
I run over to the production assistant. “Have them go to commercial. We have Lily’s boyfriend, and he’s willing to go on camera after the break.”
The PA’s eyes light up as she signals to go to commercial.
“I am not pretending to be her boyfriend,” Carter says to me as the hair and makeup team swarm him. “And I’m definitely not going on camera, looking like a slob,” he says as the team rolls up his sleeves, like I told him to do earlier.
I shake my head, staring at him with a smile in my eyes. “You are going on camera. You put me in charge of the interview, remember?”
He glares at me. “I am not doing this.”
“Yes, you are.”
“How is this going to make anything better? How is her fucking three men better than her fucking two men?”
“Because you are going to go on and be charming. You are going to provide a hot distraction for the audience. You are going to say that you used to date Lily in high school. You went your separate ways in college, but you have wanted her ever since. She felt the same way, but you had a girlfriend, and she had a fiancé. But she wasn’t happy because the true love of her life was with another woman. She hated herself for not fighting harder for you. But, after everything happened, you realized how much you loved her. You’re going to go on and say that everything that Lily did was because she had lost her true love. And, now, you are back in her life. You’re going to say that true love conquers all.”
Carter searches my eyes. He knows I’m right. He knows that my plan will work. But it doesn’t stop him from hating this plan.
He’s shoved onstage before he gets a chance to stop it from happening.
I walk back to the monitors to watch. He’s charming, attractive, and smart. He offers the distraction that is needed to make people forget about all the bad things Lily did. Clearly, if she got Carter to fall for her, she can’t be that bad. The host even falls for Carter. Everyone does.
It doesn’t take Lily long to figure out the plan and go along with it. She holds his hand and flirts with him like she really wants him. She probably does. Everyone else watching wants him.
I want him. I just can’t have him. I’ve just sealed my fate by making him publicly pretend to be in love with another woman. He’s going to have to pretend to be with her for at least a year until she gets elected. Maybe even for the duration of her term.
I’m not going to be able to do this. I’m not going to be able to watch him pretend to be in love with another woman. It’s only a matter of time until the pretending becomes real anyway.
I can’t watch this. Not when I’m falling for a man I can never have. I need to get out of here. So, that’s what I do. I leave.
10
Carter
I throw the door open to Logan’s apartment, pissed. I spent the last few hours trapped in a world I never wanted to be in. My assistant, Ruby, thought this is what I wanted. And maybe, for a split second, I thought this was exactly what I wanted. But I was wrong. It was complete torture. And my wants have changed.
I take a step inside and slam the door shut. I head down the hallway to find Victoria.
Logan steps in front of me with a deep grimace, folding his arms across his chest. “What did you do?” he asks.
“What did I do? Are you serious? This is your sister’s fault.”
“I know my sister, and I know you. What did you do?”
“Move, Logan.”
“No, not until you talk to me. What happened?”
The bedroom door cracks open, and Victoria stands there, staring at me with wide eyes and a smirk on her flawless face.
I cock my head to the side as I look at Victoria, not Logan. “Victoria decided to make me Lily’s new boy toy by pushing me onstage to appear on national TV to discuss a nonexistent relationship with her, effectively deciding what my relationship status will be for at least a year, most likely longer, all so that she could fix Lily’s problems after our client didn’t listen to us.”
Logan turns and looks at Victoria, who confirms my story with the light in her eyes.
I pull out the hotel key card and hold it out to Logan. “Pack a bag, and go stay in my hotel room tonight. It’s on me.”
Logan looks from me to Victoria.
“You’re not going anywhere, Logan. This is your apartment. You are staying here,” Victoria says.
I grab Logan’s arm, getting his attention again, and I press the card into the palm of his hand. “You owe me, Logan.”
Logan frowns. “I don’t owe either of you anything. It’s more like you both owe me plenty.”
Victoria stands next to him, pulling his attention back to her. “I’m your sister. Do what I say, and stay here. Please.”
Logan sighs.
“The hotel is the nicest in the city. You can bring the hottest women back to that room. They will think you are a millionaire. Please.”
Logan ignores both of us and walks to his bedroom.
I grab the nape of my neck in frustration.
“Some friend you are!” I shout in his direction.
Victoria takes the moment as a win and turns to head back to the guest bedroom. She thinks that, if Logan is here, then we won’t fight. That I’ll just let her be. But she’s very, very wrong.
I go after her just as Logan opens the door to his bedroom with a bag over his shoulder.
I grin.
Victoria’s mouth drops open. “What are you doing?” she asks.
“I’m go
ing to stay in Carter’s hotel room.”
“Why?”
“Because I think you two have a lot of things to work out. I’ve been in the middle of you two for far too long, and I won’t keep doing it.”
Logan leans toward Victoria’s ear and whispers something that I don’t hear before softly kissing her on the cheek. He glares at me as he walks past me, and then I wait until I hear the front door slam behind him before I turn my attention to Victoria. As much as Logan says that he’s not picking sides, it sure does seem like he might be picking mine from the way he gave in to my demands.
Victoria crosses her arms and pops her hip out to one side. “Let’s hear it. I don’t have all day. I need to get to work to revamp our entire plan for Lily, and unlike you, I don’t have an assistant I can call to do all my dirty work.”
I smirk. “Don’t blame me for doing good enough work that allows me to afford an assistant.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t even act like you do better work than me. I saved us in there.”
“You saved us?” I run my hand through my hair to keep from strangling her. “You have got to be kidding! You threw me out in front of the cameras because you couldn’t come up with anything better. I did all the work. I came up with the stories about Lily and me being together on the spot. I charmed the crowd. I spent all evening pretending to care about a woman. I did all of the real work.”
“Fine. You did all of the real work. I’m just taking credit for that work. Just like you did to me earlier.”
I hate her. But I also want her. I hate how she’s exactly like me. I don’t remember her always being like this, but I also love that she is. I’m afraid I’ve ruined her, turning her heart cold like mine, but maybe I made her that much better.
“I want to fuck you.”
She laughs. “I’m not fucking you.”
I take a step forward until I can tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You sure about that? I’m pretty sure you’ve said that before, and it’s ended in me giving you the best sex of your life.”
“It wasn’t the best sex of my life.”
“No? Who was better?”
Her eyes dart to the side as she thinks about it. Running names through her head, trying to come up with an answer.
“Andrew. Andrew was better.”
“When did you date Andrew?”
“Two years ago.”
“Why was he the best sex of your life?”
I see the fight in her eyes. She’s not going to give in to me.
“I’m not talking about my sex life with you.”
“Because it isn’t true. I’m the best sex of your life.”
Victoria’s face blushes bright red. “Because he loved me. That’s why he was the best sex of my life. We were in love.”
My heart drops at her honesty. I know I’m the best sex she has ever had. Except for Andrew. Even if he was horrible in bed. Even if he had no idea how to kiss her, how to move her body, how to make her forget about everything. Even if he was horrible, he loved her, and that apparently makes all the difference.
“Well, give me a chance to change your mind. I’m sure you gave Andrew plenty of chances.”
Victoria walks past me to the kitchen. She opens the fridge and stares inside at the contents. She starts pulling out a carton of eggs and some bread.
“I’m not talking to you about having sex again. A momentary lack of judgment led to it in the first place. It was just us trying to release our frustrations with each other. That’s it. We should talk about what you pretending to be Lily’s boyfriend now means.”
She turns, and I’m standing right in her way.
She gasps, and I grin.
“What are you doing?” I ask, looking down at her supplies.
“Making dinner.”
I grab the carton of eggs and bread out of her hands. “Eggs and toast aren’t dinner. It’s barely enough food to make breakfast.”
She snatches the food back out of my hands. “I’m not that hungry, and Logan doesn’t have much food in the fridge.”
I grin.
“Will you please move?” she says, clearly annoyed with me.
“You don’t know how to cook.”
“I do, too. I just don’t want to spend time cooking when there are other more important things to do, and like I said, Logan doesn’t keep much food in the house.”
I nod and smugly walk over to the fridge. I quickly scan it before pulling out some chicken, brussels sprouts, lettuce, and carrots. I move to the pantry and pull out some potatoes. Then, I lay them on the counter.
“Prove it then.”
She puts her hands on her hips, like she always does when she is mad and wants to make a point. “No. I don’t have to prove anything to you.”
“Prove to me that you can cook a simple meal, and I’ll stop talking about fucking you. Cook me dinner, and I’ll be a good boy and discuss what your crazy plan is now that I’m pretending to date Lily.”
She grins. “Fine. What do you want me to make you?”
“Anything that you want with the ingredients in front of you.”
She stares at them with wide eyes, not having a clue what to do.
I laugh. “How about some grilled chicken with mashed potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, and a salad with carrots?”
She nods and then starts opening drawers, pulling out a tiny knife and a cutting board. I take a seat at a bar stool opposite her.
I hold back a laugh as she pulls out the carrots and begins attempting to chop them without peeling off the skin. Each chop requires the full force of her knife in order to make a slice in the carrot.
I laugh. I can’t help it.
I get up and walk behind her, placing my hands on hers. “First, you need to peel the carrots.”
I reach into the drawer next to her and pull out a peeler. I replace the knife in her hand with the peeler. My hands stay on her hands as I show her how to move the peeler down the carrot. I feel her suck in a breath as I move my head next to hers under the pretext of looking at the carrot.
I reach back into the drawer and pull out a chef’s knife. I take the peeler out of her hand and replace it with the knife.
“Then, you can cut the carrot into pieces.” My hand glides over hers as I show her how to properly cut it. I can feel her pulse beating faster in her wrist.
I take a step back and let her continue by herself. She takes a deep breath as she adjusts to the emptiness.
“So, what is your grand plan for Lily now?” I ask, leaning on the bar behind her so that I can stare at her body without her judging eyes.
“Um…what?”
I grin. She can act like I don’t affect her at all, but it’s a lie.
“Nothing,” I say, happy not to talk about work right now. It will only make me angry, remembering exactly what she did to me. “You should probably start on the chicken if you want to eat tonight.”
She gives me a dirty look over her shoulder.
“Do you want some help?” I ask, crossing my arms.
“No.”
She takes the chicken and plops it into a grill pan before putting it on the stove and turning the stove on high.
She walks back over to her cutting board, and after pulling the brussels sprouts out, she cluelessly stares at them.
She takes her knife and chops down hard. The brussels sprout goes flying away from her.
I chuckle.
“I don’t like brussels sprouts anyway. Let’s just stick to everything else.”
I grin and nod while I resist helping her again.
She takes the potatoes, puts them into a pot, covers them with water, and then places it on the stove.
I snicker.
“What?”
“It’s going to take hours to boil the potatoes if you don’t cut them up first.”
“I knew that.”
She takes the pot back over to the counter. She pulls the soaking wet potatoes out of the pot and places one on
the chopping board. She starts cutting and chops it into tiny pieces.
I shake my head. She’s one of the smartest, strongest women I’ve ever met. How does she not have a clue as to how to cook?
I walk behind her again, and she freezes, already anticipating my touch.
“Need some help?” I ask, keeping my distance.
“No,” she says stubbornly. She walks to the fridge, searching for something. When she finally finds what she has been looking for, she smiles and pulls it out. “Cheese makes everything better.”
I shake my head at her as she pulls out some shredded cheese and pops it into her mouth. She’s avoiding my touch, which just makes me want to touch her more.
I have a dairy intolerance, but I’ll deal with some stomach cramps in order to get what I want.
I walk over to her and reach into the bag she’s holding. I eat some of the cheese as she watches me with large eyes.
She tries to walk around me, but I make sure our hands brush against each other.
She goes back to the cutting board and starts angrily cutting the potatoes again.
“Ouch!” she yells.
I’m behind her in two seconds. My arms are around her body as I take her cut finger into my hands. She’s bleeding pretty badly. I pull her hand over to the sink where I turn on the faucet, running cold water, and I begin washing the wound, trying to get the bleeding to stop.
It takes a few minutes, but it finally stops. I turn the water off, and then I lean down and gently kiss her finger.
“All better. I should get a Band-Aid for that,” I say, trying to ignore her beating heart and how she looks at me like I just saved her life instead of just healing her finger that would have healed without my assistance.
I sweep past her, but she grabs on to my shirt, stopping me.
She narrows her gorgeous eyes at me as she peers into mine. I don’t know what she’s doing. I don’t know what she’s thinking. Her hand moves slowly up my body until it reaches my neck, and then she pulls my neck down until she cautiously kisses me on the lips.
