“Super. I’m assuming you have a ride?” I asked.
She pointed to the black sedan waiting by the curb.
“Cool. See ya.”
But rather than hurry off, she lingered on the front porch and then seemingly accidentally dropped the shoe. Being the gentleman I’d been trained to be, I stepped outside, picked it up, and held it out to her. She smiled coyly and moved in close, her fingers overlapping mine as she took it and looked up at me. Before I had a chance to move away, I heard the click of a camera nearby.
Chapter 20
Lior
“He stood me up,” I texted Addie after I’d returned home from the corner where I’d agreed to meet Graham. “He asked me if I wanted to go for a walk. He even used Brontë as the reason why. And then he fucking stood me up!”
“Do you think something happened to Brontë?” she texted back.
“Shit. Well now I do!”
I threw myself on my sofa and closed my eyes. Something must’ve happened to his dog. He had no reason to ignore me otherwise. Especially after he was the one to ask me if I wanted to go for a walk. Now I felt terrible for all the rude things I’d thought about him on my way home.
“Should I text him and ask?” I asked Addie.
“No. If something has happened, he might be in a state. He’ll already see that you texted so just wait for him to text you.”
“Okay. Good call. Thanks.”
“What else is new since I saw you two days ago?” she texted.
We went back and forth for a few minutes and then I got a text from my agent Jen.
“Have you seen this?” she asked.
I clicked the link she’d attached and there it was. A picture of Graham, Marley and me at lunch at Agua Verde last Saturday.
Crap.
“Welp,” I texted Addie. “I think I know why he stood me up. I’m surprised you didn’t text this to me.”
“I turned off the alerts for you. There were too many. Send it to me.”
I took a screenshot and sent it.
“Crap,” she texted a moment later. “But also, that’s not your fault and he should know that.”
“I know. But it’s his kid sister and he’s protective. Rightly so. I feel terr?—”
Just then Jen texted again with another link attached. It was the story I’d feared when Graham and I had been spotted at The Bar Room.
“Lior Flynn, From One to the Next. Get it, Girl!” was the headline on the online magazine, followed by side-by-side pictures of me and Caleb at Nobu and Graham and me later that night. The second one was a faraway grainy picture taken from the other end of the bar. You wouldn’t even have known it was me if not for the dress.
I sent the link to Addie.
“You’re on a roll,” she said. “You okay?”
“No,” I said, my voice soft.
She was quiet for a minute and then made a small noise and swore under her breath.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
