“I wasn’t canoodling. I ran into him and had a cordial conversation.”
“That wasn’t part of the plan,” she chided.
“I didn’t plan to run into him.”
“You should’ve walked away.”
“I will sell this ridiculous love story to save my parents, but let me be clear about my boundaries. I will not hurt relationships in the process.”
“Relationship?” Her eyebrows shot up so fast, they might have achieved orbit. “So, youdowant a relationship with this guy?”
“It was written all over her face,” Axel accused, the smug satisfaction in his voice making me want to throw something at his perfect teeth.
“Why are you doing this?” I stormed over to him, jabbing my finger at his chest. “My conversation with Mathew wasn’t even on anyone’s radar until you decided to butt in. That was bad enough, but then you come here and tattle on me like we’re in third grade? What’s next, Axel? Going to tell my mommy I stayed up past my bedtime?”
“My business is on the line, Sunshine.” He caught my finger mid-jab. Why did his hands have to be so warm?Stupid, attractive villain hands.And why did my stupid ribs get all squirmy with delight at the contact? Did they NOT experience that fight? “Rebecca needs to know exactly what happened if shehas any hope of salvaging my reputation after your little reunion tour.”
“That’s all you care about, isn’t it?” I accused, yanking my finger back.
“Should I care about something else?”
I opened my mouth to argue, but suddenly forgot where the hell I was going with that. I shook my head, mentally cursing the effect his proximity had on my ability to form coherent sentences.
“Let’s just have the debrief and get this over with.” I stepped back.
“You cannot be seen with your ex-boyfriend,” Rebecca said. Her tone suggested that violating this rule would result in my immediate execution.
“Fine. If I want to see him, I’ll make sure it’s somewhere private.”
She shook her head like I’d suggested we rob a bank. “We cannot take that chance. If you’re seen with an ex-boyfriend, it will call the authenticity of your relationship with Axel into question.”
“I wouldn’t do something stupid like kiss Mathew,” I assured her. Maybe I should have confided in her how confused and empty I was feeling for Mathew, but that was so not happening right now.
“It doesn’t matter. We can’t risk it. You cannot see him,” she said.
“What if I told him the truth? About the fake engagement? Then he’d understand why I can’t see him, and?—”
“Absolutely not.” Rebecca’s voice cut through the air. “Ex-boyfriends are off-limits for confidential information. Period.”
“But Mathew’s not like that. He wouldn’t?—”
“Dakota.” Rebecca’s tone turned gentle but firm. “I’ve seen what happens when jilted ex-lovers get their hands oninformation like this. It doesn’t matter how much you trust him or how good your relationship ended. Jealousy makes people do things they never thought they were capable of. One angry moment, one too many drinks, one argument about why you chose Axel over him—real or fake—and suddenly, your secret is trending on social media.”
I wanted to argue, to defend Mathew, but something in Rebecca’s expression stopped me. She’d clearly seen this scenario play out before.
“Besides,” she continued, “think about it from Mathew’s perspective. You’re asking him to keep quiet about information that could destroy the man you’re supposedly choosing over him. That’s not fair to put on anyone, especially someone who still has feelings for you.”
My stomach sank because she was right. Mathew did still have feelings for me. And asking him to protect Axel’s reputation would be cruel.
But so was lying to him.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about Mathew. But I did know that Iwantedto want him back. If I had enough time to process everything, I bet my feelings for him could come back. And then I’d have the life I’d dreamed of with him.
But now … because I hadn’t sacrificed enough for this fake engagement, I’d lose any hope of exploring a possible reconciliation with the only man I’d ever loved?
It seemed my whole life had been one series of sacrifices after another: helping my family through their ordeal with my brother, spending a tremendous amount of time helping them with repairs because they didn’t have the money to hire someone to do it, and now enduring the animosity of my enemy to try to save us all from my mistake. And now they were asking me to give up the one thing—the ONE!—that had once mattered most to my heart?
It wasn’t fair. For once, I just wanted to be selfish. Put myself first.
