I shrug, my voice dropping. “The way he’s been with me tonight, with everyone, it’s all part of the plan. It was all fake. Nothing he’s shown means he actually cares.”
Max lets out a laugh, genuine and loud, shaking his head.
“Pippa, you’re way off the mark here. Rhett isn’t the sort of guy who needs help getting a message across. If you are with him, it’s because he wants you there. Not out of strategy, not as part of a plan. He’s in love with you. Plain and simple. That’s why he’s been watching you all night, laughing at your jokes, teasing you like he can’t get enough. And don’t think that rock on your finger has gone unnoticed. No one mentioned it because it wouldn’t have been appropriate at someone else’s wedding, but yeah, we all saw it.”
“That’s not real either,” I say.
“Oh, trust me, that diamond is real,” Max says.
Self-pity washes over me, and I sniff. “I don’t mean that. I mean, it’s not really mine, and we’re not really engaged. He didn’t buy it. It’s borrowed from his jeweler.”
“I don’t care if he dug it up himself. It doesn’t change the fact that he’s in love with you. I’ve known him longer than I care to remember, and he can’t fool me,” Max counters.
My chest tightens, and I feel like my heart is in my throat. “In love?” I whisper, almost daring myself to believe it. The thought should terrify me, but it doesn’t. Instead, it makes the ache inside of me grow sharper. “I don’t belong in his world. Everyone here is rich, polished, refined. They wouldn’t … they wouldn’t accept me, and Rhett is always going to feel like he has to choose.”
Max laughs again, a low, genuine chuckle that shakes some of the tension from me. “Look, there will always be people who think having money makes them better than everyone else. But if you think everyone at that wedding party was born with a silver spoon in their mouths, you’re dead wrong. Pippa, I grewup in a trailer park. Harrison’s mom is a junkie, and his dad is in prison. Not everyone at that wedding was born into money. Some of us earned it, and of the ones who are old money, not all of them are judgmental dicks, I promise. Rhett didn’t fall in love with you because of where you come from. He fell in love with you because of who you are.”
I swallow hard, trying to digest his words. He’s right, of course. I know he is. Rhett even came after me, and he wasn’t mad at me. He was mad because I was upset. But the fear, the self-doubt, the memory of my humiliation, it all feels so heavy, so impossible to shake. I hug myself briefly, taking in a shaky breath. I can’t go back there tonight, and I tell Max that.
Max studies me for a moment, reading my hesitation. “To prove that you’re not an embarrassment, but a star, I’m going to make you an offer. One of my businesses is an advertising firm. We have a few great companies that are looking for ambassadors for their products. One of them is a large multinational firm that is about to launch a brand-new fizzy drink. I know you’d be perfect for the job so I’d like to hire you to be the face of RIP. It’ll be a contract for three years, and it will be worth $1.2 million.”
My jaw drops. “What?”
“Look, I get it. You need space. You need a minute. But stay here. Talk to Rhett. As for the job, get back to me when you’re ready. Here’s my card.”
I don’t even think about it. I take the card he holds out and nod. “Ok,” I say, and then I say it again with a little bit more conviction. “Ok. I’ll stay, and I’ll call you about the job.”
“Do you want me to wait with you?” Max asks.
I shake my head, a small smile tugging at my lips. “No. I’m fine. Really. You go back to the wedding. I need to be alone for a bit. Too many thoughts flying around in my tiny brain.”
He nods, clearly still concerned, but he trusts my decision, and I like that. “Alright. But remember what I said. He’s in love with you. Don’t forget that. And he’s not subtle about it.”
I watch him walk away, disappearing back in the direction of the wedding venue. His words echo inside my head, bouncing against the walls of my mind. Rhett is in love with me. Holy shit. Can it be real? Rhett is in love with me. And Max wants to hire me to be the face of a fizzy drink. And he’s willing to pay me 1.2 million. Whoa! What a shocking turn of events.
I take a deep breath, trying to ground myself. I have decisions to make. I told Max I would stay, but if I go, well, I’m sure Rhett would get over me, and Max will find someone else to be the face of RIP. I could leave, retreat to the airport, and return to the safety of what I know. Or I could stay, wait, and talk to Rhett, finally, properly, without any pretense.
The truth is, it’s not a hard decision. I want to stay. I want to stay more than I want to do anything else in the world. But I meant it about tonight. I don’t want to go back to the wedding and see all those people. I need to see him on my own terms, to find my own courage.
I go around to the driver’s side of the car and tap lightly on the window, and the driver hops out. He starts to take my suitcase.
“To the airport now?” he says, and I shake my head.
“No, thank you. I’m going to stay here, actually. I’m sorry I asked you to wait.”
“No worries, ma’am,” he says. “Good night.”
“Good night. And thank you.”
He gets back in the car and drives away. I watch him until he turns off the driveway, and I lose sight of him. Slowly, I turn and start walking back toward the house. The soft glow of the evening lights surrounds me, but I feel the warmth of hopethreading its way through the fear. What if Max is right? Rhett is in love with me.
And maybe, just maybe, it’s time for me to let myself believe it too.
Chapter Forty-One
Pippa
The time stretches on like an endless tide, and each minute feels longer and heavier than the last one. I pace the beach house, my suitcase now tucked neatly in a corner, the hum of the air conditioner filling the quiet that the absence of celebration has left behind. The distant music from the wedding drifts faintly through the trees, a reminder of the world I’ve retreated from. And with every faint note, a pang of doubt tugs at my chest. Maybe leaving was a mistake. Maybe I should have stayed, confronted the humiliation, let the night unfold, and faced whatever came next with Rhett.
