“Not at all,” Jo assured her, rising from her seat. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to find the ladies’ room.”
Or the exit.
“I’ll go with you,” Melody offered, starting to rise.
Jo laid a hand on her shoulder. “No need. I can find it. Thank you, though.”
She turned away, humiliation driving her. Her chest tightened around her racing heart. The bridge of her nose prickled.
Keep it together, Jo.
Somehow, she made it to the restroom and to the sink. Ripping a towel from the dispenser, she wet it with cold water and pressed it to her face. It felt good against her hot skin. So did the deep breath she inhaled through the towel, so she took another one, then lowered her hands.
Leaning heavily against the counter, Jo caught her reflection in the mirror and scoffed. She pointed a finger at herself. “You should do the right thing. You should walk out that door right now and never look back.”
Tears burned the back of her eyelids. “No.”
“Save your tears for your pillow.”
Because no one cares.
“That’s right, so why should you? You’re not after his money. Only what he owes you. Nothing more. Nothing less. It’s just a job. Stick to the rules, and you’ll be fine.”
You’re already halfway through this fucking fake date, and as quick as he was with the other What’s Her Name, he’ll only be another hour. It’s easy money.
She snorted. Make that a half hour. And the extra money would cover another batch of samples that might lead to a job.
Jo inhaled another deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Okay, so you’re going to go back in there with your head held high. You’re going to kill every one of them with kindness. You’re going to take a big ol’ feather pillow of kindness and smother them all.”
A stall door creaked open behind her, and she gasped as she met Olivia’s gaze in the reflection.
“Um, should I be afraid?” Olivia asked.
“Wh-what?”
She grinned. “Do you want help smothering, or do you need an intervention?”
Well, fuck, she’d been talking to herself out loud. “You must think I’m crazy.”
“Nah, sounded like a pep talk to me.” She shook her head and stepped up to the mirror. “To be honest, I’ve been hiding in here, too.”
“What are you hiding from?”
“Not what. Who?” She reapplied red lipstick to full, pouty lips. “Maverick, to be precise.”
“What did he do?”
Olivia wagged a finger at Jo in the mirror. “Again, it’s not what he did, but what he didn’t do. We’ve been dancing around our relationship for months. Right now, we’re stuck in the friend zone. He won’t make the first move, and I’m too scared. I think he is, too. If things don’t work out, there’s no putting us back in Pandora’s box. It’s frustrating.”
“Yeah, well, Avery and I are not friends.”
Olivia had been fluffing her hair and paused mid-fluff. “Just so you’re not caught unaware, he told Mav and the guys this morning…about the fake dating thing. Mav told me.”
Jo’s whole body went numb. Propped against the sink again, she let her head drop forward and closed her eyes. He’d told his friends. Okay, so she’d told Brooke, and Brooke had probably told Aaron. But that was two people. Two people who had nothing to do with his world.
There was a half dozen guys at that fucking table, all with connections to others he knew and cared about. Word was going to get out.
She lifted her head and looked at Olivia. “So, does everyone at your table know?”
