Once more, I swallow past the ever-present lump in my throat. Reaching the end of the corridor, I turn to do another lap when a nearby door opens and familiar voices pour out.
A bottle pops to a mix of cheers and cat-calls. “Let’s raise a glass to our beautiful bride-to-be, CeCe.”
“Oh, you know I really shouldn’t,” CeCe says, and my heart softens at her obvious care for our unborn child. “You know, because of the baby.”
There’s a beat of silence. Then the whole room seems to erupt in laughter.
“The baby,” someone says. “That’s a good one.”
“How did you even get him to believe you’re pregnant?”
“Don’t you know? You can get anything on the Internet,” CeCe says. “Positive pregnancy tests. Sonogram photos with your name on them.” She giggles. “Plus, everyone knows condoms can glitch.”
I can’t breathe. I can’t move. All of the blood in my body seems to be rushing in my ears. But I need it to shut up. As much as I don’t want to hear more about her lies, I can’t stop.
I need to know. Everything.
I need to know exactly how stupid I’ve been.
“I still don’t completely understand what your plan is after the wedding,” someone says. “He’s going to figure out you aren’t—you know—at some point.”
“But by then, I’ll already have my nice little nest egg set up, and it won’t matter.” CeCe laughs again. “It’s simple. The pre-nup he had me sign has an infidelity clause in it. If either of us cheats on the other, the injured party gets a huge payday.”
“And how do you know he’s going to cheat on you?”
“That’s where I come into play,” a voice I recognize as Cathy, CeCe’s sister, chimes in. “When he wakes up with me instead of the bride tomorrow tomorrow morning, and no memory of the night before, it won’t be hard to put that infidelity clause to work.”
CeCe gives a little shriek of excitement. “By this time tomorrow, my lawyer will be putting together the divorce papers, and I’ll be licking my wounds on our honeymoon without the groom.”
She sighs dreamily. “I bet he’ll be so appalled by his behavior—on our wedding night at that—he’ll give me even more than was written in the pre-nup.”
“It’s a brilliant plan.”
“I can’t believe he hasn’t figured it out.”
“If there’s one thing about Josh, it’s that he’s too trusting for his own good.”
“I suppose he won’t be so trusting after this.”
“No,” I mutter to myself. “I won’t.”
I rip the boutonnière from my lapel, drop it on the ground, and stalk down the hallway. I reach for my phone to call a car, but it isn’t in my pocket. Shit. I left it back in my staging room. Well, I’m not going back for it. I don’t want to risk running into the woman who tried to make a fool of me.
Laughter flowing from across the atrium catches my attention. People in varying states of fancy dress and holding glasses of champagne stream into a doorway. A woman in a rich green dress that clings to her curves saunters past me and enters with the rest of the crowd.
Jane’s charity event. Jesse is there. He’ll be all too glad to help me get the hell out of here. He won’t even say “I told you so.”
Not tonight, at least.
Grabbing a glass of champagne and tossing it back, I shoulder my way into the room. Head on a swivel, I look everywhere for him.
Instead, I lock eyes with Jane. Her face lights up.
“Oh, thank God.” She grabs my hand and tugs me toward the stage. “When I told Jesse a couple of my guys backed out at last minute, he said he didn’t take care of it. He works faster than I thought.”
“About Jesse. Where is he?”
“Don’t worry about that now,” she says, tugging on my suit jacket. “I’ll get you ready.”
