Then I recount the moment I woke up yesterday—the confusion and the realization that I wasn’t alone in that unfamiliar hotel room.
The ring on my finger.
I explain the deal we worked out.
Three months. That’s how long we decided on. Three months of living together, pretending to be in love and married, and then I’d make an excuse for why I can’t stay in LA anymore.
It’s too crowded.
I’m needed in Nashville.
We’re better off as friends…
I’ll be back in Nashville before Thanksgiving.
“Three months?” Jonas scoffs. “You know that’s not enough time, right?”
“Of course I do,” I snap back.
It’s barely enough time to get designs planned out. Definitely not enough time to get it opened, but I know I can’t stay any longer than that.
If I do, we’ll be heading into the holiday season, and I can’t imagine going through another Christmas with the Creeds, knowing it’s not real.
“It’s the best I could do,” is all I end up saying to Jonas.
I know I’m setting myself up for disaster because walking away from her was hard the first time around. Doing it again—no matter what time of year it is—will simply destroy me.
“You know you could just give her the money she needs to save her bar, right? You don’t have to stay married to her,” Jonas says. Keisha slowly turns around and stares at her husband. He looks back at her and then at me before raising both hands. “What?”
“I promised her I wouldn’t overstep. That’s definitely overstepping. And besides…” I nervously grip the back of my neck. “She doesn’t know about the club.”
His brow furrows. “What do you mean she doesn’t know? Surely you mentioned your job once or twice over the last two months.”
“I did. I just may have led her to believe I work for you—not with you.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Hollis.” He throws his hands up. “Why?”
“When I first told her about Velvet, she assumed, and I just didn’t correct her.”
He lets out a frustrated sigh. “You need to stop feeling guilty over your success.”
“I don’t feel guilty.”
“Okay, then, whatever it is—shame, unease, insecurity. It doesn’t matter. It’s unnecessary, and it’s a lie you don’t need to be bringing into your marriage.”
“You’re right,” I agree. “About all of it. And I’ll tell her eventually, but right now, I want to be there to help her, and I worry if she knows I can bail her out at any point, she won’t trust me to help.”
“And what if she doesn’t trust you when she finds out you’ve been lying?”
My throat bobs. “Then I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”
“And she agreed to all of this? What did you tell her you were getting out of this deal?”
“I told her I needed someplace to stay?”
“Jesus fuck,” Jonas mutters as Keisha turns off the burner and starts to plate a few pancakes for me. I graciously accept, so hungry I don’t even bother with syrup. “Tell me she didn’t fall for that?”
“I may have said some other stuff,” I say between bites. “I honestly don’t remember. I just knew I needed to stay.”
