“Not yet.” I nodded over my shoulder. “We had to redo a few of the judging scenes. There’s a few of us still around.”
“Right.”
“I should go. Have a good night.”
A hand on my arm stopped my escape. “We have to work together for quite a few weeks. If we keep being this weird around each other, people are going to talk. And I don’t need some fabricated scandal.”
I frowned, not sure where this was going. “We’re not arguing or yelling, so no scandal.”
His laugh sounded forced. “That’s not how this works. You look like you smelled something bad every time you set eyes on me.”
I sighed, too tired for this conversation but knowing we had to have it. “I’m sorry. I’ll keep the facial expressions to a minimum. Seeing you again came as a surprise.”
And I only felt hurt, not disgust, at seeing him. I thought this would get easier, but if anything, I’d missed him so much that I just wanted to hug him and tell him I was sorry.
“You’ve never been able to hide your feelings. Unless we hash this out, there’s no way you can hide what you really think.”
Well, now, that wasn’t true. I’d been hiding my feelings for him for years. Successfully so.
But he was right. He knew me too well. There was no hiding from Grayson. There never had been.
“I’ll try to do better. Is there anything else? Because it’s been a long day, and I want to go back to the hotel.”
“I want to go back to being friends,” Grayson announced, making me jolt.
“You want to be friends again?” I turned my full attention to him, not believing my own ears.
“It’s for the good of the show.”
I hesitated. I didn’t know if I could go back to being friends. Because one thing that had become painfully obvious to me during the last few days was that I still had feelings for him. Feelings that went far beyond friendship.
And his animosity was killing me. So if he was willing to extend an olive branch, I’d take hold of it with both hands. “Okay. Yes. Friends it is.”
“Great. Now that that’s settled, do you need a ride back to the hotel?”
Stuck in a car with Grayson? No, thanks. I had to come to terms with our renewed friendship first. “Oh no, that’s okay. I’m sharing a taxi with Mae.”
“I can take her as well.”
“Darling, there you are.” The assistant he was with at the hotel appeared at his side. “I missed you.”
Gag.We might have agreed to being friends again, but it was too early to watch him with someone else. It would always be too early for that.
She kissed his cheek, since he turned his head at the last minute. “Wynona. Have you met Rayna yet?”
She looked at me down her nose and shook her head. “I haven’t had the pleasure yet. You’re one of the contestants, aren’t you?”
“I am. Nice to meet you.”
She didn’t respond. Instead she leaned into Grayson and put her hand on his chest. “See you later, Rayna. Grayson and I were on our way out.”
Unfortunately, he stopped her from turning them the other way. “I’m giving Rayna and her friend a lift to the hotel first.”
Wynona didn’t like it, if her narrowed eyes and pursed mouth were to be trusted. “You promised to take me to dinner.”
“Just a little detour.” He untangled himself from her arms and pointed ahead. “Shall we?”
And so commenced the most uncomfortable car ride of my life. Mae’s eyes went wide when she first saw us come out together and stayed wide throughout the entire ride. Wynona ignored our presence while making suggestive comments on what she and Grayson would be doing later tonight.
