“You know,” she began, hopping up and heading around the kitchen bench to wash her hands, “I’ve been Henry’s PA for three years now, and I’ve never seen him with a woman—not even for a first date.”
A slither of cold filled my stomach. Was that because he was still heartbroken over Cadence? He’d asked her to marry him, after all.
He asked you to marry him, too… a little voice insisted. But that had been purely contractual. Yes, it might have been selfless of him—I didn’t believe that he was gaining anything of benefit from our deal … but it wasn’treal. He hadn’t offered to marry me for real.
He’d wanted to marry Cadence for real.
“Why does your mouth suddenly look like a cat’s anus?” Liv asked. I wiped the pained expression from my face while she bustled back around the kitchen island, grabbing the first garment bag and unzipping.
I eyed the deep blue jumpsuit she had revealed from the bag. Thefabric flowed like water, and I reached out to touch. It was so soft, but it felt expensive.
“This is a Bella Draper piece. She’s an upcoming Aussie designer, and she’s got a similar sort of sustainable and ethical ethos to River, which is important—you don’t want people remarking about how you’re wearing a designer who abuses child labour in Bangladesh while at the launch for a brand that is vehemently opposed to sweat shops.”
I nodded and tugged off my T-shirt and yoga pants. Liv didn’t even bother to avert her eyes as I slid off my bra—the jumpsuit was very low cut at the front, and I’d probably need pasties to be able to keep myself in it. I plucked the jumpsuit from the hanger and stepped into it, shimmying the straps into place and tucking my boobs into the plunging neckline.
I did a full turn, finding Liv eyeing me with a smirk when our eyes met again. She lifted her phone and snapped a couple of photos.
“Check you out!” she crowed, turning the phone so I could see myself in the outfit. “This one is gorgeous! Henry will literally die when he sees you in it!”
My face heated, and I quickly turned away. It did look beautiful, and now all I could think about was watching him try not to stare at my cleavage in it … and constantly sneaking peeks anyway, like he was desperately trying to be a gentleman when it came to me and failing.
“Well … I can’t just wear the first one I try. How did you even get these designers to supply clothes, anyway?”
Liv chuckled. “The second I mentioned that my billionaire boss’s wife needs to be dressed for a fashion event, they practically tripped over themselves to send you freebies. But stop changing the subject. You and Henry are totally fucking, aren’t you? I can tell by the expression on your face when I mentioned him seeing you in it.”
I froze midway through tugging the jumpsuit down. “Um … no, we are not!”
Liv studied my face. I swallowed hard. “He’s just very good at pretending,” I explained. “I promise you, there is nothing more than friendly cohabitation going on behind closed doors.”
Liv gestured for me to remove the jumpsuit, which I did, handing it wordlessly back to her. “He’s not, you know … good at pretending, I mean. Certainly not the scorching level of chemistry we all saw when he practically steamrolled half of the bullpen to get to you, and then kissed you like a man who was starving to feast on Irina Baxter.”
Irina Baxter.O Doamne, I loved how that sounded!
“I’m so royally screwed, Liv,” I moaned, collapsing onto the lounge in nothing but my pink underwear. “This isn’t supposed to turn romantic! We decided that it was for the best that we didn’t get too close because we have to keep this up for at least two years, until I can get my permanent residency.”
Liv’s face crinkled. “Are you kidding me? Ri … that is insane!”
I ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t think so,” I mumbled. “I mean, if we did go down that path, and things didn’t work out, we’d still have to live together, resentful and heartbroken … and we’d have to pretend. That would be so much worse than … than this desperate longing I feel for him, all the fucking time.”
The lounge moved beside me, and a worried, “Prrowr?” erupted. I peeked over, finding Abernathy pawing at me.
“And I’ve fallen in love with his cat!” I wailed, tugging the fuzzball to my chest. “Abernathy’s going to pine for me if I abandon him after two years.”
Liv blew out a long breath. “Honestly, the pair of you are complete idiots. You think thecatwill pine for you?Henryis pining for you, every day! I’ve caught him multiple times in his office using Google translate on your Tickle posts. He watches all the tame ones—the toenail painting ones—on repeat, like he can’t look away.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean he’s pining, it just means that he’s curious about what I’m saying …” I covered my burning face. “Oh, God. I talk about him all the time in those posts! I’m constantly gushing about my ‘hubby’, because the subscribers don’t care what I’m saying as long as I’m purring it in an exotic language. I never thought he might translate it!”
“So, you’re telling me he may very well know you have feelings for him, based on the things you’ve been saying in your posts?”
I nodded through my fingers.
“I’m calling it—you’re both a pair of infatuated idiots!” She threw her hands up in the air. “I honestly have no words for this stupidity.”
Okay, today wasn’t a day that I was stronger than the vodka. Ireached over and poured another couple of fingers into the tumbler. “But that’s exactly the problem, Liv! Infatuation doesn’t last.”
Liv rolled her eyes. “But what if your infatuation becomes more?”
“I don’t know if I’m prepared to risk my permanent residency on that.” I downed the rest of my vodka. “I have so much to lose, Liv. If I don’t get this visa, if I can’t stay here …”Then what you’re dealing with from Josh the Prick will look like child’s play when I’m forced back to Romania.
