Page 22 of My Real Love Affair

“Trying to get me alone, Bancroft?”

“Maybe. Is it working?”

Before she could answer, I caught sight of Summer storming across the garden toward Cash. Her face was red, her movements jerky with anger. Oh, the party was about to get a lot more interesting.

“Actually,” I said, steering Melody slightly closer to where Cash and Summer were about to have their showdown. “Let’s stick around for the entertainment.”

Summer reached Cash and immediately started in on him, her voice carrying despite her obvious attempts to keep it low. “This is bullshit, Cash. Complete bullshit.”

“Summer, calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down! I did everything you asked. I showed up, I played nice, I kept my mouth shut about the arrangement. And he just ditched me.” She gestured wildly in my direction. “He just threw me away like I was nothing!”

“The situation changed.”

“I want double. Double what we agreed on, or I’m going public with everything.”

Melody stiffened beside me. “Arrangement?” she whispered.

“I told you,” I muttered back.

Cash’s expression went glacial. “That’s not how this works, Summer.”

“I don’t care how it works! You humiliated me. Austin humiliated me. The least you can do is compensate me for my time and my reputation.”

“You signed an NDA. You agreed to the terms.”

“Terms change. I’m changing them now.”

“That’s not how contracts work.” Cash took a breath, clearly struggling to maintain his composure. “Summer, you got paid fairly for a simple job. What Austin did was outside the scope of our agreement. If you want to make this difficult, if you want to threaten exposure, then fine. But understand that you’ll be going up against some very expensive lawyers. And they will bury you.”

The threat hung in the air between them.

Summer’s face cycled through several emotions—anger, fear, calculation. Finally, she held out her hand. “Fine. Give me the original amount and I’m gone.”

Cash pulled out his phone and typed something quickly. “You’ll have a check by Monday.”

“Now.”

Another text. Another tense moment. “What’s your Venmo?”

She told him. Cash’s fingers flew across his phone screen. She yanked her own phone out of the purse she must have retrieved from Rodney. She checked it and then sneered. “Asshole.”

I almost laughed as she stomped away.

Cash stood there for a moment, his jaw working. Then his eyes found mine across the garden. He looked like he wanted to wrap his fingers around my neck. Murder would definitely not be a good look for a Bancroft. He turned and walked toward the parking lot, pulling out his phone as he went. His job was done.

I raised my champagne glass in a toast. “Bye, brother.”

“Austin,” Melody said slowly. “What just happened?”

“My brother tried to control my life and it backfired spectacularly.” I drained my glass and set it on a nearby table.“Come on. Let’s dance some more. The night’s still young, and I intend to enjoy every second of it.”

“With your fake girlfriend.”

“With my very real, very beautiful fake girlfriend who I’m definitely going to kiss again before the night is over.” I pulled her back onto the dance floor. “Unless you have objections?”

She looked at me and I wondered if I’d pushed too far. If she was going to bail, leave me here to deal with the fallout alone.