Page 98 of I'm Not His Style

I shook my head, crossing my arms again. I tried to smile to soften the blow. “It’s too soon, Rhett. But Charlie and Liam are still going, and I’m sure you’ll all have a great time. I’m not saying we can’t ever... I don’t know. I just can’tright now.”

He nodded, accepting defeat. “Okay, Frenchy.” He gave a small smile that ripped my heart in two. “Don’t walk me to the door. We don’t want to give them any good pictures.”

“Okay.”

He leaned forward and kissed my temple, then turned away and walked toward the front of the house. I watched him from the kitchen until he let himself outside and disappeared. Was I making a mistake?

Charlie came out of her room. “Is it all clear?”

“Yeah.” Tears welled in my eyes, and I made a frustrated sound.

“Hey,” she said, crossing the kitchen to pull me into a hug. “Just think, at least he didn’t come to your apartment. That would have terrified him.”

I laughed. “You’ve got a point.” Not that it really mattered. Either way, Rhett had walked out of my life for good.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Rhett’s visit had been exactlywhat I’d needed to pull myself out of the hazy funk I’d allowed myself to wallow in and get back to my normal life. I still stalked him like crazy on Instagram, and his posts about the Seattle date were sweet—the woman was old enough to be his grandma—and made me miss him.

I also returned to the salon.

Zoe had called the police to inform them of the potential we had for an abundance of paparazzi, and they thanked her for the warning but told us to use our occupancy laws as reason to keep people out of the salon. I guess that woman from the Empire State Building had been on to something. I was sitting in my stylist chair when a text came in from an unknown number.

Unknown Number:This is Jackie, Sunny Nash’s assistant. I left you a voicemail about a potential styling appointment. Please respond soon.

“My root touch-up should be here any minute,” I said, passing Zoe to hide in the back. “Can you let her know I’ll be right out?”

“Sure thing.”

I slipped into the back office and called Jackie. She answered after one ring.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Jackie. This is Beth Parker. Sorry for ignoring you earlier. I don’t usually answer unknown numbers.”

“No worries,” she said. “I assumed that was it. Hey, listen, Sunny needs a stylist Friday night. We’ll be in San Francisco for an event, and she wanted to know if you were available. I realize it’s last minute. I don’t think she knew where we were going until this morning, and then she said she justhadto have you.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet.” Friday night? That had to be for the premiere.

“She really loved what you did forBreakfast with Juliana. Any chance you’re free?”

Part of me wondered if Rhett had put her up to it, but he had seemed to respect my wish for space. And besides, Sunny seemed too “at one with the universe” for scheming. Could I slip down to the city, style Sunny, and come home without seeing Rhett?

“Will we be doing her hair and makeup at a hotel?” I asked.

“Yes. She’s staying at the Ritz again. We can put you up for a night if that makes it easier. Then you won’t have to travel home late. You’re not from San Francisco, right?”

“No, I live an hour north. But I don’t mind driving down.”

“Great. Can we count on you, then?”

I sucked in a breath. I could do that. In, style, out. No one even needed to know I was there. “Sure, I’d love to. And a room would be great.”

Maybe I could change it to a double queen and see if Charlie and Liam wanted to use it, too.

“Great! I’ll forward the details. See you soon.”

I clicked off the call, texted Charlie about the room situation, and went back out to work.

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