Page 51 of The Expiration Date

It’s just one song, I repeat over and over in my head.

The photographer comes by and says, “Smile, you two!”

Robert pulls me in a little too close and presses the side of his face to mine. I force what probably resembles more of a grimace than a smile. I tried. I really did.

“So Hales,” Robert slurs. I shoot him a death stare. “Oh right, I am not supposed to call you that anymore,” he states in a mocking tone. God he’s being a dick, alcohol just exacerbates that fact.

“What?” I say, a little too snippity. One second thought, it was the perfect amount of snippity that I wanted to exude.

“I know your little secret,” he whispers into my ear.

Ice runs through my veins and my stomach drops.

“I know that Aidan Stone is your boss and you are his measly little assistant and that you two are just faking being together. I thought you moved out to L.A. to become a writer. What a fucking joke. I knew you weren’t dating him.” How the hell did he find out? “And I gotta be honest: I don’t trust him at all, Hales. He is clearly using you to be his little distraction and to make himself look better after months of him going around and sleeping with every little hot thing that walked in his path. And what’s worse is that you are too stupid and naive to realize he is just using you.”

I finally look up into his cold hazy eyes, glossed over from the booze.“I don’t understand…how did you…?”

“How did I find out? I have connections, honey, and money. I know a private investigator. I have been using him for years to find dirt on the opposing party’s clients and even the opposing party themselves. I called in a favor right after the welcome dinner and he did some digging out in L.A. The timeline just didn’t make any sense and honestly the entire fucking concept of you getting a famous actor to date you. I mean, you. Look at you and look at him.” He gestures over to where Aidan is sitting.

My eyes are definitely puffy from the tears that are involuntarily streaming down my face, and Aidan notices immediately. His jaw clenches and his own eyes narrow in on the man who has me in his arms. Aidan loosens his tie a little and crosses his arms. He stands up, looking dangerously pissed-off. I can tell it is taking everything inside him not to stomp over here like the Incredible Hulk and cause havoc on Robert in every way.

Robert leans in again. “And honey, what makes you think that you are good enough for him if you weren’t good enough for me?”

My gut clenches and my eyebrows furrow together. “You are such an asshole.” I push him away. I know this song well, and it’s about to end anyway.

But Robert doesn’t ease off his grasp on me. It actually seems like he is pulling me in closer.

“Robert, the song is over. Let me go, please.”

“Why? So you can go back to him? Not a chance, babe.”

“Don’t call me that!”

“Why, because your fake boyfriend calls you that?”

“No, because you shouldn’t call me that. You have a fiancée, remember? Or are you so drunk that you forgot that you had a fiancée again? You certainly must’ve forgotten you had a fiancée when you were cheating on me.” I push against his chest and without avail, try to escape from this nightmare.

“I never forgot about you. Even when you left me. Look, you’re back in town and since you really aren’t dating that pretty boy over there, let’s just hook up for old times’ sake.”

Robert leans in to kiss me and I finally find the strength to push him off me. He almost runs into Dan’s mom and dad dancing.

I wipe tears off of my face and say, “I’m so sorry. He’s always been a clumsy dancer.” They go back to dancing and I seize my means of escape. “Stay away from me,” I hiss to Robert.

I try my very best to be as inconspicuous as possible as I hurriedly walk off the dance floor and head toward the wrap-around deck of the venue. I want to find the perfect hideaway from this incubus of a situation. I have to be back in like twenty minutes for the toasts, but I need that time to get my bearings again. I need to prepare to talk about love in front of a crowd of people and try to convince them that it won’t ultimately lead to fucking heartbreak.

29

Ifollow Haley out onto the deck. I wanted to break up her dance with that asshole of an ex the minute I started to see her close in on herself, but I didn’t want to cause a scene. I could tell he was saying some bullshit to purposefully hurt her, and that set my teeth on edge.

There she is. My angel looks absolutely defeated, wings clipped, alone underneath strings of Edison bulb lights hanging from the eave. I never want her to cry like that again. I want to be her protector. Her comfort. It kills me to see her like this.

When I reach her, I pull her close into my chest. She doesn’t flinch when I touch her. That’s a total one-eighty from last week, when the thought of me touching her freaked her out. I stroke the back of her head, letting her soft hair run through my fingers. “Are you okay, Hales?” I feel her head shake side-to-side and my stomach sinks. “What happened? What did he say to you?”

She finally reveals her face. It is red and splotchy and wet. She uses the back of her hand to wipe the tears on her cheeks and she inhales sporadically, attempting to stop herself from crying again. Even in this vulnerable state, she is still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

She sniffles and explains, “Robert somehow found out that you are my boss and that this whole relationship is fake and he thinks you are just taking advantage of me. As if I couldn’t take care of myself.” How the fuck did he find out? “And he said that you will hurt me because of how you’ve acted in the past and because of who you are. He said…” Her words cut off and she looks down and starts to cry again.

“What did he say?” I lift her chin with my hand. “Hales?”

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