Page 21 of Under My Skin

“Kyler? Kyler Strong? The one who made that documentary about sexual assault and dating violence in high schools?” I asked, shocked.

Morgan had gone to see an early screening of Kyler’s documentary,Breaking My Silence: The Truth About Teenagers and Sexual Violence, because her cousin was in it. From what she’d told me, it packed a huge punch and deserved every single bit of the praise and accolades it was getting.

He smiled. “Yeah. She’s the friend I started that fight over. Her boyfriend, Ian, is my best friend. Has been since he moved to the Kansas City area in our junior year of high school. Then he met Ky in our senior year, and I swear it was love at first sight for those two. She hated me because…well, I didn’t start the rumors, but I was a dick and had no problem spreading them around. Ian set me straight even before they started going out, and I’m gladhe did, because she’s one of the best people I know. She’s my sister from another mister.”

“Morgan went to see an early screening of her documentary. Her cousin, Melissa, is in it.”

“Wait a hot damn second.Howthe fuck didn’t I know that Melissa Van Der Beek is Morgan’s cousin?” he laughed.

I couldn’t help chuckling, and I also couldn’t help feeling like there was something off about this whole situation. I’d come here expecting to barely be able to tolerate being in the same room with Braden. I’d expected him to act all self-important and be an arrogant jackass, but he seemed so real and down-to-earth. I felt like I was dealing with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

How could he be this warm, this friendly, thisgenuineright now, but have been such a dickwad to my sister? Was he reallythatgood at hiding his true personality?

“Small world,” I murmured absentmindedly.

“No shit,” he agreed. “So, anyway…I guess that brings me to the reason we’re here. When I told Vicki what kinds of charities I wanted to support, she said she was fine with it and she thought it could be good for my image, but that she wanted me to find someone to start bringing to public functions and maybe go on some dates with too. I sort of get where she’s coming from, but when she volunteered herself for the job, I laughed in her face. Then she suggested calling some people she knows so she could find a random celebrity for me to start pretending to date, but I refused and told her I’d find someone on my own. If I’m doing this, I want it to be onmyterms, not hers.”

A lump rose in my throat and tears started to burn in my eyes. And for a split second, I debated just telling him exactly who I was. Because if he knew…well, he hadn’t wanted anything to do with Isaac before, so why the hell would he want to support me so I could support Isaac now?

But I couldn’t do that. Because if I’d had any other choice, any other way out, I wouldn’t have even been here. I was here because I was at my wit’s end, and I couldn’t afford to take the chance that he’d feel differently about this if he knew the child upstairs with my best friend was his.

I just nodded, trying to swallow down my tears, but I wasn’t entirely successful, and a few of them leaked out, along with a small sob. Grabbing my coffee, I took a sip to avoid having to say something, and Braden put his hand on my back, rubbing calming circles into it.

God, how the hell washistouch calming me down right now? How could I even think anything nice about him at all? He was a grade-A asshole, and I couldn’t let myself forget that just because he was offering me a way out of the financial quicksand I was trapped in.

“I know this is a lot,” he said quietly. “And I wish we were meeting under other circumstances and had time to really get to know each other. But if you’re willing to help me out with doing some damage control in the press, then I’d really like to do whatever I can to help you with your expenses for school and your nephew. What’s his name, by the way?”

“Isaac. Isaac Mateo. Filling out the information for his birth certificate was the last thing Amara did before she…she…”

A fresh round of tears welled up in my eyes, and I tried futilely to wipe them away.

“I’m sorry,” I sniffled. “It’s still…I was in the room. I was the one who noticed she wasn’t breathing. And all I can think is if I’d just woken up a little sooner, maybe?—”

Oh, my God. Why the hell was I tellingBraden Hicks, of all people, about the night my sister died?

He was the reason she was dead. No matter how nice he was being to me right now, no matter what he was about to do for me, I needed to remember that. And I also needed to rememberthat if he knew who I was, he would have been throwing me out on the street and siccing his lawyers on me instead of offering to help me.

“I’m so sorry, Dani,” he said softly. “I…fuck, I suck with words, and I wish like hell that I knew what to say to you right now. What do you need? What can I do to help you?”

“Money,” I said, letting out a watery chuckle. “Amara and I got a settlement when our parents died in a car accident last year, but the money’s running out a lot faster than I thought it was going to. I just…I underestimated how expensive it is to care for a newborn, between the clothes that he’s already growing out of and the formula and diapers and everything. And childcare. Some ladies from my parents’ church offered to help out with him, but I’ve missed so much school because they’ve flaked. I actually had to bring him to school with me for this whole week because the woman who was supposed to watch him got sick. My professors were all super nice about it, but that can’t keep happening.”

“Okay. Done,” he said quickly. “How’s this? You start interviewing nannies, and when you find someone you like, call me and I’ll set up the payment information for them. I know Mal said you’re starting med school in the fall, so I’ll pay for the nanny for this summer and through your first year of med school. I don’t care what their rate is. What I care about is if they’re a good fit with you and Isaac and if they can work with your class schedule. I’m going to give you my personal cell number, so your call will go directly to me. And I’ll give you fifty grand to help with your living expenses and tuition too.”

My eyebrows shot up to my hairline and my eyes went as wide as saucers as I turned to look at the man who was responsible for putting me in this predicament in the first place. If he was willing to do all of this for a woman and baby he didn’teven know, then why hadn’t he been willing to even take a phone call from the mother of his child? It just didn’t make any sense.

But I also couldn’t afford to look a gift horse in the mouth right now, so I just nodded.

“Yeah. That’s…wow. You have no idea how much that’ll help me,” I sighed, then realized we hadn’t discussed one very important detail. “How long is this supposed to last?”

“Honestly? I hadn’t even thought about that,” he mumbled uncomfortably. “But…say until the beginning of the season? And then we can talk about how to spin the press about us splitting up.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s fair. But I want to make something clear. This is just for show. Nothing happens in private.Nothing.”

“I get that. I do have to ask if you’re willing to let me kiss you in front of the cameras, though. If this is going to work, we have to actually act like a couple when there are eyes on us.”

“I figured,” I sighed. “That’s fine. When does this start?”

“I made a reservation for us at La Terrasse for next Friday night. They usually have a waiting list a mile long, but I know a guy,” he said with a wink.

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