Page 46 of (Not So) Famous in Paradise

“I’m not dumping you.” Her hand drops from my arm, and she looks past me to Brad. With a nod, he goes back inside, letting the metal door swing shut with a loud clang that reverberates through the hallway.

“Then what is this?” With Brad out of sight, my adrenaline slows, and the reality of what’s happening hits me. My chest rises and falls as shame blankets me with an uncomfortable itching that reaches all the way under my skin.

“It’s just a…” Carly’s gaze meets mine then quickly drops. “A break.”

I lower my chin and force her eyes to meet mine. “I don’t do breaks, Carly. I do break-ups. That’s it.”

Her eyes dart to mine, and there’s a fire there that hits me right in the heart. That fire is part of the reason I fell in love with her.

“You don’t have time for me, Zach. You only have time for Georgia. That’s why we’re breaking up.” She glares at me, daring me to prove her wrong.

Which I can’t do, but I try anyway. “I don’t have time for you? What do you think I’m doing here right now? And every weekend before this? Who’s always making the trip to see who?”

“I’m in school, Zach. I can’t just take off whenever I want like you can.”

She knows as well as I do that’s not true, but her jaw is set in a way that leaves no room for reason or argument. And I don’t want to argue anyway. I’ve made a fool of myself. There’s no saving face now.

There’s also no denying that I should have listened to Britta and Georgia. It’s like a spell or something has been lifted, and I see Carly for who she really is. Jealous and manipulative, a cheater.

Most of all, she’s not theone.

“I can’t believe I came here to propose.” I don’t know why I say it, but when her mouth drops open, I’m glad I did. “Go be with your college boy.”

I step around her and go back to my truck. I wait until I’ve revved up the engine and pulled on to the road to say the one thing that can’t be left unsaid.

“LAKERS SUCK!” I yell, even though Brad won’t hear it, and I know it’s childish. But it feels good anyway.

Chapter 17

Georgia

After I told Ike about Zach’s plans to get engaged, he was in a terrible mood for the rest of the day. But he didn’t give up on the home reno romance idea, mentioning more than once that we’ll have to find a way to make that angle work. Finally, I called my agent, Jeannie, to see if she could make it stop. Not for my sake. For Zach’s.

Ike didn’t like that either. Things were tense all afternoon. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as relieved as I did an hour ago when we finally wrapped.

But as I’m driving to meet Evie and Britta for dinner, my phone rings, and Jeannie’s name pops up. I groan, knowing if she’s calling this soon, the news isn’t good. Especially for Zach, whose contract I should have given more than a quick skim. I’m worried he may have signed his life away.

I’ve been in the reality TV business less than a month, but I already get the gist of how it works. The producers decide what’s actually real, not the people whose lives are being filmed. And they’ll make sure they have the legal power to do it.

I brace myself, tap the speaker button, and say, “Hi, Jeannie.”

“Geooorrrrrrgia.” Jeannie draws out my name like we’ve been friends for as many decades as the seconds she stretches the syllables across. We’ve met in person once. “Are you ready for the news?”

“Of course,” I answer in an equally BFF voice.

I didn’t need an agent until my show got picked up, and I’m not quite sure how this relationship is supposed to work. Are we friends or business associates? Am I in charge of her or is she in charge of me?

“I went to the top, all the way to the executive producer.” There’s a tapping sound in the background, like Jeannie is pacing while she’s got me on speaker. “They said they already knew about Jack’s engagement. Is it a done deal?”

“Zach. And, yeah, I told Ike about it. I don’t know if he’s already proposed. I only know that, even if it didn’t happen today, it’s going to happen.” I pull into the parking lot of the Garden and wave to Evie, who parks next to me. When I motion to her that I’m on the phone, she goes inside.

“And you think she’ll say yes?” Jeannie presses.

“I don’t know, but I’m assuming she will.” I don’t know why anyone would say no to Zach. And I won’t get my hopes up that Carly is the one dummy who would.

“Have you checked to see if anything’s public yet?”

“Uh, I don’t know. Let me look.” I pull up Zach’s Insta account, which is no help at all because the last time he posted anything was on the day we had an open house to show off the renovation we did on Grandma Rose’s.

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