Page 55 of Forbidden Billionaire Rockstar

The idea of being able to tell Brent about Jace and the feelings I’ve come to have for him has been taken completely off the table. That’s not my concern tonight, though. Right now, I need to come up with the perfect outfit, and Julia is just the person to make that happen, since my wardrobe is nothing like it used to be.

Only forty-five minutes until Jace gets here, and I’m nowhere near ready.

Old Mallory would've had this in the bag - the perfect outfit, the flirty smile, the confidence to match. But New Mallory? She's like a fish out of water, floundering in unfamiliar territory.

It's not just about the clothes; it's about who I am now versus who I used to be.

I wonder if Jace sees the old me, the new me, or something in between. And which version does he prefer?

***

Julia stares at me as I look at myself in the mirror. It’s not the best outfit for a night out in the city, but it’s the only thing we could scrounge up with her wearing maternity clothes at the moment and me only packing work attire.

I hadn’t anticipated I would be going out on a date.

Not a date, I tell myself.

“So, a date, huh?” Julia asks, finally voicing the question after sitting silently on the edge of my bed with a hand placed over her stomach.

“No,” I mutter while pulling at the edge of my skirt to cover more of my ass than it does. When I turn around to face her, it’s like the action never happened, and the skirt sits just where it was seconds before. “Just going out.”

She hums in response, then flicks her gaze over my frame and sighs. “God, I wish I still looked like that. Instead, I’m a balloon.”

“A very pretty balloon,” I say with a smile.

“You look hot, but are claiming this isn’t a date.”

Just because I’m claiming it’s not one, doesn’t mean I don’t want it to be one. I’m not going to say that part aloud, though, considering Jace is the one who came up with our agreement in the first place. If he wanted something more than casual hook-ups while on the road, he wouldn’t have come up with it.

Like I gathered before, he’s only doing this because he wants me in his bed. It’s nothing more, and nothing less.

“It’s not.”

Julia watches me curiously, then smirks. “You want it to be, though.”

Leave it to my best friend to know exactly what I’m thinking without me ever having to say it aloud. I roll my eyes and sigh. “Well, it’s never going to happen.”

I’d be stupid to deny what Julia clearly already knows.

“And you know that? How?”

“Have you seen him?” I mutter, my eyes flicking to the clock that’s slowly creeping its way toward seven.

It’s torture at this point.

“Not sure what you’re getting at.”

I wave my hands over my frame and frown. “There are women better suited for him, Jules.”

She frowns and rises slowly from her place on the bed, then comes to a stop in front of me. There’s a few inches of space between us, since her belly gets in the way, and I feel the baby’s tiny kick as we stare at each other.

“Why do you think so little of yourself?”

I dart my gaze away from her and focus on a random spot on the floor instead. “I don’t.”

“Bullshit,” she mutters, then places her hands on my shoulders. “I’ve been watching you beat yourself up, trying to prove you’re someone else, and tonight, that all goes out the window. Got it?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Even if she was wrong, we can both hear the emotion in my voice, but our conversation is halted when a knock sounds on my hotel room door and I straighten my spine.

---