Page 60 of Sexy Bad Daddy

Chapter Sixteen

GARRETT

How the hell did we get here?

It’s the question I ask myself while I trudge out of the water hazard, thick sludge coating my trousers, while the golf cart rolls out of sight and the crowd presses in around me and this asshole, Peter.

I consider chasing after Erin and Danny, but I can’t. Not with camera flashes going off for the second time around me. They twinkle like so many stars, too many to count, but instead of documenting the happier moment from earlier tonight they’re capturing how very fucked I am as the paparazzi rushes me like a roaring wave, calling out question after question.

And Peter Whoever-He-Is smiles as he welcomes their questions, answering in intimate detail about how Erin and he are meant to be, how they fell in love, how she’s the love of his life.

His nanny. His lover. A homewrecker. How much of what he’s telling them is true?

The media gobbles up his speech with a spoon. I’m losing everything, my career, my reputation, my sponsors, all the way down to my Armani suit pants and a rather expensive pair of leather dress shoes, and I have no idea if anything I’ve shared with Erin is real. Or if it’s all been some game she plays with her employers. For all I know, she’s in love with this fucking douchebag.

But it isn’t the fact that the media will have a field day with this information that makes me want to scream. Despite how screwed my career is right now—my sponsors must be lining up to drop me—that doesn’t leave me shattered either. Callum can go jump off a bridge as far as I’m concerned, though he won’t be impressed by my attitude.

Peter could be a real part of Erin’s life.

The moment this asshole told her he loved her, it hit me like a gut punch. It should have been me. I’m the one who should have said those words tonight.

Everyone else already knew—Callum, Fiona, the paparazzi. Probably even Danny.

Why the fuck didn’t I tell her weeks ago? How could I be so blind?

“Don’t say a thing, Garrett.” Callum’s storming toward me, gesticulating madly. “Not a damn word.”

“I need to find her,” I tell him when he gets to me.

“Right now we need to work on containment.” His voice is strained, kept between us as he tugs at his tie. To any media watching us, it looks like we’re exchanging details before he takes over this circus, but his face is thunderous. “Who is this guy?”

“Previous employer.”

“How previous?”

“Christ, I don’t know.” I carve a hand through my hair. “She didn’t tell me, but it sounds like she slept with him when she was nannying for him eight years ago. She left with no explanation.”

“You know how it is. These celebrities think they can have anyone they want if they throw enough cash on the table. Erin and I had a little falling out. That was all, but he swooped in and offered her anything she wanted to pose as his nanny and spend time in his bed. Garrett Frost is a handsome, wealthy celebrity who preys on the naivety of young women.” Peter is talking to one of the journalists holding a microphone. “But it’s not Erin’s fault, and she’s the love of my life. I’m not going to hold it against her. In fact, I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

“The hell you will,” I snarl, marching toward him. His smug expression and the way the media are eating up his story makes me want to pound my fist into something. Preferably his face.

“Pull yourself together. Don’t touch him. Don’t say anything.” Callum grabs my arm, stopping me from going after Peter and instead pulling me toward the crowd. “Christ, do not make this worse.”

We break through the wall of onlookers. They turn their attention on us, asking questions, trying to get me to stop and give them a sound bite, a look, anything they can use while Erin’s ex-lover or boyfriend or whatever he is fills their heads with his lies.

“No comment. No comment. No comment.” Callum’s words are like a mantra as he drags me along.

A car pulls around the corner of the clubhouse. Callum’s car, with his date behind the wheel. The group follows us.

“Did you know she was in a long-term relationship when you decided to seduce her, Mr. Frost?”

“How much did you offer her to sleep with you?”

“Do all your nannies get the same offer?”

How can they think that’s the real story behind what Erin and I have? For Christ’s sake, they’ve followed our entire relationship as it unfolded. They’ve been haranguing me for not admitting I have feelings for her, now this guy gets on a pedestal and they forget everything they’ve documented about Erin and me? All they have to do is flip through their own damn stories to see the truth of my relationship with Erin.

I turn to face them. But what if everything Peter is saying is right? What if I inadvertently stole another man’s girlfriend because I wanted her in my bed?

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