Page 94 of From the Moment We Met

“Good morning to you too, handsome.” She dangled a key from her hand. “I still have my key, remember?”

Where is Lilly? Likely hiding from Victoria, which is exactly what I want to do right now.

Jacob grunted, realizing he was naked under the sheet. “I’m going to have to ask for that back.” He muttered a thank you when she grudgingly released her grip on the fob. “You still haven’t told me what you’re doing here.”

“I have a photoshoot for Vogue. I think it would benefit us if you participated.”

“You mean benefit you, right?” Jacob scrubbed his face with his hands, willing his temper down. It appeared Victoria had forgotten the events at the ball and still assumed their facade was a go. “So our original deal still stands, is that what you’re telling me?”

“Only if you want it to. If you still want that role. It’s not that big a deal—a few photoshoots, a couple press releases, acting the way we used to act together—a few weeks and you get everything you want.”

Jacob chewed his lip as he considered her offer. He craved this role, it had been a dream for a decade, and his relationship with Victoria would be no different than any other romantic role onscreen. It would mean nothing to him, but to the public, it would mean everything. But how would Lilly accept this proposal? She had been on board with it, but that was before last night.

“If you’re worried about your nurse friend, look at it this way. If she really cares about you, she’ll understand. If she doesn’t, then I suppose she never had your best intentions at heart. Besides, it’s only in public, she can still be your private whore.” Victoria practically spit out the last words and Jacob’s eyes narrowed in anger. “Save your self-righteous act. You know as well as I do this is a good deal. Little Ms. Nurse will simply have to endure.”

“You are the most conniving human being I’ve ever met, you know that?”

Victoria shrugged, picking up the empty jewelry box. “What happened to the necklace?”

“None of your damn business. Look, have you seen—” Jacob stopped short. If he admitted Lilly was in the house it would open up a whole new can of worms. “Hannah, have you seen Hannah?”

“There was no one here when I arrived.” She held up the box again. “Where did the necklace go? I assumed it was for me.”

Jacob snorted. “Your ego is astonishing. Go downstairs, and I’ll get dressed so we can get done with this charade.” Victoria obliged, leaving Jacob alone in the room. He grabbed his phone, but there were no messages, no texts.

Lilly just gets up and leaves? No call, no note? What the hell? He felt his anger rising but let it simmer. She would contact him soon. For now, he had to dance with the devil on the pages of a Rolling Stone.

∞∞∞

Lilly

“Come to Roger’s house tonight.” Janie and Lilly were eating lunch at a pub near Janie’s flat, braving the chill on the patio to take advantage of the rare sunny afternoon.

“What’s at Roger’s house?” Lilly inquired, marveling at her friend’s recovery. Less than three weeks ago Janie was undergoing open heart surgery, and now she was scarfing down a hamburger.

“Poker, of course, and the requisite scotch and whiskey—not that I'm imbibing any,” Janie retorted when Lilly raised an eyebrow in her direction. “You must come along, it’ll be fun.”

Lilly smiled, shaking her head. “I don’t think Roger would appreciate someone he barely knows invading his private space.”

Janie snorted. “It’s a party, you aren’t going to the loo with him.”

Lilly burst out laughing. “A valid point, although you never know what will happen with too much whiskey.” She paused, reaching into her bag and pulling out the necklace Jacob gave her the week before.

“And what’s that?”

“I was hoping you might return this to your brother, or you wear it. I don’t feel right keeping it.” Lilly paused, blinking back tears. “And I don’t feel right coming tonight in case Jacob is there. I don’t want to interfere in his life.”

Janie leaned forward, admiring the necklace. “He showed this to me when he bought it. You can’t give it back to him. But what the fuck happened with you two?”

Her words caught Lilly by surprise. She surmised Janie knew the whole story—she had hoped to find out details from her. “I actually don’t know. We had this amazing night together…at least I thought it was amazing. I wrote him a note before I left—a sappy, love note actually—and haven’t heard from him since.”

“You left a note?” Janie continued when she saw Lilly nod. “I don’t think he ever found that note, in fact I know he didn’t. Jacob was upset when he woke up, and you were gone. He didn’t know why you left so suddenly. Then as the days went by and he didn’t hear from you, he became more distraught, and my brother shuts down emotionally when he feels threatened.”

“I had to leave early. I got called into work. I figured when I didn’t hear from Jacob, he was either busy or back together with Victoria. I decided to leave him alone. I almost texted him a few times, but I didn’t want to appear desperate.”

Janie groaned. “Oh hell, it’s complete miscommunication. My brother is such a stubborn ass! He was waiting for you to call him since he didn’t know why you left without saying goodbye and he thought—oh never mind, just come tonight, okay?”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Jacob may not want to see me.”

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