Page 112 of Worth Every Game

He leans forward, peering at me. “You’re serious?”

“I am.”

“All right…” he says after a moment. “No, I did not.”

My heart is racing. Maybe this is going to get me nowhere. But I have this feeling that maybe, justmaybe, there’s something here.

Seb must read the relief on my face, but misinterpret it, because he says, “You moving on from Elly already? Because I think Lydia would be keen.”

“God, no. I need to know anything you can remember about Lydia that night.”

Seb strokes his lips with two fingers. “I was drunk. I haven't thought about it, to be honest. It wasn’t a big deal.”

“Is that it? That’s all you’ve got for me? This is important.” I sound frenzied, and Seb leans away from me, his brows drawing together.

“I thought at one point we might hook up,” he says. “She’s gorgeous, but she wouldn’t stop talking about you. The whole time I was with her, she was going on about how you and her are meant to be and she wants to fucking marry you. And I’m like, what the fuck? This woman could be hooking up with me, and instead, she’s chewing my ear off about some other bloke. So yeah, no. I didn’t hook up with her.”

I don’t know what to make of this. Seb Hawkston is what my mother would term ‘a catch’, and I had Lydia pegged as a woman out to hook someone.Anyone. But it sounds like that’s not the case; it’s only me who’s the target. “Okay. Nothing else? Nothing weird?”

His gaze drifts, but a second later, he’s back with me. “Actually, there is something. She was on her phone the whole time. Obsessively looking at it. Talking about you, scrolling. Jackthis, Jack that. It was fucking rude, and so I looked over to see what had her attention, and it was… you know… this naked picture of a woman. No face, the image cut off at the neck. I saw it for a second before she yelled at me to mind my own business. She was really touchy about it.”

For the first time in days, hope tingles along the surface of my skin, sinking in and expanding as though I’m being pumped full of air.We’re getting somewhere. “Do you remember anything else?”

“Yeah. The naked woman in the picture was wearing cowboy boots. I remember specifically, because I said, ‘You into cowgirl porn? That’s niche, but I can work with it’.”

“Really?” I ask, my voice full of palpable excitement.

“Yeah. She got mad at me, gave me an absolute bollocking. Said, ‘Jack Lansen would never say something like that’.” Seb makes his voice all high and whiny as he impersonates Lydia. “So I walked out. I wasn’t going to take crap from a woman who had no interest in me. Anyway, I kinda forgot about it. That evening was a bit of a blur.”

Damn it.He’s had this piece of information the whole fucking time. “You didn’t think to tell me before?”

Seb scratches his chin. “No. Why would I? It was so random. It didn’t mean anything. It….” He trails off, his eyes widening. “Woah. No,” he says, dragging out the syllable in a parody of shock. “You don’t think Lydia took your photos?”

“That’s exactly what I think. My phone went missing that night. I reckon she copied them, or airdropped them to herself. Something like that.” I feel so buoyant that I want to vault over Seb’s desk and kiss him. “And you’ve confirmed it for me.”

Seb grins, making his one-sided dimple appear. “Glad to help, mate. If you need me to testify or some shit, let me know.”

I barely take another breath before I’m out of the office and heading down to Soho to Lydia’s offices. I don’t have a plan. AllI have is hope and anger and the desire to do whatever it takes to confirm that Lydia is culpable so I can clear my name, and tell Elly I didn’t do it.

Less than thirty minutes later, I’m hanging over the reception desk at Lydia’s PR company, demanding to see her. The receptionist is staring at me like I’m an escapee from the nearest prison, who she expects to pull a knife on her.

“Sir, if you don’t calm down, I’ll have to call security.”

“Buzz her. Lydia Archer. Tell her it’s Jack Lansen. Tell her I need to see her. She’ll want to see me.”

The receptionist doesn’t take her eyes off me as she calls through to Lydia. “Yes,” she says. “There’s a Jack Lansen here to see you.” Her eyes widen. “Okay. All right. I’ll send him through.” She hangs up, her energy crackling with surprise and disapproval all at once. “Door on the right at the end of the corridor. She’ll see you now.”

I blow out a breath and push myself off the desk.Fuck. What am I going to say? Standing in Seb’s office, I felt so certain,so fucking surethat Lydia was guilty, that there was no room for doubt. But now, knowing Lydia’s in her office at the other end of the corridor, I’m suddenly not sure. What the hell am I going to do? But whatever goes down, I’m recording it.

I switch my phone to voice memos and slide it into the inside pocket of my suit jacket. I take a deep breath and head to her office.

I open the door to find Lydia sitting behind her desk. “Hey, Jack.” She looks calm, but one of her hands strokes agitatedly up and down her throat. She’s dressed in a silk shirt, her hair perfectly blow-dried.Professional.

Doubt consumes me. Can I come out and directly accuse her of stealing photos and sabotaging Elly’s budding career? Is that an accusation that makes sense? It’s too bleak, too twisted. What if I’m wrong? Maybe I’m deluded to think someone might be that into me, that they’d do something like this to hurt the person I love… I might need to take another route to get the answers I want.

“Hey, Lydia.” I steel myself for what I’m about to say. “I’d like to take you out for dinner.”

She looks visibly taken aback. “Oh. Really? That would be great. I’d love that.”

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