Page 73 of Plum

“None taken.” I wave again, higher, but Crista’s got her blinders on.

“That kind of scandal could really strain the fabric of a family. People would take sides. Lines in the sand would be drawn.”

At this point, Harper’s almost rubbing her hands together in glee. I guess she really don’t like her future in-laws.

“Moot point.” I haul myself up and bend over the bar, try to see if I can reach the cooler myself.

“Sit your ass back down.” Harper grabs the back of my tank top and pulls me back into my seat. “How would you like to earn a thousand bucks for an hour’s worth of work?”

“Doing what?”

“Just putting on a pretty dress and making an appearance at a charity ball.”

“This have to do with Adam Wade?”

“Of course it does.”

“No.”

Harper stares me down, weighing me with her dead, gray eyes, like she’s never seen me before. I hold her stare because it ain’t my habit to back down, but there’s a casual malevolence there that sends chills down my spine. I don’t believe in evil outside of the things people do, but if I did? I’d say there’s evil in Harper Ruth.

“You care about him.” Her eyes pop wide as if she’s just figured it out, and the corners of her red lips curl. “Do you love him?”

I don’t answer. I draw myself behind my resting bitch face and wait.

“Of course you love him. He’s filthy rich, crazy smart, and he looks like Superman. He’s only missing the curl. Shit. MaybeIlove him.” A cackle bubbles from her impeccably lined lips.

“Are you almost done? I promised Creech a beer.”

“Crista Holt isn’t going to get you a beer until I’m gone, and you know it. She hates me. She’s been pretending not to see us this whole time.”

Fuck. Harper’s probably right. Why won’t she leave?

“I’ll go.” Harper reads my mind. “If you’ll tell me one thing. Have you always been this stupid?”

Thisbitch. My fists clench. I ain’t above a throwdown, and I don’t give a shit about fucking up her fancy-ass suit.

She smiles, gleeful. “I mean, I know you’re tough. You’ve gotten this far in life sober and with all your teeth, and that’s a fucking miracle. But how is it that you manage to hook a millionaire?You. Jo-Beth who rides the pole and will suck cock for a twenty. Jo-Beth with the junkie mother who never finished school. How is it that you manage that, and you don’t even try to fight to keep him? I mean, are you stupid?”

I don’t owe Harper Ruth anything. My hands are shaking, but it’s not ‘cause of what she said. It’s from trying not to pop her in the face. I’m fairly sure the brothers would just gather around and place bets, but she is family, and I ain’t. They won’t let me win. It’d feelsogood to break that perfect nose, though. I could do it quick.

“I mean, I’d at least be curious.” She leans so close I can smell the gin on her breath. “If I had a whale that big and lost him, I’d want to know why. Do you know why he bailed on you?” Harper drains her glass, eyeing me over the rim, and fuck her, ‘cause she knows she’s got me.

I do want to know.Needto know, now that she says it. Somehow, getting angry at her has stoked a deeper fury, a burning, jagged thing that I don’t think I can fit behind the hard, blank face I wear.

I want him to say it to my face. I’m a whore, and he’s too good for me. I want it to hurt so bad that I get so filled with rage I don’t ever have to feel this way again.

He fooled me twice. He said pretty, pretty things, and then he showed his ass.

That man is a liar. The worst kind, the kind that believes his own bullshit. And all week long, I’ve been playing right along. He gets tocome to his senses. Fuck, even I was writing him an excuse note.Of course, he’ll realize he’s making a mistake, ghost on me, leave my basement all torn up. ‘Cause I’m trash, right? And he’s slumming it.

Fuckingbullshit.Ididn’t bulldoze myself into his life, his house. That’s the thing about rich people. They think theydeserveto do whatever they want to do. Well, you know what? I deserve a decentfuck off. Look me in the eye and tell me how you woke up and remembered you’re better than me.

“I see those wheels turning.” Harper twists her stool so she’s facing me. “I can set it up. You can find out why.”

“Does this involve putting on a pretty dress and going to a charity thing?”

“Oh, yeah. The Wade-Allyn Foundation Hearts and Diamonds Gala. It’s the social event of the year.”

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