Page 61 of Dirty Big Sins

My stomach flipped at the high-pitched tone of Julie’s voice through the door. Crap. Did I want to know what happened to make her freak out? I could not take another problem tonight.

“What is it?” Nina asked.

“Look.”

A few seconds passed as I imagined Julie sharing something with Nina. I tried to ignore the need to know what was happening but when Nina started freaking out too, my curiosity got the best of me and I opened the door.

“What is it? Did something else happen?”

“Yeah, and it’s freaking amazing.” Nina had the goofiest grin on her face.

“I told you this was going to work.” Julie beamed.

“Do I have to guess?” I asked.

Nina laughed. “Nova happened. She shared that photo of you and Vincent with her five hundred thousand plus followers and the outpouring of support for your romance is overwhelming.”

“What?” I couldn’t quite process what she was saying. Or I couldn’t believe it.

“See for yourself.” Julie thrust her iPad in my face and I drank it in, reading first Nova’s post where she talked about how great I was and how much I deserved that kind of devotion, then comment after comment. Thankfully most were positive. Some even made me laugh when the commentor warned me not to let him get away because he was hooked. The whole thing fascinated me.

“I can’t believe she did this for me. Her caption—it’s so sweet.”

“I tried to tell you these ladies here would have your back. We don’t always have that much in common, but that doesn’t always matter. We’re friends and they show up when you need them most.”

Nina’s words made my eyes burn. I didn’t want to cry, but it was going to be hard not to. The stress of everything that had happened had built up and I didn’t realize how much these new friendships had come to mean to me. It also made me think of Harper, who I missed dearly. I needed to call her and see how everything was going with Alex. They had talked about coming here for the restaurant opening, but in light of the pending disaster of that maybe it wasn’t the best idea.

“Don’t cry,” Julie urged. “You don’t want to ruin the makeup right before Vincent — ”

She didn’t even get to finish her statement when the door chime sounded throughout the suite.

“Speak of the devil.” I laughed, hoping that would help stop the tears before they fell. My emotions were high and it was going to take a tremendous amount of willpower to keep them under control.

“Just breathe. I’ll let him in while you finish pulling yourself together. Although you look amazing. That dress is pure perfection on you. That man is definitely going to lose his mind when he sees you.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Between Nina and Julie AND Nova’s generosity, overwhelmed was an understatement.

Nina quickly slipped from the bedroom and Julie pressed a tissue against my now leaking eyes.

“She’s right. This is the perfect look for going out and slaying your demon naysayers. This town, hell this country, isn’t going to know what hit them.”

“Stop or I’m going to dissolve into a puddle of tears. Your kindness in the face of all this is too generous. I’ve managed to ruin everything and put both of our jobs in peril. You shouldn’t be so nice about it.”

“It’s not me being nice. It’s getting the job done that you deserve. This whole situation is bullshit and we both know it. Now get your ass out there and let’s finish what we started. Trust the process.”

By the time I slipped the skyscraper heels that Nina had indeed chosen onto my feet, I was grinning from ear to ear and didn’t care if my feet were going to hurt or if the press was going to slaughter me. I had an amazing group of women on my side and that counted for a hell of a lot more than anything else. I also had more than an inkling that we had a real shot here. I might not be able to save my show, but I sure as hell could save the restaurant.

It was time to go. I could hear Vincent and Nina chatting and it was time to make my entrance. At the door I looked back once more at Julie, who definitely had that sneaky devilish smile on her face and said, “You know if we get through this you are going to get one hell of a raise, right?”

“Hell yeah”—she chuckled—“I’m counting on it. Now go. I’m about to live vicariously through you by watching Vincent’s reaction. This is going to be good.”

I hoped she was right again. The idea that despite everything he might be as hooked into this relationship as I was made me want to squirm. Among other things. Either way, it was time to find out for sure.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

VINCENT

Arrivingat Zia’s door I hadn’t expected to be greeted by Nina, although I should have expected it. This whole date had become a huge orchestrated event that it seemed like everyone had a hand in. All I wanted was to see Zia for myself. This morning seemed like a lifetime ago at this point.

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