Page 33 of Fool Me

Sadie’s insides melted. She took the chair opposite Monique, as she had with Julia, sighing as her rear end hit the upholstery. “He stopped by out of the blue. He didn’t even stay ten minutes, I swear.”

“He’s been a very busy boy,” Ginny said.

Ginny tapped her phone, and Sadie realized the internet must be plastered with pictures of Grant and Julia embracing on the beach. Sadie made no move to look. She didn’t need to see that again. “Uh, yeah, I suppose he has.”

“A real hero,” Monique said, rolling her eyes.

What did Monique mean by that? Whatever. As far as Sadie was concerned, Grant was nothing more than a colleague from here on out, another actor on the set of her first movie. Now to convince her skeptical sisters of that. “I honestly don’t know why he came here. Yesterday was our last fake date. We went to the beach. It was fine. Nothing special. I don’t even think there were any photos of us, because I didn’t see any photographers, but whatever. They asked for three dates, and I did three dates, and so now we’re done.”

“Call me stupid, but a man at your apartment on a Sunday morning with you in your bathrobe doesn’t exactly scream done,” Monique said.

Sadie made a frustrated gargling sound as she lifted both hands in helpless supplication. “He showed up on my doorstep trying to apologize for how he treated my college roommates.”

Monique’s eyebrows were rising. “Apologize? And what did you say?”

“I said he wasn’t making any sense, because he wasn’t, and then I told him to leave.”

“Because you spotted us coming,” Monique said.

“Because I wanted him to leave.”

“Aw, you could have let us meet him,” Ginny said, going into full pout mode.

“I could if I were a masochist,” Sadie said. She stood up. “Now, do you want coffee or not? Because I need a shower and a trip to the grocery store.”

“He didn’t spend the night?” Monique asked.

Sadie pulled her bathrobe tighter around her. “Absolutely not!”

“And you didn’t even kiss him a little bit?” Ginny said.

“Definitely not!”

“Swear it,” Monique said.

Sadie sat back down, knowing exactly what Monique expected her to do. She smoothed her robe over her knees and looked directly at her sisters. “I swear on the name of Mom and Dad that I have never kissed Grant Mason.”

“Good. Keep it that way,” Monique said. She stood. “Thanks for the offer of coffee, but I had to leave Rick’s early today anyway. I have an important meeting on the other side of the city. Ginny, I can drop you somewhere if you want?”

Ginny shook her head. “You go on. I’ll have some coffee and toast with Sadie’s fancy honey and then uber it.”

“Enjoy,” Monique said. She walked around the coffee table toward Sadie, who stood to meet her. “The apartment looks nice. I’m sorry I said that earlier about paying for it. I know I forced you to let me do that, and I do feel so much better with you living here, okay?”

“I know,” Sadie said, and gave Monique a hug. Nobody got on Sadie’s nerves quite like her oldest sister, but no one made her feel as safe and cared for either.

When Sadie and Ginny were alone, they headed to kitchen. Ginny hopped up onto the counter to the right of Sadie’s sink, while Sadie retrieved her kettle and her can of coffee grounds. Holding the kettle under the faucet, she flipped the water on.

“He was a hero, though,” Ginny said, “the way he rescued that woman.”

Sadie whipped her head round. “What rescue?”

“Weren’t you there? You didn’t see it?”

“No. I…I left the beach.”

“Oh, right. And your phone’s been off. Some woman was drowning and he Baywatched out there and saved her. No one else heard her screaming, so she might have been a goner if he hadn’t. I guess he was a lifeguard in high school, but still. Rescuing someone from the ocean is way different than rescuing someone from a swimming pool. Social media is all#newbaywatchbabeand#rescuemenext.”

The water intended for Sadie’s kettle began to overflow into the sink.

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