Page 56 of A Billion Dollar Romance
There was a woman approaching our table from the opposite direction, someone James appeared to know, if his hand tightening on my thigh was any indication.
“Jamie,” she cooed, coming a little bit too close for comfort. Her hand rested on the back of his chair, her light touch belying the possessiveness of the pose. “So nice to see you again.”
She was striking, older than me but younger than James, with thick dark hair and dazzling blue eyes, and I knew in an instant that they’d slept together.
“Kate,” he said, without emotion. “Have you met my fiancée? Edie Taylor, meet Kate Bryant, Kate, this is Edie. My fiancée,” he added again, unnecessarily.
Yep. They’d definitely slept together.
“How surprising,” Kate said. She had a beautiful smile, and laughter in her voice, and it made my skin crawl. “What do you do, Edie?”
“I work at–”
“She’s a writer,” James cut in. “Literary fiction.”
“Oh,” Kate’s eyebrow lifted. “Anything I’ve read?”
“I doubt it,” I said, playing along with whatever game James had in mind. It wasn’t a lie: she wasextremelyunlikely to have read the short story I’d had published in my college literary magazine. “And you?” I asked politely. James’s hand was heavy on my thigh. “What do you do?”
“I’m with Creek and Creek.” She pulled a sleek cream business card from her slim clutch purse and held it out. “I’m an agent. When you have something worthwhile to query, I’d love to hear from you.” Her words stung against my skin, my polite smile pulled tight. “Will I see you again before you leave, James?”
Could she be any more obvious?My cheeks burned as I realized that everyone else at the table was witnessing the interaction. My neighbor was taking her time about the last sips of her coffee, ears perked, savoring my humiliation like she’d savored her truffle.
“I doubt it,” James said, intercepting the card, tucking it into his suit pocket. “We’re leaving early tomorrow. Together.”
“Of course,” she smirked, and her gaze slid from him to me. “Nice meeting you, Evie.”
She sauntered off, and James’s shoulders relaxed a fraction.
“She called me Evie,” I said, unable to voice what I was really feeling. I didn’t want to explain it even to myself: jealousy.James Martin was mine.The ring on my finger said as much. He’d said as much, last night.
But the ring, at least, was a lie, and his words…
It’s me who wants to get you undressed, I’m just projecting.
My heart squeezed painfully behind my chest, knowing now that he knewexactlywhat he was talking about. Maybe Mr. Lee wanted to see me naked, maybe he didn’t, but thatwasthe kind of manJameswas. The kind of man who flattered a woman right into his bed. Not just any woman, butKate, who thought so little of me as to offer me her card. Had it been last year, at this very resort? Had he fucked her in the bathtub like he had me? Had he told her he belonged to her?
At least she wasn’t someone else’s fiancée, like the girl from last year’s silent auction,I thought bitterly.No wonder Kate had no qualms propositioning him, despite his own engagement.
And of course–the squeeze in my chest tightened–we weren’t really engaged.
He wasn’t mine at all.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said, turning in his seat to face me.
“It’s a common mistake,” I said, pasting on a smile. His face clouded with confusion for a moment. “Edie’s not a common name. At least she didn’t call meEdith.” I shuddered.
“Right,” he said, brows furrowed. “Do you… Are you ready to go?”
I was. Ready to go home, ready to go crawl into a cave and never come out. I couldn’t tell which I was more embarrassed about, Kate’s obvious disregard for my relationship…
Or that once again I’d let myself think that there was a relationship there to disregard.
We said our goodnights, excusing ourselves from the after-party, and headed back to James’s suite. He turned to me as the door clicked closed behind him, exhaling a sigh.
“Fuck, Edie, Iamsorry,” James said. I’d turned away, stepping out of my high heels and kicking them away.
“It’s fine,” I said.
