Page 27 of The Boss I Can't Stand
“She said she was just so excited she forgot to tell me.”
“That’s a good thing, right? I mean, it’s nice to see her so enthusiastic about something,” Liam commented. True enough, we all preferred the Mom who was energetic and excited, bubbling over with fun facts she’d learned in her latest research dive. That was the best version of Mom.
But it never lasted.
Every time her mood went on a high, I spent the whole time bracing myself for when it came crashing down again. And sure, the lows weren’t as low as they used to be now that Mom was on medication, seeing a therapist, and had finally moved away from the house we grew up in, the house she’d been living in when Dad left and wherethere had been so many things to remind her of him. But I was still bracing myself for the next crash.
The waitress finally came by to take our drink orders. We put our food orders in as well because I didn’t feel like waiting for her to come back.
“Anyway, to answer your question,” Liam said to Connor. “Mom seems to be having a good time. She’s always got loads of stories to tell when we catch up at the end of the day. Though I’m not gonna lie, having her around the house is kind of cramping what me and Mia have going on.”
I smirked, latching onto that. “By that, you mean she’s interrupting your ability to have sex on every semi-flat surface?” It hadn’t been that long since Liam and Mia had gotten engaged, and they were still in the “can’t keep our hands off each other” stage.
Liam flicked his straw wrapper at me. “Get a life.”
“Get a room,” I said. “Oh, wait. You have like thirty. Pick one Mom’s not in.” It was always fun to mess with Liam, so it was nice to know Mom was frustrating him just as much. Having her on set every day, listening to her bicker with X, was starting to drive me up a wall. It made me feel a little better to know someone else was feeling the strain, too.
“No, but seriously,” Connor said. “You can’t find one Mom-free space in that massive house of yours?”
“She likes to roam, okay?” Liam complained.
“Tell Mia she has to master the art of a quickie,” I said, laughing as Liam made a grab for me across the table like we were kids again.
“Don’t start with me,” Liam said, sitting back in his seat. “’Cause I’ve heard through the grapevine you’ve been spending way more time in the costume workshop than a producer needs to.”
“Oh, really?” Connor said, wiggling his eyebrows at me. “What’s happening in there?”
“Besides a lot of hard work? Nothing.”
“Liar,” Connor said. “Who is she? A cute assistant costume designer? Another actress? We know you like actresses.”
“As if,” I said. “I had more than enough of that drama when things with Violet went sideways. You’re damn lucky she was willing to sign that poster.”
“Mmm,” Connor said, shaking his head. “Okay, not an actress, then. But it’s someone. Prop designer?”
“Set dresser?” Liam said.
“Hair and makeup artist?” Connor said. “You know, the wig person or whatever they’re called.”
I fiddled with the top button of my dress shirt. “It’s nothing like that. If I’m spending a lot of time in the costume shop, it’s just because I’m keeping a close eye on deadlines. There’s a lot of moving pieces as far as costumes go. Getting everything period accurate is a full-time job.”
Connor slapped his hand down on the table. “Look at that tell. He’s lying through his teeth!” Actually, I wasgrittingmy teeth at the moment because apparently, I had a bulletproof tell when I was lying, but my asshole brothers alwaysrefused to tell me what it was.
Liam laughed. “C’mon, man. Just tell us who she is.”
My mind drifted to Sierra. To her bent over a swatch of fabric at the industrial sewing machine, pieces of her auburn hair tugging free of her clip to curl down the side of her face. I told those mental images to fuck off. My phone buzzed on the table, my one saving grace.
JILLIAN: PR flashed across the screen. I picked it up. “Hello?”
“Hate to interrupt your brother time,” she said, “but Milli’s at it again.”
I frowned. Milli Blake ranRumorz, one of the hottest online gossip blogs in the city. She was the same blogger who’d dubbed me the Behind-the-Scenes Beefcake after my photos with Violet went viral. If she was at it again, that couldn’t be good. I clenched my teeth.
“What now?”
“I’m sending a series of photos to your phone,” Jillian said. “These have started making the rounds in the last hour. TMZ just picked them up.”
I pulled my phone away from my ear, staring down at grainy images of myself and…Sierra? They must have been taken through the warehouse window when I’d taken her in to show her the old costumes. Someone had photographed the moment when I was down on my knee, holding the cufflink up for her to inspect. Dread filled me instantly.
