Page 49 of One Time in Paris
“I’m fine with it if you are,” Tomas said smoothly. “Callum’s a good bloke. I doubt he’d turn me out.” A flicker of something in his eyes—anticipation? Amusement?
Isla’s stomach tightened. Was he looking forward to pissing off Callum? Or did he like the idea of playing couple in a setting like that?
“Do we have to decide this right this moment? I think Isla would probably want to ask her brother’s permission,” Kyle said, leaning forward in his seat. “My sister would want a say in it, too. You know, being the bride and all. I’ve heard they like some sort of input with things like their weddings.”
Thank you.She offered him a grateful look, though both she and Kyle knew that Liddy wouldn’t be the holdup here, ironically. Even though Liddy was organized and disliked last-minute changes to plans, Callum was more likely to balk at something so intrusive.
“No, we don’t have to decide immediately. But we do need to plan. Whatever we film today will be largely dependent on that plan, so it will be good to have an idea of where we’re heading.” Boyd crossed his arms.
“Look, I know this isn’t exactly what we had in mind, but we need to make this episodework.You’re the star, Isla. If anyone can make something out of nothing, it’s you.” He smiled like it was a compliment, but it wasn’t. It was a challenge. “So, what’s it going to be?”
Isla didn’t like the sound of that. Or the way Boyd was making Davy shrink with every word. This wasn’t what she signed up for.
Boyd was treating Davy like a child who needed to be disciplined.
I could walk away. Say no. Stand up for myself and for Davy.
But then what? They needed this spring festival to film this episode, they didn’t have a ton of material to work with, and this was what Davy had pitched. Isla would ruin the plans, be in breach of contract, the network would frame her as “difficult,” and Davy would take the blame.
Boyd had already canceled one of their episodes with the stroke of a pen. Would he really scrap the whole show like Davy believed?
But she couldn’t really agree to this without Callum’s blessing, could she?
She stood abruptly. “I need a minute to make a phone call.”
Without waiting for Boyd to respond, Isla hurried away from the others, a sudden, crushing anxiety gripping her as she pulled out her phone. She unlocked the screen and stared at it, heart pounding.
Gulping a breath, she dodged behind a building, then leaned against the brick facade.
She wasn’t ready to talk to Callum.
Not yet.
Whatever line they’d crossed when he’d brought Tomas into the show hadn’t really started then, and the truth was she wasn’t ready to face the tension that had been creeping into her relationship with her brother. Because he was her only sibling, they’d always been close.
Fixing the inn together had brought them even closer—or so she had thought.
But for months now, she’d been stewing with resentment and unhappiness, and Callum had been an easy target. Whatever anger she had toward him about the Tomas situation was also laced with guilt aboutLa Haciendathat made silence between them the easier option at the moment.
Because, deep down, she knew she needed to tell Callum that he was right about her having cold feet about their arrangement.
That she wasn’t happy.
And that I have no idea how to move forward.
She stared at the phone, clicking on her text messages as she ground her teeth. As she did, the message she’d sent to Aiden last night—still unanswered—caught her eye.
Her heart fell further.
If Aiden were here, she could ask him to step in. Surely, his money carried some weight, and he’d know how to handle someone like Boyd.
But he wasn’t here. And she couldn’t quite put her finger on why that bothered her so much.We’re notthatclose.Yet, given how fun it had been whenhe’d come toTexas,she’d felt closer to him than ever before.
Clearly, I have a vivid imagination.
Or maybe something else—twice now, his presence had been an enormous relief, both in Vegas when that man had harassed her, and in Texas when Callum had overstepped like he had.
I can’t expect Aiden to hang around and solve my problems.No matter how nice it had been to feel like she had him in her corner.
