Page 106 of Pretend You Love Me
I look up at a party that’s passing by and gasp. His eyes meet mine at the same time. He’s as surprised as I am. I push back my chair and stand up.
“Kip? What are you doing here?”
His eyes fall down from my face to my dress. Heat rises to my face, and I cross my arms over my chest. I really wish I was wearing anything else.
The rest of his party stops, and he says. “I’m in town for work.”
My stomach sinks a little. He didn’t call. He didn’t let me know he was coming. He’s flown 4,000 miles, and he can’t be bothered to let me know he’s in town.
“Brooklyn, this is my agent Bill Leery and my editor Jan Malloy. Bill, Jan, this is Brooklyn Sterling.”
I shake both of their hands.
“The President’s sister?” Bill asks.
“Yes. That’s my claim to fame,” I answer with a smile.
“I didn’t know you knew each other,” Jan says looking at Kip.
I’m not sure how to explain our relationship and then Kip says, “I went to Harvard with her brother, Will.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Jan says.
“Of course,” Bill adds.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” I say.
Kip turns to them and says, “I’ll catch up to you.”
We don’t say a word until they leave. There’s so much I want to say. There’s so much I wish he’d say.
“It’s good to see you,” he says.
“You too.”
Although, I’m not sure it is. It brings up a million emotions in me, and most of them are not positive.
“Brooklyn, I...”
“Oh hey, did you run into a friend?” Craig interrupts as he walks up. Oh shit, I completely forgot about Craig.
There’s a fire in Kip’s eyes now. He flicks his eyes to me, and there’s a flash of pain. He keeps his voice low and says, “Are you on a date?”
I don’t want to answer. I really don’t want to answer.
“Yes.” Craig is smiling brightly. “I’m a lucky guy, aren’t I?”
Kip looks like he’s about to murder Craig.
Craig is somehow completely oblivious to Kip’s outright hostility. He holds out his hand and says, “Craig, it’s nice to meet you.”
Kip grabs his hand. It looks like he’s trying to crush it more than shake it.
“Kip. Pleasure.”
“Well, we should get back to our food.” I nod over to the table. I notice Craig shakes out his hand just slightly when he pulls it back to his body. He might need to get an x-ray later.
“Of course, it was good to see you. Tell Will I said hello.” Kip just gives a little nod and turns and walks away.
