Page 34 of Flirt Away

“Too late,” Zane said. “And she caused a bit of a scene with Dixie.”

“Shit. Where is Dixie?”

“I fucked up, Xavier. I fucked up good this time.”

12

“Thanks for coming.” Dixie pulled open the door and let in the tall, dark, and handsome bouncer she’d met at Club Allure.

“I wasn’t going to,” Erik said.

“What changed your mind?” Dixie waved him into her family room, where he took a seat on the sofa.

“Honestly? Seeing Zane mope around the club these past few days.”

It had been three days since she’d last seen Zane.

He hadn’t texted.

Or called.

That spoke volumes.

After reading the article that Rebecca had submitted toPage Six, Dixie understood why Zane would be pissed. Rebecca had made Zane out to be a home-wrecker—which he wasn’t.

She’d painted Zane as a sexual predator. A man who exploited both men and women.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

She’d also planted lie after lie about him and his family.

And a few about Erik.

Dixie was amazed that Zane hadn’t sued her for slander or something.

Page Sixactually wrote a retraction to the article, but it didn’t matter. The damage had been done, and the world felt sorry for Rebecca.

“I haven’t heard from him since Lilly was born,” she admitted.

“Zane can be his own worst enemy sometimes.” Erik fiddled with his wedding ring, a habit she’d noticed the first night she met him. “He’s a proud man who doesn’t like his privacy stripped from him.”

“I noticed. And I shouldn’t have used our sex life as blog material.”

“You didn’t know the two of you would fall in love with each other.”

She let out a short laugh. “This is true. But still. Before I wrote the second blog post, he’d told me that some girl had betrayed his trust. He just hadn’t given me the details.”

“He’s still trying to protect me.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Enlighten me,” she said.

“My family didn’t know I was gay. The article inPage Sixouted me. My family hasn’t spoken to me since.”

“I’m so sorry.”

---