Page 10 of Unofficial

"Yeah, I was. He wasn't."

She takes a sip from her straw, and there's no chance for Jess to find a way out of this conversation. "Come on."

"I was seeing him. He was seeing other people. It just didn't quite work."

"That son of a bitch! He cheated?"

Here goes nothing. "Not according to him. He sees it differently because we never had what he calls ‘the talk’ defining what we were or weren't to each other. But after five months with items left at each other’s places, it didn't seem overly necessary."

"You can't really hold him accountable for seeing someone else if you hadn't discussed whether or not you were boyfriend and girlfriend."

Boyfriend and girlfriend? Are they in high school? And why the hell isn't she angry for Jess? Jess expected at least that much from her.

Sighing, she looks away and catches Tim's eye from behind the bar. He nods at her, and she gives a smile before turning back to Tiffany. "Can I hold him accountable for the way I found out he was seeing other women?"

"Did you see him on a date with someone?" she gasps, her eyes wide. "You know, that happened to Shandra on Girlfriends of the Famous. Found out her fiancé was dating other women while out with her friends one night. Flipped a table and dumped a pitcher of margaritas on the woman's head while he chased after her, begging for forgiveness. She, of course, took him back. He's rich and famous. But he did it again. Those women never learn."

The thing Jess learned quickly about Tiffany is how she lives for reality television. Anything about wives or girlfriends of rich people and she's addicted. She talks about these people like she knows them personally while drawing parallels to people’s lives. Jessica and Shandra obviously have so much in common.

"That would have been better."

"How'd you find out? Did you go through his phone like Lindsay on Selling Mansions? That's how she found out Trey, her boyfriend and owner of the realty company, was sleeping with two of the women he'd just hired. She wasn't dumb enough to believe his lies, and she dumped him like a sack of trash after selling some of his expensive and invaluable art. Then she got arrested."

Maybe Jess should've gone through Kade's phone when he was sleeping one night. Maybe then she'd have an idea who these other women were. But she never thought to do it because nothing felt off between them until she walked in on him with Lena, and now she wonders if maybe she should have done it anyway. If she had, she may have been able to walk away with a little more of her dignity than she did the last time she saw Kade.

"Well?"

"Are you ready for this? Because I don't think this has been covered on one of your shows."

Her eyes widen. "What?"

"I walked in on him having sex in the kitchen. With a woman he told me was his cousin."

"No!" Her jaw drops. "She wasn't really his cousin, was she? Because if she was, I've seen that one before. And you need to go to a therapist. Now."

"No, he lied to avoid suspicion when I saw she called one night. She is very much not his cousin."

Her hand pushes a stray hair on her forehead away. "What'd he do? How'd he explain that? He just... what? Tripped and fell?"

"He... well, he didn't. It was a very strange evening."

"Are you sure she's not his cousin?"

Jess laughs. "I'm sure. She's gorgeous and was so upset. Not because she got caught but because she didn't want to be a homewrecker. Which she wasn't since he didn't think we were a real couple."

"Can it be forgiven since he didn't think you were exclusive? Wasn't the sex great? I knew every night you got some because you had an extra pep in your step the next morning. I mean, do you really want to give that up?"

Looking around to make sure no one else pays any attention to them, she lowers her voice. "Yes, the sex was amazing. The best I've had, but he has no desire to be in a relationship. And I don't need to waste my time hung up on a guy just because he's good in bed."

"Show him what it feels like, and he'll come around."

"What?"

Tiffany sighs. "Date other guys as well as him. Once he gets a taste of his own medicine, he'll come around."

"That's not fair to the other guys. Besides, if I have to play games to get a guy to commit, he's not staying committed long. Once the game ends, he'll be on to the next."

Paul clinks silverware on his glass and gets their attention before holding it in the air. "I just want to thank everyone for making this project such a success. We finally succeeded in making the Historical Society work in our favor, and I've been told they're suggesting our firm to any other tenants looking to remodel the buildings downtown."

---