Page 57 of Scandalous Lover

“We’re just…I don’t…Sam and I…” I trail off as I realize I walked right into her trap.

“Okay, then,” Fran says with a conspiratorial smile. “Looks like we’ve got all sorts of things to talk about.”

She leads me through the open front door into her wide open, sun-filled living room.

“Like, wedding stuff?” My voice gives away my nerves.

I clear my throat and try to get ahold of myself as Fran tosses me a look over her shoulder.

“Wedding stuff, sure. But I want to know about you and Sam.”

And there it is.

“What do you mean?”

Fran just laughs. “Girl, please.”

She walks into the open kitchen and pulls two brightly colored ceramic mugs from a cupboard. “Coffee?”

I just nod, unable to form words as my brain swirls with possible excuses I can offer for whatever Fran thinks she knows.

She pours coffee and sets it on the bar with cream and sugar. I sip nervously, waiting to be grilled.

“Spill it,” she says finally.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Sam is just…Dom’s friend. Some guy. He just offered me a golf cart to borrow. He’s known me since I was born.”

“And last night at dinner when he sat as far from you as possible but never took his eyes off you?” she asks.

I shrug. “I?—”

“And at the bar when he jumped in to defend you at every turn?”

“Well—”

“And what about when Reina and I were leaving, and you blurted out something about a video and all of a sudden youwere so drunk he had to walk you upstairs to your hotel room. Alone.”

“I guess I had too much to drink.”

“Bullshit. I talked to you the whole way up to that lobby and you were far from too drunk to walk up a flight of stairs.”

I twist the mug nervously in my hands and consider my options. She obviously knows, and denying it further could make it worse. Whatever scenarios she’s imagining are probably far more wild than the truth.

Or…maybe not.

I take a deep breath and let it out. Fran sits back in her seat with a smile, knowing she’s won.

“Okay. Well, you have two options here,” I start, making up my game plan as I go along. “I can make another stupid excuse and you can decide to believe me and let it go, or you can ask me one more time, and I’ll tell you the truth.”

I hold up my hand to stop her as she starts to speak. “But once you know the truth you can’t unknow it. And you might not like what you hear.”

Fran’s smile turns feral as she sits forward and leans her elbows on the bar. “I regret nothing. Spill it.”

I sigh and take another sip of the delicious coffee for strength.

“Okay,” I start, and then come to my senses, glancing around the house. “Is Avery here?”

“No, he went kiteboarding.”

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