Page 42 of Rebellious Hearts
“Oh, my God,” Elena breathed once I finished my story.
“I know!”
“What are you going to do?”
“WhatcanI do? If Richard finds out that Ben lied, we’ll lose the project. If we carry on and pretend it’s true, I guess there’s a chance we could get it. I don’t know.” I let out a heavy breath.
“Maybe it won’t be that bad,” Elena said.
I froze in horror and for a moment, I said nothing.
“Are you still there?” Elena asked.
“Yeah. How can you say that? How can itnot be that bad?”
“You can’t go back on it now, right?”
I shook my head. “No, but I’m the last person on Earth for this kind of ruse. I mean, I don’t believe in love and relationships, and the whole thing about happily ever after… it’s just not for me. And now I have to play happy families with Ben?” I squeezed my eyes shut and sank onto the couch in my living room. I rubbed my forehead with my fingertips.
“It’s just a short while,” Elena said.
“It’s a lie.”
“Yeah, I know. And it’s completely unethical and immoral and all the other bad words we can attach to it, but it’s happened, and now you have to deal with it.”
She was right. Elena was always so objective, looking at the logic. Sometimes, that was exactly what I needed, but sometimes I wanted her to rant with me and tell me what a complete asshole Ben was for doing that.
“Just have fun with it,” Elena suggested. “At the end of it, you’ll get something out of it, so it’s not for nothing. Besides, maybe you can push it a little further and have somerealfun.” I heard the smile in her voice.
“I’m not sleeping with him,” I said flatly.
“Why not? You said he was incredible in bed.”
“Well, yeah, but—”
“If he knows it’s not serious, and you know it’s not serious, why not?”
I couldn’t answer that. It all just seemed sowrong.But sleeping with Ben again… a shiver ran down my spine justthinkingabout the way he’d touched me that first night, the way he’d looked at me, the way he’d pushed me to the very edge and brought me back begging for more.
“Fine,” I said to Elena. “Maybe you’re right.”
Elena chuckled. “I’m always right.”
I laughed despite myself. “Don’t let it go to your head just because it’s true.”
We laughed together and it helped to release some of the tension.
“I can’t wait to hear what you guys get up to,” Elena said.
I groaned, but I was still smiling. “I’ll talk to you later.”
We ended the call and I put my phone on the coffee table in front of me.
Shit.
This was going to be interesting. A mess, but an interesting one.
I still couldn’t believe Ben had lied to Richard, and now I was trapped in this lie, unable to get out. It was completely against my grain to be so unethical, and Ben had used my need to help people against me.
