Page 19 of Whispered Sins

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“No problem.”

She lingered, as if waiting for further instruction. Or maybe she wanted to get more out of me. Or maybe this was finally the moment she made her move. Either way, I wanted to be alone.

“Thanks for the coffee,” I said dismissively, hoping she got the hint.

She did. She nodded disappointedly and turned to walk out the door, but not before saying, “I think it was a very romantic write-up, for what it’s worth.”

I could see Margaret getting swept up in the words of the article and the carefully crafted half-truths Kiera has spun. God. Had the rest of New York been swept up in this bullshit?

I scoffed as the door closed behind her, reaching for the paper again. My eyes scanned over the article before I tossed it aside. There was no mention of the charity auction and how I was obligated to spend the day with Kiera.

I should have known Kiera would talk to the press. Her image was all she really cared about, and this got her on the front page of the papers. I had hardly touched her all day, but the photographers knew how to work angles. And Kiera knew how to work them, as well.

The article didn’t even mention my visit to the Leading to Learn offices. If anything, I thought that would be in there, since they followed us all damn day. But no, they had their own version of the story they want to spin, and me being painted out to be a good guy wasn’t part of it. I let out a frustrated sigh.

My phone pinged on my desk. I picked it up and saw a text from Kiera:

We look pretty cute in today’s paper.

I rolled my eyes and thought of a few choice words to send back, but opted not to. Right now, I didn’t want to get on her bad side. She was pissed enough yesterday when I turned her down. Maybe that was why she ran to the press.

Instead of texting her back, I texted my best friend, Freddy:

Drinks at Bemelmans tonight?

I saw three dots appear and bounce just for a moment.

Freddy:Hell yes. Meet you after work.

Now, if only I could get through the next seven hours of work, then I could unwind with a glass of top-shelf whiskey and good company. Company I could trust. They were few and far between these days.

I had known Freddy since childhood. We both grew up on the same tree-lined street in upstate New York. Our parents worked a lot, so we had to entertain ourselves. It wasn’t hard. In our younger years, we played GI Joes in his treehouse or rode bikes until the streetlights came on. In our teenage years, we raided my dad’s liquor cabinet and rode golf carts to the clubhouse to sneak into the pool.

Now, we were in our early thirties, but I wasn’t sure how much we’d grown up. It sometimes felt like we were using play money and running around town picking up women. He was the Upper West Side’s renowned gynecologist, a field I never imagined him getting into. He said he loved it though. I could kind of see why.

Work seemed to drag on. There were meetings, emails, calls from the press that Margaret tried to dodge for me, but some still snuck their way through. I found myself growing frustrated that nothing I was doing at my company mattered. The only thing people wanted to focus on was who was in my bed. Maybe I did it to myself. I earned this reputation.

There was a knock at my door.

“Come in,” I said.

Brody strolled in with a shit-eating grin. “Made the papers again, huh?” he asked

“Shut up,” I snapped.

“When do I get to call her my sister-in-law?”

“I mean it, Brody.”

He put his hands up in defense. I looked at him and seethed even more. This was all his fault. If we hadn’t made that stupid bet at the club, none of this would have happened. I wouldn’t have been up for auction, and Kiera wouldn’t have been able to force her way into my life again, and then have it splashed all over the papers.

“This wasyourfault,” I groused.

“How was it my fault?” he asked, plopping down in the armchair across from me, kicking his feet up on my desk.

I rolled my eyes. “If it wasn’t for your stupid bet, I wouldn’t be in this situation.”

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