Page 72 of Now or Never

Chelsea sighed. She hadn’t been seeing as much of Ben as she usually did ever since he’d started school and she’d begun working a million hours a week. And now she was at a fancy cottage in a fancy dress, drowning in mom guilt.

“That sounds like fun,” she said, wishing she were with him instead, then feeling sister guilt creep in.

She couldn’t win.

“I better get going. I love you, Benny.”

“Love you, Mama!”

Jae came on the phone briefly to order Chelsea to get more Adam action. Chelsea rolled her eyes and checked her lipstick.

There wasn’t much left to do. The ladies at the spa had given her a complete glow up. She’d had a pedicure, manicure, full body sugar scrub, massage, facial, and waxing. The makeup artists and hairstylists had them all looking red-carpet perfect, and the dress Natalie had chosen for her made Chelsea look like a water fairy.

Chelsea twirled in the mirror, smiling at the way the pale blue chiffon floated around her legs. It had two slits that went obscenely high up her thigh but only showed when her legs moved just so. The top was crisscrossed across her chest, and the back of the dress, because Natalie had picked it out, was backless. Her ears sparkled. Her hair fell in soft waves around her face. She felt amazing.

She walked out of the room, eager to show Natalie the completed look, and stopped short when she saw Natalie standing in the room’s sunlight in her sleek white satin gown.

“Holy crap,” Chelsea said. “You look incredible.”

Natalie smiled and did a slow spin. Her dress was backless, too, down to her butt, with a single strap of crystals down her spine. “Isn’t it gorgeous?”

Chelsea nodded, speechless. “I do.”

Natalie and Jess laughed.

Chelsea settled onto an upholstered chair and picked up a glass of champagne from a shiny silver tray before looking around the room. “Have the flowers come?” she asked, hoping it came across as casual.

Natalie shook her head. “Adam said he’d bring them to the ceremony.”

Chelsea inwardly cursed. She’d been worried about the bouquets ever since Adam had insisted she leave them with him. She’d miked them that morning and hoped she had enough recording hours to make it work.

“Which one is Adam?” Jess said with her eyebrows drawn. “Blue Collar Billionaire or Scary Big-Dick Energy?”

Chelsea’s jaw dropped as Natalie snickered.

“Blue Collar Billionaire,” Natalie said. “Scary Big-Dick Energy’s name is Max.”

Chelsea smirked at their exchange. “I don’t know. Adam’s dick is pretty bi—”

“Chelsea. God. No,” Natalie said with a scowl.

Chelsea laughed again. She’d come clean that morning about sleeping with Adam. It was pretty unavoidable. Apparently, everyone could tell on that boat that something was up between them. But she hadn’t expected Natalie to be so revolted by the whole thing. She knew it was coming from a place of concern, so she reassured her over-protective sister that it was a one-time thing.

Case closed.

“Fine, I’ll stop. I have to check something anyway,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

She stepped out of the pretty room and into the hallway before pulling the speaker app up on her phone. The mics she’d used to rig up the bouquets were powerful, but undetectable, and only started recording when they picked up sound. So when Adam had told her to leave the bouquets with him, she’d figured it was safe to turn them on. They had little recording time, but if they were going to be in the cooler anyway, it was probably fine.

She just wanted to check to be sure the caterers hadn’t had an hour-long meeting close by that was recorded and filled up the space on the hard drive.

She pressed Play on the recording and was surprised to hear Adam’s voice playing through the speaker. Of course, he’d brought the flowers to the kitchen and had probably talked with Max and Ethan while they went.

She was about to hit Delete when she heard her name.

. . . Chelsea and I cleared the air. We’re friends. That’s it.

You said you didn’t want anything permanent. It’s why you made your stupid tier system. What are you doing with her?

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