Page 22 of Love Beyond the Illusion
Jack: Great. Can you get back to me by tomorrow night?
My upper lip lifts, and I arch an eyebrow at the continued formality of our exchange. He’s treating me like a coworker. I guess I am. Heispaying me to do a job.
Me: Sure, that’s fine.
Jack: Okay, talk to you then.
I roll my eyes, slide my phone into my pocket, and head into the kitchen. I start putting away the groceries I picked up when my phone vibrates once again, but it’s not a text. I swipe it off the counter and answer.
“Hi, babe.” I tuck the phone into the crook of my neck and continue to put the food away.
“You never called me when you got home?” Bailey complains in a whiny voice.
I’m quiet briefly while my brain slams itself into overtime to think of what I should tell her—or better yet, what Icantell her. I don’t even know what she’d say if I gave her a play-by-play of myalcohol-induced, accidental-marriage, paid-girlfriend weekend.She’d never believe it.
I squeeze the unopened salad dressing bottle. It’s funny that out of our friend group, Lina, Bailey, Avery, and myself—they’d all say I’m most likely to get tangled up in something like this.
“It was an interesting time, actually.”
“Hmm, how so?”
“Well,”—I lean against the kitchen counter—“we ended up missing our flights and hanging out all night in Vegas.”
Silence.
“How did that even happen?”
“Yeah, we spent hours in that restaurant bar just talking. Once we figured out what time it was and missed our flights, we had to stay in Vegas for the night,” I continue.
“Yeah. Let's talk about that good conversation,” she teases.
I grin, my cheeks burning. “It really was.”
“Keep going!” Her words are fast and breathless. “What happened next? Did you hook up with him? Why am I even asking you that? Of course, you did!”
I giggle. “We didn’t hook up. Surprisingly, I’m glad I didn’t.”
“Am I hearing you right? You gave up the chance to sleep with a guy you have overwhelming chemistry with?” she clarifies in playful disbelief.
“We got drunk and ended up falling asleep in his suite—and in the same bed. But I’m glad that I didn’t. Jack was—isdifferent.” Roxy’s voice pops into my head as soon as my words hit the air.“Everyone will hurt you and eventually leave. No one will be around for you except for me.”I stifle my joy about the connection with a great guy and bury it under a shell I’ve created to hide.
I hear her in a full belly laugh over the phone. “Wow, only you.” She laughs again. “Are you going to see him again then?”
“Maybe. Honestly, the next morning was so awkward that we left it with a simplecall you if I’m in townthing.”
“But doesn’t he live out here?”
“He’s moving back to California. His parents own a winery, and his dad just passed away over the summer, so he’s moving back to take over,” I tell her.
I know what I’m doing. If I’ve learned anything from Roxy, it’s how to manipulate people into thinking you’re giving them something they want. I’m giving my best friend what she wants, which is the details from my twenty-four-hour Vegas escapade, without elaborating on the more questionable events of the story.
“Damn, that sucks. But clearly, you two have a little something between you. You’re not going to explore it even a little bit?” she presses.
I suck in my lip, then take my phone in my hand. I feel guilty about lying to her, and it makes sense that she’ll figure out I’m with him in California at some point. Bailey, Lina, Avery, and I talk almost daily. “I think we’ll see each other again. Who knows, maybe I’ll visit Northern California to see him,” I say, making sure she hears the optimism in my voice.
“There you go, now we’re talking.”
I laugh. “I have to let you go. I need a shower, and I haven’t even unpacked yet.”
