Page 7 of Fit for Love
“He and Ethan went for a run first thing. They should be back soon.”
My eyes widened. “Mal? Running? When did that happen?”
Piper laughed. “I’m sure you heard about his cancelled tour?”
I nodded.
“Since he came home back then, he’s pretty much been out every day. Then when Ethan moved in, they do even more miles. Ethan does personal training, as well.”
This surprised me. When Mal and I had been together, his exercise regime basically consisted of charging around the stage and intense, energetic sex. I swiftly moved my mind on from the latter; I didn’t want to think about that with Piper sitting in front of me. “Wow, I’m impressed.”
“Maybe you had a good effect on him, after all.”
Hmm, my recent history didn’t exactly point to that. Apparently, I was bad for everyone.
Piper reached for one of the croissants. “Mmm, my favourite, thanks.” She stuffed a huge chunk of the pastry into her mouth.
“Ah, what the hell,” I said, and followed suit.
Piper’s eyes widened as I did so. “You know that’s probably not vegan-friendly, right?”
I figured I might as well be honest with her if I was going to be staying at Bayview House for a while.
“Yep. And I sort of had a blowout the other night, which has got me questioning certain things.”
“Define ‘blowout’?”
“Alcohol, meat, cheese, carbs…you name it, I inhaled it.”
“What? Cora, why?”
Maybe it was because Piper and I weren’t actually friends, I found it easier to tell her what I’d done. She wouldn’t judge in the same way Louise would. Or at least, I hoped she wouldn’t.
I took a deep breath. “After I saw Orlando with that man, I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I checked into the nearest hotel and basically binged until I passed out.” I didn’t remember settling down to go to sleep at any point, so guessed that was what had happened.
Piper’s hands flew to her face. “I’m so sorry. I know how important your lifestyle is; after all, it’s the way you make your living. To lose it over the stupid behaviour of some guy.” She shook her head. “Were you and Orlando in love?”
I took a sip of coffee while I pondered her question. There had been times where I thought I could fall in love with Orlando. Like when we’d done some awards dinners for children’s charities, and he had been so adorable around the kids, my ovaries had almost exploded. Or the women’s magazine cancer-awareness event we’d been to, and he’d been unbelievably kind to the woman who only had a few months left to live. Then I looked back on some of his other actions, like when he’d been distant with me over sex, or been secretive over the text messages he received. I’d been blinded by the public persona of Orlando Weare, but now I knew the truth about him, I realised my feelings had been skewed.
“I don’t think so,” I said at last. “It doesn’t make it any easier though.”
Piper pursed her lips together. “I can’t believe he was able to keep something like that a secret from you.”
“The signs were there; I guess I just didn’t want to see them.” I fell silent, thinking about what I’d just said. Maybe I’d known about Orlando all along, but because it was important for me to keep up a public persona and image for my followers, I’d ignored what was really going on.
“Have you spoken to him?”
I shook my head. “He hasn’t tried to contact me and I don’t think it’s the right thing for me to get in touch. Shit, we were meant to go to a dinner tonight. I’ll have to do something.”
Piper reached out and touched my hand. “Why don’t you let me see if Therese can help out? I’m guessing you’ve got a few things that you should be going to, but now you’re here, it’s not possible. Perhaps she can act as your PA?”
Therese had been really helpful when I’d been seeing Mal. Having her make a few calls on my behalf would be a total godsend. And would mean I wouldn’t have to explain the whole sordid story over and over again.
“That would be amazing, thanks, Piper.” A genuine smile crossed my lips. Maybe it was possible Piper and I could be friends, after all.
A crash from downstairs hailed the return of Mal and Ethan. I heard them laughing as they came up the stairs into the living area. A cold shiver crossed my back. What if they were laughing about me? How I’d been duped by a gay actor looking for a beard. I tried to shake that thought away. Mal wouldn’t laugh at me, and I’d only given him the briefest of reasons as to why I needed to come to Westbourne Water. In the past few minutes, Piper had heard more than he had.
The two of them entered the space and my gaze was drawn to Ethan. He was wearing a form-fitting T-shirt that clung to his sweaty body, outlining his abs, and running pants that defined the strength of his muscular thighs. An intricate tribal-looking tattoo snaked down his lower arm, and instantly I wondered if he had more. I watched as he grabbed a glass, filled it with water, then drank it greedily, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he gulped it down.
