Page 72 of Stick to the Deal
Her freckled nose wrinkles up adorably. “You remember that meme where the thief is looking at Rapunzel?”
My mind goes completely blank. “Huh?”
Her brows pinch as she stares at the screen again. “How about the one about that El Dorado movie?”
The ball of dough slams onto the counter with a hard thud. “What the fuck are you talking about, Anna?”
She sighs. “It looked a whole lot like that.” She slides the tablet across the island so it faces me.
Filling the screen is a photo of Reginald and me at the Red Hearts Gala. I’m looking off camera, smiling at someone. Reginald stands next to me, arm wrapped around me with one hand possessively splayed along my ribs. Instead of joining in the conversation, he stares at me, eyes filled with longing.
“The point of the meme, is that we wish so hard that someone would look at us like that, because we’re too busy looking away to notice when they do.”
Hope flares in me. Timid and fragile, but real.
“RoyalRobin13 says ‘you can’t fake this’, a laughing Reginald Bancroft is definitely a new look for the previously gruff bachelor,” reads Amber on the TV. The screen shows another shot of Reginald and me from that night, capturing the moment I made him laugh on the red carpet.
The next picture is from the same event, a posed picture on the red carpet. “‘Fake, fake, fake. Please cancel them’, says BrightonWay4. I completely agree,” Brittani chirps.
A candid some paparazzi shot while we were walking downtown in New York shows next. Reginald’s arms overflow with shopping bags he insisted he’d carry himself. We were both starving, so I held up a hot dog for him to bite as we smiled with chipmunk cheeks. It had been a fun day.
“I’m sorry, Brittani,” Amber interrupts, “but I completely disagree. There’s no way even professional actors can be this on 24-7 and there are plenty of candids exactly like this. Everything I’ve seen points to a happy and healthy couple.”
They launch into another round of debate. No longer able to take it, I grab the remote and turn it off with a groan, shoving another square of brittle into my mouth. It does little for my mood.
Anna comes closer and wraps an arm around my shoulders. “You don’t need to be strong all the time, Nic. I get that there are things you’re not ready to tell us, but I hope you can tell someone.”
My mind immediately goes to Reginald. How easy it is to open up to him. How much he understands me. How the unending loneliness dissipates with him. I’m scared if I let the walls down completely—if I let him all the way in—he’ll have the power to break me. I never want to feel the heartbreak I felt in my childhood again.
You already do.The voice whispers.You’ve never stopped feeling alone.
“What if he leaves?” I whisper.
My cell phone vibrates on the counter, a harsh interruption to the quiet moment. Reginald’s name flashes across the screen.
“What if he doesn’t?” Anna asks. The phone buzzes a couple more times, then falls silent again. “So, are you in or out?”
Chapter 37
Reginald Decides
If I wore one of those sports watches, I wonder how many steps I’d be up to. I’ve been pacing my office floor since my phone started ringing at three in the morning with calls from London papers.
Daniel showed up around eight, with bagels and a gallon of coffee. I’ve never been so happy that he reads that dreadful scandal sheet.
“Lord Ravenscourt does not have a statement at this time. He is in meetings regarding the launch of his magazine, Elysium, next week and is unavailable for comment.”
We should be preparing for our first issue. Final edits, layout proofs, confirming with printers. Instead, Daniel is fielding media calls for me. It would all be great publicity for the magazine, if only I felt confident on where Nic and I stand.
Why isn’t she calling me back?
I’ve left a dozen messages, sent an embarrassing number of texts.
“Ok, I may finally see why you hate that gossip rag.” Daniel sighs as he stretches his back and refills our coffees. “This is all a bitch, but why are you so stressed? This is an inconvenience, but it’s not like it’s going to alter things between you. You both knew the score going in.”
I wince as I take my mug from him. “Now everyone knows the deal.”
“Nic is a levelheaded woman. She’s no stranger to media spin. You two are perfect together. This isn’t going to change that.”
