Page 66 of How to Get Revenge on a Cheating Ex
She doesn’t mean for it to sound suggestive, this much I know. But between the skimpy pajamas, the heavy-lidded eyes, and the just-rolled-out-of-bed look she’s got going on, her question goes straight to the dirtiest part of my brain.
I study her a little longer than I mean to. She’s not wearing a bra. And I wish to God I hadn’t noticed that, because now there’s no unknowing this fact.
My mouth goes dry as I drag my eyes up the length of her neck and to her lips, which are pressed together in a thin line as she waits impatiently for my answer.
This close I can see that her eyes are red-rimmed from crying, and that’s exactly what I need to snap out of it. Hotness be damned, the girl is heartbroken and it’s still kinda my fault.
I mean, it’s Grayson’s fault. Obviously. But I’m definitely...involved.
And that’s gotta be why I have this crazy urge to protect her right now. This desperate need to make it all better for her.
At this moment, all I want is to make her smile.
“Come to dinner.” My voice comes out way more gruff than it should.
I clear my throat as her brows furrow in confusion.
“Yeah?” she says.
“Yeah.” I shrug. “Why not?”
Her eyes widen, and I get the impression she could think of many reasons why going along with this act in front of my mother might be a bad idea. All probably accurate.
“There’s another party tonight,” she says by way of a non-answer. “At Macy’s.”
I stare in disbelief. “And you…want to go?”
She lifts a shoulder. “Not really. I mean, I never even liked parties when Iwasn’tthe cheating whore who broke Grayson’s heart.”
I flinch. Clearly Janie hadn’t deleted her accounts quickly enough.
To my surprise, though, Bailey’s lips are curving up in a wry smile. “So no, I don’t particularly want to go. But we should, right?”
She catches her lower lip with her teeth again, and I just barely swallow a groan. God damn, this girl is sexy first thing in the morning.
“That’s the next part of the plan, isn’t it?” she continues. “Let everyone see us together and act like we’re happily in love?”
I don’t immediately answer, and she arches her brows in a prompt. But that’s when I see it—that worry is back in her eyes.
I don’t know whether to laugh or groan in exasperation when I realize what’s going on here. It’s not enough for Bailey Tucker to make her cheating ex pay. Oh no. She has to do it perfectly.
The girl is a perfectionist even when it comes to revenge.
I have to swallow down the sudden urge to pull her into my arms and laugh.
Don’t worry, Janie. Despite it all, Bailey is still so very...Bailey.
Laughing will not go over well, however, so I move in closer until she’s tilting her head back to meet my gaze. “Bailey, if this thing between us were real, and I’d finally won Grayson’s girl away from him after lusting after her for years...”
Her eyes widen and her lips part as she waits for me to continue.
I lean in closer, like I’m letting her in on a secret. “Do you really think I’d share you with the world?”
She blinks.
“Do you think if this were real that I’d let you face Grayson and his catty friends?”
“I don’t know,” she mumbles. “The point is to be seen.”
