Page 25 of The Man I Once Hated

I duck behind a partition wall, peeking out just enough so that he’s sure to catch me. If he’ll only look this way. He’s so engrossed in what the tall blonde guy is saying though, that almost a whole minute ticks by.

“Her sister?! You somehow convinced her sister to do that?” the blonde guy says. I think I’ve heard Edward call him Zach.

Edward gives a self-satisfied grin. “What can I say? It’s a god given talent.”

They burst out laughing again, Edward getting encouraging slaps on his back. Asshole.

“The same talent that landed that actress in your lap?” Zach probes. “You’ve been a little quiet about that specific conquest, Bear.”

“There’s not much to tell,” he says then, grinning into his glass before taking a sip.

My hands ball into fists at my sides, and my jaw is clenched so tightly it begins to ache. He’s got some nerve talking about me like that. And thinking he’ll get away with it?

“Why aren’t you suited up?” Cameron stalks out of the shadows, giving me the once over. “Your shift starts in two minutes.”

I curse him silently and turn to face him. “I was, uh, on my way to the bathroom.” He eyes me suspiciously and I go for the big guns. Shrugging, I say, “That time of the month.”

Cameron’s face contorts in a pained grimace. “Well… don’t- don’t take too long.”

I bite back my laughter as he scurries by, rushing off to the sanctuary of his kitchen office where he’ll be safe from women and their bodily functions. Turning back around, I’m staring directly into Edward’s eyes. He’s not laughing anymore, but I can’t quite tell what it is he’s thinking as he stares at me.

I jerk my head to the side, motioning at the alcove of potted plants leading off to the poker room. He responds with an almost imperceptible nod, and I walk over, sticking to the dark hallway while he politely excuses himself from his present company.

I’m in the middle of a breathing exercise to calm down when he saunters around the corner, stupid grin on his face, and leans against the trellis.

“You’re cute when you’re angry. Have I ever told you that?” Edward reaches out to touch my hair but I shrink from him.

“You’re unbelievable.” It takes effort to keep from yelling, that’s how angry I am. But I won’t let him see it. He doesn’t deserve to see me like that.

“It takes two to tango, sweetheart,” he holds up his hands in a plea of innocence.

“I tangoed, I’ll give you that. But not for the reasons everyone thinks.” I’m desperate for him to get it. To see that this isn’t some funny story to me. That I can’t just laugh it off with my buddies and move on.

Edward scoffs. “If you want to be a serious actor, you can’t give a fuck about what people think.”

“That’s not what this is,” I argue. “It’s my work, Edward. My career.”

“Career?” he chuckles softly. “You haven’t been on screen a day in your life.”

“And if you don’t fix this, I never will be,” I glare at him. “My credibility is out the window. This will follow me for the rest of my life.”

The muscle in his jaw twitches as he straightens, stepping closer to me. “What exactly do you propose I do, Cara? Fix this. How?”

“Y-you’re the one with the money and the power,” I splutter, feeling myself slowly becoming feral in my desperation. “I don’t know… What do you people do at times like this?”

He sighs heavily, looking around but not really seeing. He’s thinking. It’s more than I thought I’d get, so I let him do that.

Up to a point. Because I’m sure Cameron’s checking his watch back there, calculating how much to dock from my pay for starting late.

“Edward?” I give him a little nudge.

“I’ll have my people set the record straight,” he says eventually. “A press release saying-”

I shake my head vigorously. “No, you. You do it. A press conference. I want you to publicly deny that anything ever happened between us. We don’t know each other.”

He’s just spent the past few days bragging about this to his friends and now I’m telling him to recant it. My chances are slim, I know, but I’m holding out that there’s at least an ounce of decency left in him.

My hopes are dashed when Edward starts laughing outright.

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