Before I’m out of earshot, Noli says, “Something’s going on between those two.”
I can’t tell if she’s talking about Rose and me or Rose and Holland, but I don’t want to waste time figuring it out.
9
Torture
Rose
Ihave a smile permanently plastered on my face, and I say a silent prayer it looks genuine enough to make everyone think my feet aren’t screaming at me in my heels. That, and that it hides the torture I’m enduring. I’m in the same room as Anton, and he’s wearing a tux. All six feet, four inches of him are highlighted by the perfect fit and crisp lines of the fabric. Women have lost their minds over far less.
All night I’ve been able to feel him shooting daggers at my back, and I’ve had to pretend like I’m completely unaffected. Like his heavy gaze hasn’t made my systems go all wonky. My breathing is erratic. My skin is clammy. I’m a mess.
Torture, I tell you.
“Remind me again why you wanted to come here tonight.” Holland’s smooth voice has me snapping my gaze to his.
His eyes are dancing in time with the music as he twirls me around the open floor.
“What do you mean?”
“You look like you’d rather be anywhere else.”
Note to self: work on my fake smile.
He goes on. “When Mack reached out, he said Poppy told him you really,reallyneeded a ticket to this thing. I’m trying to understand your angle here.”
“If I tell you, I might have to kill you,” I joke.
He laughs, and it’s a genuine one—or at least I think it is. I’ve been around the guy for most of the night, at his elbow as he mixes and mingles with theitcrowd. He’s had people fawning allover him, and he’s got the celebrity laugh down pat. It’s a little louder and more forced than the one he just let loose, and that’s what makes me feel like I got the real deal.
“Try me.” He pins me with a gaze, and there’s kindness there. I’ve got to say, as far as ex-boyfriends go, Poppy really hit the jackpot with Holland. She’s obviously meant to be with Mack, but Holland is a decent guy. More intuitive and situationally aware than I gave him credit for too. I thought he’d be tied up enough in his own business that he wouldn’t think twice about me. But now he’s looking at me like he knows there’s something I’m not telling him.
“I’m writing a feature piece on Anton Bates. ForSports Magazine. It’s a big deal.”
Holland’s eyebrows arch as he spins me out and then pulls me closer again. “Why are you hanging around me when he’s your target, then?”
I almost trip at his use of the wordtarget, but I pull myself together like a boss. “There’s the tiny little problem that he doesn’t want me to write the article.”
Holland furrows his brow. “Why not? Media and publicity like that…they come with the territory, and Bates has always seemed pretty chill and approachable—at least from what I know about him.”
I blow out a breath. I have the sudden urge to tell Holland everything. He’s a relatively neutral party, and the weight of all my secrets is so dang heavy. But if I tell Holland, word will most certainly get back to Poppy, and that would be a disaster. I can kiss Europe goodbye if Lennox finds out I’ve broken the nondisclosure clause of my contract. Still, I settle for a half truth.
“Anton and I have a history.”
Holland blinks before a slow smile spreads across his handsome face. “Let me guess. You dated?”
Again with the perceptiveness. “How’d you know?”
He glances over my shoulder. “Because for the better part of this dance, the guy has been staring at me like he wants to knock out all my teeth and then break me in half. Something tells me he might not be over you.”
I let loose a practiced laugh. “He’s definitely over me.”
Holland gives me a pitying look. “Keep telling yourself that. But head’s up. He’s coming this way.”
10
Audible
