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I press my hands to my burning cheeks, staring at them with shock clearly written on my face.
“They could have been together for her story.” Leia takes a sip of her coffee, a glimmer in her eyes that tells me she saw him kiss me goodbye. She knows we’re sleeping together.
“There’s no way she’s blushing like that over a story!” Elyse says with a devilish laugh. “She’s definitely banging Mr. Halloween.”
I groan, dropping down into my chair to lay my head on the table. “Can we please not talk about this?” I whisper, feeling like I might throw up. I love Leia and Elyse, but I don’t want to gossip about Sterling, especially when I don’t know what I’m doing. I had the opportunity to tell him the truth this morning, and I didn’t. Why didn’t I tell him?
Oh, right. Because I’m a coward, that’s why.
My coworkers fall silent, and then the chairs on either side of me scrape backward. A hand comes to rest against my back.
“What’s wrong, Ginni?” Elyse asks quietly. “Talk to us.”
“I screwed up big time.” I sniffle, tears seeping from my eyes. “I got a stupid text yesterday, setting me up on a blind date with him for my story, so I went. But I didn’t know I was going to like him so much. We had an amazing time, and he invited me back to his place. I s-should have told him the truth, but I didn’t. I spent the night with him.” I bite my lip to keep from whimpering. “When he finds out the truth, he’s going to hate me.”
“Oh,” Leia whispers. “You’re falling for him.”
“So hard.” I lift my head, peeking at her. “It’s crazy, right? I don’t even know him.”
“Pfft. She fell in love with Colter as soon as she saw his dick,” Elyse says.
“I did not!”
“Basically. You were hooked on your hockey hunk before you left the locker room the day you met him.” Mischief glints in Elyse’s eyes. “The Big D helped. Don’t lie.”
Leia blushes, shooting her best friend a death glare. “I didn’t fall in love with his cock.”
“Mmhmm,” Elyse teases before sobering. “Seriously, I don’t know why people worry about timelines for this stuff. If we were supposed to fall in love on a schedule, every love story would be the same. That’d be freaking boring. We fall when we fall because we’re different. Our stories are different. Our hearts, needs, and desires are different. Can’t that be enough?”
“She’s not wrong,” Leia says, slipping her hand into mine. “There is no timeline for this stuff. If you’re falling for him, you’re falling for him. The important thing is making sure you give yourself the best chance possible by making sure he knows he isn’t a story to you.”
“He isn’t,” I whisper, shaking my head. “I don’t even care about the story anymore. I can write about anyone or no one. I don’t care. I won’t write about him and his family. The story was never about them in the first place. I never want him to feel like I was using him. I just…” I exhale a shaking breath. “I’m afraid he’s going to hate me when I tell him the truth.”
“Well, judging from the way that man was looking at you this morning, I don’t think you need to worry about that.” Leia laughs lightly. “He’s already crazy about you.”
“If you need a billionaire to write about, we’ll find you one willing to talk. Leia knows plenty. Or…” Elyse taps her lips, clearly formulating a plan. “How do you feel about changing the scope of your story?”
“To what?”
“An exposé on the billionaires in town who suck? We know a few of those,” she says. “I’m all for throwing a little bad press their way.”
“Her ex is one of them,” Leia whispers. “He tried to kill me.”
“He tried to kill you?”
“It’s a long, sordid story.”
“But we’ll happily tell you if you promise to publish if for the masses,” Elyse interjects, a vicious smile on her face. I don’t think she’s forgiven her ex yet. Good for her.
I contemplate the suggestion. It has merit, but I think I need to talk to Sterling before I decide anything. Until I come clean, anything I do will feel like I’m trying to wriggle out of telling the truth. I don’t want to do that. I’d rather be honest. It’ll break my heart if I lose him because I wasn’t honest, and he deserves the truth. Until I give him that, nothing else is going to feel right.
“I’ll think about it,” I promise them, climbing to my feet. “Thank you. Both of you.” I’ve never stayed in one place long enough to have girlfriends before. It’s... nice.
“Don’t thank us. Just go get your man, girl.” Elyse shoos me off, grinning. “I am dying to know what a Halloween and a Valentine baby looks like!”
“You know his name isn’t Halloween, right?” Leia asks her.
“You know the man is covered in tattoos of scary stuff and has a whole ass Halloween town named after him, right?” Elyse retorts, sliding to her feet. “As far as I’m concerned, his name is Halloween. Stop trying to make me live in reality, Leia Bayliss.”
