Page 25 of My Real Love Affair

Mine.

“Come on,” he said, taking my hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

“The wedding’s not over.”

“So? We made our appearance. Let them talk.” He tugged me toward the exit. “I know a place that makes the best greasy burgers in the city. You game?”

I hesitated. Burgers.

Was he assuming I’d want greasy burgers because of my size? Did he think all plus-size women just sat around eating junk food? The thought made my skin crawl, made that old familiar shame creep in. The feeling I’d worked so hard to overcome and thought I had left behind.

But Austin was already pulling me toward the parking lot, completely oblivious to my internal spiral.

“Trust me, this place is amazing. They do this thing with the bacon where they candy it first, and the buns are brioche, and they smother it with this special sauce that I’m pretty sure is just mayo and ketchup.”

He kept talking, enthusiastic and genuine, as we made our way to where a long line of limousines, sports cars, and dark SUVs waited.

He paused and looked up and down the row and then pointed. “That’s mine.”

He was practically dragging me down the driveway. His driver was leaning against the hood, talking to another driver wearing all black. When he spotted us, he quickly stood. “Mr. Bancroft.”

“We’re hungry, Jessie,” he said.

“Yes, sir.” He jogged to open the back door for us.

We slid inside and the door was quickly closed behind us. I barely had time to register what was happening when the car pulled away.

“You’re going to love this place,” Austin said as we merged onto the main road. “Best late-night food in Manhattan. Maybe all of New York.”

I stared out the window. Inside my head, that cruel voice whispered:He thinks you’re fat. That’s why he suggested burgers. He’s making fun of you.

“Melody?”

I turned to look at him. “Hmm?”

“You okay? You got quiet.”

“I’m fine.” The words came out automatically. “Just thinking.”

“About those women in the bathroom?”

I shrugged. I wasn’t about to completely bare my soul to him. Yeah, we’d swapped some saliva but that didn’t mean anything.

“They’re assholes. Ignore them.”

“Easier said than done.”

“I know,” he sighed. “Trust me, I know.”

“Thank you,” I said quietly. “For tonight. For all of this. Even if it did put me in an even more ridiculous position.”

“How so?”

I laughed, but it sounded hollow to my ears. “Austin, you just made our fake relationship very public. Now I have to explain to everyone why a woman like me is with a Bancroft.”

He was quiet for a moment. “What do you mean, ‘a woman like you’?”

“You know what I mean.”