Page 514 of Manhattan Bossholes

Her lovely face broke into a genuine smile. “Best day of my life.”

At least one of us managed to enjoy the shitshow.

I scanned the room and spotted Heidi holding court with a group of photographers that I swore she’d hired herself. I was shocked that she was actually able to stand independently. You’d never have known it from the way she’d draped herself all over James. After a while I’d had to stop watching them together, because it felt like my heart was being torn to shreds, over and over again.

That quicksand sensation I thought I’d left behind forever threatened to pull me under any time I thought about Heidi and James together. I was hollowed out, like all of the sweetness of the past few months with him had been siphoned from me.

Heidi had called James her boyfriend, and he’d gone along with it. And kissed her! Had they been secretly dating the whole time? I remembered how stupid, how small I’d felt when I found out that Dylan had moved on to someone new immediately after things ended with me. I’d suspected all along that he’d been cheating on me, but I hadn’t known for sure.

This felt so much worse. Not only because he was cheating right in front of my face, in this horrifically public venue. But because…because it was James. Because I’d thought we were building something special. Because I’d thought it might really be love—had finally started to believe that was something I could have—only for it to turn out to be an illusion after all.

God, I should have known better.

Once it was obvious that the night was finally winding down, I said my goodbyes and headed for the main doors solo. I had no desire to confront James tonight. I was too tired and raw to say everything he deserved to hear. My only comfort was that the show had been a success. Maybe that would be enough to keep my mind occupied until I managed to fall asleep? Steph had already texted me a half dozen times since seeing everyone posting about it on Snug, offering to hire a hit man for James, Heidi, or both of them. I’d warned her that I was coming home but in no mood to talk, and she’d texted back a photo of five bottles of red wine.

I threaded through the crowd with my head down, trying not to attract the attention of the party stragglers. Someone grabbed my hand from behind as I was about to make my getaway.

“Hey, where are you going?” James asked, concern creasing his brow. “What’s up?”

I jerked my hand away, then looked around to make sure no one had seen. “I’m leaving,” I hissed at him. “I figured Heidi would keep you busy tonight.”

His expression showed nothing but confusion. “Why on earth—Oh, come on. You didn’t think that was real, did you?”

“It…it wasn’t?” I asked, my battered heart clenching a little with hope so sharp, it hurt.

“C’mere.” He grabbed my hand again and dragged me down the hallway to a hidden utility room. He shut the door behind him and turned to face me. “I promise you I am not involved with Heidi. I have no interest in her whatsoever.”

“So, you…you haven’t been secretly dating her all this time? You weren’t the one to give her the dress and plan for her to make that over-the-top entrance?”

“Absolutely not!” he insisted. “Couldn’t you tell how fucking furious I was when she showed up? And no way would I have sabotaged the fashion show by screwing up the finale like that. Did you really think I would?”

A wave of relief washed over me, so deep and profound that I swayed a little, unsteady in my high heels. “No, that doesn’t sound like you at all,” I admitted. “But with that show the two of you put on…”

“Well, once she called me out like that, my only options were to play along or let it turn into a big, public fight that would ruin the whole night.”

“Okay,” I said, my shoulders dropping as the tension in them released. With my hurt and anger no longer running the show, my logical brain took over and I slipped into assistant mode. “So, Heidi had her fun and got her night of fame out of her stunt, but now that it’s over, you can cut her loose again. I’ll set aside a block of time for you tomorrow to talk with Calliope so the two of you can start working out how to get the announcement out there that you and Heidi really aren’t together again.”

“What? No,” James said.

“You don’t want to wait until tomorrow?” I guessed. “Okay, I think Calliope’s been going light on the drinks—you could probably talk to her tonight.”

“No, I mean, why would I have to make an announcement about Heidi and me?”

“Because you’re not actually together?” I said.

“Yeah, but the public doesn’t know that,” he pointed out. “Have you looked at your socials lately? Because the response to Heidi showing up has been incredibly positive. It’s pushing the show at the same time, so I call that a win-win.”

I’d been too nervous to pull my phone out of my purse and check to see what people thought about my work. Plus, I wasn’t in the mood to see photos of James kissing Heidi splashed everywhere, with the speculative headlines about their relationship status.

I felt even more nervous now, because it sounded like James was saying…

“Honestly, it’s probably a good idea for me to keep up this charade with Heidi. We’ve got great momentum, and right now Branson needs all the attention we can get.”

That. It sounded like he was saying that. All the relief I’d felt before vanished, drained out of me in an instant. All I felt now was sick.

“You want to fake date Heidi?” I demanded. “And I’m supposed to just go along with it?”

“It doesn’t have to change anything between us,” he insisted.