18. Jenny
JENNY
Audrey hauled me to the bathroom after dinner. We headed to the other end of the restaurant to avoid James’s family and anyone else connected to the wedding.
“Why’re you dragging me out to Timbuktu?” I asked.
“I want to know how things are going with Mr. Billions,” she said.
“Well, I want to know what’s going on with your Mr. Billions. Tell me everything!”
Audrey shook her head. “I like him,” she admitted. “But I know it’s not going anywhere.”
“Aw, c’mon Dre. Why’re you still talking like that?” I asked. “I saw you two out there. You are on The Love Boat.”
“It’s not like that, Jenny. I’m not right for him.”
“Says who?” I argued.
“Says me. It’s complicated.” She sighed. She glanced over her shoulder, making sure that no one was around. “James finally opened up to me a little. He told me that he’d had a girlfriend when he was younger—her name was Danielle, and she was really smart. She was supposed to go to an Ivy League school and everything. But his mother didn’t like her.”
She lowered her voice further and continued, “I guess they got into a big fight one night with his parents. After Danielle left, she got into a car accident and died. His mother told him he was lucky—that he dodged a bullet.”
“Dre! That’s awful. His mother’s the devil, huh?” I looked over my shoulder, too, just in case. I guess there was a reason Audrey was dragging my ass to Timbuktu. Celia Preston was a stone-cold bitch!
“She’s obsessed with their status and reputation.” Audrey grimaced. “And if Danielle wasn’t good enough for James, you know I’m not. But anyway, it’s too depressing to think about. Can you distract me?”
I linked my arm through hers. “I can try.”
Audrey’s expression softened. “Tell me what’s going on with you and Cole, okay? Bonus points if you can cheer me up.”
“I’ll do what I can—but I’m sorry that James’s mom is evil.” I squeezed my friend’s arm.
“Thanks, Jenny.” She smiled at me. “I appreciate it. But there’s nothing I can do—honestly, I don’t want to think about it anymore. So please tell me how things are going with Cole.”
“It’s been pretty busy. I mean, we’ve been getting pretty busy.” I laughed, my honking sound carrying down the hall. I needed to cheer poor Dre up, so I should dish. “We even did it in the dressing room at a snotty French boutique!”
Her jaw dropped. “Tell me everything.”
We headed into the private bathroom, setting ourselves up by the well-lit vanity. Il Pastorne’s bathroom antechamber was nice enough to move into and pay rent. I pulled my makeup bag out of my purse.
“Cole’s frickin’ crazy!” I applied more blush and lip gloss, then fluffed my hair. “I swear to God, I’ve never been with someone who wants to have this much sex. He can’t keep his hands off me.”
“Even in the dressing room at a fancy store?” Audrey asked.
“Yeah. He totally thinks he’s above the law, right? It’s a billionaire thing—he thinks the rules don’t apply to him.
“He just followed me when I was trying this dress on. We weren’t in there for two seconds, and he pinned me up against the wall. With the sales-clerk right outside! He had to lift me up so she couldn’t see our feet together. And he fucked me like crazy. I had to slap my hand over his mouth though because he’s a yeller when he comes. Real loud, Dre. Real loud. And he likes me to do this thing with his balls?—”
“Jenny—I didn’t mean it! Don’t actually tell me everything .” Audrey clapped her hands over her ears. “I don’t need to know the thing about his balls!”
I fanned myself. “Fine. But I’m gettin’ hot just thinking about it. I should be exhausted, but I’m not. Jesus. He’s worse than Loopsy and Fat Vinnie put together.”
My friend blinked at me. “Do you like him?”
“Are you kidding me? This is the best time I’ve had with a John ever. It’s like we’re the same person. Except he’s rich, and he’s a guy. And that thing with his balls.”
“Huh,” she said.
“Huh is right.” I turned and inspected my friend’s face. Enough aboutme. Audrey and James had been all over each other again tonight. They seemed like a real couple. I’d seen the way James was looking at my friend. She might be his hired date, but he had real feelings for her. I could tell.
“Mr. Sex in a Suit is a little romance-y tonight, Dre. He’s got it real bad. I almost feel sorry for him,” I said. “Did you bat him around like a cat toy last night?”
“I might have… a little.” Audrey pursed her lips.
I nodded at her. “It worked. You better watch it. I know that look he’s got.”
“Jenny, stop.”
She paused and then said, “What look is that, exactly?”
I rolled my eyes. “I think he might be in love with you. I’m just sayin’.” I shrugged. “He doesn’t look like he’s pretending anymore.”
“That only happens in the movies.”
“Then I’ll come over and film you,” I snapped. “Jesus, Dre. You gotta loosen up a little. Sometimes good things happen to good people.”
“Huh,” she said again.
“Huh is right. Let’s go. We don’t want your Mr. Suit to cry because he misses you… and Coley’s hand hasn’t been on my ass in more than five minutes. My butt’s gettin’ cold.”
I nodded at her as we left. “And James’s mother is the devil, but that doesn’t mean things can’t work out with you guys. You just might wanna skip the holidays!”
“Fair enough, Jenny.” Audrey laughed and shook her head. “Fair enough.”
The rehearsal dinner wasfun. We drank a ton of wine. We ate delicious food, including tiramisu, and nobody tried to feed me a seared octopus. Cole and I hung out with Audrey and James, talking, laughing, and acting as if we were on the best double date ever. Which we were. Except that Dre and I were escorts, and all of this was just for show.
But at some point, my show had crossed the line into reality TV. When I laughed at Cole’s jokes, I wasn’t faking. They were funny. When I kissed him and snuggled against him, it felt good. It felt goodin my heart, where I had no business feeling anything. I watched Audrey, knowing that she felt the same way about James. She had real feelings for him. I was screwed; I knew that. But I still held out hope for my good-girl friend. I prayed she would get a happily ever after out of this.
I knew better than to hope that for myself.
It was getting late. Cole and I made our final rounds, saying good night. We stopped to pose for a picture with Todd and Evie.
“Everybody get together and smile,” the photographer said.
When he finished, Todd turned to us. “We’d love to have you guys join us for the honeymoon,” he said. Evie stood at his side, nodding vigorously.
“We just think having you there will be more fun,” she added. “The resort we’re staying at isgorgeous . Right on the water, and it’s supposed to be the best beach in the world. Everything is five-star, and everyone’s coming. Todd’s parents, my parents, my cousins, James and Audrey…” She put her hands together, begging. “We want this to be a celebration and the trip of a lifetime. You guys will liven things up!”
Cole turned to me. “Do you want to go to the Caribbean, babe?”
I squeezed his hand so hard it probably hurt. This was what I’d been hoping for. “Are you freakin’kiddingme? Of course, I want to go to the Caribbean! White sand beaches and fruity drinks with little umbrellas in them? I live for that shit!”
“It appears we’re a yes,” Cole said, laughing. “Thank you for the invite. We’ll see you guys tomorrow. Congratulations.”
“Yay!”’ Evie said. She pulled Todd in for another hot kiss. The happy couple hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other all night, which made me dislike her less. She’d been too preoccupied to thrust her chest out at my man. My fake date. My John. Whatever!
The photographer snapped a few more pictures. Then Cole steered me toward the exit. “You’re adorable, babe.”
“I’m a little excited. I’ve never been to an island before,” I admitted. “I hope it’s okay that I want to go.”
“Oh, it’s more than okay.” He secured his hand firmly on my ass as we headed back toward the Liberty. “I haven’t taken a vacation in a while. We’re going to have a blast.”
I nestled against him. I was tired and grateful for his big body next to mine. “I had fun tonight. Evie’s not all bad, I guess. It was nice that she invited us on their vacation.”
“Of course, she invited us. Her cousins think I’m eye candy.” Cole laughed. “Wait till they see you in a thong bikini—that’s real eye candy!”
I yawned. “I don’t think James’s mother will approve.”
“She doesn’t approve of much.”
“I know…she seems real cold. Like she has an icicle shoved up her ass. I don’t think she likes me or Audrey too much.” I wrinkled my nose. “And it doesn’t matter if she likes me, but Dre’s another story. She should give her a chance.”
“Celia Preston isn’t one for giving chances.” He frowned. “I keep meaning to ask you. why do you call Audrey ‘Dre’?”
“It’s a nickname.” I shrugged. “When she started at the agency, she thought ‘Audrey’ sounded too prim and proper. We were trying to make her name have more pop to it.” I snapped my fingers.
“She looks like an Audrey to me,” Cole said.
“Yeah, I know. But she’ll always be my Dre. She’s my best friend, you know?”
“It’s nice that you two have each other.” But his brow furrowed.
“Itisnice,” I said. “So why do you look all dark and stormy?”
“I guess I don’t like thinking about why it’s nice.” A deep V formed between his eyebrows, and he pulled me closer.
“So don’t think about it.” I gave him a playful nudge. “And stop scowling, or you’re going to need Botox!”
Cole laughed, and we walked arm in arm to the Liberty. I didn’t want him getting upset thinking about me and Dre back at AccommoDating. I didn’t want to face it, either. I liked being with Cole. I liked Audrey being with James. I enjoyed our happy little bubble and didn’t want to think about what came after.
Because what came after was going to suck compared to this.
We stumbled into the lobby, laughing and talking, only to stop dead in our tracks. The Windsor sisters were waiting for the elevator. They did a double take when they saw us, then shot each other a pointed look.
“Here we go,” Cole said under his breath. “A drunken duel in the Liberty lobby. You ready, babe?”
I nodded. I’d had precisely enough alcohol to be primed to fight. “What are we dueling about, again?”
“Eh…” Cole shrugged.
The last time we’d seen the sisters, we’d told them they were rude. Or they told us we were rude? After so many glasses of wine, I couldn’t really remember. But I did remember them telling Cole they would try to get him kicked out of the building.
“Oh, hello ,” Greta Windsor said, voice icy. “I’m surprised to see you, Cole.”
She lowered her trendy eyeglasses, all the better to look down on us. “I guess you haven’t received your eviction notice yet.”
Cole snorted. “Have you gotten yours?”
“No,” she sniffed, “and I don’t expect to. But then again, I’m not the one breaking the law and violating the co-op regulations. You are.”
Cole arched his eyebrow. “Exactly how many Manhattans did you drink tonight, Greta? You’re drunk. Time to go night-night!”
“Har de har har. I’m not drunk, Cole. At least, not drunk enough to be mistaken about you .” She smiled at him, the cat who relished its torture of the canary. “You’ve broken the law, and you can’t break the law and be an owner here. As I said, the Liberty is for upstanding citizens with flawless pedigrees. Not for people like you. So you won’t be living here much longer, I’m afraid.”
Florence cleared her throat, her cue to pipe in. “It’s too bad that we won’t have to listen to your endless late-night rooftop parties or tolerate your…um… friends .”
She eyed me up and down. “We’ll be returning to a higher-caliber clientele around here, just as the building was intended. We have to keep the riffraff out, you know? Otherwise, property values will plummet.”
“First of all, do not speak to Jenny like that.” Cole took a menacing step forward, and the sisters instinctively stepped back.
“Second of all, you are both talking out of your white, wrinkled asses,” he said. “I haven’t broken any laws. Unless you mean some global warming violation?” He grabbed my hand and pulled me next to him. “Jenny and I are raising the temperature around here because we’re so hot.” He managed to look cocky and menacing all simultaneously, God bless him.
That made me laugh. The large, honking sound startled Florence and Greta, which suited me fine.
Cole pulled me closer and gave them a death stare. “As the saying goes, if you can’t take the heat, move the hell out. If anyone’s getting evicted, it’s you two.”
Greta lifted her chin. “We aren’t talking about any global-warming nonsense, and we are certainly not getting evicted. We haven’t broken any laws—but you have.”
The elevator dinged, and they climbed inside as if daring us to join them. We did not.
“We know all about Jenny, you see. Your ‘girlfriend’ is an illegal sex worker. We have all the proof we need, so we’re reporting you to the authorities.” Greta looked triumphant. “Sobye-bye, Bryson.”
My stomach sank, but Cole took her accusation in stride. “Bye-bye, Greta. And Florence,” he said. “Good luck taking the sticks out of your asses tonight. Better you than me with that job—they’re jammed in there pretty tight.” He smirked as the doors closed.
But as soon as we were alone in the lobby, he cursed. “Fuck! How did they find out about you?”
“I dunno, Coley.” But I got on my phone and started scrolling. Lo and behold, there were already pictures of us online, most of them from the previous party. I hadn’t worried about it, because we’d been having so much fun. But there had been photographers at all the events, and Cole and I had posed for multiple shots.
I showed him a picture of us from the Herald ’s gossip column. We were smiling, Cole’s arm thrown around me: Boston mogul Cole Bryson and his date.
“They don’t even have your name in there,” Cole said. “How the heck did the Windsors track you?”
“Like you said, they’re wicked rich. And bored. They probably hired somebody to dig me up on the Internet and boom . They linked me back to the agency.” My shoulders slumped. “I’m real sorry. I hope you don’t get evicted because of me.”
“I’m not getting evicted, and you don’t have to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.” But his face had that dark and stormy look again.
“I’m still sorry.” I tentatively reached over and held his hand.
He didn’t pull away from me, which was a good thing.
But I didn’t know how long I had before that happened. If his nosy neighbors knew I was a hooker, the news could spread and fast. Cole might think it wasn’t a big deal, but I knew how this worked. He was worth billions. I was worth less than nothing. Billionaires and call-girls did not compute, not in any math I ever saw.
I felt like Cinderella when her chariot turned back into a pumpkin and all the pretty horses returned to being mice. It was only a matter of time before it turned to midnight, and the full spell was broken.
And what the hell was I going to do after that?