22. It’s Not Serious
22
It’s Not Serious
CARLY
“ H ello, Audrey.” I might not have the protection of Brad’s social standing or money, but I gathered my former boldness around me like a tattered shawl. Cocking a hip, I planted my hand on my waist.
“Carly.” She was shorter than me. Looking up to meet my gaze had to piss her off.
“Love your dress,” I said grudgingly. Why couldn’t Audrey be one of those women who fixed her style in her heyday—for Audrey, the early 2000s—and encased it in Aqua Net? No, she’d given up her bandage dresses, handkerchief hems, and box pleats. Tonight, she wore a long boatneck gown in cranberry with a shawl fold at the neckline. I’d seen the low-cut back earlier. It showed off her enviable lats. And up close, I noticed that it also had pockets.
But Audrey wasn’t hiding her hands. She propped them on her hips and leaned in close to hiss, “What are you doing?”
Remembering how tightly Audrey controlled her social circle—my pool of potential clients—and also that she was my date’s mother, I played innocent so she could back down with grace. “I’m here to support Brad and Hayley.”
Audrey wasn’t having it. “Support them? You’re here to throw down. You didn’t have to come to this wedding at all. You’re using my son to?—”
“To what?” My anger bubbled up, but I matched my whisper to hers. “To prove to Brad and everyone else that I’m not crying my eyes out in my apartment? That I don’t need his validation, or frankly, yours anymore? That I’m still desirable well into my forties? Do you begrudge me any of that?”
Her voice rang out in the hallway. “I do when you involve my son!”
I kept my voice low and as even as I could. “We had an arrangement. Andrew willingly came with me.” Don’t think about how he came with me on the hotel sofa.
“I’ve heard all about this arrangement, and I don’t like it.” She looked me up and down, lingering on my boobs, showcased by the embroidered silk of the plunging neckline. “You’re taking advantage of him.”
“Taking advantage? He’s a thirty-two-year-old man. He can make his own decisions. And he’s getting as much out of this as I am.” Do not think about how I’m at least one orgasm ahead of him. “I’m helping him look stable for Vic. And apparently, it’s working.”
Her nostrils flared. “He’s a sweet boy, and you’ve done something nefarious to him.”
“Nefarious?” Did she mean a blowjob? Because I hadn’t gotten to that. Yet.
She lowered her voice. “I’ve seen how he looks at you. Your relationship might be only for show, but the expression on his face… I can make things easier for you. Throw some business your way. Ask my friends to do the same. If you do a good job styling them, you’ll have the success you’re after.”
She knew me well. For months, I’d chased an in with Audrey’s circle. It was what I desired most. And yet she’d stymied me every time. “What do you want in return?”
Her eyes glittered, and her voice dropped to a whisper. “Break my son’s heart. Quickly. And gently.” She fluttered her hands like she was dusting away the pain she was asking me to inflict. “I have my own levers to pull to get him that promotion. We both know you have no long-term future with my son. End…whatever it is you’re doing to try to hurt me.”
My jaw hardened. “I’m not dating Andrew to hurt you.”
“Then why?” Her forehead hardly moved these days, but her right eyebrow lifted a fraction. “Why drag my family into your drama?”
“My drama?” But all I had to do was glance behind Audrey to see Brad stumbling through his wedding reception, sloshing his drink on someone’s peau de soie shoes. Poor Hayley was in no condition to contain him the way I used to.
“Admit it. You came to stir up trouble.”
My jaw throbbed, and I realized I was clenching my teeth. I blew out a breath and relaxed the muscles. “I came here to network. Andrew and I are having fun. It’s not serious.”
“Then it should be simple. Once you end this arrangement, I’ll ensure business flows your way.”
I should have offered to end it after his holiday party. Surely by then he’d have his promotion. We’d said we were real, whatever that meant, after he’d kissed me in front of the Cascada Monumental, but it didn’t mean we were forever. Someone as young and handsome as Andrew wouldn’t be infatuated with me for long. I hadn’t even been able to keep crusty old Brad’s attention.
But the words that came out of my mouth were, “I will not break my promise to Andrew. Not even for my business.”
She narrowed her eyes and shifted her weight. “Andrew values family, you know.”
“I know.” How many times had he said he loved being a Jones? Was she about to threaten me with demanding he choose sides? News flash: he’d choose the Joneses over me every time.
“Sometime soon, Andrew’s going to realize he wants children, a family of his own. And you can’t give that to him.” Her gaze burned into my middle as if she could x-ray straight through my skin to the last of my eggs rattling around in my desiccated ovaries.
A phantom ache flared in my abdomen as if her glare had vaporized one of my few remaining ova. Or, possibly, that was the Spanx again. Goddamn torture device.
I’d never wanted children. But it suddenly hurt that I’d wasted my fertile years with Brad.
Hayley would have a tiny baby—two babies—to hold. She’d teach them how to tie their shoes, ride bikes, balance a checkbook. Crap, no one balanced checkbooks anymore. Maybe she’d teach them how to fix the flipping internet router.
I’d never do any of those things.
And, if I held onto Andrew, neither would he.
Audrey nodded like she’d sunk her putt. “Think about it. Let me know when you change your mind.” Whirling in a swirl of red taffeta, she strode away.
Her devil’s deal remained behind, lodged like a dart in my chest.