21. 21
I finally filmed my last interview for the start of season promotion and all I could think about since I’ve left the mansion is Anya walking away from me. In one week, people will be able to watch me fall for her and then ruin everything. A part of me is still upset I will never see her again. Never get a chance to tell her I’m sorry for the things I said.
And never get to tell her I understand.
But the most important part would be apologizing.
My car pulls up to the House of Deceit mansion that was my home for twelve weeks so many years ago and in this moment, I realize how far I’ve come from the man who had a casual flirtation with someone that has become like a sister to me.
Tires crunch against the gravel as another car pulls up and I know that it’s Charlie’s. I’m glad the interviewer tonight wanted to film the segment instead of having a live meeting. It made it so I could be here for my best friend’s movie premiere based on her book of our time in this house.
Plus, Alec will be proposing tonight.
A twist of jealousy in my belly sets my face in a frown. Unlike with my proposal, I know exactly what the answer will be tonight.
She gets out of the car, and stares up at the house for a moment while I walk up behind her.
“Are you ready?” I ask.
“How was filming? I didn’t think you’d be here!” she exclaims, her arms wrapping around me, mine doing the same automatically. As much as I don’t want to be at a party for hours, I have missed her.
“Filming was fine. I got in last night. We taped the last talk show spot instead of doing it live. Something came up for the interviewer.”
She looks at me for a moment and must see the heartbreak written there. I haven’t told her anything about the show and what happened, but it doesn’t matter. She’s always been able to read me so well.
“I’m here to talk. You’ve barely answered my texts since you stopped filming. Alec was willing to kidnap you to get you here tonight for me,” she says.
“I don’t want to talk about it. Plus, tonight is about you. Are you ready? Alec is waiting.”
“Yeah, just taking a second to appreciate the view.”
I give her a moment, but when I feel rain starting to fall on me, I take her garment bag and lead her into the house.
On the table in the entryway is a card and she squeals as she reads it. Taking my cue, I bend down and kiss her cheek.
“I’m going to go put this in the kitchen. See you in a bit.”
Charlie peels off toward the interview room where Alec is waiting for her. When I let him know I’d be able to make it, he texted me all the details, making sure I’d lead her there once we were in the mansion. I walk through the various rooms and head back to the bathroom so I can get dressed in my tux.
Philip arranged everything for me so I wouldn’t have to worry about what I’d wear. I make a mental note to thank him again as I unzip the garment bag and see everything is perfectly pressed.
Once I’m dressed, I walk through the house, reliving the memories. Nostalgia tightens my throat as I think about the time when the girls all put on a talent show, threatening our manhoods if we weren’t there. Chuckling, I make my way to the living room, sure Alec is almost done proposing, and stare outside the glass doors.
Her sniffles of, hopefully, happy tears have me turning around.
“So , did you say yes?”
Her jaw drops and she swats my shoulder. “You knew?”
The fact she is surprised by this makes me throw my head back and laugh for the first time since Anastasia rejected me.
“I went with him to pick out the ring. We flew Courtney out to help, too,” I tell her.
“I can’t believe you lied to me, your fake girlfriend! And I will be having words with Court.”
Knowing we don’t have a lot of time, I place my hand on her back and begin leading her back to the dressing room.
“Don’t be too mad at her. It was for a good reason.”
I stand outside the room, keeping anyone from walking in on her, as I hear people setting up and a few early arrivals. The door flings open and all I can do is stare.
“Tell me I look beautiful,” she says, with a megawatt smile.
“You look beautiful,” I tell her and mean it. The eggplant purple dress stands out against her freckled skin, clinging to her curves. A slit hits high on her thigh as the skirt flows down to the ground.
While she’s stunning, always has been, the happiness bleeding from her turns her into nothing short of an enchantress. My throat tightens again as my heart clenches. The joy of watching the person I love the most find her happiness fills the cracks inside me with light.
I wouldn’t be standing here without her.
I wouldn’t have met Anastasia without her and that would have been a loss no matter how it ended.
“Good job,” she says, taking my arm, and leading me to the backyard where the guests will arrive. “This is going to be fun!”
As the stars of the movie arrive, I almost have an out-of-body experience. Seeing someone who is supposed to be playing me is wild. While I think he looks nothing like me, Charlie and Courtney both have sworn up and down I’m completely, and emphatically, wrong.
“Congratulations, man,” I say, shaking Alec’s hand as he comes out of the house into the backyard.
“Thanks. I hope you know you’re required to come to the wedding,” he says, making sure his tux is perfect. Like he’d ever have a string out of place.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Just tell me when and where. You know I’ll be there.”
Tank and Lorelei walk on the red carpet, posing like professionals while the photographers take picture after picture. Alec and I watch them as they make their way to us .
“Did you ask her yet?” Lorelei asks immediately, clasping her hands in front of her chest and basically bouncing with excitement.
“Ask who what?” Alec says, annoying her immediately.
“I’m going to call Dad and tell on you for being mean to me.”
“Don’t you think you’re a little old to be a tattletale?”
“You only think that because I’m his favorite,” she says, sticking her tongue out at her brother.
Charlie comes through the back door, a glass of champagne in one hand and a whiskey drink of some sort in the other. She hands it to Alec without a word as she greets Lorelei and Tank, thanking them for coming.
“So, are you going to tell me the news or are we supposed to pretend like we don’t see that rock on your hand?” Lorelei asks, causing Charlie to laugh, her happiness infectious.
“Lorelei, guess what! I’m engaged,” she says, thrusting her hand out. Lore squeals, grabbing her hand and getting so close, I think for a minute she’s going to kiss the ring I helped pick out.
“Alec is going to be so upset you’re off the market. Did you tell him you’ll have to dump him now that someone’s going to make an honest woman out of you?” Lorelei teases.
“He was heartsick, but I believe he’ll get over it.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha,” Alec says, dry as the Sahara, taking a drink.
As the ladies fall, almost immediately, into talk of what type of dress Charlie should wear for the ceremony, I excuse myself and head inside looking for the bar.
“Whiskey, neat,” I say, sliding next to a woman in a yellow dress.
“Parker, I thought I recognized your voice. It’s so good to see you,” Carmen says, turning toward me.
“Carmen? What are you doing here?” I ask, kissing her cheek in a surprised greeting.
“I’m here with a date. The actor who played Alec reached out to me on social media and we just kind of hit it off.”
“That’s great,” I say, taking my drink from the bartender, while slipping a tip in the jar on the counter. “Listen, I never got a chance to apologize for not picking you. You’re an amazing person and obviously there was chemistry between us, but there was always just something holding me back. I wish I could have been more straightforward with you on the show.”
“Oh, sweetie, it’s totally fine. We never would have worked anyway. I can see that now, even though I thought we’d be perfect together then.” She takes a drink of her cocktail and gives a little wave to someone over my shoulder, probably her date, but my eyes stay on her.
“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t we have worked?”
“Because you still need to get over your ex-wife,” she says, her tone implying I’m an idiot for not seeing that.
“I am over my ex-wife.”
“You might be in here,” she says, tapping my forehead, “but you’re not in here.” Her hand settles on my heart and all I can do is stare at it, confused.
“I don’t love her anymore,” I tell her, agitation starting to take over at having to repeat myself.
“I didn’t say you did, but that doesn’t mean you’re over the pain she’s caused you in here.” She taps my chest with one long nail. “Until you do, you’ll never be able to fully love anyone.”
She gives me a sad smile, and walks away. I down my drink, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I want to take a second and go find somewhere to sit in private to digest what Carmen just told me but I can’t. This night is about Charlie and the last thing I would ever want to do is not be around to celebrate her.
Making my way through the considerably thicker crowd, I head back outside.
A waiter offers me a glass of champagne, which I take. Charlie greets everyone, but I only say hi to the people I know. After what seems like hours, I look over at the red carpet and standing in the shadow, just before she steps into the lights, is Anastasia. My heart seizes while pins and needles dance up my left arm. For a moment, I consider she’s a hallucination brought on by a stroke or heart attack, but quickly rule that out.
“Is that her?” Charlie asks and all I can do is nod. We watch her make her way down the carpet. The photographers take her picture and she smiles, but it’s not the smile she’s given me so many times. Charlie shoves me as Anya gets to the end of the lights, almost tripping me while whispering, “Go talk to her!”
Throwing back my glass of champagne, I make my way toward her, straightening my jacket. My palms start sweating. What if she doesn’t want to talk to me? All I want to do is apologize to her, but Charlie’s movie premiere isn’t the time to have the conversation we need to have. And since Anya doesn’t like having the spotlight on her, would I be trapping her into a conversation? I should turn around and go back to Charlie’s side, but the draw to Anya is too strong.
“Hi,” I say. Completely moronic.
“Hey,” she replies. Her eyes dart around the party as she shifts uncomfortably. She looks everywhere but at my face and my fingers scream to make her look at me .
But I don’t touch her.
“You look beautiful.” And she does. Her cream dress is stunning and hugs every curve.
“Thanks.” When her honey brown eyes finally flick up to mine for a moment, I almost drop to my knees to beg her forgiveness. “You look pretty great yourself.”
“What are you doing here? Are you with someone?” I ask, thinking of how Carmen has already found someone else, and my blood pressure starts to rise.
“Do you not want me here? I can go,” she says, starting to move away from me. My hand whips out and stills her.
“No, stay. It was just curiosity, not an attack. Sorry.”
“Oh. Lorelei invited me.”
I whip around, looking for Alec’s devious sister. She gives me a mocking wave and blows me a kiss. Apparently, Anya has shared something with her since we stopped filming. I glare at her before turning back to the most beautiful woman in the house.
We stand there awkwardly for a moment, just watching each other.
“Well, I guess—”
“Would you like to meet everyone? My friends?” I blurt out, interrupting her. “Or I could take you to the bar? Get you a drink?”
“I’m confused. Don’t you hate me?” she asks, a tinge of anger to her voice and guilt dumps into me.
“I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. Anya, I’m so sorry for the way we left things and I want to talk about it with you, apologize for real, but I don’t want to do anything that ruins Charlie’s night. Please believe me.”
Her honey brown eyes search my face .
“I’d love to meet Charlie, if that’s okay?” She shifts, still uncomfortable, but I see a little bit of hope on her face. Relief almost makes me drop to my knees, but I keep myself standing tall.
“And I know she would love to meet you,” I say, offering my arm to help her across the grass. She looks at it and I wonder if my words from the failed proposal will keep her from touching me. As her fingers settle on my elbow, I reach over with my other hand and rub them gently over hers.
I go slowly with her, aware her shoes are tall and probably hard to walk in. Charlie and Alec moved inside while I talked to Anya, but by the way my best friend’s face lights up as we move closer, I know she was watching the exchange through the glass. I widen my eyes slightly at her for a moment as we step into the house, trying to tell her not to embarrass me too badly.
Anya drops my arm the second we stop moving and I want to grab it and put it back, but instead I introduce her to my best friend.
“Charlie, Alec, this is Anastasia Reynier. Anya, Charlie Price and Alec King.”
“Hi, it’s so nice to meet you. Thank you so much for coming tonight,” Charlie says, reaching out her hand, House of Deceit persona firmly in place. “I love your dress.”
Bypassing the hand shake entirely, Anya lurches forward and envelopes Charlie in a one-armed hug. I’ve never been more jealous of Charlie. Ever.
“Lorelei loaned me your book and I loved it. It was so funny and cute and loving. I couldn’t put it down. And the scene in the library? Whew. That was so hot.” She says the words so fast they all run together and I almost have to bite my lip to keep from laughing .
I’ve watched people fawn over Charlie before, but this was by far the cutest instance.
“That’s so kind of you to say,” Charlie says, pulling back. “And that moment was even hotter in real life,” she says, winking.
“Oh my God,” Alec mumbles, dragging his hand down his face at his soon-to-be wife’s antics.
“So. Did you win sweet Parker’s heart at House of Desire ?” my best friend asks, giving me a once over and I can see she is putting the pieces together of what might have happened on the show. I shouldn’t have given Anya the option of meeting her. I should have taken her right to the bar. “I was considering not watching the show when it starts next week in deference to my friend here,” she says, turning her gaze to me, “but sorry, bud. I’m watching every damn second of it.”
“Cool. Sounds great,” I say, mortified.
“I can keep a secret, I know about the NDA,” she says, turning back to Anya. “You made it to the end, didn’t you?”
“Okay!” I say, as Anya opens her mouth to respond, nervousness and trepidation on her face. “That’s enough of that. We don’t want to spoil the show for you.”
And I don’t want our last time together to be in her mind for the evening.
“You’re a killjoy and I’m going to replace you as my male best friend. I think it’s time for Keith to get a promotion.”
“Keith locked you in the barn to get some peace and quiet the last time you visited,” I remind her. The old rancher from House of Deceit loves Charlie like a daughter, no matter how much she pushes his buttons .
She waves away my comment. “I could say five words to that man and you’d think I tied him to a chair and forced him to listen to me read The Odyssey or something.”
“He said you talked for three hours straight!” I say, laughing.
“He’s dramatic. Don’t worry about it. He’ll be happy to replace you at the top spot. I just know it.” She turns back to Anastasia, clapping her hands together. “Do you want to sit by me for the movie? I can tell you all the good secrets.”
“Yes, please!” Anya says. taking the hand Charlie offers her, my friend leads her to seats in the front. Alec moves closer to me, both of us watching the women get settled in the chairs.
“She’s the one, then?” he asks.
“Yeah. She’s the one.”
“I heard it didn’t go well from one of my old co-workers on the show. I didn’t tell Charlie anything,” Alec says.
I look at him out of the corner of my eye before turning my attention back to the women.
“I don’t think it could have gone worse.”
He claps me on the shoulder, giving me a squeeze. That’s about as affectionate Alec and I get, even though I consider him to be like family for loving Charlie.
“Whatever you two need to work through? I promise, it’ll be worth it.” He pats me on the back once more before following Charlie’s path, kissing her on the cheek as he joins her.
Charlie doesn’t stop talking to Anya, but she reaches back and takes Alec’s hand all the same.
I walk out the back door for a moment and pull out my phone to dial the most important number I have in my contacts.
“Sharon? It’s Parker. I need to set up a session.”