Chapter Seven #2
The asshole stood as well and leaned down to kiss her cheek. “It’s been a pleasure, Jo.”
Avery shot him a warning glare, but he merely chuckled and walked away.
“What can I do for you, Avery?” Her tone was raspy soft, but he sensed an underlying frustration just beneath the surface.
Obviously, he’d done something to piss her off, so he kept his mouth shut because insinuating a blow job would help take the edge off his frustration probably wouldn’t go over well.
He gestured toward his family’s empty table. “Let’s sit down.”
Without a word, she led the way. At the table, she shrugged into the tiny jacket as if donning armor, as if she needed protection from him. She sat and picked up the wine she’d barely touched during dinner.
The subtle hint of her perfume greeted him as he eased in next to her. She smelled good, different than the women at Pulse, different from Tits and Curves. “Are you okay?”
“I would be if I could smother a few people,” she muttered, twirling the glass but not drinking.
“Excuse me?”
She dismissed him with a flick of her fingers. “Inside joke.”
He drummed his own, but the calming rhythm he sought was muted against the tablecloth. He bit back the question he wanted to ask, like who the fuck she shared the inside joke with—Linc or Blaze?
Instead, he focused on being constructive. “Mom said you were upset.”
She inhaled a deep breath and let it out. “Your mother thinks I’m after your money.”
His mom never mentioned what she’d said to hurt Legs, but he was certain it wasn’t that. “Whatever she said, that’s not what she meant. She likes you.”
“Avery, she grilled me about my employment, or lack thereof. She wanted to know if I’d found another job, how I planned to support myself, and if I had the capital for my patisserie. Why else would she say all that if she wasn’t worried I’m some gold-digging ho?”
“I don’t know, but if you let her, I’m sure she’ll explain.”
“It’s not necessary.” She stared into her glass. “I don’t think I can face her. Or Charlotte or Melody. It was humiliating.” She looked up to pin him with blue eyes brimming with hurt. “But not as humiliating as it was to sit with your friends, knowing what they must think of me.”
“What do you mean?” Even as he asked, the answer gutted him. He sat back, waiting for her to confirm his thoughts. That one if not all of the Sigmas had betrayed him.
“You told your friends the truth about us, Avery. Why would you do that?” Jo asked, looking as betrayed as he felt.
“Who was it? Blaze? Linc?” Probably Blaze because Gage had been on the other side of the room, and he’d left as soon as the lights went up. Bryce and Kate hadn’t made it through the keynote. But then they’d been sitting with his parents, and that was another train wreck waiting to happen.
“Does it matter? The point is, they know. It’s going to get out.”
“It matters, goddammit,” he bit out. “Which one said something to you?”
“They didn’t have to. You just confirmed it.”
He drove his fingers through his hair, wanting to pull it out. She was so fucking stubborn “That’s not good enough.”
“It’ll have to be.”
Avery sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor as he chewed on that for a minute. As pissed and fucking hurt as he was, he could only do damage control for one shit show at a time. Right now, that was his arrangement with Legs.
Because if he read her right, she was about to call the whole thing off.
****
Part of Jo wanted Avery to suffer with her. The other part regretted the pain it caused him to know that one of his friends had sold him out. She didn’t know Olivia well, but she’d been there for her, and she wouldn’t throw her under the bus.
She’d known better than to jump into this crazy scheme, and unlike the decision she’d made earlier in the restroom, a few hundred dollars was not worth this psychological tug of war or the possible damage to her reputation. It was better if they ended it now before it blew up in their faces.
“Why were you sitting with them if it was so hard?” he growled.
“I don’t know, dumbass. Maybe because it was better than being interrogated by your family.” She shrugged, all the steam fizzling out of her. “Besides, a table full of billionaires? One of them was bound to be interested.”
His head snapped up. “The fuck?”
“Not in me, asshole. I’m talking about an investment in my shop.”
He straightened. “You need to stay away from them.”
Oh, no, he just didn’t. “Look, you ran off to chase Lashes, or whatever you’re calling her, which is fine by me. You don’t get to dictate what I do when you’re off…hunting.”
He growled again.
“And for Christ’s sake, I wasn’t with them. I was with Olivia.”
“Who?”
“Seriously? You don’t know Maverick’s best friend’s name?”
“His admin?”
Despite his surly attitude, she had to laugh. “Let me guess. You have another name for her. Lips? Blondie?”
His smile was slow, but damn, it dampened her panties.
“She does have a nice mouth, but no. To me, she’s Goth-Not-Goth Girl.” He waved off her next question. “Long story.”
“Whatever.” Jo downed the wine, which had been flat to begin with but now tasted like wet cardboard.
She scraped her tongue across her teeth and set the glass aside.
“In case you’re worried, I didn’t embarrass you.
I have enough social skills and common sense not to discuss business or beg for money. ”
“That thought never occurred to me.”
“That said, when do I get paid?” She wanted this done. The sooner the better.
Avery fished out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, and tucked it back in his pocket. “Done.”
As soon as she powered hers up, it vibrated. That was quick. But the notification wasn’t from her cash app. The buzzing continued as text after text rolled in at the top of her screen. She tried to ignore them as she waited for the payment to show up.
“Is that Murdick?” Avery asked. “Is he harassing you?”
She shook her head. “Walt. Most of them, anyway.”
A few were from Chase. And wow, a couple from Lydia and one from Georgia. Interesting, but they’d have to wait until she got home.
“Is that another ex? Walt?”
She might have laughed, but the way he growled the question did funny things to her insides. He sounded almost jealous, but it was probably just the idea of having to deal with more of her drama. “Walt is my father.”
“You call him Walt?”
“More baggage.” One of two men she’d let in her life who’d let her down.
“Hmm, we can unpack that later.”
“I’m not staying, remember? Five weeks and you’ll never see me again, so no need to bore you with any of that.”
The notification from the cash app finally appeared. She blinked at the payment posted. What the fuck? He’d paid her for the entire five week’s sum. “Why’d you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Pay me in full. What if I don’t want to continue with this? What if you don’t?” Now, she’d have to send back what he’d overpaid. A sum that big was bound to raise red flags if it hadn’t already.
He frowned. “I paid what we agreed.”
“Yeah, but this obligates me to finish out the five weeks. I’d rather you pay me per date.”
“I did. Ten K per date. That’s what I agreed to.”
Her jaw dropped. “No, I mean, yes, but I meant ten thousand for five weeks.”
“Then you’re selling yourself short. Besides, you’re worth every penny. You had my family eating out of your hands.”
“You mean before everything went to shit. Face it, this is proving harder than either of us thought.”
He shrugged. “We just need to tweak it a bit.”
“So, after all this, you still want to go through with it?”
“Don’t you?”
Did she? Ten thousand dollars a date was a hell of an incentive to keep faking it. It meant a new apartment sooner, and in five weeks… Holy macaron, at ten K a week, more if something else came up, she’d be almost halfway to her dream. The bank might even reconsider a loan.
“Look,” he said, “I want this to work, but I need you to commit. No waffling or threatening to quit. Can you do that?”
“Can your idiot friends keep their mouths shut?”
“It was Maverick, wasn’t it? He told Olivia, and she told you.”
Jo opened her mouth to deny it, but she couldn’t get the words past the lump of guilt clogging her throat. Clearly, he’d been stewing in a black pit of broken trust, trying to work out which of his friends had betrayed him. She snapped her mouth shut and bit down on both lips.
“Okay, good.” He breathed in a deep breath and blew it out slowly, the tension in his body draining with it. “We’re safe.”
“If we were safe, I wouldn’t know they know. One slip leads to another.”
“No, doesn’t count. She’s his other half. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
“Wow, that’s the most romantic thing I’ve heard you say. I thought you didn’t believe in love and commitment.”
“I never said that. Just that I wasn’t ready for it.” He glanced over her shoulder. “We’ll finish this later. My mom is heading this way, but before she gets here, I should tell you she saw me shove you into Giselle’s van. She knows everything.”
“What?” Panic shot through her like a bullet in a submarine, picking up speed with nowhere to go. “What do you mean everything?”
“You, me, Tits, everything that happened that night.”
“Did you really just say tits?” Was that really what mattered? Air mattered, but she couldn’t think, much less breathe.
He leaned close and lowered his voice. “I assured her nothing happened, but she—”
“I hope I’m not interrupting.”
No, I’m not ready to face you yet.
Connie Preston sank onto the seat at Jo’s back.
Jo slowly swiveled in her chair to face her, trying to smile, but her face wouldn’t cooperate. “Not at all.”
“Jo,” Connie said softly, reaching out only to pull back short of touching Jo’s hand.
“Mrs. Preston—”
“Connie, and please hear me out.”
Jo nodded.