Chapter 25. Don’t Believe Everything You See on Social Media
CHAPTER 25
Don’t Believe Everything You See on Social Media
Two weeks ago, if anyone had tried to convince me that hot, mind-blowing romance-novel-slash-movie-scenes sex did exist in real life, I’d have laughed in their face and told them they were out of their mind.
Well, it turned out I’d been missing out on that specific niche. A delicious, mind-boggling, bone-melting, earth-shattering niche. I’d been missing out on a lot.
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes the next morning was his sleeping face next to me, looking positively adorable. I spent the next few minutes watching him, wearing a goofy grin, as I tried to carve his features into my memories.
Last night had definitely changed everything, although I still wasn’t sure where we’d go from here. I knew how challenging it would be with my family, but I was hopeful there’d be a future for—
“Stop staring at me. It’s creepy.”
I blinked. His eyes were still closed, but the tiniest hint of a smile lifted the corners of his mouth. His eyes creaked open, and I loved how his smile lit up his entire face.
Not that I was keeping track, but that was three times now that I had used that word in conjunction with Alec Mackenzie.
“I’m not staring. I just woke up, and I happened to be facing in your direction, which is why it seems like I was watching you, but I swear to God I wasn’t, because I mean, really, who does that? And you’re right, it would be creepy. Stalkerish, even.”
He cut my ramblings short as his mouth found mine, shutting me up. Groaning, I shifted my body and pressed it against his, sending an ache straight to that place between my legs. An encore of last night’s multiple performances seemed very likely, and the mere thought of it sent tingles and lust jolting throughout my body.
But before we could get very far, his phone vibrated on the bedside table. He ignored it, but whoever was on the other end was as persistent as my mother.
“Maybe you need to get that.”
“I’ll turn it off.” He reluctantly pulled away and reached for the phone, but when he saw the caller ID, a frown twisted his face. “Actually, I do have to take this. Stay where you are, because we’re going to finish what we started.” He gave me another kiss and hopped off the bed, heading toward the patio.
Heaving a contented sigh, I grabbed my own phone and scrolled through my text messages. My mother had left several, as expected, and so had Eric. And to my surprise, there were two missed calls, and nine messages from Naomi. Her first one read:
We need to talk. Call me.
I wondered if this had anything to do with the last WhatsApp conversation we were having. She’d sent me a long, rambling message about how my mother had been pestering Eric to have three big weddings: one here, one in Indonesia, and one in Korea, although Naomi much preferred a small, intimate ceremony with family and close friends.
But my gut told me it had something to do with why my mother had called last night.
My thumb hovered over the second message before giving it a tap, and my stomach sank when I read what it said:
Your mother is on the warpath. Call me ASAP.
Yep, I was right. And it was way too early in the morning to deal with this.
Deciding that it could wait a couple of hours, I tossed my phone back on the nightstand. I settled back and scooted over to Alec’s side of the bed, sniffing at his familiar scent. Then, because I had no shame nor self-control, I took his fluffy pillow and covered my face with it, closing my eyes and taking in his scent. I wondered if the resort would notice if I stole borrowed this pillow and took it home with me.
Right then, the patio door slid open. I hurriedly tossed the pillow back, rearranging my position to imitate a tempting, seductive woman, wearing what I hoped to be a sexy smile on my face. Or at the very least, a semi-decent impression of one.
Alec strolled back in, staring at his phone, a worried frown creasing his eyebrows.
“What’s wrong?” I sat up, wiping the sexy smile off my face. “Is everything okay?”
“No, actually. It’s Gemma.”
Something clicked in my brain.
“Your sister, Gemma? So… she’s the one that’s been calling you?”
That caught his attention, and he looked up, tilting his head. “What?”
“You know, all those late-night phone calls you’ve been getting. I always thought it was the girl you said you were interested in… You mean it’s always been your sister?”
“Yeah.” Understanding dawned on his face, and a slow grin lifted his mouth. “Were you jealous, Ellie?”
A whoosh of relief flew through me, and it felt as if two heavy bags of rocks had just been lifted from my shoulders. I had an overwhelming urge to grab him and kiss him into oblivion. “Psssh. Don’t be silly. Of course not.”
His grin widened. “Yes, you were.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do. You were jealous, because you like me ,” he sing-songed.
Love. I love you.
“Is everything okay with your sister?”
“No, but we can talk about that later.” For a nanosecond, I thought I saw a brief look of sadness passing over his face. Tossing his phone on the bedside table, he crawled back to bed, his eyes fixed on mine, and a sexy grin on his face. “Right now, I’ve got something much more important to do.”
We spent the morning tangled up in each other, before wrapping things up with a steamy shower session. We’d missed the optional dolphin-watching and snorkeling sessions, so it was almost lunchtime when we finally emerged from our room to meet the others.
Rob was nowhere to be seen. When I saw a free table for two by the window overlooking the beach, I made a beeline for it. Alec followed, but he was busy texting, the worried look returning to his face. We sat down, and I reached across the table to cover his hands with mine.
“Is Gemma okay? Anything I can do to help?”
Alec tore his attention away from the phone and gave me a small smile. “Thanks. We’ll be fine.” With an apologetic nod, he went back to the device, his face subdued.
I wanted to say more, but he looked so focused, barely noticing anything apart from the messages on his phone. Deciding to give him some time alone, I got up and went over to the buffet table to find some food.
I was halfway through my breakfast when Jacqui strolled over to our table.
“Morning. Slept well last night?”
“Didn’t get much sleep,” Alec replied, putting his phone aside. “Must be the leftover adrenaline rush from the competition.”
He gave me a meaningful glance, sending heat rushing to my cheeks.
Jacqui’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “We need to talk. Privately. Got a minute?”
Alec nodded. “Of course.”
We followed her out of the restaurant, heading toward the lobby. Jacqui stopped to chat with a few resort employees along the way, but she was disconcertingly silent with us—no smile, no effort to make polite talk. We found a set of vacant chairs near the lobby entrance, and by the time we sat down, whatever small smile had been on her face had completely disappeared.
“I’ll get right to the point,” she said. “I received an email from Phil last night. You see, Phil and I go way, way back. We both started in the industry around the same time, practically from nothing, and we worked hard to get to where we are right now. And he and I, even though we’ve had our share of disagreements in the past, we’ve always had each other’s backs. I’d trust him with my life.”
Both Alec and I nodded, the confusion in his face mirroring what I felt.
“And Phil’s gut instincts told him there was something not quite right about your relationship.” Her tone was calm, but her eyes were icy. “Something about the timing of Ellie showing up in Port Benedict being questionable. How it coincides too much with GPG looking into acquiring Mackenzie Constructions. I didn’t want to believe him at first, because I liked and admired you both. So he took it upon himself to dig a little deeper into your backgrounds.”
Blood drained from my face, and I could feel sweat beginning to pool on my forehead. Shit, shit, shit. I snuck a quick glance at Alec. He looked completely unfazed, but he was probably doing his best not to freak out.
“Phil seemed to think that you two hadn’t been in touch for a long time. He couldn’t prove it, because both your personal social media accounts are private, and neither of you are tagged together in any public posts anywhere. I tried to defend you, reminding him that you two were in a long-distance relationship for two years. Told him I’ve seen your photos on Facebook. That a lack of social media presence isn’t uncommon, because not everyone is hooked on posting every single facet of their lives online.”
“That’s very true,” I stammered. “I don’t post a lot on social media. Once every few months, maybe. Once a year, even. Alec is the same.”
“And our relationship is exactly what we’ve told you,” Alec replied, in a surprisingly cool, unflappable tone. “You know you can’t put too much stock in social media posts. Things aren’t always what they seem.”
I didn’t know how he could be so calm, but I was glad at least one of us was.
She was watching us, her eyes cold. “That’s true.”
“Yes. And just like we’ve told you, I’ve been in love with Ellie since—”
Jacqui cut him off. “I want you to listen to this.” She thumbed her phone, and I froze as Naomi’s confused voice echoed between us.
“They’re not a couple. They’ve known each other for ages, that’s true, but they’re not together. I would know if they were. Is this a prank call?” Her voice turned suspicious. “Wait, did you say you’re from the Port Benedict Gazette ? And you’re writing an article about Alec and his company? What was your name, again?”
Naomi’s messages. She’d been trying to tell me about this call.
Jacqui switched off the recording, her icy eyes now blazing with fury.
“Phil did some digging, Ellie, and found that your family owns Pang Food Industries. He then contacted your brother and Naomi Park to ask some questions. Naomi said she had no knowledge that you two had been a couple for the past two years. She even confirmed it with Ellie’s brother. I had Carmel call Naomi herself to verify the stories last night.”
I closed my eyes, silently groaning.
“This morning, I went to take a closer look at your Facebook account, Alec. You know what I realized?” She laughed, her frosty tone sending chills down my spine. “Phil’s gut instinct was spot-on. You never posted any photos with her until several weeks ago. To be precise, a few days before my fundraising event.”
“I can explain,” Alec said.
“Are you going to spin me that lie about your long-distance relationship again?”
“The reason we never posted any photos online, or told Ellie’s brother and her best friend about our relationship, is because her parents think that I’m an unacceptable match for their daughter. Nobody knows we’re together. And I was never one to put up photos of my partners on social media anyway, until things got serious.”
“He’s right. My mother doesn’t approve of our relationship, so we’ve been keeping it a secret from my family.” At least this part wasn’t a total lie.
“But after two years, we finally decided we couldn’t hide it any longer. Which is why Ellie moved out here to be with me.”
For a brief minute, Jacqui was quiet, her sharp eyes considering us. Then she shook her head, as if she’d reached a verdict. “No. I think the two of you never had any relationship, because it was all a lie.”
She went back to her phone, then turned it around, showing us the screen.
It was George’s viral proposal video, currently notching up close to twelve million views.
My breath hitched, while Alec swore softly under his breath, and the color had all but drained from his face.
“Phil managed to find this little gem. I had to watch the video three times to make sure that it was you, Ellie. At first, I thought the video was a few years old, because how can someone else propose to you if you were supposedly dating Alec? But then I realized the video was taken”—she turned the screen toward herself—“on New Year’s Eve, less than two months ago. Which doesn’t really fit with the timeline of your relationship, does it?”
I winced, as the guests in the video shrieked when the flame burst to life, before the video came to an end.
“So, Alec. Last chance.” She pocketed her phone, her eyes piercingly cold, but also, now I realized, with a trace of disappointment. “Care to explain how one of the country’s most eligible bachelors proposed to your supposed girlfriend only a couple of months ago?”
This time, Alec let out a defeated sigh. “Look, Jacqui,” he began, his voice shaking a little, “I admit, it may have started with a lie, but Ellie and I—”
“Don’t insult me. Did you do this because I was interested in you?”
He froze. “No, of course not.”
“It was my idea,” I blurted out. “I was the one who convinced him to do it.”
Jacqui lifted her palm, shushing us both. “It truly amazes me how you think it’s acceptable to start our partnership with a lie. In all my years in the business, I have never come across anything like this.”
Alec closed his eyes. “Jacqui. I can explain. Please.”
She ignored him. “I clearly have misjudged you. I wouldn’t have cared about the relationship at all, but it’s the elaborate lie that concerned me the most. You’ve shown me that you have no honesty and integrity. I can’t do business or be partners with someone so untrustworthy.”
Alec went pale and looked like he was about to throw up.
Jacqui stood up. “I think it’s fair to say that the partnership won’t be going ahead. Our lawyers will be in touch.” Turning to me, she continued, “And obviously, consider the order Carmel placed for the party canceled.”
Without a second look, she walked away, leaving us in stunned silence.