Hooker (L.A. Liaisons Book 2) (23 page)

Wow
…had all that been building up overnight or longer? The phone shook in my hand, my heart skipping erratically in my chest. “I…was not…expecting…that. So…you think I’m a doormat.”

Nate sighed, and I could picture him running his hand through his hair. “I don’t think that. I’m just frustrated that you don’t stand up to her—”

“What would you have me do? Quit my job? Take up begging for dollars on the train?”

“That’s not what I’m saying—”

“Sure sounded like it. Until I can figure out a Plan B, I’m stuck where I am, so get off my back.”

The sting of tears had me pinching my eyes shut so they wouldn’t fall. We were silent except for our breathing, and I hoped he couldn’t hear the hitch in my throat.

When he finally broke the quiet, he said, “Look, I’m sorry. I’m just exhausted. I haven’t slept in three days, I’m stressed about tonight, and I’ve got less than four hours to get everything set up with the team and make things perfect, or I can kiss my dream job goodbye. Okay? And yeah, I’m upset that you won’t be there, because this is important to me, but fuck. I don’t want to fight with you, Shayne.”
 

Swallowing hard, I struggled to make my words come out without wavering, and I almost succeeded. “I don’t want to fight with you either. If I could be there, I would.”

“Yeah, I know you would.” The sound of loud voices chattering rang out on his end of the line, and he sighed again. “I’ve gotta go, but I’ll try to call you after it’s over. If not then, I’ll come see you tomorrow. If you want me to.”

“Of course I do. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.”

Then he clicked off, and the tears I’d been holding back came out full force. I had to get myself out of the deep hole I’d gotten myself into, but how was I supposed to do that without hurting Nate, Ace, or both, on top of losing my job?

Where the hell was a fairy godmother when you needed one?

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Erase and Rewind

OH GOD. I looked bloody ridiculous.

Okay, so maybe ridiculous would be the wrong word to anyone else looking at me. To them, I might look sort of glamorous, like I could walk a red carpet and not be an embarrassment to Ace. The floor-length silver gown was satin and practically painted on me, my face was airbrushed, my lips matched my hair, and the heels were entirely too high. Total glam bomb.

But all I could think was,
How the shit am I going to walk in these shoes or breathe in this dress? And how long will it take to wash the five pounds of makeup off my face or the two cans of hairspray holding my curls in this fancy bun?

I was going to fall on my face, I just knew it.
 

The town car had picked us up from Ace’s house and was now navigating the streets of downtown. In my state of nerves, my mind a million miles away and focused on Nate, I hadn’t even bothered to ask where we were going or what movie we were going to see. If it was even a movie.
 

As we pulled up to the venue, my brow furrowed. We were across the street from the main entrance of Nate’s uni, which meant I was way too close for comfort. What if Nate was somewhere close by? He’d never mentioned his project being shown on campus, but I’d just assumed. So if he stumbled onto our event?
 

Fuuuuuck.

“The premiere is here?” I asked, but before Ace could answer, the car slowed to a stop and the door was opened.
 

Ace smiled at me. “You’re up first.”

Right. Of course. And I needed to be graceful getting out of the car and all that jazz. As I took the hand of the man holding open the door, I carefully stepped out onto the sidewalk, making sure to keep my dress lifted enough so that my heel didn’t catch the end of it. It didn’t.
Thank God.
 

When Ace made his way out of the car, it was then that I noticed there wasn’t a red carpet. And there wasn’t a large crowd or cameras everywhere. There was a steady stream of people walking into the building, but other than that, it was the same reaction we would’ve garnered had Nate and I been going inside instead—none.
 

“Is this the back way?” I asked as I took Ace’s proffered arm and he led me down the tiled walkway, followed closely by his driver slash bodyguard.

He chuckled. “No, it’s not a huge event.”

“It’s not?”
 

“Not at all. Remember when we talked about indie films and getting back to basics?”

“Yeah…”

“Let’s just say you inspired me.”
 

“How’s that?”

“You’ll see.”

“Gee, that’s not cryptic at all,” I said as he held open the door and we walked into a rather large foyer with an ornate chandelier hanging from its center to light up the space. To the right there were a handful of photographers snapping photos of attendees on a small red carpet that ran a few feet and was backed by what Ace called a “step and repeat” backdrop with the list of sponsors.
 

A woman with a clipboard came over then, introducing herself to Ace, and then leading us over to the photographers. When Ace and I stepped up in front of the cameras, they went wild. His arm went around my waist, pulling me close, and I tried to mimic all those celebrity couple pictures I’d seen in magazines. The head angled slightly toward him, the big grin, one leg in front of the other for a longer line. No idea if I was nailing it or trying too hard. I hoped for the former.
 

“Just like a pro,” Ace said with a smile, his fingers giving me a gentle squeeze of encouragement.

After they got their shots, Ace gave them a nod and thanks and then I took his arm again. After the flashes, I was seeing double, and would’ve tripped all over my gown had I not had something to hold on to.
 

I frowned and squinted at the backdrop. “Does that sign say USC?”

He nodded and then pointed back toward the entrance we came from, at the buildings across the street. “Film school was where I started, so I thought I’d give back a little. Help someone else catch their break.”

“Film school,” I repeated, hoping I’d misheard—and misread.

“Yeah, you know, branch out by starting small. Isn’t that what you said?”

“Uh…did I?” Fuck, it was hot in here, and I patted my forehead with the back of my hand before fanning myself. A low hum sounded in my ears, the rush of blood as my heart rate picked up. Surely this was just a coincidence. It had to be. Yeah, I had a lot of karma coming back my way, but the others involved were good people…

Fuck,
I needed to sit down.

“Are you okay?” Ace asked, his forehead crinkling. “You did eat today, right?”

“What? Oh. Uh yeah.”

“Just making sure. I know what low blood sugar looks like.” Then he leaned in and whispered, “The last five girls I dated lived off cigarettes and champagne. Fainting spells every damn day.”

“I don’t…smoke,” I managed, fanning myself faster. Was the air on? Did they have a freezer I could hide in? My eyes searched the room, but Ace was pulling me in the opposite direction.
 

“Ah, there’s the man of the hour,” he said, as he led me over to—

Nate.

He turned around just as we came to a stop, and when he saw me, the biggest dimpled smile I’d ever seen crossed his face. “You made it.”

Oh my God. It was slow motion as he reached for me, pulling me into a tight squeeze. As his lips brushed against my cheek, I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. My arms were frozen at my sides as the reality that my life was about to crumble to the ground punched me in the gut.
 

“I’m so happy you’re here. You have no idea how much it means to me,” Nate said, and then pulled away, that big-ass grin still on his face. Then he noticed who was standing next to me, and he put his hand forward to shake Ace’s. “Hey, man, thanks so much for coming. And I see you already found Shayne. That’s great. I figured since you two are friendly, it’d be a cool surprise that you worked on the film.”
 

“Absolutely, it was my pleasure.” Then he gestured toward me. “So you already know Shayne?”

“Of course I do. She’s my—” He stopped when he saw Ace’s hand move to my lower back. His brow furrowed and he blinked, as though to make sure he was seeing things right. Then, when Ace pulled me closer, Nate’s eyes jerked up to mine.
 

It was like a car spinning out of control with no way to stop it as the horror of realization in his eyes clashed with the absolute despair I knew were in mine.
 

No. No
. No.
My mind went from numb and hazy to instantly clear. All the things I should’ve said before this moment, the contract I should’ve broken for the man in front of me, the lies I never should’ve told…it all hit me then that I’d played this game wrong. So very, very wrong. And now it was time to pay, in the most fucked-up, combustible way possible.
 

“She’s your…?” Ace asked when Nate didn’t answer.

Nate’s eyes were pleading, begging me to tell him that what he was seeing wasn’t the truth. That I wasn’t a liar, that I was his and his only. They told me exactly what he wasn’t going to say out loud:
Why would you do this? I trusted you. I cared about you. Is this some kind of fucking nightmare?
And finally,
I don’t understand.

When I didn’t refute his assumptions, Nate’s gaze dropped to the floor and he swallowed hard. Then a moment later, he lifted his head and met Ace’s stare straight on, giving him a tight smile. “Friend,” he said finally. “Shayne is just a friend.”
 

“Ah, it’s amazing how small the world can be, right?” Ace said, squeezing me to his side.
 

Nate’s jaw clenched at the move. “Right. Listen, I’ve got to get things ready, but Monica over there with the clipboard will show you to your seats.”

“Great, thanks. Good luck in there.”

Nate gave a curt nod and, without a glance in my direction, headed into the auditorium. When he disappeared into the room, I briefly wondered if I’d imagined what had just happened. But then Ace spoke, and that hope was dashed.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked. “You look a little pale.”

“What?” I tore my eyes away from the auditorium doors and looked up at him. “I just…don’t feel so great. Is there a restroom?”

He searched out the foyer and then walked me over to one on the far side of the room. Thank God he had his arm still around my waist, because my legs were two seconds from giving out underneath me, and the last thing I needed him or any of the other guests to see was me collapsing into a broken mess.

As I crouched down in the last stall of the restroom, I pulled at the sides of my eyes so the tears wouldn’t fall.
 

How could I go in there and sit with Ace and face Nate again? This was his night, the one I should’ve been by his side for, and there I was shoving another man in his face. He didn’t know it wasn’t what it looked like, and when would I get a chance to tell him? After what he’d just seen, would he even hear me? And did I blame him? Not one damn bit.
 

The cold tile against my arm helped the lightheadedness fade, and I rested my head against it and closed my eyes. I’d been too late. I’d wanted to tell him, wanted to come clean, but it had been too little, too late, and now things were fucked to hell.
 

My stomach roiled, and if there’d been anything in it, it all would’ve come up. But I hadn’t eaten anything all day, my nerves had been too shot, and now it felt like some eerie sense of foreboding. My body somehow knowing what would happen before my mind had a chance to catch up.
 

“Shayne?” Ace’s voice echoed in the restroom, and I quickly got to my feet and smoothed my dress. “You’re not passed out in here, are you?”

“N-no, I’m okay,” I said, willing my voice not to shake, though it did anyway. I took a deep breath, wiped my brow again, and then exited the stall. Ace was standing in the doorway, and I gave him a thin smile. “Sorry. Better now.”

“Just making sure,” he said, and then looked over his shoulder. “It’s starting soon, so we should get to our seats.”

“Okay. Be right there.”
 

He ducked out as I washed my hands and checked my face for any sign that my life was falling apart. My eyes were tinged pink, and I was definitely flushed, but you couldn’t tell by looking at me that I was cracking underneath.
 

I took Ace’s arm again as we headed into the auditorium, led by the woman Nate had pointed out. The room was packed, and all eyes were on us as we walked toward the front of the room, where a huge white screen had been erected on the stage.
 

Of course the woman pointed us to seats that were in the front fucking row, only feet away from where Nate stood at a podium getting set up with a wireless mic.
 

That’s it. I want to shrivel up and die.

When Nate turned around, his eyes went directly to mine, sending a stab of pain directly into my heart. The hurt was still there, but now something else accompanied the pain.
 

Nate was
pissed
.

He sent one final dagger my way before buttoning his suit jacket, and standing beside fellow classmates and an older gentleman who, I presumed, was one of his instructors.
 

“Good evening, and thank you all for coming,” the older man’s voice boomed into the microphone. “As the dean of the School of Cinematic Arts, I’d like to welcome you to our spring showcase, featuring our most promising graduate students.”

A round of applause, and then the man spoke in detail about the school’s program before introducing the student filmmakers standing next to him. I couldn’t have told you anything he said. My focus, as much as I tried to look away, rested solely on the man in the navy suit I’d helped pick out two weeks ago. The man who was actively looking anywhere and everywhere except in my direction, his body a ball of energy that was restless and bursting to break free.
 

“The first film featured this evening is a contemporary short by Nate Ryan, featuring Sophia Jones and Howard Klein, with a special appearance by Ace Locke, who’s joining us tonight,” the man said, gesturing in our direction as thunderous applause met my ears. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Nate politely clapping, but his eyes stayed on the dean. Just as well. I couldn’t handle meeting his eyes either.