They’d been safe, if only because no other girl wanted them.
Marcus, on the other hand, is catnip for the female population. I know it, I see it in the covetous gazes that follow him each time we’re out in public. His looks, that aura of power he projects—he wouldn’t even need to smile at a woman for her panties to drop like an elevator with severed cables. And that’s without her knowing he’s a billionaire.
No wonder that newspaper called him “one of New York’s most eligible bachelors.” He’s far, far out of my league, and I can’t let myself forget that, no matter how much time we spend together and how into me he seems.
So the question is: has he been seeing Emmeline? Am I just his side piece, someone he’s entertaining himself with until he decides it’s time to marry the real deal?
I don’t want to believe that of Marcus, but what other explanation is there? Why else would he mention Emmeline to his friend? True, I’ve told Kendall about every date I’ve gone on, but it’s different for men, especially alpha types like Marcus. I can’t see him calling up his buddy to spill the beans after some random going-nowhere date, or even mentioning such a date in passing.
If he talked about a woman, it’s because she meant something.
It’s because it was more than a single dinner date.
So yes, this is the conclusion I have to jump to, the only logical deduction to make. But if I’m just a temporary fuck, why bring me to this dinner and introduce me to all of these important people? To his friend, who knows about Emmeline?
More importantly, why try so hard to get me to move in?
I take a calming breath, then another. Maybe there is a logical explanation for Ashton’s blunder. At the very least, I owe Marcus a chance to provide one. The man I’ve fallen in love with may be ambitious and ruthless, but he’s no cheater. Maybe he saw Emmeline a couple of times after I sent him away after the broken-door incident, or maybe—
“Emma? Oh my God, is that you?”
Startled, I turn away from the mirror and come face to face with Janie, my other best friend from college. I haven’t seen her in months, not since she started dating her boyfriend, Landon. She found him on the same dating app that led to my fateful meeting with Marcus—the app she made me join.
“It is you!” Beaming, Janie envelops me in a perfumed hug that I eagerly return before stepping back to study her. She looks different from before, sleeker and harder, like she lost weight. And that’s not the only change.
“You dyed your hair,” I exclaim, marveling at the pin-straight, platinum-blond locks that replaced the dirty blond waves that had been her signature style since middle school. Miss Natural, Kendall dubbed Janie in college, as our friend religiously avoided chemicals, fragrances, and dyes, always letting her hair air-dry and wearing only a touch of homemade mascara on her lashes. Now, though, she looks like she stepped out of some glossy magazine, with a full layer of foundation on her pretty face and her lips covered in blood-red lipstick.
“Oh, yeah.” She self-consciously touches her perfectly styled shoulder-length bob with red-tipped fingers. Even her manicure is glossy and on point. “Landon likes it like this.”
“Well, you look amazing,” I say honestly. Not like herself, but definitely sleek and polished, her newly trim figure clad in a stylish black dress. “What are you doing here? What have you been up to?”
She grins, revealing teeth several shades whiter than I recall them being. “I was just about to ask you the same thing. I’m here with Landon. He got a VP position at Goldman Sachs a couple of months ago, and we’re here with his team, celebrating an IPO they just launched. What about you? What brings you here?” Her gaze travels over me from head to toe, lingering for a moment on my scuffed boots, and I can sense her confusion.
A fancy Midtown restaurant popular with the Wall Street crowd must be the last place she’d expect to run into me.
“Oh, I’m… I’m here with someone too.” Naturally, I blush as I say this, and Janie’s green eyes flare with curiosity.
“Who?”
“A guy I’m seeing.” It’s been so long since Janie and I have talked that she feels almost like a stranger, and I’m hesitant to get into the whole messy story—especially since Marcus and the others are waiting for me.
Unfortunately, my non-answer only peaks her curiosity. “Who is this guy? What does he do? Where does he work? I had no idea you were dating someone.”
“It’s a fairly recent development, and he’s… he’s in finance.”
Janie gasps. “Really? Like my Landon? Oh, we should go on a double date one of these days, let the boys get to know one another.”
“Um, sure.” Until she mentioned Goldman Sachs, I’d forgotten that Landon worked on Wall Street as well, or maybe I never knew it in the first place. I’d only met the guy a couple of times, early on in their relationship, and the only thing I recall about him is that he sneers a lot and loves putting down other people. Needless to say, I’m less than keen on this double date. But I do miss Janie, and since she and Landon appear to be glued at the hip, I may need to tolerate him for her sake.
“Oh, awesome!” She hugs me again, enveloping me in a cloud of perfume—fragrance tolerance being yet another thing about her that’s apparently changed—and says, “I have to run now, but I’ll call you soon
