* * *
“So he’s back home?”
“Yeah, he’s definitely back.”
I lay on my bed staring up at the ceiling, the phone cradled next to my ear as I absently picked at my nails. It was a bad habit, but I was pretty distracted.
“Get your divorce yet?” Lacey asked.
“Ugh. You know I haven’t.”
“Come on, girl. We both know you’d be single and free if you really wanted to be.”
I sighed. She did have a point, but it was more complicated than that. We had to be civil, a part of the same family, no matter how badly I wanted to just force him to go through with it. Legally I could, but it felt wrong. He’d be pissed and our relationship would be completely ruined.
Whatever that relationship was. The past two days hadn’t really cleared anything up.
We barely talked. Or at least I pretty much scampered away like a small, scared forest animal every time I heard him approach. For his part, he spent all his time working out and training for his fights. He didn’t try to break down my door and take me as his bride, which I half expected him to do each night.
Instead, he seemed to sense my hesitation. Actually, he didn’t really have to sense anything since I was probably making it pretty obvious. It was stupid and I knew it, but I didn’t know what else to do.
Every time I was near him, I wanted him to pin me against a wall and make me feel the things I knew he could.
Instead, we had more pressing issues.
“Maybe you’re right, but that doesn’t really change our situation.”
“No, I guess it doesn’t. So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know, Lace.”
“Listen to me,” she said seriously. “You have a hunk of a human man in the room next to yours, a man that will probably make you feel things you never imagined. Take advantage of this.”
“I can’t. It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?” she said, exasperated. “You keep making excuses.”
“We’re being blackmailed, okay?” I blurted out, annoyed.
There was a beat of silence.
“Are you joking?” she asked.
“I wish I was.”
“What the hell happened?”
So I explained it all to her, starting with the kiss, which she knew about, up through the night in the dressing room, and ending with the letters and Cole’s visit to the paparazzi guy.
“Holy cow shit,” Lacey said. “You have to be shitting me.”
“Wish I were,” I said, smiling at her incredible eloquence.
“Dude, that’s, like, some bad daytime soap opera drama right there.”
“I know. If we were both doctors, this would be the perfect plot for an E.R. story arc.”
“Worse than that. This is like some terrible romance—”
“Look,” I said, cutting her off, “it’s real and I have no idea what to do.”
“What does Cole think?”
“He wants to run around and beat people up until things are solved.”
She laughed. “Yeah, sounds right.”
“But that won’t work.”
“Can you pay them?”
“If we do, there’s no proof they won’t go public anyway, or that they won’t keep asking for more money.”
“Damn, girl. This is some real stuff.”
“So you see why I’m not just like legalling the crap out of him right now?”
“‘Legalling’? Is that even a word?”
“It is now!”
“Listen, Alexa, let me help.”
“How? I mean, this isn’t exactly your specialty.”
“No, it’s not, but I have some money saved up. I can help you with that at least.”
“No way, Lace. Thanks anyway, though.”
“Come on, this is big stuff. You don’t have to do this alone.” She paused, and I felt gratitude well up in me. “Anything you need.”
And then I had an idea. It was stupid, or maybe a little reckless, but it was a good one. Cole didn’t have to do everything alone.
“Actually, Lace, there is something you can do.”
* * *
“I don’t know how you talked me into this,” Cole said.
Lacey laughed at him. “You? I’m the one going inside.”
The three of us stood huddled at the entrance to the banquet hall from the night the photos were taken. Inside there was some event happening, though I couldn’t tell what it was.
“I could do this myself,” Cole grumbled.
“Enough out of you,” I said to him, turning to Lacey, “Lace, you look awesome. Sure you’re up for this?”
“Hell no.” She shrugged. “But I’m doing it anyway.”