Four Week Fiance(10)

“So your dad is Hudson Walker?” Barbie said as her fingers ran up and down TJ’s thighs. I wanted to reach forward and slap her hands away from his hand. My heartbeat seemed to be in sync with her fingers because as her fingers got closer to his crotch, my heartbeat increased, and as they slid away, my heartbeat got slower.

“Yes,” TJ said, his tone making it clear that he didn’t want to talk about his father any further.

“He’s really handsome,” Barbie said, her voice light and giggly. “And rich.”

“No shit,” Sally said from next to me, her tone irritated. Sally really didn’t give a shit what Barbie thought about her.

“So, you work for him?” Barbie continued, ignoring Sally.

“Yes,” TJ said and the tenseness of his yes spoke volumes. TJ was an atypical son for a handsome, famous, billionaire. While he was handsome and popular, he’d never used his father’s name to get ahead. In fact, all he’d ever wanted to do was make his father proud. Ever since I’d known him, he’d been an overachiever—and not because his parents pushed him, either—but because he wanted to prove to his father that he was just as brilliant and capable as him. Yet, his father had never really given him the validation that he needed. I didn’t think it was fair. I hated his father. Not because he was mean or rude and not because he didn’t love TJ. He loved TJ like a father should love a son, but he never gave him anything extra. He never went above and beyond. He always said the perfunctory congratulations, but he never seemed super proud or overeager. He just assumed that TJ would be intelligent and sporty because he was. And that was the crux of my issue with him. He always compared TJ to himself. IF TJ got an A, he would have gotten an A+. If TJ was second seed on the tennis team, he was first seed. If TJ won a leading role in a school play, he was lead. And it wasn’t even as if he were bragging to out-do TJ, that was just his way. TJ’s dad had taken his father’s business and made it into a multi-billion dollar industry. Hudson Walker was world famous, for his business acumen and for dating the hottest supermodels and actresses in the world. It was his way: he worked hard and played even harder. And somehow TJ had gotten left by the wayside.

“What do you do?” Barbie continued and the air in the car grew tense.

“Let’s talk about something else,” I said to change the subject. I felt bad for TJ and, while I thought he was a jerk, I didn’t want him to have to go into the nitty gritty of his job to someone like her, someone I hoped wouldn’t last past the weekend. I didn’t like Barbie and it wasn’t just because I was jealous. She seemed like the worst kind of gold-digger, and I really hoped that TJ wasn’t going to get sucked in by her good looks. I didn’t understand why guys could never figure out which girls were the parasitic vultures in the dating world. Did they really not see all the signs or did they just ignore them because the girls were hot?

“Whatever,” Barbie said, clearly annoyed that I’d cut her off.

“Whatever,” Sally mouthed at me and rolled her eyes and I had to bite my lip to stop from laughing. “So, I sure am hungry,” Sally continued and rubbed her stomach. “I wish Troy were here because I know he’d take us all to a nice steak restaurant and pay.”

“Sally.” I gave her a look and she just grinned back at me. “Troy isn’t your sugar daddy.”

“But he could be yours.”

“You have a sugar daddy?” Barbie turned around and her look was so scornful and shocked that I couldn’t stop myself from responding.

“Well, he wants me any way he can have me,” I said sweetly. “And as I’m not cheap, he knows he has to work hard.”

“Mila’s a difficult one to catch,” TJ said in an amused tone, and I blushed.

“Not that many have been trying to catch me,” I said and immediately regretted my words. I meant to be making myself look more desirable than I was. Not worse.

“You mean this week?” Sally said and giggled. “What about Louis and Damon?”

“What?” I asked, confused. However, my voice was drowned out by TJ.

“Who are Louis and Damon?” he said, his tone slightly annoyed as he glanced at me in the rear-view mirror.

“Mila hasn’t told you about Louis and Damon?” Sally said and winked at me.

“And I’m not about to start,” I said, cutting her off. I didn’t need Sally getting me into any more trouble. Louis and Damon, ugh.

“You can’t help it if men just fall in love with you,” Sally said. “You’re beautiful and smart. Men like that combination. No guy wants a bimbo.” She grinned. “Big boobs and no brains is not attractive.”

“I guess no boobs and no brains is even worse though,” Barbie interrupted and looked back at Sally with narrowed eyes. “I’d hate to be ugly.”

“Well, you certainly don’t have to worry about that,” TJ said and I watched as he squeezed her knee. My body froze as I sat there watching her squeezing his hand. This was the worst kind of torture and I wished that I were anywhere but in this car.

“Just on the inside,” Sally said under her breath and caught my eye. I smiled weakly at her joke, but it was hard to rejoice in her humor when Barbie was enjoying TJ’s attention in the front of the car, while I sat in the back feeling like a loser.

***

“I’m stuffed.” Sally leaned back into the car seat as we made our way home from dinner. “I literally couldn’t eat another thing.”

“Not even another bite of that cheesecake?” I laughed as I stifled a yawn.

“Not even another bite.” She groaned and then laughed. “Well, maybe another bite, since it would be a shame to waste cheesecake.”

“You girls are brave,” Barbie said in her teeny-weeny voice.

“Brave?” I asked loudly, the wine from dinner making me lose any inhibitions to talk to her.

“You know that saying, a second on the lips, a year on the hips,” she said poignantly as she looked me up and down. “But I suppose you don’t care.”

“Excuse me?” I said, my voice rising as TJ got into the car.

“Excuse you what, Mila?” he said as he looked at me. I ignored his gaze and shook my head. I was pissed at TJ. He’d basically ignored me all through dinner so that he could whisper sweet nothing’s to Barbie. He was so rude.

“I just tell the truth as I see it,” Barbie said and turned back to the front with a confident smile.

“What truth?” TJ asked, confused.

“Barbie’s just talking about my hips,” I said in a huff, still feeling pissed, especially as my jeans were feeling tight after the meal.

“Oh?” he said and looked back at me, his eyes glittering. “What about your hips?”

“That the cheesecake went straight to my hips,” I said, feeling embarrassed.

“Well, then you need to eat more cheesecake.” TJ winked at me. “Personally, I like a woman with hips—more to hold on to when I’m working my magic.”

“TJ,” I said, my voice shocked as my face burned red and my stomach flipped in excitement.

“Yes, Mila?” he said, his voice silky smooth. His eyes burned into mine for a few seconds before he looked down my body and stared at my breasts for a few seconds. “I’m just telling you what I like,” he said and looked back into my eyes, a huge grin on his face.

“Whatever,” I said and looked away from him, though I couldn’t stop myself from smiling as I looked out the window. Take that, Barbie! Score 1 to me.

“So, Mila, is that why you have a big ass?” Barbie turned around again and looked at me.

“Is what why I have a big ass?” I repeated after her, glaring at her for making me repeat her offensive words.

“So you can get a man for the night?”

“Excuse me?” I said and my voice rose. I looked at TJ to see if he was going to say anything, but instead he just started his engine and put his car into drive. I shook my head and looked over at Sally, whose jaw was also practically on the ground. “Did you hear what she just said to me?” I said loudly, not caring if I was being rude or making Barbie uncomfortable.

“Yes,” TJ answered. “I didn’t hear your answer though.”

“I wasn’t talking to you, Travis James Walker,” I said, almost having a hissy fit.

“Oh, okay,” he said, his voice clearly amused as he drove. Sally’s eyes met mine and we both shook our heads in shock.

“You are not a gentleman, Travis James Walker,” I said, saying his full name again, which made him laugh.

“Did I ever say I was?” he answered quickly and I glared at the back of his muscular shoulders. Sometimes I just wanted to hit him. He was so obnoxious. Ugh!

“I didn’t mean to offend you, Mila,” Barbie said in her fake sweet voice again. “I’m actually jealous of you.”

“Jealous of me?” I said in a tone that clearly showed I wasn’t buying it.

“I wish I could find a guy to have a one-night stand with me,” Barbie said in a pitiful voice, her full pink lips pouting as she gazed back at me with a sad face. “You’re really lucky.”