Playing Dirty(57)

Lizzy rolled her eyes. “He’s such a loser,” she said, finishing the scone. “And then what happened?”

I let out another sigh. “Well, he also told me that the head showrunner might want to cancel my show. So I’m going home tomorrow to sort that out. I have to pack, that’s why I’m here so early. I’m surprised you’re here, by the way. Don’t you have a lecture?”

Lizzy pouted. “I hate morning classes,” she said, kicking her backpack with a toe. “But I had to get ready anyway, I have a study group session with some friends soon.”

I nodded. “Damn. I wish you could stick around a bit longer,” I said. “And I wish I didn’t have to go home.”

“Well, why do you?” Lizzy asked, frowning at me. “Maybe Josh was lying about whatever the showrunner said, too. You know, since he lied about the pictures…god, I can’t believe he did that! I mean, I totally knew the whole time that they were fake, but what a sleazeball!”

“He told me the producers wanted to wait until the last episode had aired to check the ratings and then make a decision based on that,” I said. “And the ratings weren’t great for the last few episodes—which I saw myself in my emails—so they might want to kill the show. I have to go and see them in person, because if I look like I don’t care about this, then no one will listen to me.”

Lizzy nodded and gave me a sympathetic look. “So, how did Jay take the news?”

I pouted. “It’s the middle of the season, so he can’t come with me, if that’s what you’re asking,” I replied. “And by the way, why did you tell him I was on a date with Josh? You know I’m done with him.”

Lizzy shrugged and gave me a sneaky little smile. “I had to get him moving,” she said casually. “I wanted him to rescue you, so I told him I thought you and Josh were going on a date. So did he?”

“Did he what?”

She rolled her eyes. “Rescue you!”

I couldn’t help but smile. “He punched Josh right in the face,” I said with a grin. “Normally I wouldn’t condone violence, but Josh tried to grab me. It was pretty awesome when Jay defended me. Josh didn’t even try to fight him. I think he just knew that Jay would win.”

“Jay would win against almost anyone,” Lizzy said with a grin. She looked at her watch and then groaned. “Shit, I have to get going to meet my friends,” she mumbled. “Will you be around later?”

I bit my lip. “I think Jay is taking me to the Peak District,” I said. “He even knew that it was from Pride & Prejudice. Isn’t that adorable?”

Lizzy laughed. “You are so in love with him,” she said, sticking her tongue out. “I still can’t believe you’re dating a footballer!”

“I don’t know exactly what we’re doing,” I said. “I mean, we’ve never talked about it. He said he hasn’t been seeing anyone else since we met, and he’s so good to me, but on the other hand….I live halfway across the world.”

Lizzy raised her eyebrows. “Come on, Kate, you sound like one of the clueless women who watch your show,” she said. “You know he’s into you. Just trust your gut and go with it.”

When I didn’t respond, she ran across the kitchen and threw her arms around me. “You should spend your last night here with Jay. So I’ll say goodbye now,” she said into my hair. “I’ll miss you. But you’ll come back, right?”

I bit my lip as she broke away. “I want to,” I said slowly. “But I don’t know if I can anytime soon. I mean, if they want me to stay and work on the show….”

Lizzy gave me a serious look. “You’ll make the right choice, Kate,” she said. “I trust you will.”

My stomach churned as Lizzy let herself out the front door with a cheerful wave. Even though her good mood had been infectious, I found myself feeling a little down again as soon as she left. My stuff was all over the apartment, and half of it was at Jay’s. It looked like I’d been here for months, not mere weeks, and I didn’t want to go home, but I felt like I didn’t have a choice. After all, three weeks was enough time for a sabbatical. Now it was time to return to Real Life, to get things back on track and settled and keep them that way.

I changed into boyfriend jeans and a fitted white blouse with espadrilles and a bandanna around my neck. Don’t think about leaving, I ordered myself. Just have fun with Jay. Thinking about him made my body start pulsing with desire, and I wondered how tonight was going to go. Sex with Jay was alternately fun and breathtaking, and I didn’t know if he would ravish me until I couldn’t breathe or exhaust me tonight. I shivered thinking about it. Smiling to myself, I walked back into the bedroom and changed my lingerie to a matching set of pink and blue lace.