“It was too late by then.”
“No it wasn’t. I pulled an article about you the day before going to print.”
Thomas swiped his hand through his hair. “Look, I’m sorry okay? I messed up. What do you want me to do? Grovel.”
Sasha narrowed her eyes. “I don’t have to go through with this,” she said, viciously. “I don’t have to go out there with you.”
“No. You don’t,” Thomas replied. “But if you don’t then there’s no turning back for either of us. If you come, we still have a future. If you don’t...”
“If I don’t we’re over? Because it would make you look bad? Ruin your public image? I thought I matter more to you than that.”
“That’s not what this is about,” Thomas said, sounding exasperated.
“Yes it is!” Sasha cried. “You’re expecting me to keep playing the happy couple after this?”
“I don’t want you to play it, Sasha. I want you to be it. Being your husband, I don’t think anything would make me happier.”
Sasha couldn’t get her head round what was happening. She shook her head, completely at a loss. “You mean you actually want to marry me? You actually want to be engaged?”
“Yes.”
Sasha was disgusted. “You didn’t even give me the ring! Pippa chose it!”
Thomas looked deflated. “Okay. If you want to go, then go.”
They’d arrived at the red carpet. Sasha looked out at the rows of awaiting paparazzi, ready to pounce on Thomas. It was his first public outing since the scandal.
He needed her. He needed her support.
Sasha took a deep breath.
“I’ll go with you,” she said. “This one time. But there’ll be no pub lunch with Aunty Mabel. No country excursions, cucumber sandwiches or meeting cousins. I’ll walk your stupid red carpet with you, but then I’m going back home to put my life back together. This whole thing was a mistake.”
Thomas’s expression was pained. “All of it?”
“All of it,” Sasha replied bluntly. “I’ll be on the first flight home tomorrow morning. Do you understand?”
Thomas worried his hands in his lap. Finally, with a long exhalation, he said, “If that’s what you want.”
Chapter Nineteen
The cameras flashed incessantly as they emerged from the car. Sasha played her role perfectly, though her hand in Thomas’s was limp and unresponsive. She pouted for the camera, gave him adoring gazes and laughed at his jokes. She didn’t squirm when he guided her along the red carpet with his hand on the small of his back. She shook hands with other celebrities and directors and made polite conversation with everyone Thomas introduced her to.
Whenever anyone asked a question about the engagement or asked to see the ring, Sasha politely declined, reminding the paps that she was there to support Thomas. But there was one question that threw her for six and made her facade slip.
“How do you feel about Crystal Carpenter checking out of rehab?”
Thomas squeezed Sasha’s hand, a warning for her not to react. But how could she not? After everything she had gone through, the idea that Crystal was back out and about was really the icing on the cake.
“We’re not here to comment on anything personal,” Thomas said diplomatically.
Inside the venue, Thomas disappeared and returned with a dashingly handsome gray haired man. “Peter, I’d like you to meet my partner, Sasha Jones. She’s hoping to become a journalist. Sasha, this is Peter Yorkson from the London Weekly.”
Peter shook her hand. “Sasha, I’d love to see some of your work sometime.” He handed her a business card. “Give me a call.”
Sasha smiled sweetly and stashed the card in her purse. When Thomas sat, she hissed in his ear, “What was that?”
“You wanted a job didn’t you?” Thomas replied, keeping his face as close to hers as possible. “To get your life back in order?”
Sasha pretended to giggle, as though he’d just told her a joke. “Do you not remember me telling you about how much I despise nepotism?” she said, smiling sweetly.
Thomas grinned back and spoke between his teeth. “It’s hardly nepotism if you bump into the guy, is it?”
Sasha let out a fake laugh. “When does this fucking show begin?”
Just then, the lights dimmed and music struck up. Laser beams flashed. Two presenters took to the stage - a man and woman who were famous in England but hadn’t made it big across the pond. That was one advantage to the whole thing, Sasha thought. There’s was no one for her to get star-struck over.