“He didn’t want anyone to see you?”
“Part of it. He didn’t want anyone to see us, together. I got that, I really did. I mean, I dated him just over a year and never told a single soul. Not any of you guys, not my parents, no one but my assistant.”
“Why?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it was because if I told everyone, something would jinx it. Or if the outside world penetrated our little bubble, it would be different. I was scared and stupid, and scared and stupid.”
“So you said.”
“He had to go back to California after New Year’s, but until he left, we had the most amazing time. He talked me into taking some time off, which of course, my boss allowed because, hello, I was fucking his son.”
“Bree,” I said with a giggle.
“I was. It wasn’t a secret with his family. His father and mother knew, as well as his sister and his brother. Anyway, he brought me up to this beautiful house on the ocean in Maine. We spent five days there, just the two of us. It was a little town, and no one knew who he was, so we were able to just be regular people. I’m pretty positive I fell head over heels in love with him that week. After he returned to California, he flew back to Boston a lot and we snuck around like two criminals.”
I sat up and turned to face her. “Why do you say that?”
“If he wanted to go to dinner, we had to meet there. He’d have a car leave his townhouse ahead of him, so the paparazzi would follow that one. Then he’d leave on his own and meet me wherever it was we’d planned. At first it was fun. Lord, it was fun. Just to be with him. He made me feel so alive. Then it got to be hard. The sneaking around wasn’t a big deal; I could do it. But one day it just kind of bugged me. I didn’t say anything to him at first because I thought it was what I wanted. I wanted our relationship out of the press. But this part deep inside of me kept second-guessing everything. Someone did snap a picture of us together once.”
“No!”
“Yes. They never did find out who I was, but we were more careful after that. I was so stupid, Arabella. I thought I could handle this big secret, but when I started to have to lie to my folks, and I wasn’t telling Willa or any of you guys, it started to weigh heavy. I’d been living in a bubble with Luke. All the private nights together, the meetings in discreet places. It was so romantic, and I honestly couldn’t even think of a single bad thing about being with him. Then reality hit—and hit hard.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“He asked me to go to this private function that a friend of his was throwing. Press would be there, but they were vetted or something like that, and he trusted that they wouldn’t print anything about us. I told him I couldn’t go because I had a huge trial I was working on the next week, and honestly, I was nervous. I just wanted one regular date before we went public, you know? No sneaking-around bullshit, no going to a function one of his actor friends was putting on. So that was one of the reasons I was reluctant to go. But I finally decided to go after staring at the invitation on my desk all day. I knew if I quickly got home and got changed, I would most likely be able to attend. I sent him a text saying I’d meet him there, since I had the invite. He didn’t reply, so I headed on over by myself.”
“What happened?” I asked, feeling like I was on the edge of my seat reading a good book.
“I showed up and saw him with another woman.”
I brought both of my hands up to my mouth. “Was it just a friend?”
She laughed bitterly. “Hardly. It was the woman he was filming a movie with at the time, or they were in the beginning stages of filming it. They’re filming it now, I do know that. He’d told me a bit about the cast of his new movie. I made the mistake of looking it up and found out it was a romantic comedy. And the lead actress was stunning. She lives in Boggy Creek Valley, crazily enough. Her name is Kathleen Daughtry.
“Anyway, I showed up in a taxi, and it had dropped me off a little ways away from the party. When I walked up, Luke was getting out of a limo with Kathleen. He had his arm around her, and she had hers around him. She kept reaching up and whispering into his ear as they walked into the event, making him laugh every so often. Apparently, the press on the outside wasn’t being paid to keep quiet, and the two of them made sure to put on a spectacular show. Except, I couldn’t tell if they were acting or not.”
“Maybe it was just all for press,” I said, trying to play devil’s advocate.
“That’s what I thought, until I made my way in and saw them still arm-in-arm, where supposedly the press was vetted. I stood off to the side for a little bit and watched. Kathleen kept her arm linked with Luke’s as they walked around the room. It was clear at that point they’d come together as a couple. Then they danced and…”
“And what?” I asked, gripping her arm and jerking her lightly. “What happened?”
Bree sat up and crossed her legs as she faced me. Tears built in her eyes, and my heart instantly broke. I had never seen her like this, so distraught.
Biting her lip, she tried to gather her composure before she went on. “I was in love with him, Arabella. So stupidly in love with him, I couldn’t see what life would be like dating someone like that. Was it an act? Maybe, but it was so hard to stand there and watch it. Then that ugly green jealous monster appeared, and I got so stupidly emotional.”
She closed her eyes and shook her head before she went on. “The way that woman looked at him gave me such a gross feeling. It was like she wanted to devour him right then and there. She ran her fingers through his hair, then reached up to kiss him. I turned away before I saw them kiss and ran right into a waiter.”
I gasped, eyes wide.
“No, I take that back. I ran into three waiters, who were all coming out of the kitchen carrying big-ass trays of hors d’oeuvres. One waiter stumbled back into a second one, and when I tried to help correct the second, I ran into the third. Their trays clattered to the ground, and everyone in the room looked over. I apologized to the waiters and quickly ran for the exit. Luke started to call after me, but I just ran as fast as I could. Once I got outside, I jumped into the first taxi I saw and cried all the way home.”
“Did he call you? Try to come over?”
“Both, but I sent him to voicemail and told my doorman I didn’t want him in the building. Then he showed up at my job, and it was kind of hard to tell the boss’ son to go fuck off.”
“What did he say?”
“He said there was nothing between them, that it was all an act, something they had to do to promote the movie. I asked if he’d gotten my text that said I’d be there, and said he didn’t get it until after he had seen me there. Then I asked what would have happened if I’d told him that I was going from the beginning. He said he would have shown up with her, made a few rounds of the room, and then met up with me.
“That was when I really, honest to God, realized I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stand by and watch the man I love pretend to be with another woman for appearances’ sake. Or worse yet, I didn’t want to watch him have pretend sex with another woman. Acting or not, it felt wrong. I’m not a jealous person by nature, but I know myself, Arabella…and I couldn’t do it. I thought I could until that night, seeing him with her. I mean, look at Brad and Angelina. Everyone thought Brad was madly in love with Jennifer, when in fact, he was having fake sex with Angelina and liked it better than the real sex with Jennifer.”