by Molly Harper, Stephanie Haefner, Liora Blake, Gabra Zackman, Andrea Laurence, Colette Auclair
As soon as the camera flashed, he glanced toward the hair, confirming his nightmare. Oh fuck. And his bitch of a fiancée felt it necessary to bring not only her parents, but his as well.
As the women walked away from him, he locked eyes with Alexiana, devilish grin painted on her face. She was going to enjoy watching his life crumble around him.
“What the hell is this?” Oliver’s father bellowed above the party music and charged toward him. He pushed through the line of women, all giving him evil looks. “What do you think you are doing?”
“Can we talk about this later?”
“We sure as hell cannot! Tell me right now why you’re standing here practically naked.” He looked around the shop, to the toy displays, then back to Oliver. “This is disgusting.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. We’ll discuss this later.”
“I will not stand here and watch my son act like some deranged Chippendale.”
“Then leave.”
Alexiana’s father stepped next to Oliver’s father. “What the hell is your son doing?”
“I wish to God I knew.” He shook his head.
Bryn stepped into the middle of the commotion. “What’s going on here?”
Alexiana’s mother put her two cents in. “I’ll tell you what’s going on. My daughter’s fiancé is parading around like some male prostitute.”
Bryn’s eyes went wide, her mouth gaped. Oliver didn’t even want to think about Mia or where she was at the moment. She wasn’t front and center, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t heard every damn word.
“Well, he’s not her fiancé any longer,” Mr. Ryland interjected. “I refuse to allow my daughter to marry such a repulsive excuse for a man.”
As the three parents continued their tyrannical raid on Oliver, he found Alexiana in the crowd watching him with a vicious smirk on her face. She was getting what she wanted. He was embarrassed and the engagement had ended on her terms. Which meant his reputation would be completely obliterated in the eyes of his father. And her parents. And soon the entire social circle in which they were a part of. She’d look like the injured party, he the despicable cad. He didn’t care about his reputation, but why couldn’t they have ended this amicably like he’d wanted?
Because Alexiana’s a selfish bitch, that’s why.
“And forget about ever seeing your child,” Mr. Ryland screamed. “My lawyer will make sure you never spend a minute with that baby.”
And then Alexiana’s evil smile flipped. The waterworks started and she fought to speak. “I’m not . . . The other night . . . We got in a huge fight. I . . . We lost the baby.” She flung herself into her father’s arms, sobbing.
Come on! Quite a convenient time for a miscarriage. Was anybody believing this act? Oliver looked around, and apparently they were. At least now his suspicions were confirmed. She’d never even been pregnant.
It was then Oliver looked to his mother. He’d been avoiding her gaze, unable to face her or the embarrassment this was causing. Her porcelain skin looked paler than normal.
Ignoring the shouting men and blubbering ex-fiancée, he rushed past them to his mother’s side. “Are you okay?”
“Some water, maybe?”
He reached for a nearby chair and made her sit. Bryn handed him a bottle of water and he unscrewed the cap and handed it over. He watched her take a long sip, eyes moistened with what he’d figured were tears.
Bryn stepped to him. “You need to get these people out of here.”
“I know.” He met her gaze. “I’m sorry.”
She walked away and grabbed a tray of cupcakes, trying to get the attention off the spectacle.
Oliver turned his attention back to his mother. Her breathing was shallow.
Sad eyes bore into him. “I don’t understand why you’re doing this.”
“I’m helping a friend, Mama.”
She nodded as she sipped again, a feeling of eeriness washing over him. He knew every set of eyes in the store was on him, but all of a sudden it felt different. He looked up, and standing behind them was Mia. If he thought Alexiana had perfected the glacial stare, she had nothing on Mia.
MIA HAD been cashing out a customer when she’d noticed a commotion near the guys. Her first thought had been that some woman had drunk too much champagne and had gotten a little too frisky. As customers stepped out of line to ogle the drama, she’d followed, but quickly realized it was not a drunken woman causing the excitement. There had been men yelling at Oliver. A woman, too. She’d stepped closer to find out what was wrong.
She’d watched the scene unravel, frozen in place. Oliver . . . engaged? Mia thought maybe she had heard the screeching woman wrong. But no. She’d repeated it, over and over and over. Or maybe it had just reverberated in Mia’s head. And she was pregnant, too?
Bryn did damage control, working her motherly magic as she’d calmed the hysterical woman and the two men who had been also yelling at Oliver. She’d handed over a bottle of water as Oliver knelt in front of another woman, graying hair smoothed into a French twist.
What the fuck is going on? He’d lied to her. Again. And so much worse than before. How had she let herself believe his first set of lies were all there were? And that they were kind of romantic, as Penny had put it. She should have known better. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me again, well, then I’m just a stupid idiot. And that’s exactly how Oliver had made her feel. So. Fucking. Stupid.
He looked up at her and she gave him the evilest look she could muster. Roast in hell, asshole.
Just then, the glittering blonde—his fiancée—walked up to him, black trails of tears down her cheeks. “That was fun.”
Huh? This was all so confusing. But in the end, it didn’t even matter.
Oliver looked to his fiancée then back at Mia. The woman’s gaze followed his and she gave Mia a smug look of satisfaction. Hold it. She looked familiar. Mia had definitely waited on her just a few days ago.
One of the men stepped to them and helped the frail woman up from her chair and led her out of the store. The other couple ushered the blonde away from the crowd.
Mia was left dumbfounded, unable to process any of what had happened. But then Penny turned up the volume on the stereo and started a conga line through the shop, weaving around displays. Bryn picked up filled champagne flutes and handed them out. The line re-formed for Logan, but Oliver had yet to retake his place. She needed to get out of there, collect her sanity.
But before Mia could escape, a hand touched her arm. “I’m so sorry about that.”
A bevy of emotion swirled through her gut. Anger, confusion, sadness. Which one to go with first? “The commotion, or the fiancée you never told me about?”
Pure outrage would work. She jerked away from Oliver’s touch.
The corners of his luscious lips fell. “Both.”
“So you’re admitting it? You’re getting married?”
“Not anymore. But yes, I was engaged.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Her body ignited and her eyes narrowed. “I knew you were too good to be true. You’re just like all the rest. Selfish asshole! I’d been searching to find something wrong with you, but it never occurred to me to consider the worst male behavior out there—cheating.” She shook her head at him as tears began to fall. “I never thought you’d be one of those.”
Mia turned, weaving through the crowd toward her office.
Oliver reached for her. “Mia, wait. Please.”
But before she could speak, if there had even been a chance of that, Bryn had Oliver by the arm, the menacing voice she only used when her kids were beating each other up. “Let go of her and get back to work.”
He retook his spot without a word, and Mia dashed off before she broke into tears right there in the shop. Slamming the door of her office, she flopped against it, sobs erupting as she slid toward the floor.
This was why she was still single. Men were assholes. Pigs. Scum that lived on the
assholes of pigs. She should have known there was more. That little lie about his name had just been the tip of the iceberg. He had a whole freaking life behind that name, one that included a fiancée.
So, so stupid.
A knock came at the door. Mia had no desire to talk to anyone, but she couldn’t leave her two friends to run this shindig without her. If she still wanted them as friends, anyway. And she’d need their friendship more than ever.
She stood and wiped her tears with the backs of her hands, then opened the door.
“Hey, are you okay?” Bryn asked and reached her arms around Mia for a hug.
“I’ll survive.” She pulled away. “How’s the party? That scene didn’t scare people away, did it?”
“No, if anything, it seemed to generate more excitement. Penny’s been going nuts on the register.”
“Oh, good. I better get out there and help.”
“You’re a mess. I came to tell you to go home.”
Mia shook her head. “No. I’m fine. We’ll get through the rest of today, fire his ass, and continue like it never happened.”
“I don’t think that’s an option.”
“Are you insane? This guy lied. Again. We don’t want him working for us.”
“Well, as much as I agree with you that he’s a total asshole, we kinda need him. There’s a crazy line waiting to meet him.”
“Too bad. We’ll find someone else. The women don’t have to know it’s technically not his dick in the box.”
“His photo is on the box, Mi.”
“Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. Either way, he has to go. I can’t work with him anymore.”
“I think you gotta. He’s under contract, remember?”
Damn it. “Fine. But he better stay the hell away from me.”
TWO HOURS later, an hour past closing, Mia cashed out the last customer. She’d gone back on the register after her meltdown. It was the best place for her—she could stay away from Oliver and it left her no time to think about what had happened.
Bryn locked the door and breathed out, “Thank God,” as she flipped off the neon Open sign.
“Thanks, guys,” she said as she turned toward Logan and Oliver. “You can get dressed and go home.”
Bryn joined Penny in the giant cleanup effort as Mia started closing out the register for the night. The guys headed in back, and a few minutes later, Oliver approached the front counter fully dressed.
“Do you need help with that?” he asked Mia.
“Nope,” she said, refusing to look up.
He stood there as she counted the cash, needing to stop and start over with the twenties. His presence distracted her. Him just standing there made her temperature rise, and not in a good way like it used to.
“How’d we do?”
“Fine.”
Mia tried to ignore him and moved on to the tens, fives, and ones. She printed out the final credit card totals for the day and logged in the cash amounts. Overall, it looked like the party had been a huge success.
She shut down the computer and headed toward her office with the cash. Oliver was at her heels.
“I know you’re upset, but can we still go to dinner? So I can explain?”
She spun so fast she must have scared him. He looked a bit terrified. “Explain? How the hell do you explain away a fiancée? And a baby?”
“We were engaged, yes, but I was trying to—”
“Stop. I don’t want to hear it. Whatever you say from now on is complete bullshit to me. Every word from your lips is a lie.” She turned and continued to her office.
“Mia, please!”
She slammed the door in his face, thankful her tears waited until then to erupt. Outside she heard Bryn tell Oliver to leave.
A moment later, “He’s gone, Mi. Can I come in?”
Mia opened the door and once again let her best friend take her in her arms, only this time, she didn’t hold back her sobs. “Why am I so stupid?”
“You’re not stupid. He had us all fooled.” Bryn pulled away and smoothed Mia’s hair.
“But you weren’t the one falling for him.” She stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest. “God, I was such an idiot to think this guy was any different from every other jerk out there. They’re all liars and cheats.”
Mia grabbed a tissue and wiped her tears for the last time. She refused to cry anymore. This wasn’t the end of the world. Finding out Oliver was a pathological liar was not the worst thing that could happen. She would wash her hands of him and be done.
But damn it, how would she do that when she still had feelings for him?
Lesson learned: even nice guys could be jerks. It’d be a long time before she trusted any man again, if ever.
CHAPTER Twenty
On his way home, Oliver called his parents’ house.
“Let me speak to my mother, please,” he said when the maid answered the phone.
“She’s resting.”
He thought of demanding to speak with her, to make sure she was okay, but he couldn’t bring himself to disturb her. “Okay. Please have her call me later.”
“I can’t do that.”
“What? Why?”
“I’ve been given strict orders. Please don’t call again.”
Before he could say anything else, the line went dead. Great. His father had forbidden the staff from letting him talk to his mother.
Oliver drove to the condo and arrived to find a moving van in front of the building. He didn’t even need to question it. When he reached his door, it was propped open and men in jumpsuits toted out boxes. From inside he heard the screech of Alexiana’s mother barking out orders.
Oliver walked inside. Man they were fast. The place was near empty. Fine by him. Most of the décor had been furnished by Alexiana or her mother, and it was all tacky as hell.
He strolled to the kitchen and pulled a beer from the fridge. After opening it, he headed toward the living room, receiving an eye roll from Mrs. Ryland as he passed. He sat on the couch, reaching for the remote control, and flipped on the TV.
“Look at this jerk,” Mr. Ryland said. “Relaxing like he’s done nothing wrong.”
“I haven’t,” Oliver countered, knowing he should keep his mouth shut. “I told Alexiana that I didn’t love her and I wanted to cancel the wedding.”
“That in no way excuses what you did. What kind of man parades around like that? Like some slut? Not a real man, that’s for sure.”
“I have my reasons and I don’t regret one second of it.”
“Well, I hope you’re happy now. You’ve destroyed your reputation.”
Oliver stared at the screen, channels flipping by. He’d never liked any of those society snobs anyway. He only cared about Mia and what she thought of him.
And right now, she hated him. Oliver’s gut twisted, pain radiating as his brain flashed him a picture of her face during all the commotion—the anger and confusion. The pain in her eyes when she’d spewed her last words at him before slamming her office door in his face. She’d called him a liar, and she was right. Again. He didn’t deserve her. He deserved to be alone and miserable.
Oliver set his beer bottle on the table. Another sip and he’d puke for sure. He went to the bedroom. Alexiana was there, carefully placing her jewels in velvet-lined traveling boxes.
“So, how’s it feel to get what you want?” she asked.
“This isn’t what I wanted.”
“Yes it is. You’re rid of me.”
“I wanted to end this civilly. You didn’t need to go to that extreme.”
“Sure I did. If we’d broken up mutually, no one would know what a horrible person you are. Now they hate you and feel sorry for me. And they think you killed our baby.”
He shook his head. “I knew you were faking. But even after all the threats you made, I never expected you to drag my mother into it the way you did. That was low, even for you. You had to know that was wrong.”
Alexiana shrugged. “She needed t
o know what kind of a son she has.”
“It wasn’t for you to decide. I should have told her what I was doing. I could have told her gently instead of forcing her to be a part of that spectacle.”
She closed the case and locked it, her eyes refusing to meet his. “You had plenty of chances. But oh well. It’s over now.”
She was right about one thing. It was all over. In a few short moments Alexiana would be gone and out of his life. Mia—he didn’t want that to be over. But it was. Oliver ran his hands through his hair and dug his fingers into his scalp, willing the headache away.
Alexiana picked up her jewelry case and wheeled a small suitcase from the room. Oliver dropped to the bed and closed his eyes. Sounds from the condo echoed into the bedroom, but began to fade. Soon they were gone completely.
OLIVER WOKE the next morning, sunlight streaming in through his window, still in his jeans and tee. The room was mostly empty. All traces that a woman had ever lived there were gone. And he didn’t care one bit. A new day, a new life.
He sat up and stretched, then headed out of the room. He took in the bare walls and floor. Only his couch and flat screen were in the living room, all the artwork and rugs, gone. He headed into the kitchen to make some coffee. Nope. She’d taken the coffeemaker too. Wait. I bought that!
Whatever. A three-hundred-dollar coffeemaker was a small price to pay for getting rid of Alexiana.
Oliver sat at the breakfast bar—she’d actually left the stools. Looking over his condo, barren and lifeless, he’d decided this was just what he needed. His slate was clean, sort of, and he could start fresh. He could be the man he wanted to be, not who his father wanted him to be. He’d already disappointed the man as much as a son could, so now he could do whatever he wanted. Make himself happy, for once.
First on the agenda, make it up to his mother. She’s the only family member he cared about. Maybe he could make her understand. Tell her about Mia and her shop and how badly he’d wanted to help her. How special she was to him. How, in barely a month’s time, he’d felt more for her than he’d felt for Alexiana in several decades.
After that, he’d do everything in his power to make it up to Mia.