Sasha knew better than to argue.
Pippa had arranged for the hair and makeup people to work in the Amore offices. Several hours later, she was peened and coiffed to perfection and ready to be draped on Thomas’s arm as the ultimate accessory.
As the car picked her up to be driven to the back alley to meet Thomas, Sasha wondered whether Thomas had really meant it when he said he would quit for her. She’d only had a taste of this world but she didn’t like it. As much as she enjoyed being made to look fabulous, she couldn’t help but feel hollow, as though her mind was going to waste. She needed to get back into work. She would go crazy if this was the backdrop to her and Thomas’s relationship.
As Sasha travelled along in the back of the car, she remembered all the missed calls and messages she hadn’t got round to replying to. She turned on her cell phone. There were hundreds of missed calls and texts from her friends and family. As she listened to the voicemails and read the messages, a terrible picture began to unfold...
The Amore photo shoot wasn’t just to show off the clothes Sasha was modelling. In fact, only one photo from the shoot appeared at all. The one of her and Thomas kissing in the pool.
And there, photoshopped on her hand, the exact same ring she was now wearing.
She and Thomas had apparently gotten engaged...
Chapter Eighteen
Thomas’s words from before echoed in Sasha’s mind. ‘In this world, you can trust no one. Do you understand me? No one.’
She was fuming as she got into the shared car.
“Sasha, you look stunning,” Thomas said.
But she turned her cold gaze on him. “You absolute bastard.”
The driver glanced in the rear-view mirror.
Thomas frowned. “What am I supposed to have done?”
“You went behind my back. You planned this whole thing with Pippa, didn’t you?”
“What are you talking about.”
“The engagement!”
Thomas looked sheepish. “Ah. That.”
“Yes. That. How could you do this to me?” The chilled Sasha she’d become on the island seemed to have disappeared completely.
“It was arranged ages ago. When I was angry. I didn’t… I didn’t think about how you would feel. You’d agreed to do what we asked and Pippa suggested an engagement to distract everyone’s attention and give them something else to write about. I just went along with it.”
“Did you even think about how this would make me look. With my mother? My friends? They think I’m a selfish bitch because of you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“How long was this planned for?”
“We arranged it while you were napping.”
“On the plane? Within the first hour of me agreeing to this?”
Thomas looked deeply ashamed. “Sasha, I’m sorry. But it’s too late now. The article’s out there.”
“Why didn’t you pull it? When we started getting close, why didn’t you put a stop to it?”
“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.
The award show was long and arduous and Sasha began to feel an overwhelming sense of relief that she wasn’t going to be a part of this world once the evening was over. Chris had been right when he’d called her shallow. She’d got swept away with all the glamour but it was essentially meaningless. Thomas Lloyd could satisfy her body but not her mind, not her ambition. She’d let him pull her away from the only thing that had ever mattered to her - her career.
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br /> Just then, the presenter announced the category Thomas was nominated for. The camera’s panned to their table and Sasha was careful to give him her adoring, supportive gaze. To no one’s surprise, Thomas won the award. Sasha watched him go to the stage to collect the gold statue. As he went, she felt her phone vibrate. It was a message from Pippa. It said simply, ‘Jackpot.’
Sasha grabbed her wine and downed the rest of the glass. She poured herself another.
Thomas returned to the table. “Right. We’ve done our bit. Shall we get out of this place?”
Sasha brought her lips up to her glass. “But I’m starting to have fun,” she said sarcastically.
Thomas leaned over. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough to drink?”
Sasha gave him a look. “I don’t know, darling. It’s probably up to you to tell me. No, no, actually it’s up to Pippa, isn’t it? Shall I call her and ask whether it will damage your public image if I have another glass?”
She’d expected Thomas to snipe back at her. Instead, he smirked. “I’d forgotten how much I loved that bad bitch side of you.”
Sasha glowered as her loins betrayed her. “Don’t you fucking start.”
Thomas wiggled his eyebrows. “Why don’t you tell me off.” Then he lowered his voice. “Intern.”
Sasha inhaled. She knew what he was doing. He was making sure she wouldn’t leave him. He was drugging her with his sexual prowess, making it impossible to resist him.
“What do you want, Thomas? One last fuck?”
“One last fuck for luck.” He smiled. “When’s your plane back to America?”
“7 a.m.”
“How many orgasms do you think I can give you between now and then?”
He didn’t need to say any more. The two left the award ceremony and headed back to their hotel. One last fuck for luck...
Chapter Twenty
They fumbled with one another’s clothes. Something about knowing this would be the last time made it all the more arousing. But they weren’t here for loving sex, not this time. The loving part had flown at the window when Thomas went behind Sasha’s back. This was about pure sensation.
In many ways, it felt like the first time they’d ever had sex. Sasha told Thomas exactly what to do, where to touch, when to lick and how. She wanted as much from Thomas Lloyd as she could get, as many orgasms as he could give her. He seemed to relish the challenge.
They were two orgasms in when there was a knock at the door.
Sasha let her head drop between her arms. “Absolutely fucking typical.”
Thomas pulled out of her and wrapped a nightgown around his body. He went to the door and looked through the peephole. “It’s Pippa.”
“Tell her I’m not playing her game anymore,” Sasha said.
But Thomas ignored her request. He opened the door to Pippa.
She strode right in, her heels clacking against the floor. Sasha’s nakedness didn’t seem to faze her one bit. She crossed her arms and glared at Sasha.
“What?” Sasha said. “Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?”
“I hear you’re dropping us. Leaving us in the lurch.”
“How did you find that out?” Sasha replied, coolly. She wasn’t going to rise to any more of this bullshit.
“Because you booked a fucking plane ticket in your own fucking name,” Pippa cried.
Sasha stared her down. “Yes. I’m leaving. And it’s because of you. Because of your stupid engagement stunt.”
“My stupid engagement stunt was to save your arse, darling.”
“Really? And how’s that?”
Pippa was furious. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and held it up to Sasha. “Because of this.”
Sasha took the phone and glanced at the internet page on display. It was Chris.
“He’s selling his story,” Pippa said. “Everyone’s fascinated by this small town girl who landed Thomas Lloyd and Chris is prepared to tell them everything. About your romance. Your ambitions. Your short comings. Your supposed abandonment of your family and transformation into a fame hungry whore.”
“No,” Sasha gasped. “Chris would… he would never do that.”
“Well, he did and he has. He’s going to tell them about how you cheated on Thomas with him. You’re about to become a reviled woman. So, the way I look at it, you’re still in the game. My game. And that means a visit to the great British countryside, cucumber sandwiches and Aunt Mabel and it means me cancelling your flight home.”
“You can’t do that.”
“I already have.”
“I thought you were my friend, Pippa,” Sasha said. “And now you’re bribing me? You’re… you’re a bitch!”
“Thank you. That’s about the highest compliment someone like you could give someone like me. I’m a bitch who owns you. I hope you realize that you’re nothing without me.”
Sasha folded her arms. She wasn’t about to be manipulated into something she didn’t want to be a part of. And the best way to fight fire, was with fire…
“You think I’m nothing? What about everything I know? Isn’t that worth something? Because it wouldn’t it be pretty disastrous to your PR business if this whole thing got out. If people realized this was all a big charade.”
“This thing won’t get out.”
“It will if I call up Kelly right now. She’d just love to hear my side of the story.”
Pippa laughed. “A fall-proof plan, Sasha. Except for this…” She held up a piece of paper.
“What is that?” Sasha said frowning.
“It’s a gagging order.”
“A what?”
“A legally binding contract between one Miss Sasha Jones and my client, Mr. Thomas Lloyd, explaining that you agree to not discuss the details of your relationship with my client with any third party persons.”
“I didn’t sign that.”
“I’m afraid you did.” She showed the signed document to Sasha. There at the bottom, were both her and Thomas’s signatures, witnessed and signed off by Pippa herself.
“But how…?” Sasha said. Then she remembered the paper’s she’d been asked to sign for the Amore deal. Pippa must have slipped this document amongst them. “You tricked me.”
Thomas was fuming. “You tricked both of us.”
“Oh quit your wining, Thomas. You pay me to put your career first. I knew we couldn’t trust your flighty little skank girlfriend so I made sure we didn’t have to worry about it.”
Thomas pulled himself up to his full height. “Pippa, you’re fired.”
“What?” the English woman said, spitting out the word like it tasted bad. “You can’t fire me.”
“I sign your paychecks. That makes me your boss. So yes, I can fire you. You’re fired.”
Pippa raised a thin eyebrow. “If I were you, Thomas, I’d think very, very hard about what you’re doing.”
“I know what I’m doing,” Thomas said between his teeth. “What I’m doing is getting your toxic bullshit out of my life.”
Pippa stared at him for a moment. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyers,” she said, folding up the document and slipping it into her folder. “And good luck with this… whatever this thing is you’re doing. I give you a few weeks at most.” She stomped to the door and out of sight.
Sasha looked at Thomas. “You didn’t have to do that on my behalf.”
“Yes, I did. I’m sick of the games and the lies. I don’t want this to be a charade. I don’t want to lose you.” He turned and paced away. “I’m quitting.”
Sasha stood there stunned. “What? Thomas, you can’t…”
“I can. And I will. You’re more important to me, Sasha. I should never have gone behind your back like that. I should have been honest. It’s just…” he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand “It’s just that trust thing again. That paranoia. I didn’t think I could trust you because I thought you’d done something with Chris, so I didn’t treat you right. Can you forgive me?”
/>
Sasha’s stomach plummeted. If they were ever going to make this work, she had to be honest. She had to tell Thomas about Chris. He was quitting acting for her. They couldn’t start a relationship together on a lie.
“Thomas, I need to tell you something.”
Thomas frowned. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Sit down.” She led him to the bed and they sat together on it. “It’s about Chris.”
Thomas’s face went pale. “You did sleep with him.”
She shook her head. “No. But we kissed. It was a moment of weakness. I thought we were over. I thought you’d leaked the sex tape and…”
Thomas cut her off. “You lied.”
There was no come back. “Yes.”
“You lied.”
“I know. Can we just wipe the slate clean and start afresh. Living that crazy life before made us do stupid things. But with you quitting acting we can be normal again. We can do things the right way.”
But Thomas wasn’t listening. He looked stunned. He stood slowly. “You made me believe I was crazy for doubting you.”
“Thomas, please…” Sasha began.
“This was all a disaster,” he said, hypnotically. “From start to finish. I should never have pursued you. This… this was all a huge mistake.”
He strode to the door. Sasha leapt up and grabbed his hand before he opened it. “Thomas, it’s not over. Not like this. We work together. It’s the rest of the world that’s driving us apart.”
Thomas shook his head. “Not this time, Sasha. This time you did it all on your own.”
Chapter Twenty One
Sasha left the hotel and headed for her small apartment. She’d lost Thomas. After everything they’d been through, it was really over.
Her apartment was cold. It felt unloved. She closed the curtains and curled up on the sofa.
She had hundreds of calls and texts she needed to answer, but right now, she had to see what the media were saying. She couldn’t help it. It felt like a compulsion. All the time she’d been with Thomas, she’d felt protected, like it didn’t matter what the world thought of her. But now he was gone she had to know.
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