“And it’s the quote on the door to Jace’s store. But what the hell’s it supposed to mean?” Andre asked, plucking the card from Jace’s fingers and staring at it. “Now isn’t the time to be all cryptic. Why would she send us this?”
Jace looked up at Andre. “It’s not the exact quote, Dre.”
“What do you mean?”
He tapped the card, the little blank space in the last line. “It’s missing the ‘but.’”
THIRTY-THREE
Evan turned up the volume on her car radio and rolled down the windows, enjoying the bite in the late-autumn air. The drive out to The Ranch after working all day in her studio was a bit of a jaunt, but she was starting to enjoy the empty stretch of road and the decompression it provided at the end of the day.r: Roni Loren
And that flayed him. Made him want to chain her to his bed and spend the night convincing her otherwise. But he’d learned that love couldn’t be forced or commanded or even won. It was something that shouldn’t take convincing. It just was or wasn’t.
And for her, for now, it wasn’t. At least not fully.
So what could he do but let her leave?
Evan rose from the chair, her gaze on the floor. “I’m sorry, you’re right. You both deserve better than what I can give you right now.”
“Bella,” Andre protested when she headed toward the door.
Jace put a firm hand on Andre’s shoulder. “Let her go, Dre.”
Andre didn’t say anything else as they watched Evan walk away.
The front door shut behind her. She hadn’t looked back.
She’d let them go.
THIRTY-ONE
Today was the big day. Evan adjusted her dress for the umpteenth time and then touched the twist in her hair, making sure everything was still in place. Her heart was pounding so hard it could’ve substituted for the bass in a death metal song.
She’d never liked being in front of a crowd like this. One misstep or wrong line and it’d be splashed all over every gossip website. She’d rehearsed her part in her head, going over and over the words last night.
The man who’d been acting as her handler this morning stepped into her dressing area. “He’s ready for you, Ms. Kennedy.”
She nodded and took a deep breath, smoothing her dress once more. “Thanks, Eric.”
Eric smiled. “You look beautiful. No need to be nervous.”
Yeah, right. The biggest decision she’d ever made in her life, but no need to get the jitters. “Let’s do this.”
He took her arm and led her out of the room and into the hallway. She focused on breathing in and out and not tripping in the completely indulgent heels she’d gotten for the occasion.
Eric eased her around the last corner and into the main area. Daniel smiled at her when he caught sight of her. If he shared her nerves, he didn’t show it. His suit, hair, and expression were as nonplussed as ever. In that moment, she’d never loved him more. This was the right decision.
Eric guided her to the edge of the stage, adeptly keeping her out of the way of the bustling crew and the cameras. “As soon as Daniel welcomes the audience back from commercial, he’ll call you up.”
“Right. Got it.”
“Good luck.” He patted her shoulder and then put his headset back on.
They cued Daniel, and he gave a smile to the camera that was the perfect mix of welcome and reverence for what he was about to discuss. The audience, when this pilot premiered, was going to be eating out of his hand. Women and gay men everywhere were going to want to comfort him—the handsome relationship doctor who was going to announce the dissolution of his engagement on national television. The man who was going to wish the woman who was leaving him all the best and assure everyone that they would stay the closest of friends.
The execs who’d freaked when Evan’s affair had hit the news were now drooling like men at a titty bar over the chance to launch the show with Daniel as the ultimate sympathetic hero. The no-such-thing-as-bad-press cliché had proven golden.
And thank God for that because she’d realized when she’d left Jace and Andre’s apartment that even without them in her life, she couldn’t go on playing a role for Daniel. The last few months had been like biting that Garden of Eden apple. No amount of antidepressants or denial were going to let her “un-feel” what she’d experienced with Jace and Andre. They’d tattooed themselves onto her bones, shifted everything inside her to the point where she’d never again be satisfied with “good enough.”