“Are you okay?” Radleigh asked.
Clearly my inner turmoil showed on my face.
“Yeah. I just don't want to be here today. If you thought Jamie reacted badly when you left, it was nothing compared to how he reacted when I had to go.”
“I can imagine. He really misses you, huh?”
“Leah!” I heard Bree’s voice, and turned to see her bounding towards me, followed by Freya.
Seeing my girls distracted me from my confused thoughts about Radleigh, and I smiled as they bundled me into a hug as if I’d been gone for years instead of days.
“Hi,” I said, hugging them back.
“We figured you’d be sad after leaving your peeps behind in Florida,” Bree said. “So I’m here to take your mind off it!”
“Aww, that’s sweet, but you do know I have to work now I’m here?”
“Yes, but first, a coffee break!”
As they began to drag me towards the restaurant, I paused for a second to glance back at Radleigh. There was an unreadable expression on his face but he smiled when I turned to him. I gave him a quick wave, then let my friends do what they intended to do.
The happiness of my break lasted precisely thirty minutes. On my way to the office to find out who my first patient of the day would be, I was stopped by Jesse and yanked back up the steps, and into the spa’s male changing rooms.
“Bloody hell, Jesse,” I said, catching my breath from the speed he’d dragged me up the two flights of stairs. “What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, his face serious. “But there’s something you need to see and I didn’t think you’d want to do it with too many people around.”
I’d never seen him so worried and my heart began to thud in my chest as he handed me his mobile phone. My eyes widened in shock. I hadn’t expected to be presented with a text message from Taylor. The body of the message read, “You still think your precious Leah is so innocent?” Underneath was a black and white photo of me and Radleigh. It had been taken early that morning, when Radleigh handed me my gift. The shot was snapped from a sideways angle and whoever took it had obviously taken full advantage of their zoom lens because both of our expressions could be seen clearly.
If anyone who didn't know better saw the photograph, they would think something was going on between us. For the briefest moment, a look had passed between Radleigh and I. We looked like … a couple.
There was a link to a website underneath the photo. I didn’t want to see, but I clicked anyway to find out exactly what I was dealing with. It took me to a soccer fan site, and listed on the main page were the top ten topics people were discussing in the site’s forum. One of the headings read, “McCoy's mystery woman.” I clicked again, and found the same photo had been posted as the introduction to the topic, along with a photo of us hugging. Underneath, it said, “Who do you think she is? Secret girlfriend or quick fling? Post your thoughts here.”
As I read on, some of the replies were shocking. Some wished him luck, some said I was ‘obviously’ a one night stand, and several said I looked like a whore and was probably using him. With each response I felt worse and worse.
“I’m sorry,” Jesse said again, and my head snapped up in surprise. I was so freaked out I’d forgotten he was there.
“Where did she find this stuff?” I asked, my hands shaking.
He shrugged. “I guess she did some kind of internet search for McCoy and this came up.”
“You don’t think … I mean, she couldn’t have taken these herself, right? This happened this morning. In Florida.”
Jesse’s eyebrows knitted in confusion. “Wait, that’s why he was late this morning? Because he was with you in Florida?”
“He wasn’t with me. Well, obviously he was with me, but not in the way these pictures make it look.”
“Man, what is it with that guy?”
If the situation hadn’t been so serious I’d have laughed at his expression. Seemed like every woman he knew had a link to McCoy in some way.
“Jesse. Focus.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think Taylor took them but she won’t waste any time making sure people see them. Even if she doesn’t, the photos will be all over the news tomorrow.”
He was right. Those photos had been published on the fan site several hours ago, and with the speed of social media, they had probably found their way to several news sites already.
“Oh hell.”