The Paid Bridesmaid(72)

“I can do that,” he promised.

“Great. I’ll check in with the front desk and see if a ring’s been turned in. I’ll also ask the concierge to keep an eye out for it.”

Camden nodded and I glanced at Dan. His face was pointed down, so I kissed Camden quickly. His face lit up with delight at my small gesture. At me making the first move. I told him, “I have to go. I’ll see you later. Let me know how things turn out. We’ll figure something out if it doesn’t turn up.”

I had to hurry. I had to stop in the lobby and talk to the concierge and then get back to have my hair and makeup done. If I didn’t get back soon my absence was going to be noticed. I said a small prayer that they’d find the ring and hoped that this was the worst thing that would happen today.

If I’d only known.





CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX


I sneaked into Sadie’s villa and was glad to see that Mary-Ellen’s face had continued to improve. Krista was getting her hair done and patted the seat next to her so that I could wait my turn. Sadie was with the makeup artist and everybody seemed calm, which was what I was going for.

Getting ready for a wedding was a bit like what I imagined a theater actor went through—putting on costumes, getting their hair and makeup done, going out to a beautiful set/backdrop, standing up in front of an audience to put on a show that was going to make them laugh and cry and cheer.

“You have Camden face,” Krista told me.

“What?” My thoughts had been in such a different place that I wasn’t even sure what she meant.

“There’s this expression you get when you’ve just seen Camden.”

“That’s not true,” I disagreed.

“It is. And you did see him.” When I didn’t argue back she grinned, sitting up straighter in her chair. “What’s going on? I want all the details.”

I was supposed to be her boss. Setting the example. Not breaking the rules. I didn’t have many rules for my employees, but this was one of the big ones. It made me feel like such a hypocrite that I not only had fallen for a wedding guest but also was now actively looking for a way that we could be together.

But I thought it would be so nice to talk to someone who had all the information and who would have my best interests at heart. I glanced up at her hairstylist, but she had earbuds in, so I figured it was safe to talk.

“Okay, there is something I want to tell you.”

“This isn’t going to involve the location of a body, is it? Camden’s still alive somewhere out there, right?”

“It’s not like that. I like him.”

I expected some kind of reaction from her, but her expression didn’t change. “Oh. Sorry. Imagine that this is me making a performative gasp.”

“What?”

“It means I’m not surprised.”

Oh yeah? I could fix that. “I made out with him. Multiple times.”

Now she looked utterly delighted. “Seriously? I wish I was drinking something so that I could do the spit take this moment so obviously deserves. Oh, I am one hundred percent behind this. I’m going to be so supportive of you two that I’ll be like your own personal Spanx.”

“I can’t let anything happen. He doesn’t know about . . .” I let my voice trail off as I looked around the room, making sure that nobody was paying any attention to us. “He doesn’t know about what we do.”

“So?”

“He has this thing about lying. A big lie wrecked his knee and his Olympic future. His dad had qualified for the Olympics when he was younger and Camden wanted to honor him by—” Realizing that I was about to go on and on, I stopped myself. “He’s going to feel betrayed.”

“Shouldn’t you let him decide how he’s going to feel? You don’t get to preemptively decide how people will react before you even give them the chance.”

I shook my head. I had done that before in my life—given people the benefit of the doubt, and it had screwed up everything. I hadn’t done that in years. I predicted how people around me were going to behave and then acted accordingly. I saved myself a lot of heartache that way.

Before I could argue my viewpoint with her, she added, “You always want to control everything, including relationships. That’s not how this stuff works.”

“This isn’t a control issue. And maybe it’s not just about him,” I admitted. “Maybe I don’t want to see the look in his eyes when he finds out. I was going to ask Sadie if she could tell him. According to Gerald, there’s nothing in the contract that prevents her from telling the truth.”

Krista gasped and reached for both of my hands. “That is so great! That’s the answer to everything! Sadie can tell him and then you won’t see the disappointment and he’ll get over it and declare his undying love for you and you guys will live happily ever after!”

“Isn’t that kind of the cowardly thing to do? Letting Sadie take the brunt of it?”

“The cowardly thing is to walk away from the first guy you’ve had feelings for since I’ve known you.”

It was scary to take a chance again. Part of me didn’t want to. It would be easier to just go back to my quiet, ordered life.

I pictured Camden’s face and realized that giving up like that would also be much sadder. I resolved to talk to Sadie when she was alone. Which, given the way so many people were fussing over her, might not be for a while.