Lie, Lie Again(81)

“Not a lot. I just imagine all the conversations we could have. He’s just there to audition, and then he leaves.”

Riki relaxed a little. Of course Brandon isn’t hitting on women at his auditions. He wouldn’t hurt Embry that way. A wobbly new feeling tried to force its way to the surface, but she couldn’t pin it down. She flashed a conciliatory smile at Evelyn. “To be honest, the first time I met him, my mouth went so dry, I could hardly talk. But now I can sit and have tea with him and his wife at his kitchen table while he’s shirtless and holding his baby. Talk about the sexiest thing you’ve ever seen.” Whoa. Maybe she shouldn’t have said so much, but she wanted to prove to Evelyn that she knew him best and that he was married. It was stupid and immature—she knew that. But to be fair, she’d had more wine than usual. Alcohol had a way of talking for her. Kind of like Chris, a little voice said.

He was suddenly standing behind them with three plates, passing one to each girl. “Sexiest thing you’ve ever seen? My ears are burning.” He kissed Riki on the temple.

Shannon laughed. “Nice try, champ. We weren’t talking about you.”

Riki’s face flamed red as a nervous laugh fell from Chris’s mouth. “What?”

Shannon winked at Riki, clearly unaware of the tension that was piled on the table in front of them.

Chris’s jaw tightened. “Who were you talking about?”

“Evelyn was telling us about a part her boss is casting. We were just discussing actors.” She gave Shannon a warning look, hoping she’d know to drop it.

He forced a laugh. “Who’s your idea of the sexiest actor alive?” He touched a hand to his chin and thrust his hip. “Noah Centineo? People say I look like him.”

Riki held in a smirk. He looked nothing like Noah Centineo, well, except that they both had dark hair and dark eyes.

“Ha! Good try. Her neighbor,” Evelyn said.

Riki flinched. She scrambled to come up with something funny to say to fix things, but Chris fired a response before she could.

“Great,” he snapped. “I’m getting a beer.”

“Oops. I didn’t know he’s so sensitive. Sorry.”

“He’ll be fine. He gets weird about Brandon. His wife, Embry, too, for that matter. But whatever. It’s fine.”

She walked to the kitchen, wishing she could concentrate hard enough to transport herself back to her own apartment. Chris was being a jerk. After pouring herself more wine, she fished her phone from her pocket. What the hell? She clicked on Brandon’s name.

Hey, I know it’s super late, but I thought you might still be up. I’m with my friend who told me about the pilot. She is so excited about you! I’ll fill you in more later.

She smiled and hit “Send.”



Embry woke with a start. The front door rattled, and she sat up slowly, rubbing a hand across her face. She’d fallen asleep on the couch. Brandon walked in, his movements gentle so as not to make noise. “It’s okay. I’m awake.”

“Hey, darlin’,” he said. “What are you doing up?”

“I was reading, and I fell asleep out here.” She rose from the sofa and leaned into him for a hug. “You feel nice,” she said softly.

He closed his arms around her and breathed in. “You feel even nicer. And you smell so good.”

“Anything’s better than a bar,” she joked.

“True that. But even in a rose garden, you’d smell the prettiest.” He kissed her forehead and smiled. “I’m gonna take a quick shower. And why don’t you go get into bed. It’s late.” They walked to the bedroom, hand in hand. He set his keys and phone on the nightstand and headed for the bathroom as she snuggled beneath the covers. As much as they had argued lately, things always seemed better under the haze of sleepiness and the quiet of the night. She would share her news soon, and everything would be okay. A buzzing sounded, and she rolled over, slightly annoyed but also curious. It was the sound of a text, but it wasn’t her phone. No one would text her this late at night, short of there being an emergency. Stealing a look at the closed bathroom door, she jolted to his side of the bed. His phone was faceup on the nightstand, and she could see the text was from Riki. Frowning, she read the bit she could see.

Hey, I know it’s super late, but I thought you might still be up . . .

There had to be a reasonable explanation for it. Another light bulb? Her face grew hot, and an uncomfortable feeling slid through her. She grabbed his phone and typed in his passcode. Nothing happened! Her heart raced as she entered the numbers again, typing carefully. It remained locked. Oh, this was bad! He’d changed his passcode and was getting texts from Riki in the wee hours now? She looked up. The bathroom door was still closed, and the shower was running.

Grabbing her own phone, she held it tight, her mind spinning back to the headshot in Riki’s purse and to him walking out her door.

She had to know. She wasn’t going to sit by and wait for something to happen. No way. She began typing.

Hey, I saw that you were trying to reach Brandon. Is everything okay?

Embry watched the screen, her heart thudding uncomfortably.

Hi, Embry! Yeah, everything is fine. It was probably dumb to text so late. Oops! I’m with a bunch of friends and one of them knows Brandon. I thought it was a funny coincidence. I’m out of town with my boyfriend until Sunday. I can tell him about it then! Hugs. :)