What I Did for Love (Wynette, Texas #5)(40)

The next day Aaron handed over the new issue of Flash. One of Mel Duffy’s balcony photos graced the cover along with blaring headlines:



The Marriage That Shocked the World!

Exclusive Photos of Skip and Scooter’s Honeymoon Bliss



In the picture, Bram held her in his arms, her gauzy white skirt draping his sleeves, the two of them gazing deeply into each other’s eyes. Her wedding photo with Lance had appeared on this same cover, but the genuine newlyweds hadn’t looked nearly as love-dazzled as these phony ones.

She should have felt good. There were no pity headlines, only rapturous copy.

Georgie York’s fans were stunned by her shocking Las Vegas elopement with former Skip and Scooter costar, bad boy Bramwell Shepard. “They’ve been secretly dating for months,” Georgie’s BFF April Robillard Patriot said. “They’re delirious with happiness, and we’re all overjoyed.”



Georgie sent a silent thank-you April’s way and skimmed the rest of the article.

…publicist dismisses stories of a bitter feud between the Skip and Scooter costars. “They were never enemies. Bram cleaned up his act a long time ago.”



What a lie.

Friends say the couple has a lot in common…



Other than mutual hatred, Georgie couldn’t think of a thing, and she tossed the magazine aside.

With nothing productive to do, she wandered into the living room and picked some dead leaves off the lemon tree. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bram go into the kitchen, probably for a refill. She didn’t want him to think she was deliberately avoiding him, even though she was, so she pulled her cell from her pocket and called him. “You won this house in a poker game, didn’t you? It explains so much.”

“Like?”

“Great decorating, beautiful landscaping, books with words and not just pictures. But, never mind…Skip and Scooter need to make another public appearance today. How about a coffee run?”

“Okay with me.” He wandered into the dining room, his phone cupped to his ear. He wore jeans and a vintage Nirvana T-shirt. “Why are you calling me as opposed to talking to me directly?”

She switched her own phone to the other ear. “I’ve decided we communicate better from a distance.”

“Since when? Oh, I remember. Since two nights ago when I kissed you on the beach.” He leaned against the doorframe and eye-smoldered her. “I can tell by the way you’ve been looking at me. I turn you on, and that scares the hell out of you.”

“You’re gorgeous, and I can be something of a slut, so how could I help myself?” She cradled the phone closer to her ear. “Fortunately, your personality totally cancels out the effect. The reason I’m calling you—”

“Instead of walking across the room and talking to me face-to-face…”

“—is because this is a business relationship, and—”

“Since when is a marriage a business relationship?”

That made her mad, and she flipped her phone shut. “Since you conned me into paying you fifty thousand dollars a month.”

“Good point.” He pocketed his own phone and wandered toward her. “I hear the Loser didn’t give you a penny in the divorce.”

Georgie could have gotten millions in guilt money from Lance, but for what? She hadn’t wanted his money. She’d wanted him. “Who needs more money? Oops…You do.”

“I have some calls to make,” he said. “Give me half an hour.” He reached into the pocket of his jeans. “One more thing…” He pitched a ring box toward her. “I bought it for a hundred bucks on eBay. You’ve got to admit, it looks like the real thing.”

She flipped open the box and saw a three-carat cushion-cut diamond. “Wow. A fake diamond to go with a fake husband. Works for me.” She slipped it on.

“That’s a bigger stone than the ring you got from the Loser, the cheap bastard.”

“Except his was real.”

“Like his wedding vows?”

Some self-delusional part of her still wanted to believe the best of the man who’d left her, but she suppressed the urge to leap to Lance’s defense. “I’ll treasure it always,” she drawled as she slipped past him and went upstairs.

She consulted April’s three-ring binder and chose cotton poplin pants and a ruched, moss green top with small puffy sleeves. She added Tory Burch ballet flats but bypassed the three-thousand-dollar designer purse April recommended. Fans didn’t realize those obscenely expensive purses their favorite celebrities carted around so carelessly were freebies, and Georgie had gotten fed up with being part of the conspiracy to make ordinary women overspend on an “it” bag that would be replaced by another “it” bag before their credit cards came due. Instead, she dug out a funky fabric purse Sasha had given her last year.

She did her hair, fixed her makeup, and had to choke back her resentment when she went downstairs and saw Bram standing in the foyer wearing exactly the same jeans and Nirvana T-shirt he’d had on earlier. As far as she could see, he hadn’t done one thing to get ready for the photographers, and even more aggravating, he hadn’t needed to do anything. His beard stubble was as photo worthy as his crisp, rumpled hair. Another sign of Hollywood’s conspiracy against its female celebrities.