Frayed (Torn #2)(51)

“Why would you want to compare yourself to them? You’re your own kind of beauty. I see it, I appreciate it and I love experiencing it. Never underestimate yourself, my perfect little vixen.”

Taylor had the key to my head, and he sure was screwing with it. For the longest time, tonight, I was incandescently happy because he made me feel like the only woman in the world that mattered. Not only that, but I felt like the most beautiful woman. In Taylor’s eyes, I was, and that was enough.

We had just finished an excellent meal and were enjoying our wine as we waited for our dessert to arrive when Taylor asked me a significant question. “What are you thinking about? You’re in deep thought.”

“I’m not too sure you would want to know, actually.” My thoughts were kind of my kryptonite, sadly.

He studied me a moment, considering where this conversation could lead to, before carefully responding to me. “I do want to know, if you care to enlighten me.”

“I was thinking how different it is when you’re not seeing a married man.” I gave him a sad smile, before returning my gaze back to the sea. “Harry was married to my cousin. I was his mistress.”

Taylor’s eyes didn’t leave my face. I could see my words sinking in to that pretty face of his. When the waiter brought out our dessert, I graciously thanked him, but no words came out of Taylor’s mouth. “It’s true. Now, I’m not so pretty anymore, huh?” That was only the half of it. I could only imagine what he would think of me once he found out the other truth.

“That explains a lot of the bitterness, but not its entirety. It sure as hell explains a lot. With your cousin’s husband though, Trista? Isn’t that a—”

“Bitchy move? Yes, it was. Not that Becka wasn’t a bitch in her own right , but I didn’t care. I wanted to be with him. My stupidity sure ended up making me pay, though. Trust me, karma didn’t ask for an even exchange, but a full f*uking refund. I’ve learned the hard way.”

“I’m not really a fan of cheating, but I believe you when you tell me that you’ve learned from your experience. I hope that someday you are able to make wiser decisions. I understand that some things can’t be helped, but there are other things that we can prevent from happening. Sometimes being selfless is good for the soul,” Taylor said thoughtfully. Selfless, when it came to Harry, I was not.

For the rest of the night, Taylor didn’t bring up the subject of Harry and our affair. It seemed that the man was content with whatever information I had already shared. I appreciated that he gave me time to be comfortable sharing such shameful facts about my past with him instead of pushing for every last detail.

What I was truly grateful for was that he wasn’t repulsed by what I had said. He never once passed judgment about my reckless and frivolous actions. People and society aren’t as forgiving, but it pleased me to know that Taylor reserved his judgment, at least for now.





Chapter 20


Trista


A fter a week and a half after of our arrival in Greece, the main cast s of the movie our actor friends were being interviewed. I couldn’t be any more excited about it. The other side of the island was transformed into a nice setting for the Behind-The-Scenes interview. Lindsey, Taylor and I were standing behind one of the screens that showed Emma, Bass and Dimitris with a beautiful lady named Jill, who was the interviewer. We all had headphones on as we watched the whole thing with a front row pass.

Jill started with the bright star of the film, of course. “Bass Cole, how are you doing today? I’m thinking the Greek sun is agreeing with you, huh? I’m pretty sure America will think so, too.” She was grinning like a lapdog at Bass, eyeing him like he was the most delicious treat in the world.

My eyes glanced at Emma, but she was calm and looked like she was enjoying herself. Was she really?

Bass merely shrugged at that comment before he gave a little laugh. “I’m doing well, Jill. I concur, the Greek sun has been more than agreeable. It’s been fantastic, I love it here.”

Jill’s face lit-up as she looked at him through her lashes, a flirty look in her eyes. “Blasphemous is gaining a lot of publicity due to its content. What made you sign up for a movie that’s so different from your usual endeavors? I heard this movie’s very steamy and graphically raw. Is there any truth to that?”

Bass gave her a winning smile. “Graphically raw, I like that. Yeah, the movie is definitely raw and steamy. I’ve always wanted to make a movie with Martin and, after reading the script, I knew this film was something I wanted to be in and that’s mainly because it is different from all the other ones I’ve made. It’s more dramatic, allowing me the opportunity to show a wide range of emotion that you don’t see in my other films. You could just say that I gave my heart and soul to it, I suppose.”

“The way you described it makes me want to see the movie all the more. Do you two agree with what Bass said?” Jill directed her attention to Dimitris and Emma.

Dimitris chose to respond first. “The movie does need a lot of emotion, be it anger, passion, hate or love. I think this movie as a whole is about passion. I don’t think Martin could’ve done a better job than selecting Emma as the lead. This woman lights up on screen.” He directed his smiling face at Emma.

Emma was biting her lip, blushing and laughing. “It’s not that hard to light up.” She laughed again. “These men are great actors. I’m new to this, but both have been very generous to help out if I needed to make a certain scene better.”