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“You don’t get it. Ryan doesn’t do love. He was never ever going to settle down, not after—”
“Baby?” Ryan’s deep voice floats into Gina’s bedroom, cutting through our conversation.
“In here!” I call out, a little too quickly. “Just finishing up.” I spin the chair around to face the mirror. “Take a look.”
Her reaction is genuine, pure delight. “Oh my God, this is incredible. Stella, you have magic hands!”
“Right?” I smile. “Although your skin is beautiful, it made my work easy.”
Ryan pokes his head in. Satisfied he’s safe to proceed, he enters the closet.
“Is it time to go down?” I ask him.
Gina’s eyes widen as if suddenly remembering. “Oh crap, we didn’t even get to the Fairchild dynasty gossip.”
“Don’t worry,” I say, “Ryan actually gave me a pretty good run down on everyone.”
“Did you at least get to gossip about Harriet?” Ryan questions and I cut my gaze sharply to him. He’s just blurted out what might have taken another few weeks to work myself up to telling Gina about.
“What?” Ryan sees my apprehension. “Baby, Gina’s a kickass lawyer. She and her friends will throw some weight and legalese around, thump their chests and scare the shit out of those people. Before they know what’s up, they’ll be handing the kid over to you.” He says more to rile Gina up than anything.
“Oh wow. Thank you, Ryan. We really love being compared to apes.”
“That’s a high compliment, and you know it. Anyway, if you’re all set here, Gina,” Ryan’s tone becomes more teasing, and his eyes twinkle with a hint of an inside joke. “There’s someone’s here for you.”
The resigned look on Gina’s face says it all. “Don’t tell me–”
“Yep, Chad is here.” He nods at Gina in quick succession like a puppet, and I can’t help laughing. To me, Ryan says, “I do believe trysts under the bushes are in store for tonight.”
“Oh, shut up. I don’t like the guy.” Gina complains.
“Good, he’s asking to see you. Go and show how much you don’t like him.”
“Seriously, he puts me to sleep.”
“And isn’t that’s how it all begins?” Ryan returns.
Gina tries and fails to repress a chuckle. “You’re so annoying, Ryan.”
“Hmm, sounds like there’s a lot to unpack there, girl.” I probe, curious despite myself.
She rolls her eyes, a clear sign there’s more to the story. “There’s nothing to unpack. At all.”
Ryan guffaws. “Just go. I have a wife to attend to.”
She huffs, but I see her trying not to hurry. Was that why she wanted help with her makeup?
“Stella, how about I swing by BodyLift next week, and then we can see what we’ve got?” Gina’s question is casual, but I know she means to talk about Harriet.
“Sounds good,” I manage, still reeling from the sudden detour our conversation took.
Gina manages gives me a quick hug before stomping away, not even bothering to change from her furry flip-flops. It doesn’t matter; she’s dressed in a simple but floor-length sheath dress that hugs her curves in the right places.
Once Gina’s gone, I blurt, “What was that about, in the library with your dad?”
Ryan’s demeanor shifts. The playful façade falls away, leaving something more somber behind. “Just a business partner who wanted to congratulate me in private.”
Why would he request a private audience instead of attending the party like everyone else?
