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If it were me, I would’ve picked a fight by now. Which was exactly why Eileen suited him better.
“I hear the food is divine.” She set her glass down, the picture ofpatience. “It would be such a waste to give up the reservation. Plus, doesn’t your friend Romeo co-own the place? I’m sure he wouldn’t appreciate you wasting a two-person table.”
My heart lodged in my throat as I waited for his answer.
Selfishly, I wanted him to stay home. To turn his back on her.
In fact, for one outlandish moment, I wanted to yell, “I’m better for you. Why won’t you choose me?”
Instead, I said nothing, my entire body rigid in the silence.
“Fine.” He checked his wristwatch. “We’ll go.”
I closed my eyes, inhaling a ragged breath.
“Great.” Eileen dumped her wine in the sink. “I’ll call your driver and put on something sexy. It’ll be a good idea to draw attention. Show people we’re a power couple. This could be great for our careers.”
Her heels tap-tapped on the hardwood, moving in my direction. I bolted up the stairs to my room, closing the door behind me. Eileen’s voice flooded inside from the hall.
“…taking me to dinner now.” She sighed into her phone, like she’d just come back from a five-mile run. “I had to work my magic, but I made it happen.”
Silence.
Then, she groaned, giggling. “I know. I cannot wait to ride this man. He’s so grumpy and hot. He’s defrosting, though. You should have seen him when we went venue hunting. Not a single woman managed to rip her gaze off of him. Once I show him how good I am in the sack, it’s game over for this brainiac.”
Sharp, rusty claws clung to my throat. I couldn’t take it anymore. Her words should have rung warning bells, but I couldn’t see past the constant reminder that he’d soon become someone else’s.
Eileen slipped into her room, leaving a trail of laughter and perfume behind her. I kept my ears to the door, listening as she exited again, whistling to herself.
Her heels pounded down the steps.
The whole time, Zach didn’t come to my room to check on me.
He didn’t even text me.
An hour after Zach and Eileen left, I stood at the doorway of his mansion, clad in a metallic minidress Dallas told me she’d left here last summer.
“Are you sure this is the right way to deal with my raging jealousy?” I clutched on to her designer purse, my phone glued to my ear, waiting for my Uber. “Because I thought sexting with a stranger would do the job.”
“Positive.” Dallas munched on something crunchy on the other line. “Trust me, I’m a relationship engineer.”
“That’s not a thing.”
“Zach is just letting his mother play at his heartstrings.” Dallas ignored my skepticism. “It’s you that he wants.”
“But Eileen’s good for him.” The sarcasm dripping from me could’ve cured a drought. “She’s the rational choice.”
The more I thought about it, the more of a train wreck I knew it would be. A marriage between the two would be like holding an Addicts Anonymous meeting in a pharmacy.
How could two people with the same phobia cure each other?
“Ain’t nothing rational about love, babe.” Dallas giggled her church-bells laugh. “I’m a Fackery stan.”
“Fackery is a terrible shipping name.” I winced. “Too close to fuckery.”
“How about Zarrow?”
“No.” I shivered in the tiny dress, already regretting this night before it started. “I told you—Zach and I aren’t even an option.”
