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He chuckled.
“You’re all finished,” I said. “Do you want me to style it too?”
“I’m going to take a shower, so don’t feel like you have to stay.”
I checked the time. My bath and takeout were the only things waiting for me, and it was literally my job to make Rhett look good—mmm, no, not good. Presentable. He needed no help looking good. I unsnapped the cape and brushed loose hair from his neck and shoulders. “I can wait. I have nowhere to be.”
“I’ll be in and out in five,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck while he went toward the bedroom.
I called downstairs for a broom to sweep the mess, and I should have asked for ice to cool my overheated cheeks.
The cleaners hadn’t even arrived by the time Rhett returned from the shower, which was a testament to how fast he’d been. He came back into the kitchen area with a clean T-shirt and shorts, and I directed him to a different chair so he wouldn’t sit in the hair that hadn’t been swept up yet.
I dried his hair, styling it for the event. It didn’t look bad, if I did say so myself. It was the right amount of texture to look like a refresh, but not like he’d just had it cut.
“How many celebrities will be there tonight?”
“None that I know of, besides me and Karina. Most of the people who attend these fundraisers are locals, but my cousin’s boyfriend runs in some pretty high circles.”
“Your life is unreal,” I said, coming around to face him and fixing his hair in the front. I felt his gaze warm on my face.
“You should come with me.”
Ha! As if I could just join his date and it wouldn’t be weird at all. I stopped messing with his hair and put my hands in the air, twirling in my jeans and white tee. “I will certainly fit in like this.”
He smiled. “It’s not hard to get a dress at the last minute.”
My heart stuttered a little. Was the man for real? He was actually inviting me to a NYC elite fundraiser? He’d mentioned it yesterday, but I hadn’t taken it seriously. Right now, he looked completely sincere. “I thought Karina Bier was going.”
“She is.”
So I was correct initially, and he was inviting me to be a third wheel. That meant that this—whatever it was between us—wasn’t real. Not a real date.
“But I wouldn’t mind having a friend there too. Karina knows our arrangement isn’t real, but...” He made a face, as if he didn’t want to be ungentlemanly enough to say what he was really thinking, that despite whatever publicity agreement he made with Karina, he was certain she would read more into their relationship than he wanted her to.
“You want a buffer?”
“Yeah, that works. Let’s call it a buffer. Not for the cameras or anything, but to keep Karina’s feelings from becoming too involved.”
“I’m not sure it’s a good idea. This is actually how my best friend met her husband. She went to a charity gala with him to be a buffer between him and his ex-girlfriend.” I moved to the sink to wash the rest of the pomade from my hands. “You were there that night, actually.”
“Do you mean Liam Connell and his wife? Yeah, I think I was there.”
“And you still believe this is a good idea?”
“You’re threatening me with potentially falling in love?That’sthe downside to this arrangement?”
I grinned. “When you put it that way, there’s no reason I shouldn’t agree to come.”
“Don’t overthink it, Frenchy. I’m inviting you as a friend.”
My stomach swooped, then fell. I liked being counted as one of his friends. I wanted to be considered more than that too. But he wasn’t really free to ask me on a date, not when he was fake-dating Karina and half of America too.
He watched me earnestly, and I actively told myself not to pinch my arm. This was real life. I was being invited to an elite fundraiser inManhattan. “What time are you leaving? I need hair—makeup—agown—”
Rhett chuckled, and his shoulders relaxed a little. Had he been nervous to ask me?
“If you’re ready by eight, we can stop to pick up a gown on the way. Adalyn can call ahead and—”
