Shayne pulled out his phone. “I saw it on TMZ, like, yesterday. You’re dating Serena Vox.”
“You told me you barely knew Serena Vox!” Marley said. “You lied to me, sabotaged my job, and…”
Nikhil put his hands up in surrender. This was going too far. Even if Nalini wasn’t listening at the door, he had no doubt his whole family was hearing this. Even Mom all the way upstairs. “Can we back up a bit… I have no idea what’s going on.”
“Yeah, me neither,” Shayne said. “Are you sleeping with both my best friend and my only ever female crush? Because if so…damn.”
Nikhil frowned, then looked at Marley. “Shayne should really sign an NDA.” Marley looked like she was going to growl at him, so Nikhil decided to drop it. “Okay,” he said, “one at a time.Wheredid you see that I’m dating Serena?”
“TMZ.” Shayne held his phone in front of Nikhil. Nikhil took it, and sure enough, it was a picture of him and Serena in LA weeks ago when they’d met with the publicity team there. He was saying something in the picture, and Serena was holding on to his arm, laughing. They didn’t necessarily look like a couple in the shot, but they did look close. Could this be what the publicists meant when they said it was time to release the pictures? He skimmed the article. It wasn’t confirmation, but rather speculation that Serena was already dating her new co-star in the next Ironis film.
“It’s for publicity,” Nikhil said. “They released pictures of us to improve my image.”
Marley frowned. “It says that you’re dating.”
He shook his head. “We’re not. It’s just celebrity gossip… I can’t really control that. Honestly, I barely know her.”
Marley’s expression was… cold. “It doesn’t matter anyway,” she said. “Last night was a one-night thing. It meant nothing.”
That statement felt like a stab in his chest, but he tried not to let that show on his face. Friends with a benefit… one night only. He had agreed to that. But ithadmeant something. To him, at least. “Okay, why do you think I’m trying to sabotage your job?”
Marley sighed. Then she told Nikhil about a meeting she’d had with her boss who told her that he’d insisted the studio contract her for six months as his exclusive stylist.
“What? I didn’t do that!”
“Do you have any idea what your team does on your behalf?” Shayne asked, disappointed.
“I’m just telling you what my boss told me,” Marley said. “Apparently you and the studio were so happy with my styling for Comicon and the junket that you insisted I keep working with you. They want me to go on a press tour with you, select all your looks, and coordinate with the store to get alterations and bespoke pieces made.”
“Bespoke?”
“Custom made for you,” Shayne clarified.
Nikhil cringed. He wasn’t at all surprised that the studio had made this deal without asking him. It was true that they—he and the studio—were all happy with Marley’s work. And he clearly needed a stylist. But they should have consulted him before asking for Marley.
“Jacqueline asked me to cancel my leave of absence,” Marley said. “She pretty much implied that I’d never move to personal shopping if I didn’t.”
“Fuck,” Nikhil said.
“If y’all are looking to do that again, I can make myself scarce,” Shayne said. Marley glared at him.
“I can’t style you, Nikhil,” she said.
“No, of course not,” Nikhil said quickly. “I’ll call Lydia and tell—”
“You don’t get it.” Marley sighed. “This is the opportunity of my career. If I don’t take it, I can kiss the personal shopping job I want goodbye.”
Shit. He knew she wanted that. “But can’t you… can you put off your leave? I mean, it’s only six weeks until the film starts shooting, and I won’t need a stylist then.”
Marley shook her head, then looked out the window. “I’m having surgery on Tuesday, Nikhil. Major surgery. I can’t put it off.”
“Oh shit,” Nikhil said. “Are you okay? What can I do to help? I can tell the studio you’re having surgery… They’ll understand.”
Marley turned back to him and gave him a glare. “I don’t want to tell them. I don’t want to tell anyone.”
“You can tell Nicky, though,” Shayne said. “He’s a friend.”
Nikhil frowned. Clearly there was more to this than a simple surgery. Was she sick? Ugh. He wanted to do something, but he didn’t know what. “How can I help? Can I get you books? Or… I can probably get screener copies of movies from the studio.”
