‘I love you too,’ I said, wiping the tears from his eyes with my thumbs.
‘Save it for the cameras,’ Murray said shortly. ‘We’re sure as shit not showing any footage from this conversation on the show. If either of you looks stilted, I’ll kill you.’
‘Also, don’t think you’re getting out of hiring me as your image consultant, Cece,’ Lily said. ‘A deal is a deal.’
‘I wouldn’t dare,’ I said. ‘I promise.’
‘You three will have to stay here another night,’ Murray said to the other women. ‘I don’t have time to do your exit interviews tonight. Blame these two.’
‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ Heather groaned.
‘Oh, shut up, racist,’ Lily said.
‘I’ve got to get back to the Villa,’ Murray said. ‘Kumiko’s already left, so I’m now short a lead forWherefore Art Thou Romeo?, and I’m going to be royally fucked if Dylan G doesn’t want the gig.’
‘Then you’re royally fucked,’ came a voice from the door. ‘I don’t want it.’
We all looked across to where Hero Nurse Dylan was silhouetted. I felt my Dylan tense beside me, his fingers clasped so tightly around mine it hurt.
But she wasn’t looking at him.
Five expressions crossed Amanda’s face in quick succession, overlapping and blending into each other. Shock. Concern. Confusion. Heartbreak.
Hope.
‘Dylan,’ she said, standing slowly. ‘You’re here.’
‘Mandie,’ Hero Nurse Dylan said. ‘Can I steal you for a second?’
Epilogue
‘This place iswild,’ Flick said, turning around in circles, her arms spread wide. ‘I’ve never seen so much space in all my life.’
‘Seriously, how rich is he?’ Ayo asked me. ‘I know he’s rich, Cece, but how rich? Does he have a brother? Or sister? I’d be fine with either.’
‘One of each,’ I replied, putting the guacamole on Dylan’s coffee table. ‘But they’re both married. To men. Sorry.’
‘Well, shit.’
‘You’re both listed as the beneficiaries in my will, though,’ I said. ‘So if the nation turns against us once we’re allowed to go public and we get assassinated, you’ll inherit.’
Ayo snorted. ‘Fuck, that’s dark, Cece.’
‘But that’s not going to happen, right?’ Flick said, opening the bag of corn chips and dipping one in the guac. ‘You filmed all those super mushy scenes. You said they wanted to tell asappy fairy-tale love story to make everyone feel all warm and gooey inside, even though the world is shit.’
‘That’s what they said,’ I replied, ‘but production was pretty mad at us, to say the least.’
‘The interview’s starting in thirty seconds,’ Dylan said, sticking his head out of the kitchen.
‘No problem,’ I replied. ‘We’ll be quiet.’
Flick rummaged in her handbag. ‘Look who I brought!’ she whispered, balancing a little cardboard cut-out of Z against a vase of flowers. ‘I thought he could watch over us for the premiere.’
‘Aww,’ I said. ‘It’s zigzag Z too! Ayo’s favourite!’
‘Is Z hot?’ Ayo asked. ‘You never really gave us the lowdown on whether Z is hot.’
‘I didn’t get to spend that much time with him,’ I said. ‘But if Dylan and I ever do get married, he’ll be officiating. It’s in the contract.’
