Page 68 of Manhattan Bossholes

Before long, showtime.

Maya emerged from the make-up corner and sashayed across the studio to where Rodrigo was already waiting on set. I turned to watch Piper’s face as Maya got closer and was relieved to discover that she was damn good at faking a total lack of reaction. No one else would have a clue Maya had been a raging bitch to Piper just a few weeks ago.

Wardrobe for the shoot was minimal since both Maya and Rodrigo were supposed to look nude in photo. Maya was wearing black leggings and a tiny peach bandeau that barely covered her breasts, but all I wanted to stare at was Piper in her jeans and button-down.

She clapped her hands to get everyone to focus on her. “Hey team, we need to get going now. Everyone off the set but Maya and Rodrigo, please.”

I loved how the woman could take charge.

The crew scurried to their places, and the models got into position, with Rodrigo standing on a crate so he’d be a few inches taller than Maya, and her looking up at him in profile.

“Ready to go?” Piper asked them warmly.

“Always,” Maya replied, locked onto Rodrigo like she wanted to eat him alive.

They shot for a solid hour, and I was relieved that the trio worked beautifully together. I could see exactly how Piper’s vision was going to come to life once the raw image was edited.

“Let’s take a hard ten,” Piper finally said. “We can all use a break.”

It was the perfect time for me to disappear, but before I could make it down the hall to the elevator, I heard Maya calling my name.

Damn it.

I turned around slowly to find Maya slipping a silk robe over her shoulders as she headed toward me. Instead of tying it, she left it wide open, deliberately displaying her nearly naked breasts.

“Vincent,” she pouted. “You’re not staying to watch? Are you jealous of Rodrigo?”

Oh, yes, deeply threatened. I sighed. “Maya, I’m thrilled you have chemistry with him. It’ll be great for the ad.”

“I knew you’d find a way to get me back here at Summit,” she purred. “You need me!”

I bit my tongue to keep from saying something that would piss her off, like how right now, the only thing I really needed was for my life to be Maya-free again. “Summit is very happy to have you back for this stand-alone campaign.” I stressed the word so she wouldn’t get any ideas.

“I was shocked to see you arrive with your little friend behind the lens. The two of you are honestly still together? I still can’t believe she’s enough for you.”

And there it was.

I should’ve known better than to think we’d get through this without a swipe at Piper. Maya’s jealousy was a finely tuned art form, right up there with her ability to weaponize silk robes. I took a deep breath, silently counting to ten.

Piper’s enough to run circles around you any day of the week, I thought. But instead of saying that out loud and lighting another fire, I forced a tight smile and pretended like my frustration wasn’t building to a boiling point.

“Maya, let’s just⁠—”

“Look at her, then look at me.” Maya traced her hand down her body, skimming her fingers along her breast. “You clearly traded down.” She giggled.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“I’d say that’s a matter of opinion,” I said. In my opinion, Maya on her best day couldn’t even begin to measure up to Piper, but saying that directly wouldn’t accomplish anything. “Let’s not have this conversation,” I concluded as I backed away.

“That’s fine, but when you’re ready to upgrade again, give me a call. We were good together.”

I barked out a laugh. “You know that’s not true. We were a goddamn car crash.”

My accidental word choice reminded me of Piper. Sometimes car crashes led to good things. Maya, however, was more like the kind of accident that leaves a fifty-car pileup and a trail of wreckage across multiple counties.

“And you’ve been trashing me in the media every chance you get since we broke up,” I continued. “What kind of idiot would I look like if I got back together with someone who treats me like that?”

“Oh, come on. You know the public loves a reunion story.” She took a step closer to me. I instinctively took another step back. “I can already picture how it could play out. We stage telephoto shots of us running into each other in Central Park. So unexpected! So adorable! That’ll get people talking, like, are they trying again? Then we do more shots of us having coffee together a few days later. Nothing too intimate yet, just us figuring out what went wrong between us. Then we could do some of us walking my dog, laughing and holding hands.”