Page 43 of Mr. Romantic (Mister 2)

“Nolan,” she says, taking a step towards me.

“Stop,” I say. “And answer my question. Did you graduate Brown with an MBA?”

She shakes her head, her face nothing but a frown.

I glance at Claudette and find a satisfied look on her face, her arms crossed over her chest, her chin tipped up in smugness, like she’s so very proud that she caught Ivy in this lie. And she doesn’t even know about the other lie yet.

Two lies. Two. I don’t put up with lies. Not even one lie. So the fact that Ivy Rockwell tricked me into taking her virginity and lied on her résumé… well, I can’t.

“I think you need to leave, Ivy. It was nice meeting you.”

Ivy sighs, then nods her head, walks across the bungalow, and out the door.

I look back at Claudette.

“I knew there was something weird about her, Nolan. I told her to stay away from you.”

“Yeah,” I say, angry with her too. “You told her I was dangerous. Just what the fuck, Claudette? Why the hell would you say something like that?”

“I’m not the bad guy here, Nolan. I told her to stay away from you for your protection. And it’s clear I was right. She was lying to get close to you, don’t you see it?”

I can see it, that’s the part I hate so much. Ivy wanted me for something, but she didn’t want me.

She wanted to tell her friends that she tricked the infamous Mr. Romantic into taking her virginity. She wanted me to believe she was something she’s not. She played with me, from the moment she stepped off the jet, right up until the moment she left my room.

I fucked her.

I can’t even think about what it felt like for her last night. I can’t even think about how she will probably twist this story. I can’t even think about seeing my face on the news again.

I don’t fuck virgins for a reason. I don’t want to be careful and I don’t want to be someone’s trophy. I don’t want to be a story that gets told over and over.

“You slept with her,” Claudette says. “Didn’t you?”

I nod, but I don’t look at her. I just go back to my bed and start ripping off the sheets before Claudette—

“Is that blood?”

Fuck.

“Nolan, please tell me you didn’t get rough with her. We don’t need any more shame brought on our family name because of you.”

“Of course not,” I snarl. And I didn’t. It was definitely rough by virgin standards, but I’m not someone who likes sexual blood play. “And fuck you for even thinking that.”

“Then why are you changing the sheets? Why is there blood—Oh, good God. She wasn’t a virgin. Was she?”

“Yup,” I say. “She was. But she isn’t now.”

“I cannot believe that sneaky little bitch.”

I sigh. Because I can’t either. I never saw it coming. I saw exactly what she wanted me to see. An innocent college grad looking for her first big opportunity.

Well, she got more out of this than I did, that’s for sure. So even if she’s not the business-school prodigy I thought she was, she’s damn cunning. She got me.

“I’m calling the pilot right now,” Claudette says. “She’s out of here. Xavier,” Claudette says into her phone. “I need the jet fueled and ready to take Miss Rockwell back to Rhode Island immediately.”

“That’s probably the best idea,” I say, balling up the sheets and tossing them into the corner for the maids to take care of. I sit back down on the mattress and hang my head in my hands, scrubbing them up and down my face for a few seconds.

I’m disappointed.