Page 31

I went into Austin’s living area and turned on the holo.

“Computer, show me the press conference from Glacial Palace Resort.”

The 3-D image popped in front of me. Nicole looked as perfect as ever as she stood on the podium with a smile.

“Yes, we immediately took the AI offline and thoroughly checked for any code that didn’t belong. It’s clean. We also thoroughly checked for unapproved tech. Also clean.” She pointed at someone in the audience.

“The vid that went viral of Austin Cooper doing that free fall stunt with the hover disks? Was that an accident or a separate stunt?” asked one of the journalists.

Nicole motioned for Austin to step forward from the shadows, and I instantly recognized his fake smile as lights flashed around him in the frenzy of bots that flew around his head. He waved.

“That was a rehearsed stunt I talked the contest winner, Rosalind Sanchez, into doing with me.” He chuckled, and the reporters laughed with him.

My face burned. Why was he lying? Had Nicole talked him into that to try to distract from the real issues? It had to be her, leveraging her theory about us being saboteurs against him, so he had no choice.

“How is Ms. Sanchez?” someone asked.

“I’m making sure she has the time of her life. And I never do things half-assed.” Austin winked at the cameras.

He fucking winked.

Before I knew what I was doing, I’d stood up in the center of the holo and stalked toward him like I could actually reach out and slap him.

“Where is she?” a familiar voice asked. I spun around, searching for the source and then remembered it was the same voice that asked me to find out—

“I want to ask if she knows yet whether you have boxers or tighty-whities.”

That one.

Austin shook his head, blushing and grinning like an idiot. “Let’s just say I don’t think she paid much attention to what I was wearing last I saw her.”

Starting to hyperventilate, I shouted at the holo to pause. Then I tried to get control of my runaway brain because it wanted to march down there and find Austin so I could murder him.

“It’s all an act,” I said out loud. But I wasn’t very convincing, especially after being intimate with him. Still, he had some sort of sponsorship he depended on them for, he’d said. I supposed it wasn’t like he’d given any details.

Pretending I wasn’t hurt but having evened out my breathing, I said, “Continue holo.”

I crossed my arms over my chest like armor as I watched Austin waggle his eyebrows and point to someone else in the crowd.

“Where is the contest winner?” someone asked.

“Trying to stay calm,” I answered.

“She and I had a…busy night.” Austin paused for a bout of laughter as my heart stopped.

“Helping her study?” some idiot journalist commented with a snort.

“Studying physiology,” Austin said and winked again.

“Computer, shut off holo.”

Tears burned my eyes as I stomped to my own room. I was in no mood to see another moment. No wonder he hadn’t woken me early enough to get ready to join him. It was one thing to bend the truth to make the resort look good, but that stuff about me was completely unnecessary. It was my reputation being smeared, and now all over the world people thought of me as some sort of starstruck slut who couldn’t string a sentence together. Nicole might appreciate the distraction, but this was my life we were talking about. I thought I’d meant something more than a one-night stand to Austin. But what did I really know about his intentions?

At the very least, I’d never imagined he would embarrass me on television.

I stormed into my suite, and Cora looked up from the sofa. I thanked the Fates she was dressed and alone.

“If there’s anyone else in here they have to the count of three to get the fuck out,” I announced.