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Enzo jumped out of the SUV, and we waited a few seconds for him to let us out. Joan wasn’t coming to the actual event and didn’t look up when Ali hopped out first. I exhaled and followed suit and then Lyric joined us. People shouted my name, and flashes went off in my face. We hurried past the barricades into the venue, where a proper red carpet had been set up. I saw a few people I knew waiting their turn to pose for the photographers allowed inside. They were industry—models, Instagram influencers, and a few actors. There were a lot of air kisses and hugs and pouts as they grouped together for selfies.
None of them really cared about each other. The only thing they cared about was how will this person influence my reach? How many new fans will I snag if I pose with this dude?
This was my element, though, and I could do this all day long because I knew how to fake it better than anyone. Some folks might think that was pathetic. I thought it was a gift.
“You don’t have to do this,” I said to Lyric. “I can handle the carpet on my own.” I could tell she was anxious. Her color was high, and she kept tugging at the top of her dress.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Go with Enzo. Ali and I will be, like, twenty minutes.” I gave her a quick kiss and hug and watched until she disappeared inside.
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sp; “Okay. We’re up.” Ali nodded, typing away furiously on her phone, and I went into full Echo Mansfield mode. I posed, smiling a megawatt smile that had cost my dad way too much money, and made sure to show my best side. I ignored the questions about the status of my relationship with Aiden and kept smiling when people asked me where Harmony was. I ignored the asshole who asked if it was true that my father and Samantha Needles were involved. Though I whispered to Ali, who nudged one of the coordinators, and the photographer was escorted out. Ha.
That was what being a dick would get you.
It took about fifteen minutes to primp, pose, and smile. When I was done selling the event to the masses, one girl, one small, skinny girl, waved her hand to catch my attention. She looked like she was barely out of high school and was dressed in an oversized puffy red coat with a matching beanie on her head. Wide-frame glasses sat on her nose, and bright red gloss coated her lips. She wasn’t a photographer, so I assumed she was a reporter for some beat magazine.
I smiled at her—she was cute, after all—and she took a step closer, though security held her at a respectable distance.
“Echo, I love that you support animals,” she shouted.
My smile widened. “We have to look after our little furry friends. If we don’t, who will?”
She looked at a small notebook and cranked her head a bit. “You don’t own any animals, though, right?”
My smile faltered a bit, because I caught a gleam of something in her eyes. This girl wasn’t as innocent as she appeared.
“No. I’m super busy and don’t feel it’s in the interest of any fur baby to live with me at the moment.”
“Are you being paid to attend?”
“Excuse me?”
“I just mean that most of the folks supporting this event are pet owners.”
Okay. The little bitch was starting to irritate the hell out of me.
“No. I’m here supporting. I don’t think you need to own an animal to have compassion and love for them. I don’t need to own a pet to have their interests at heart.” I smiled sweetly. “What exactly is your interest in being here?”
I could see Ali shaking her head, more than a little nervous. I’d been known to blow my cool from time to time.
The girl in red held up her press packet. “I’m a reporter.”
“Then you should be reporting on the event and all the good it will do, not worrying yourself about the personal details of the lives of those of us who are here to support.”
“Oh, I am,” she replied quickly. “One more question?”
My smile was like concrete by this point, but there were too many people watching and listening and snapping photos for me to tell her exactly what I felt, which would be to fuck right off.
“Sure.”
“Is it true you and Boyd Appleton are hooking up?”
Here we go. This chick was good. She’d reeled me in with her innocent look and eager-to-please smile. But I was better. I took a few steps toward her, Ali following behind like a nervous mother hen.
“I’m not sure who I’m hooking up with or not hooking up with has anything to do with funding animals shelters so our little furry friends have a safe place to live until they’re adopted out. It’s about raising money, and I’m good at that.” I looked at the other reporters and photographers and smiled. “Am I right, guys?”
