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“Really,” I growl. “You don’t have to sound so surprised. You’re gorgeous, Billie. You’re beautiful. And that kiss… I can’t stop thinking about it, about you.”
“Neither can I,” she murmurs. “But a date. What if dad sees us, or somebody who knows my dad? Heck, you’re so famous you’d get mobbed by paparazzi anywhere we went.”
“Then we’ll do it at my place. I’m not much of a cook, but we can order anything you like.”
“Would you tell Dad?”
“I never talk to your father anymore,” I say. “But I’d like to tell him if… if there’s a second date, a third, a fourth. Then yeah. I think he ought to know.”
“But you’re okay with keeping this one secret? I hate asking. But he was so pissed. I haven’t seen him like that in… well, ever, really.”
“We can keep this one between us,” I say, hating the words as they leave my mouth.
But what’s the alternative?
Tell Andy, blow up the best thing that ever happened to me before it’s had a chance to begin.
Goddamn.
Life’s become so messy so fast.
“How about tonight?” I ask.
“I’m working.” She sighs. “But I’m free tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow it is, then. I’ll send a car to pick you up around five?”
“Yeah, but… can you tell them to park around the corner, and to text me when they’re here?”
I squeeze down on the phone, gritting my teeth, wishing there was a way I could tell her no. We don’t need to skulk around. She’s going to gift me with a glorious family one day. We don’t have to hide.
But reality slaps me in the face.
We do have to hide, at least for now.
“Yes, Billie,” I say, already counting down the seconds until I can see her. “I’ll tell them.”
CHAPTER NINE
Billie
“Going anywhere nice?” Mom asks from my doorway.
I turn, feeling silly as my dress flutters around my knees. Clothes lay in piles all over the floor from my previous efforts.
I blush as she grins at me, walking into the room. “What, too cool to gossip with your boring old mom, huh?”
I smile and reach over, playfully punching her in the arm. “Number one, I’ll never be too cool for that. And number two… I guess I don’t want to put you in an awkward position.”
“Oh.” Her smile drops and she narrows her eyes. “Is it him?”
I nod, biting my lip, hoping mom doesn’t freak out. Maybe she agreed with me the other night because she didn’t want it to seem like they were both steamrolling over my wishes.
“Your father said you promised you wouldn’t,” she says.
“I know.” I sigh. “But what the heck was I supposed to say?”
“The truth.” Mom drops onto the edge of the bed, letting out a sigh of her own. “But then, you know, I’m not so sure. Your father is the best man I’ve ever known. He’s loyal and hardworking and loving. But when it comes to Aaron, it’s like this different part of him wakes up. Maybe it’s regret for how he left things. Maybe it’s because of his stepdad and how much he hates rich people. I don’t know.”
“So you don’t think I should tell him?”
She sits up, rubbing her hands together. “Maybe wait a little while. If this thing lasts, then you’ll have to tell him.”
“But if we crash and burn, we can pretend it never happened.”
“Yes,” Mom says flatly. “I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is.”
“Did you never think to tell me any of this when I walked around the apartment talking about Aaron all the time? It must’ve driven dad crazy.”
She smiles, her eyes getting that dreamy and faraway look I recognize from their wedding photos. “Your father was happy you were happy. Of course, he didn’t like hearing Aaron’s name so much, but he was able to put that aside.”
“When he thought it was a silly teenager’s fantasy.”
“Yes.”
“And now it’s real…”
“He can’t take it. At least, he says he can’t. How about this? I’ll talk to him about it, subtly, over the next few days. Maybe I can make him see things a little differently. But with your father, when it comes to issues he really cares about, you have to go softly.”
“Mom.” I walk over to her, looking down. “Do you think I’m being an idiot?”
“What? No.” She takes my hand in hers. “I think you’ve got a crush and you’re excited and you deserve all of those things.”
“But you don’t think there’s a chance this is a long-term thing.”
“I don’t know if it is. I just don’t want you getting your hopes up and being disappointed.”
It reminds me of what Penny said at the restaurant. Everybody seems to think I’m a silly little kid who doesn’t know how to handle herself. Which is even more infuriating because there’s a glimmer of truth in it, and maybe more than a glimmer.
