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DREW
"Is theresomething going on between you and Kate?" Alexis asked me when she dropped by my home that evening. She had just marched right in as soon as Carmella opened the door, causing me to almost choke on my chicken.
I took a swig of water to wash my dinner down. "What do you mean?"
She set her hands on her hips. "Is Kate the real reason I won't have the finale I want? Are you and Kate having some sort of affair that you decided to pawn off on Dion and Gwen?"
I gulped. She must have noticed those same sparks I’d felt this afternoon while she was watching us through the hidden cameras. I should have been more careful, but I'd been too caught up with the fact that Kate was in my arms and smiling at me. It was something I'd wished would happen for years. And with how perfectly she fit in my arms, I couldn’t help but feel she was meant to be there.
I'd been totally oblivious to the fact that Alexis would not be happy about it.
This wasn't good.
"Nothing's going on between Kate and me."
Could she sue me for never getting over a girl from my past? It's not like I knew about Kate’s divorce when I went on the show. I’d been trying to move on, to get over the girl I never should have wanted in the first place. It wasn't my fault the show hadn't worked for me or that Kate had magically ended up back in my life.
Back as apossibility.
A possibility that I very much wanted to become a reality.
I took a deep breath and faced Alexis. "It’s true that I have feelings for Kate, but nothing has happened. I really did catch Gwen and Dion at the safe house last week."
"Okay, fine." Alexis sucked in a quick breath and released it loudly. "But that doesn't change the fact that you have feelings for a married woman. That doesn’t exactly help your good-guy image.”
I led Alexis to the living area and sat on the couch. I looked down at my hands, knowing I had to tell Kate's secret in order to save both of our reputations. "I recently found out that Kate isn't married anymore. Her husband cheated on her and they got divorced a few months ago."
"Doesn't help that she lied about it."
I shook my head. "It's my fault, really. Please don't get mad at Kate. She's had a hard-enough time as it is."
Alexis tapped her foot on the marble floor. "I don't know what to believe anymore. All I know is that I have a whole nation watching a season that’s turning out to be even more of a train wreck than I thought."
I sighed and leaned into the couch. "I'm sorry. I didn't plan for this to happen. Yes, I've had feelings for Kate for years. But she got married. So, I said yes to the show because I needed to be over her and move on with my life—find my own soulmate." I ran a hand through my hair. "I didn't know until a couple of weeks ago that she was single again."
"And how does she feel about you?"
"I don't know. I never dared try too hard to figure that out. We have a complicated past."
She let out a loud breath. "Well, your complicated past is starting to darken my show's future. If my ratings tank, ANB will drop the show. And that means a lot of people will be out of jobs. You don't want to see Oliver, or Joe, or me without jobs, do you? What about Derek? He has three little kids."
My stomach twisted. Alexis really knew how to pile on the guilt. Suddenly, me having feelings for Kate was putting people out of jobs?
"I know you're this billionaire and you don't have to worry about money…but a lot of people do. Just think about that before you act rashly."
I straightened and shook my head. "I think you're forgetting that I haven't actually done anything wrong here."
She pointed a finger. "You weren't emotionally available to get engaged to Gwen."
"Since she was all in it for the right reasons," I said sarcastically.
Alexis crossed her arms. "Fine. But you're still thinking about throwing caution to the wind and going after Kate, when we still need to lay the trap. If Dion catches any wind of you and Kate secretly having feelings for each other, all our plans are in jeopardy. He and Gwen will know something is up, and we won't have a way to catch them in their scam."
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Okay. I get it. Dion and Gwen need to believe I'm in love with her."
"Yes. Which means…" She cocked an eyebrow.
"Which means, no pining after Kate when anyone can see."
