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Stepping inside the restaurant, I see only Mike at first. He’s standing in the shadows, gazing at something in a booth at the center. I creep closer to him as he whips out his phone and dials.
“Where the hell did you rush off to, and who is this asshat talking to Anna?” There’s a pause. He shakes his head. “This isn’t what I’m paying you for, Sebastian. You’re meant to stay on her tail and get evidence!”
Mike and Sebastian know each other.
“Evidence of what, Mike?” I say. Mike turns to me, his eyebrows flying off his face.
“Zoey? Hi!” His confusion is mixed with the genuine smile Mike has always reserved for me. I feel a pang of guilt for helping Anna with her shenanigans.
“What are you looking for evidence of, and why is my… my friend Sebastian helping you?”
“You know Sebastian? The P.I.?”
What does P.I. stand for again? Wait. No. “He’s a detective?”
Mike’s forehead wrinkles. “So, you don’t know him?”
Evidently not. Not at all. AndI’mthe liar?
I stumble into the lobby, my head spinning. I want to go home to LA, where I can finish shooting my final stunts in peace and sleep in my own delightful bed in cozy Santa Monica. When Anna leaves Mike, she can come and stay with me. It’ll be the two of us again, taking care of each other, like always. And after filming is done? Maybe we can rent an RV and drive the Pacific Coast Highway. We’ll get away from it all, me and her.
Across the lobby, Meghan Marconi and Zander Zane are kissing by the window. I guess that must have happened this week, too. Everyone has been waiting for it, during all the filming in Louisiana. Their chemistry was as big off-screen as it had been on camera. Good for them.
But then I notice the tall, dark-haired man standing behind a pillar, snapping photos of the couple on his phone.
* * *
SEBASTIAN
If I needed any further proof Zoey wasn’t worth my time, here it is. And the amount of moaning, my god! Her head is twisted so far around Grant’s body that he’s smothered by her hair. I’m sure they have kinky sex too, with lots of pillow suffocation and whatnot. And I kissed her yesterday.
“Who’s the hypocrite now?” I hear the words from behind me. It’s Zoey’s voice, biting. But if Anna’s in the restaurant, and Zoey’s behind me, who the hell am I photographing?
At the sound of Zoey’s voice, Meghan Marconi and Zander Zane turn. I shove my phone in my pocket.
“Zoey?” Meghan looks beyond me. “How was the cruise?”
“Great!” Zoey’s tone is dulcet, and, like a kick in the gut, it registers that I know what her voice sounds like when she’s lying. All of last week, she hadn’t been lying about the things that mattered.
“Zoey, can I talk to you? Alone?”
She glowers. “I already know you were tailing me all week. Trying to catch Anna cheating so Mike could disgrace and humiliate her.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I—"
“You thought she was cheating, didn’t you? Those rude things you said to me at the beginning of the trip? That’s what they were about. You assumed she was guilty until proven innocent.”
“As if you and Anna didn’t feel the same way about Mike. Weren’t you trying to catch him out?”
“Anna has good reasons to question Mike’s fidelity. That man is never around, and he’s constantly blowing her off and skipping important events. Birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, you name it. There’s always an excuse.”
“Mike had plenty of reasons to worry, too. And he still might, if his wife is so willing to lie to him she’ll even enlist her sister in the deceit.”
“You have some nerve following me here to give me this crap. I’ve been on this trip to help my sister out. Her marriage is on the rocks, and she’s been through enough already. But you, mister high and mighty, you were here under false pretenses, while also collecting a paycheck. So you know what? You’re not as above it all as you think you are.”
Zoey limps away, her head held high, but I can’t move to follow her. It’s like she’s cast a spell and turned me into stone. She’s right about me.
As she passes the elevators, Grant Kevlar (the real one) steps out into the lobby with his arm around an elegant older woman. She laughs up into his face and he leans down and plants a kiss on her mouth.
