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Payton shook her head. She was too sick to be thinking this much.
“Ash,” Payton said with her hand on her forehead. “She’s a grown-ass woman. She’s not playing games.”
“Then what are you doing in London?”
“What?” Payton asked as she closed her eyes.
“You’re in London because this woman does in fact play games. What do you call bringing your personal assistant to pretend to be your girlfriend? That’s an incredibly high-stakes game. Most ‘grown-ass women’ would just go alone,” she said using air quotes.
She did have a point. “Oh,” Payton said when she realized she’d left a bit of the story out. “I forgot to tell you. Before we slept together, when we were talking. She admitted that the real reason she felt like she could ask me to come here with her and play the part of her girlfriend was because she knew that I was attracted to her.”
“Payton,” Ashley breathed. “I’m not even sure this woman is worth fighting for.”
“It sounds worse than it is.”
“It sounds like this woman has no problem using you and tossing you aside when she doesn’t need you anymore.” Ashley exhaled. “Sorry. Look, I don’t know her. I hope to fuck she’s got a lot going on with her and this isn’t just her default mode. Maybe, she is just struggling with what to do with you, you know, genuinely. But that doesn’t make any of this acceptable. Be careful, Payton. Please.”
“I will.” Payton fell back against the cushions. “Thanks for that pep talk.”
“I’m serious about not playing her games. The best thing you can do is go to this wedding on Friday and make her wish that you really were her girlfriend.”
“Yeah.” Payton couldn’t even think that far ahead, to how that was even going to go now. She might really be acting by then. She didn’t know what to think or how to feel after last night.
“Hey,” Ash said. “What happened with the woman from the bar?”
“Nothing.”
Ash nodded. “You’ve got it bad, huh?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Try and have fun Friday.”
“Yeah. I will. Okay. Thanks for listening to me.”
“Keep me updated! Bye,” Ashley said, giving her a wave before she hung up.
Payton made herself get off the couch and take a shower. She wanted to get ready and be out of the hotel before Madison got back. Plus, she needed to find something to eat in her fragile state. When she felt better, she’d have to talk to Madison, and see if she could figure out what was really going on with her.
34
Madison didn’t think she’d ever felt more restless than she had today. She’d had two meetings earlier. One with a talent agent and then she met with a potential client after, someone who split their time between London and New York, and wanted to make sure that things were under control on both sides of the Atlantic.
She was done for the day at two o’clock, but she couldn’t bring herself to go back to the hotel even though she was running on empty after a sleepless night. She had a late lunch and a few glasses of wine before finally taking a taxi back.
Her hand had the slightest tremor as she used her keycard to unlock the door to their suite, and she had no idea why she was this nervous, this apprehensive. If Payton was mad at her, it was her own fault. Madison had been the one to screw things up, and she still didn’t even know why she’d done what she had. She couldn’t even blame the alcohol. She’d only had a few beers.
As Madison pushed the door open, she was met with silence. She left her bag on the table and glanced into the living area. There was no sign of Payton.
Madison exhaled as she shrugged off her blazer and got changed into shorts and a tank top, that restless feeling back again. She decided on a bath after pacing the room while she checked her emails on her phone.
She tried to relax beneath the bubbles, letting her eyes close as she leaned back.
What was wrong with her? That was the question that kept running through her mind. Why had that been her reaction last night?
And what did Payton think of her right now? Would she even come to the wedding with her on Friday? And if she didn’t, how would Madison explain her absence?
Once she stopped thinking about herself, she let her mind go to the place she’d been avoiding all day.
