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“Is it too small? I wasn’t sure what was appropriate, so I had to guess, based on a cross-section of the greed in the owner’s eyes, and the dismay in the saleswomen’s eyes.”
“She’s going to dislocate her shoulder dragging that thing around.”
“I’ll get you a smaller one,” Loïc assured me.
“It’s beautiful! I just wasn’t expecting you to propose.”
“According to the internet, anticipated proposals are the least romantic.” He shrugged. “I’ll take you to pick out a ring you like better. You can use that one for something else.”
“Like a paperweight?” Valor asked.
“Valor!” I scolded.
Loïc raised a brow at him. “I thought, after so many years of marriage, she deserved an actual engagement ring.”
Ouch. That had always been a sore spot for Valor. We’d gotten married so quickly and so young there’d been no time or money for an engagement ring. Since we’d had money, I’d kept telling him I didn’t want one.
I couldn’t believe how well Valor was taking this. His business associates were bound to find out some other man had proposed to his wife on live TV, and then kissed him. Then again, most of them were so laser focused on their own business concerns that maybe they would never even hear about it.
The two of them began to bicker good-naturedly as I took calls from Rose Red’s PR team, one of the showrunners, and a few co-stars. Valor got a call from Kim. He was still surprisingly calm.
I waited until the show was finished and apologized to Ann and Alicia again. Loïc apologized, too, being his usual charming self. By the time we left, they were already talking about having us back on in a few months rather than banning us from the show forever.
Leave it to Loïc Leduc to fuck everything up, then fix it again, better than before.
Chapter Seventeen: Loïc
My love is fearsome and vast.
Excruciating and ungovernable.
How can I, a mere mortal, control this reckless devotion?
Loïc Leduc, Journal 15
“I need to call for a car.” Tarryn looked exhausted and small standing in the foyer. It wasn’t even lunchtime—how could she already be tired?
“No need,” I replied. “My truck is here.”
“You drove here?”
“That’s why I was almost late.”
I asked the man at the front to send for my truck, watching Valor and Tarryn interact from afar. Something was off with them. Valor always treated Tarryn like she was the center of his universe, but now he was hovering, as though something waswrong.
Was she pale? I’d thought it was the makeup they’d used, but she’d washed it off before leaving the dressing room. Her lips were almost the same color as her cheeks.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I returned to them, knowing she wasn’t, watching their body language in case they decided to lie.
“Just a bit jet lagged.” She gave me a tremulous smile.
Lie.
The smile made me uncomfortable.
Why wouldn’t they tell me what was wrong? Were they angry with me?
What did you do, stupid boy?
