“Is what going to work?”
“Hiding this from him.”
I stilled completely. My heart rate had been coming down, but it skyrocketed again. The water flowed over my now-clean hands. I needed to move, needed to think, needed some comeback.
“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said lamely.
“Well, it all makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“Leave me alone.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep it our little secret,” she said, moving in close. Then her elbow knocked into my camera, still sitting precariously on the counter.
I gasped, reaching for it, but I was too slow. The camera fell beyond my grasp and into the sink, water soaking it on contact. I almost screamed as I yanked it out of the stream of water and grabbed a handful of paper towels to try to undo the damage.
“Oops,” she said.
I whirled on her, all of my anxiety evaporating in the wake of my fury. It was one thing to be mean to me. It was another thing entirely to try to hurt my livelihood. I had an elopement to photograph tomorrow, and this was my only working camera, my favorite, my baby. She was easily the most expensive thing I’d ever owned. And if she was ruined, then I’d kill Ashleigh Sinclair.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I snapped.
“It was an accident,” she said with a viperous smile.
“No, it wasn’t. We both know it was no accident. Do you think this is going to win Julian back? Or are you past the point of that and going for flat-out sabotage? Because all it’s going to do is make him hate you. Is that what you want?”
Ashleigh straightened to her full height. Her teeth tight together. “And you think what you’re doing is going to win him?”
“News flash,” I snarled, “Julian is already mine. He’s mine, Ashleigh.”
“For now.”
“You had your chance. You had him for two years. And then you ruined everything. There is no way that he would ever go back to you after what you did.” I took a step toward her, throwing my purse back on my shoulder and grabbing my camera, still wadded up in paper towels. “So, why don’t you get the hell out of my way and get your own life?”
Ashleigh opened her mouth and then closed it, as if she had no retort to that. Miraculously, she took a step to the side. I strode past her without looking back.
I couldn’t believe I’d done that. It had only taken ruining my favorite camera to get here, but I’d stood up to Ashleigh Sinclair.
26
Julian
I shook hands with George. I laughed at their bad jokes and smiled at their wandering-eyed wives. I did it all, and at the end, I came out with the yes. They wanted to work with me. I could look forward to hearing from them. But the entire time, I’d been worrying about Jen. She’d freaked out halfway into the meeting and disappeared. She still hadn’t come back. I didn’t like that I wasn’t there to protect her.
At the first opportunity to get away, I took it and stormed across the concert hall to find Jennifer. I texted, asking where she was, but she didn’t respond. A panic came over me when I ran into the last person I wanted—Ashleigh.
“Have you seen Jennifer?” I asked.
She smiled a dangerous smile. “She was in the bathroom.”
“Is she still in there?”
“I think she left.”
“The bathroom?”
“The party,” she said.
“What did you do?” I demanded.
She gave me the biggest puppy-dog eyes she could muster. “Why would you think that I did anything?”
“History,” I snarled.
Ashleigh shrugged. “I didn’t do anything, but you should maybe look in her purse.”
“What?” I blinked in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m just saying…if you want to know who you’re really dating.”
I sighed heavily. “I don’t want to play games. If you don’t know where she is, then we’re done here.”
“I’m trying to warn you,” she said, reaching for my arm.
I pulled back sharply. “Don’t.”
“Two years,” Ashleigh whispered. “We were together for two years, and you can just throw it all away? Do I disgust you that much?”
“I’m not having this conversation. You know why we broke up. Now, I’m going to go find Jen.”
Ashleigh looked like she wanted to say more, but I pushed past her. I didn’t know what the fuck she was talking about with Jen. It was normal Sinclair mind games. I wouldn’t fall for it. And if she’d seen Jennifer in the restroom, that probably meant that she’d gotten to her. Fuck.
I dashed through the lobby until I found Jennifer seated at a table, wiping down her camera with paper towels.
“There you are,” I breathed in relief. “I’ve been texting you.”
“Sorry,” she whispered. She sniffled and dabbed at her eyes. “I didn’t want to ruin your meeting.”
“Hey,” I said, sinking into the chair next to her. “What happened? Are you okay?”