Mikaela’s eyes were as wide as saucers, racing through the article.
Playboy Billionaire Justin Henderson Dating Again (And This Time it’s with Vida Karlovac) screamed the headline and sub headline.
Was this for real? Maybe this was an old newspaper. It couldn’t be recent. They had only had dinner six days ago. He shared things with her, they had fun together, and he cooked for her and kissed her in a way that all women wanted to be kissed…
No, no, no, she thought over and over again. She blinked and closed her eyes and saw the date. It was taken last Saturday, that day she waited for him to reply. That day he had told her to check her bank account. It couldn’t be. He wouldn’t dare. Then she remembered the contract.
“I’ll add this to the contract, then,” he said. “For good measure. If I ever cheat on you, I’ll give you twenty thousand. How does that sound?”
It dawned on Mikaela that he had sent that money so he would keep to the agreement. So he had cheated on her! She had lost and won at the same time. It was a horrible feeling and she found herself on the verge of tears.
Lynne grabbed the paper from her, seeing Mikaela’s face in distress. She paused, seeing the photos, very incriminating photos of Mikaela’s supposed date. “Oh sweetie,” she murmured.
Mikaela quickly grabbed the paper again from Lynne’s hands and looked over the article again.
“Stop it,” Lynne told her. “Give that to me.”
“Is this for real?” Mikaela whispered, trying to make some sense of everything.
She had assumed too much; she had hoped for too much. She didn’t tell Lynne everything, the whole contract. All she said was they were seeing each other and that they had had intimate moments. It was obviously enough, since Lynne went overprotective and empathetic on her/
“Give me that newspaper,” Lynne demanded, pulling her closer. “Don’t cry, not here.”
Mikaela nodded and followed Lynne, who held her hand as they walked their way to Lynne’s car. It took all her strength to stop the waterworks, but once she got inside the car, the dam broke and tears flooded her face.
“Shit,” Mikaela muttered.
Lynne sat across her on the driver’s side. “He doesn’t deserve you.”
Mikael
a shook her head. “No one deserves him. He’s an asshole.”
“That’s right!”
“But I love that asshole,” Mikaela sniffed.
Lynne gave a deep sigh. “Well, that’s not good for you.” So it had come to this, her friend had finally fallen in love with a man who had a reputation for changing women as fast as he changed his suits.
“I should have known,”
“But you didn’t.”
“I know, why didn’t I? The signs were all over. No, it was obvious from the start.”
“I’m sorry I pushed you into dating him.”
“No.” Mikaela shook her head. “That was my choice. And it wasn’t a smart one. I might have enjoyed that trip to London, might have enjoyed perks I’ve never had before, but I’ve never felt this miserable since-since...”
“Don’t say anything about your family,” Lynne told her firmly. “You’re smart, you’re pretty, and you work hard. You don’t need a guy like that in your life.”
“No, no, you don’t understand—”
“You love him and you can’t see your way out of this?” Lynne told her mildly. “Of course you can. Remember that horrible ex of yours? He cheated on you and yet you moved on well.”
“This is different.”
“What? He’s got a big dick and a ton of money? Big deal. What’s he got that others don’t?”