He grinned stupidly and I planted a kiss on his cheek just as the photographer’s flash went off. When my vision cleared from the light, I saw that Ethan was storming out of the room with his fists clenched. I wanted to go chasing after him, to tell him I was
sorry, and to tell him I quit this stupid job and wanted to be his forever — but I didn't.
It took all my effort not to, but held fast to my principles. My career and my name were at stake, not just my pride and independence. I needed to stand firm. If I caved now and allowed my career to be ruled by my boyfriend, I would be setting a dangerous precedent.
Not to mention the fact that if I allowed myself to be a kept woman, living a life of luxury off of someone else's wealth and spending money I hadn't earned, I would hate myself for it. I wouldn't be me anymore. The woman Ethan had fallen in love and committed himself to would no longer exist. In a strange way, the only way to preserve the relationship we had was for me to refuse to go home to the man I loved. So, I drew in a deep breath and resigned myself to a long night at this shitty job.
"That was quite the scene earlier. Are you alright?" Jay Wendt approached me at the end of the evening.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied, being careful to keep as much distance between him and me as I could without being obvious about it.
"Do you need a place to stay tonight? My car is parked right out front." He stepped closer to me, and I moved around the beverage table to create a barrier between us.
"No, I'm fine. I still haven't changed my mind about us. I don't think it would be a good idea for us to..." I couldn't finish the sentence, but I didn't need to.
Jay held up a hand apologetically and said with an embarrassed grin, "I wasn't talking about taking you home with me. I was just offering to drive you to a hotel if you needed a ride."
"Oh." I blushed. "Thanks, but I prefer to take a taxi."
"Okay, but if you need anything, just let me know." Jay put his arm on my shoulder in a sympathetic gesture, but it quickly slid down my back to grab my ass. So, this was what it was going to be like being single again? I'd only broken up with Ethan a few hours ago and slime balls like Jay already thought it was a free pass to hit on me.
I hurried from the hotel and got in a cab.
"Where to?" the driver asked, and I realized that I didn't know how to answer. Where to? I had told Ethan I wouldn't go home to his mansion in Beverly Hills. I'd lost my best friend when she slept with Mick. I couldn't face going home to my family after Ethan had so generously helped Tommy. They'd think I was the most selfish brat on the planet, and I was afraid they'd be right.
What kind of a person chose her modeling career over a great guy like Ethan? One who wasn't willing to give up who she was just for a man, that's who — and one who now didn't have any place to go.
Tears sprang unbidden to my eyes and I reached in my purse for a tissue as the cabby stared at me impatiently. As I blew my nose, I reminded myself that this wasn't the end of the world. Surely, I wasn't the only woman on earth to stand up for herself against Ethan's strength and charm and dump him. That was it. With new confidence, I told the driver where to take me.
It was the middle of the night and all her lights were off when I walked up to her front door and rang the bell. I could hear the sound of yapping dogs on the other side and it was several minutes before lights turned on and I could hear footsteps approaching.
Gwyneth Manzranni opened the door, looking beautiful even with no make-up on and her bathrobe on.
"Kayla, what are you doing here?" She was surprised to see me, but she opened her arms wide to me in a welcoming hug. "Is everything alright?"
I opened my mouth to speak, but all that came out was a wailing sob as I finally released the tears of my heartbreak.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ethan
"This is an outrage!" I shouted out furiously. "This is my damn company and whatever I say goes!"
I'd lost my temper, but I didn't care. Kayla had been gone for three nights now, and I'd hardly slept at all in the last 72 hours. The bed was too empty without her and the house was, too. I needed her back home with me, so I called a board meeting in order to make it happen.
"You can't just expect me to change our whole advertising campaign on a whim," Keith, my head of marketing, said. I wanted to fire the son-of-bitch right on the spot.
"We understand your feelings for Kayla are strong, but you can't let it interfere with your business decisions. Throwing out all the work Keith has done so far would be incredibly expensive, and buying out a model's contract from a different company is a huge waste of company resources." My CFO, Steve, had the nerve to back him up. Now that was two assholes I had to fire.
"I've shown you plenty of other models that will work for a much cheaper rate and have the availability we need. Just pick one of them and let's move on," Keith said with a tired sigh.
"I don't want another girl. I only want Kayla." I knew I sounded like a pouting child, but I didn't care. She was the love of my life, and if she wanted a big paying modeling career, then that's what I was going to give her.
"Kayla is a sweet girl, but you're letting her make you irrational." Angela just had to put in her two cents worth, too. Fuck. Had everybody in this damn company turned against me? Putting her hand on mine from across the conference table, she said to me softly, "This isn't like you. What do your business instincts tell you?"
I pressed my hands to my eyes, trying to clear my head. My staff was filled with intelligent people whose opinions I'd always been able to rely on. If they were all telling me I needed to gain some perspective on this situation, maybe they were right; but how could I? Try as I might, I couldn't separate the feelings of my heart from the thoughts in my mind.
Slamming my palms against the table, I said adamantly, "This is the right decision. I know you all think it's just because I love her and I want her back, but that's not it.