Page 122 of Bad Influence
“Explain what?” I ask.
“How the two of you are together,” Rachel says. “We were worried you were another one of the groupies but you seem so nice and level headed.”
I’ve been around enough society types and socialites to knownice and level headedis actually an insult.
“I mean, surely you’ve heard the rumors?” Tanzie asks, leaning in as if she’s about to tell me a secret.
Across the room, Killian catches my eye. He’s turned away from the people he’s talking to and I see his phone in his hand as he types something. A second later, my phone pings, and I excuse myself to glance at it quickly.
Killian:
If I call my lawyer and transfer everything to you, will you please kill me?
Caroline
Tempting, but I like your smile and the orgasms more than the money.
Killian smiles briefly at the text.
Killian
Should have known you’d be selfish.
Caroline
Would you rather be dead or would you rather enjoy my mouth?
Killian looks up from his phone and even from across the room, I can see the promise in his eyes.
“Sorry, work never stops,” I say, going back to the conversation. “You were saying something about rumors?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Rachel says. “My husband is incapable of having a conversation without his phone in his hand. It’s basically his second wife.”
“We don’t want to worry you about the rumors,” Tanzie says. “You seem happy.”
“Oh, but I love gossip. I can never resist it.” I lean in towards them, waiting for them to tell me something about my boyfriend that I don’t know.
“You’ve heard all about the messy break-ups, I’m sure?” Tanzie says, raising her eyebrows. “There have been a lot of them, or so we hear. Nice, innocent girls just like you.”
“Bit of a player,” Rachel adds.
“He gets bored easily,” Tanzie says. “Rumor has it that there have been a lot of women, and why not when he looks like that.”
“A lot of women?” I ask.
“Men like him always have a lot of women in their past,” Tanzie says, shaking her head. “I can’t even tell you how many women were after my Robert, but I put an end to that. Five years married, and happily.”
She raises her hand to show off her diamond ring. It’s big and shockingly similar to the one I left behind. I can almost feel the ghost of its weight on my finger. I hope Robert isn’t anything like Beckett because she might be someone who puts too much stock into rumors, but I don’t want her to be cheated on.
“Relationships aren’t easy,” Rachel says, shaking her head. “You have to do so much to keep their attention, and it’s even worse when they have a tendency to get bored easily.”
“Well, thank you so much for telling me this. You’ve given me a lot to think about,” I say.
Rachel reaches out and squeezes my arm. “We just wanted you to be aware. You seem so sweet.”
I give her a small smile. “Thank you. Please excuse me.”
I drain the rest of my champagne and set the glass on the bar before walking away. I almost miss the nights when everyone would pretend I didn’t exist because Beckett was more interesting. I can’t decide if Rachel and Tanzie actually believe in these rumors or if they started the rumors because they’re obsessed with Killian.
