Page 57 of A Deal with the Devil

“Sorry,” he says quietly. “I know you didn’t want to talk about the advance. I just couldn’t stand the way she was trying to belittle you.”

“You can tell them anything you want, true or false, if it puts that bitch in her place,” I reply, my voice laced with venom. “But honestly? She’s a total dick. I’m not sure why you even care about making her jealous.”

“This isn’t about making her jealous,” he says, holding me tighter as we start down the hill. These shoes were not made for walking in grass—or walking, period—and he appears to realize it. “Do you have any idea how miserable it is to attend these things on my own? With every single guest seeing me standing alone and thinking, ‘Oh, poor guy. He never really got over her’? Now they’re all thinking, ‘Well done, mate. You got over her in a big way, didn’t you?’”

I feel myself blushing, embarrassingly pleased, as he pulls me toward an older woman, bending low to kiss her on the cheek. “Grandmother,” he says, “let me introduce you to my friend Tali.”

She peers up at me. “Well, well, well,” she says. “This one’s much prettier than Ella, isn’t she?”

Hayes laughs quietly, holding a chair for me and taking the seat on the other side. “Yes,” he whispers, “but you’re not supposed to say that aloud.”

“I’m old. I can say whatever I’d like,” she replies. “And how did you manage to find this fine young specimen?”

I smirk at him. This isn’t a Cosmo interview, my ass. I’ll let him solve this on his own.

“She sat on my doorstep and refused to leave,” he says. “Eventually I figured I might as well allow her inside.”

She smacks his arm. “You’re not as amusing as you think. The truth now, please.”

Hayes’s eyes flicker over my face. “I saw her photo on Jonathan’s desk and started looking for her all the time, because she worked at this bar I’d pass on my way home,” he says. Weirdly…it doesn’t sound like a lie. “I saw her reading while she was walking in, even though it was raining. And I thought she was the loveliest thing I’d ever seen in my life, so I followed her.”

He stops, and my heart thuds loudly in the resulting silence. All this time, I thought he wound up at Topside by accident, but perhaps it was no accident at all. Because it was raining the night we met. And I can still remember the book I was reading as I walked in. Maybe he’s embellishing this for the sake of our fake relationship…except it doesn’t feel embellished.

His grandmother clasps her hands together. “And you’ve been together ever since!’

His gaze meets mine. “Not exactly. My assistant got wind of it and begged me to leave her alone because she’d had a hard year and I wouldn’t be good for her.” There’s a tiny note of bitterness, regret, in his voice. “But it worked out eventually.”

I swallow. If this is all true, then Hayes, with his reputation for being careless and selfish, walked out…for me. Is that why he felt so blindsided when I showed up as Jonathan’s replacement?

“I’m glad,” his grandmother says. “You deserve a nice girl, darling. I always thought you could do better than Ella.”

It would never have worked out, of course. Odds are, he’d have hit on me and I’d have shot him down in the rudest way possible. Or he’d have realized I’m generally not a one-night-stand kind of girl. But that what if is still ringing in my brain.

Hudson runs to the table and grabs his hand. “Hayes!” she cries. “Come ride the elephant with me!”

He grins at her. “I’m not sure it can support both our weights. You’ve gotten quite large.” She giggles, and he allows himself to be led to the line. I watch as this beautiful man walks off holding his sister’s hand, still completely stunned by his admission.

“He’s back,” his grandmother says, pulling my attention away from Hayes. “I was worried Ella had ruined his faith in women forever, but he clearly adores you. It’s such a relief.”

I squirm with discomfort. Even if we are pulling this off better than I ever dreamed, it’s all a lie. And while I don’t mind lying to Ella and his dad until I’m blue in the face, I don’t want to lie to this nice old woman.

“You must ignore Ella, whatever she says. The woman’s a parasite,” his grandmother continues, “the kind that mutates to best attack its host. She met Michael and suddenly became a producer’s wife. When she leaves him for someone else, she’ll become an equestrian or a go-go dancer or whatever it is her next victim requires.”

I shouldn’t be prying, but I can’t seem to help myself. “Who was she with Hayes?”

“A bit like you—down-to-earth, open. But she didn’t pull it off quite as well.”

I’m not sure if she’s placating me. I only know I want it to be true. And I know I want to avoid Ella all afternoon, if possible, but when I help Hayes’s grandmother up the hill and stop by the bar on my way back, she suddenly appears by my side. I doubt it’s by accident.

“He still drinks this, does he?” Ella asks, lifting the scotch I got for Hayes and giving it a sniff. “You should have seen him at Cambridge, choking it down, trying to impress me.”

“That was so long ago,” I reply, preparing to walk away. “I’m fairly certain he’s not drinking it to impress anyone now.”

Her head tips to the side as she studies me. “He’s not cut out for commitment, you know.”

I stiffen. A part of me assumed she must regret her decision—how could you not regret leaving Hayes? But I thought she’d at least be subtle about it. Instead, she’s openly trying to destroy what he’s found in her wake.

“He’s charming, and he’s obviously smitten with you.” She waves a hand as if all this is meaningless. “Just don’t start believing it’s going to last. One thing goes wrong in his life, and you’ll find yourself shut out completely.”