FAKE: An Enemies to Lovers Standalone Romance Read online

  “What about Astrid? What happened there? She still thinks she wants girls?” The thought of it was absurd.

  Astrid was a girl Troy had dated on and off all of his life, who had just come out as a lesbian, what a crushing blow. But I could see it, Troy was artistic, sensitive ... relevant, he could be a lesbian’s last stand.

  “It’s too painful to go there. Let’s stay with your complicated mess ... shall we?” Poor guy. He was really taking the breakup hard.

  My mind had drifted while I listened to Ashley gush about Kylie. “She is just so amazing. You know, sexually aware, in tune with female sexual liberation and so cool. Now she’s upping her game and just came out as a foster kid and a survivor. She’s epic!” I don’t think Ashley cared much that she freaked out a good many of my staff members with her over the top fan-girling, but I was right there with her.

  “Interesting. I never gave her much thought.” Such a lie; in fact, I was itching to get up and go backstage and find her, but I didn’t have to, she was there, sitting three tables over.

  “Would you like to meet her?” I asked Ashley.

  “Oh, my God ... no, she’s ... she’s probably busy.” Ashley literally started to tremble.

  “Kylie is an acquaintance. I can introduce her to you. I’m going to give them a sizable donation. You’re welcome to come along.” The rest of the table looked at me as if my head had just exploded.

  Chapter 13

  Kylie

  I saw him from the wings backstage. I almost didn’t go out there, but I had to do it for Kevin and for the foundation I had started with Madison, Avery, and Maralis from my modeling agency. After my night with Alec, I realized I needed to change how the world thought of me. I didn’t want to be a playgirl; I needed to be a woman. I was in charge of the me the world would see, and I was starting to hate that person. Yes, she protected me from the Alecs out there who were great lovers that only wanted sex, but it was protecting me from the real men who might have actually loved me for me as well.

  I decided to focus on things I loved and for me, that was helping kids get off the streets and giving them hope like I had gotten when I needed it most. Avery was almost ready to launch her own fashion line, so we decided to combine our passions and use foster kids and street kids as models and inspiration for the designs. I opened up the Every Dream Foundation in partnership with Avery, and Madison helped us with contracts and legal documents. I had been working insanely hard over the last six weeks so I could forget Alec. I dove into changing my image, my career, and my life, so seeing him sitting out there looking sexy in his designer suit with his sultry eyes fixated on me, I could barely breathe.

  When he came over to my table with another woman, my heart fell to the floor. But that was life; the Alecs of the world never became truly good people. He was a billionaire with his own secrets. He certainly wasn’t the gentleman he presented himself to be. He had a very dark side but was sexy as hell ... and within all that conflict there was goodness in him too. But Alec Blair was too much for me, so let him have his woman, doubtless, she wouldn’t be ‘the one’ and if she was ... well fine. I didn’t need men like Alec Blair in my life.

  “Mr. Blair,” Mrs. Harmon said as she stood to greet Alec. “It was so good of you to come. Thank you for supporting the Morning House.” She reached her hand out to shake his.

  He extended his hand and smiled. “This is a very important cause and one that is close to my heart.” At that moment he looked at me, and everything in me froze.

  “Well, thank you for being here. God knows we need the publicity. Thanks to Killah, you, and Kylie Morgan for putting our little charity on the map.”

  I put a bite of spanakopita into my mouth and tried not to look at him.

  “Don’t thank me just yet. I have one more thing for you.” He handed Mrs. Harmon a check.

  All the color leached out of her face. “Five hundred thousand dollars ...” she whispered. “That will help ... you have no idea.”

  “Well, I’d like to be a benefactor. I’ll call you later and see how I can personally help you get this charity set up long term. You shouldn’t have to spend your time fundraising.” Damn him.

  He brought Mrs. Harmon to tears. It wasn’t all-out sobbing, but she was deeply moved. They hugged, and my body tightened. Kevin stood up and gave him a bro handshake and a man hug.

  “That is so solid, man. Thank you!” Kevin looked at the woman with him. “Hey there,” he said to Alec’s date, and her eyes lit up and started to gush.

  “I am such a fan of yours. Your music is so amazing, relevant, hip, so smart!” She kept it just this side of drooling, but I couldn’t help being a little jealous.

  I wondered if she let Alec lick ice cream from her tits or whether she ate poultry off his cock as he had wanted me to do. Regardless, she seemed the type to be into whatever he was. Maybe he didn’t want a strong woman, but a fan, a little one-woman cheering section that ate all her meals off his genitals and liked to fuck in his super-sized shower.

  “Thanks, I love when people get me and what I’m trying to do.” Kevin was so cool; too bad he was almost married.

  He was more like a brother to me, but I dreamed about him anyway. We had been through a lot together. We met in the group home and then at Morning House. Outside of my posse, he was a solid member of my tribe.

  “Yeah, you are awesome.” Her eyes glazed over.

  “And …” Alec looked at her. “As promised, this is Kylie Morgan.” His eyes shifted to me. “We are actually there to see you.”

  What the fuck? There is something very wrong with bringing your new boo to see the girl who pretty much walked out on you, but his narcissism must know no bounds.

  “I am so excited to meet you. You’re so pretty and such an inspiration to women.” She was wide-eyed and genuinely excited to meet me.

  The only reason I could think to bring her over was to either make me jealous or make her happy enough to take whatever bullshit he had planned for her in his bed that night. After thinking that, my heart panged. I would have loved a little of his bullshit actually.

  Well, not lately; I was feeling a little sick and could throw up at the drop of a hat.

  I chalked it up to doing things that scared me like asking people for money for something I believed in and trying to be more me in reality. All those things terrified me.

  I gave her a light handshake and a warm smile. “Well, it’s nice to meet you too.” I smiled. “I don’t think I caught your name.”

  I was on the show. Alec had not taken his eyes off me, and when I snuck a glance at him, he was looking with a feral kind of lust that made me shudder.

  “Ashely ... I’m Ashley Dobrev. I work for Alec, I mean, Mr. Blair.” She bit her lip, catching herself.

  So, he’s bonking the staff? Weird, it didn’t seem to be his type of thing. But again ... I didn’t care. I had to remind myself, I couldn’t care.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Ashley. Working for Mr. Blair must keep you very busy!” I meant that as a remark for Alec, of course.

  “I’m a monster,” Alec answered for her laughing broadly.

  She seemed a bit uncomfortable. “No, it’s great. He’s great.”

  Wow, it was all so very awkward. “I’m sure,” was my plastic reply.

  “Well, I’ve got a call in fifteen minutes. We’d better get back to the table. I just wanted to reach out and give you the check. My office will be in contact soon.” His arm wrapped around Ashely, but not intimately.

  “It was nice meeting you all.” Ashley almost bowed.

  Alec looked back at me, and our eyes met as I sat back down at the table. He mouthed something, but I wasn’t sure what he said, so I ignored him until I got a text a few moments later.

  How long are you planning on keeping this up?

  It confused me. Keep what up? We had a one-night stand that lasted exactly one night. What was his issue? He was the one who called the shots. He wanted me to be wet and wrung out af
ter one night! Bravo. I slept the entire next day, mission accomplished.

  I decided to come back ... all business.

  Until we have enough money to help the kids who need it. Thank you for your donation to Morning House. It helps.

  My pleasure. Let me know when I can donate to Every Dream … Of course, he would donate to my foundation; he had to be as amazing an asshole as was ever born. Give me money, but not his love. Fine.

  Thank you. We have an event next month. I’ll send you the info. I kept it cool, even though I was shaking.

  Then you have found something you - love? His response was strange, but not considering.

  Yes. Was all I replied. I put my phone back in my purse, determined to ignore it.

  My phone pinged a few times, but I didn’t look at it. I was dying inside; he twisted me up so hard. I couldn’t get home fast enough. As soon as I walked through the door, my girls were on me. Apparently, the event had been filmed and clips were shown on TV. They saw Alec and the questions went flying.

  “Oh, my God. Kylie, he was there ... did you guys talk? Did he apologize?” Maddy asked.

  “There’s nothing for him to apologize for,” I said quietly. “He was just being him. We weren’t … I don’t know …” I didn’t want to cry.

  I had been so emotional and unbalanced since I ran from Alec’s penthouse. I couldn’t find my center anywhere. It helped to focus on my non-profit and cleaning up my image, and I loved what Avery was doing with her fashion brand and clothing line and how we were empowering teens to live their dreams and be their authentic selves, but still, there was a part of me that was hiding. It had a lot to do with Alec and the crazy attraction I had to him even though I knew he was trouble.

  It was odd that he tried to reach out to me whenever we crossed paths. He didn’t get as much as he wanted out of our night, and I got too much. For him, it was just sex, and I was looking for something more substantial. Just sex was never enough for me. I was an idiot to think it was.

  “You weren’t compatible or whatever or maybe you just aren’t ready yet, but someday, someday soon you are going to have to get out there and use all those years of therapy to overcome your fears and date a man who might ... love you,” Avery schooled me like a mother.

  “I know.” Suddenly, my heart hit the floor.

  “Did you eat at the event, or were you too freaked?” Maddy asked.

  “Too freaked.” I gave a quick reply as I looked over Avery’s final designs for the Every Dream charity event the following month. “These are so awesome, Ave. Which one am I wearing?” I was like a little kid, finally excited about something.

  “You’re in the wedding dress and are the last one to walk,” Avery was just as excited.

  “God, I love it.”

  The wedding dress had an invisible back with just a line of pearl buttons that went down to the apex of the buttocks and had a halter front with hand-painted flying birds silhouettes rising up from the bottom to a plunging neckline. Over the dress, I’d wear a sheer jeweled cape with an enormous hood.

  The dress was sexy and sophisticated.

  “You should. I made it exactly for you,” Avery scoffed as her tousled hair tumbled all over her face and her thick bookish glasses as she lost herself in her work. “So, you’ll wear this for the auction, and I’m designing something else for you to wear on the date.”

  “Just make sure it’s modest in case my ‘buyer’ gets handsy,” I chirped, feeling just a little nervous about the live auction part of the event.

  It was Maralis’ idea that there be a live auction to get more money for the Every Dream Foundation. There was going to be a fashion show, a pop-up shop, an auction for a ‘date’ with the models, and a plated dinner with dancing, live music, and a comedy show. When the night was over, so was the date, so everything was really well organized and would be supervised, but I was still very nervous. At least I had a month before the event. I had lots to do before then.

  “Okay …” Maddy came out of the kitchen. “I made gorgonzola gnocchi—Grandma Ruth’s recipe, and radicchio salad.” She gave us each a plate, and we dragged ourselves from the worktable to huddle in on the couch. “What will it be tonight, ladies?” She flipped on the TV.

  “This looks insanely good, Mads.” I dove right in, not realizing how starving I actually was.

  “Silence of the Lambs,” Avery screamed out.

  “I’m good with anything,” I volunteered with a mouthful of food.

  The silence of the Lambs was the winner for our Friday night movie night. Movie night was a ritual for us, every Friday no matter what we cuddled on the couch and watched whatever we agreed on. Another standard was the Saturday sleep in. Usually, we would do everything in our power to avoid missing either weekly event.

  It was almost midnight, and it was the perfect Friday night until the gnocchi started fighting with the radicchio in my stomach and I raced to the bathroom to barf everything up.

  “Kylie, are you okay?” Avery’s voice pitched with nerves after I’d been in the bathroom far too long.

  I shook all over. There was no way. It just … I couldn’t. I mean I did forget to take my pill, but it was only once ... well, it was actually three times that week, but I had taken some. But really ... people didn’t get pregnant from forgetting a pill here and there. I mean some couples took years to get pregnant, Alec and I just had the one night. I couldn’t think of it. I just bent over and wretched again, giving Avery her answer.

  “Okay ... um. I’m getting you some Kaopectate and a box of Tums. Maybe it’s all the nerves,” she said through the door.

  “Maybe,” my voice was distant and weak.

  Chapter 14

  Alec

  I was restless, uninspired. Nothing brought me joy. I hadn’t slept with anyone since my night with Kylie, and that may have been compounding the problem. Every time I thought about hooking up with someone, I remembered Kylie and her sweet snarkiness. She was a walking duality, outwardly flirty and sexual, inside scared and vulnerable. No one else could compare. Adding to her fame and cool persona, she was a woman with a mission to heal others. That was one of the sexiest things about her. Knowing her charity work was informed by her own trauma made me love her.

  I had never gone more than a few weeks without sex, and I was nearing twelve. It was appalling. The only thing keeping me from driving over to Kylie’s house and demanding that she stop this nonsense and fuck me again was that in two days, I would be attending a charity auction for her non-profit. In two days, I would see her again, and this time, I’d have the glorious opportunity to talk some sense into her. During the event, we would bid on the women in a fashion show and be allowed to spend the rest of the evening with them. I had to move some money around, but I fully expected to win at all costs, and so I was prepared to pay a lot for a night with Kylie where she wouldn’t be permitted to run away.

  “Two minutes of your time.” Larry, my office nemesis barged in the door.

  Larry was a throwback to when my grandfather ran the company. He was young and hungry when he began, now he was old and hungry. He was one of my development men, but he tended to do things rough and dirty. I preferred neat and above board.

  I didn’t even bother to look at him. “You have one.”

  Despite my distaste for his occasional lack of scruples, he brought tons of money into the business, and I paid him handsomely for it.

  “Well, you know you had me looking for movement in the nonprofit sector, especially with the Every Dream, Gotta Dream, whatever foundation. Well, I found something. They are buying a tear-down on the Lower East Side. It’s a remarkable deal, a steal. Some old lady is giving it to them for a song, and we can bust into this and snatch it up. I just need you to sign off on the paperwork to enter negotiations. We’ll get the place for less than a mil. Never happens…”

  I looked up from my reports and admitted I was intrigued.

  I had asked him to dig around and find out what Kylie was doing
with her nonprofit. They had to be either renting, leasing, or buying a building, and I wanted to know where she was getting the collateral, who was giving it to her, and where her base of operations would be.

  I was fully aware that my interest in Kylie had veered toward the dangerously obsessive, but no one ever left me. I was the dumper, not the other way around. If I couldn’t snag a moment with her in public under the scrutiny of the press and her posse of female bulldogs, I’d get her at home, where her heart was.

  “Who else is bidding on the building? Why are they letting it go for so cheap? Is it on ancient burial grounds or a hidden nuclear testing site?” There had to be a catch.

  “The owner and her family are immigrants from Ukraine. They are only offering it to Living Life. Dream ... you know, the place you wanted me to research. I think she can be swayed. This is not a public sale. It’s a private transaction that I got a sniff of through some connections. You know as well as I do those hoodlums want to stay in the streets doing drugs, stealing; they’re a bad stock. I’m sure I could get to the family and double what they’d be getting from Kylie Morgan and that bogus NPO of hers.” He was pure evil.

  Granted, I had never told anyone I had a personal investment in Kylie Morgan. To Larry and anyone else in my office, my interest in Kylie Morgan wasn’t more than a passing fascination with a media celebrity who was almost on par with me in the fame and intrigue department. I was doing my mandated charity by attending the event where she was a guest speaker as I had to give ten percent of my gross earnings to charity for tax reasons.

  “See what you can do, but don’t give away our shirts on this. Get it for a steal if you can.” I hated the taste of my own words.

  I had read about Kylie finding a building for her nonprofit in my nightly media stalking. They had secured a building on the Lower East Side and were planning on breaking ground on their center, which would be part housing and part educational, therapeutic, and mentoring space.