***
I'd just finished getting ready for the event when Lanie called. I grabbed the phone and ignored the shaking of my hands. I was a hot mess and knew without a doubt that I wasn't going to make it through the night without throwing up a few times.
"Hey," I said, my voice a rough whisper.
"Hey. I had an idea!"
"Oh yeah? You want to do a face swap? We change identities, and you go as me? He's a really good-looking guy, and he's rich."
"And he's a total creep. I'm going to ignore your willingness to throw me to the sharks!"
I laughed. "Tell me your grand plan."
"Get a few of those high-dosage sleeping pills from the counter in your bathroom. You know... the ones you used when your father died."
"Those are old. There's no way-"
"Just do it. They'll work. Give him four instead of two."
"At the event?" I bent over and worked my heels onto my feet.
"No. He's going to want you to come home with him, Erica. Play the part and then slip the pills into his drink. Let him pass out, and Monday at the office, tell him you're all paid up. You fucked him, and life can go on."
"And if he says something to Matt?"
"He has no proof. That's when you can pull out the story. I'll be there to back you up. You know that."
It didn't sound like a horrible plan, and if I were being honest, I had no plan at all. "Alright. I'll think about it."
"Get the pills and be safe. I love you."
"Love you too." I walked quickly to the bathroom and emptied a few into the palm of my hand. Everything inside me screamed for me to skip the event and go find Matt. He could help me figure things out. He loved me.
"And I love him too." I checked myself in the mirror one more time, steeling my resolve to end this shit tonight. Lanie's plan was dangerous, but if I could pull it off, maybe everything would be back to normal by Monday.
I finished getting my things together and locked up the apartment. The trip over to the art gallery took a little longer than I expected, and I showed up about thirty minutes after I told Mitch I would be there.
I was surprised as hell that he hadn't blown up my phone wondering where I was. Points for him for being a man and not a boy.
"Good evening, Miss." A valet opened my door and moved back, a smile on his face. "Just leave the keys in the ignition. Here's your ticket. Enjoy the event."
"Thank you." I nodded and took the ticket before walking to the door.
Mitch walked out, looking like the devil himself. His black suit was pressed perfectly, and fit him like a glove. I had no doubt that every woman in the room behind him had eye-fucked him twenty times. He was beautiful and would make some woman very happy one day, but that woman wasn't me. I was completely sold out to a blond-haired goof that reminded me of the frat boys from my past that I would turn away instantly.
Matt had every part of me. There was nothing else left to give to anyone or anything.
"You look beautiful." Mitch reached out and took my hand before leaning in and kissing my cheek. "Thanks for coming."
"I didn't have a choice." I slipped my arm into his as he offered it. I wanted to find some middle ground where I could be cordial with the asshole, but he was threatening to destroy everything that mattered to me.
"You always have a choice." He glanced down at me, his eyes filled with needy lust. "Let's grab a drink and let me introduce you to a few people. Then we dance."
"I don't like to dance." I pulled my arm from him as we approached the bar.
"Too bad." He moved in behind me, sliding his hands over my hips and holding me like he owned me. He leaned forward, and I stiffened. "I'll have a crown and coke, and then whatever my girl's having as well."
The bartender smiled. "Of course, Mr. Roberson." He glanced at me. "For you tonight, Miss?"
"A glass of red wine, please." I tried to find my voice, but it was lost behind the panic building in my chest. Mitch touching me was wrong. His body pressed to mine was sickeningly wrong.
"Relax," he whispered against the back of my hair.
I took my wine, thanked the guy and turned to face Mitch. "Please don't touch me like we're together. I'm your date tonight, not your wife or your lover."
"I understand where you are, Erica." He reached out and gripped my chin as his eyes darkened. "But tonight is your payback for me walking away from the most beautiful piece of art I've ever seen. It might not mean anything to you, but it did to me."
"So go buy it from the rich kid that won the bidding that night." I stepped back and bumped into the bar. Mitch reached out and grabbed my wrist, helping me to keep from spilling the wine.
"Stop being hostile, or tonight doesn't count. Period." He gripped my free hand and pulled me alongside him as we stopped to talk with several people. He kept my hand in his, or his hand pressed to the small of my back the whole night. I calmed down a little after my second glass of wine.
There was a confidence building up inside of me that I could get him back to his place and knock him out. I could figure it out, and this travesty would be over.
"Come dance with me." He took my glass from me, and we walked out to the dance floor. He pulled me close and breathed in deeply. "I can't wait to taste you, Erica. I'm going to spread you out on my kitchen table and indulge in every part of you until you can't figure out where I begin and you end."
I smirked. "You really think you have more to offer than a young, twenty-something-year-old man? He fucks like a rabbit, and he's so beautiful to look at."
He smiled as if I hadn't phased him a bit. The fear I'd let go of earlier had returned in a sickening wave.
"I'm not going to fuck you." He moved us to the middle of the floor, his hands gripping me tightly, possessively. "I'm going to make love to you. You need to see what it looks like to be adored by a man, not molested by a boy."
I clamped my lips shut. I had a million nasty things to shoot back at him, but it was better for me to simply get through the night and walk away. After things settled down, I would find a way to get him fired, even if that meant telling Damon and Kent everything. Tonight was the beginning of the end.
He leaned down and brushed his lips by my jawline before letting his lips hover just above my lips. "Kiss me."
"No. No kissing tonight." I turned and pressed my cheek against his chest, facing away from him. I locked eyes with someone on the edge of the floor that looked way too familiar. The tight expression on the man's face caused bile to rise in my throat. He was disgusted, ashamed, destroyed.
"Fuck." I pulled back. "I'll be right back."
Jonathan Luntz stood at the edge of the floor, his eyes a bottomless pit. "Erica. Wow. I'm not sure what to say right now."
"It's not what you think." I reached out to touch his arm, but he stepped back out of reach.
"No?" He glanced out toward the dance floor. "Looks to me like you've been cheating on Matthew. What a painful realization that's going to be for him."
"I'm not cheating on Matt. I love him with-"
He lifted his hand and snorted. "Right. Well, here's the deal, he means a lot to me and my family. You can tell him about what you're up to while he's not looking, or I will."
"It's not-"
"You or me?"
"Me." I took a shaky breath. I would just have to tell Matt, but I needed to make Mitch think that I slept with him. Matt would believe me when I told him the whole thing and my scheme. He might even appreciate it. No... that was pushing it. He'd be furious and probably kill Mitch with his bare hands.
As long as he didn't turn away from me, I was good with anything else he wanted to do.
"Good. Enjoy your evening. You've most certainly ruined mine." He turned and walked away, his nose turned up and eyes full of condemnation. There would be no coming back from that moment with him. Even if Matthew forgave me and understood what I was up to, convincing Jonathan otherwise was going to be damn near impossible.
And Jonathan would be in our lives for a long time. Another reminder of my failures.
"Who was that?" Mitch moved up beside me and wrapped a possessive arm around my back.
"No one. Let's go."
"Home?" He pulled me flush against him.
"Yes. I'll follow you back to your place this ends tonight."
He didn't speak, but rather studied me as if trying to uncover the lies building up inside of me. A moment later, he took my hand, and we walked toward the front door. After getting our cars pulled up from the valet, he walked over and stood before me.
"Don't be afraid of me, Erica. I just want to release you from this bullshit belief you have that anyone will do. You're better than that."
"I'll follow you." I got into the car and closed the door, focusing on the front window and ignoring him as he stood outside my car.
I had to get him drugged and in bed before anything happened. I couldn't live with myself if he touched me or kissed me. I wasn't playing the part at all. I was going to try and get him to share a drink with me and then get the fuck out of there.
"Please let this work. Please."
Tears filled my eyes as my phone buzzed beside me. A text from Matt.
I love you, baby. Me and Zek are eating popcorn and watching a chick-flick. Don't judge.
A sob left me as I pulled out of the event and followed Mitch far out of the city to his mansion by the water. Everything was on the line, and I was teetering toward losing the one thing I wanted more than anything in the world - love.