Page 91 of Anyone But the Superstar

NudeFelix.

My hands shake as I take the tablet from her.

‘Don’t be embarrassed. Art is art.’ Trish waves the air like she can somehow cool the embarrassment choking the words from my mouth. ‘And it answers theotherquestion I needed to ask before we start working together.’

Clearing my throat, I try and not sound like one of Mikey’s squeaky toys. ‘And what is that?’

‘If you’d have a problem drawing sex scenes.’ Her mouth kicks up on one side. ‘Because, as Rose mentioned last night, I want the webcomics to be rated mature.’

‘Porn. I said porn.’

Trish and I – along with quite a few nearby tables – startle and turn toward Rose, standing at the table, hands where her hips would normally be if it weren’t for her belly.

‘It’s hotter than balls outside.’ Rose blows Trish a kiss, then me before waving both hands at her cheeks. ‘I can’t tell you how much I regret these damn leggings.’

My gaze drops to her bright-red, leopard-print embossed maternity leggings under a NASA emblem t-shirt.

‘But honestly, I couldn’t do another dress after all the thigh chafing from last night.’ Asking a passing waiter to turn the ceiling fans on high, she pulls out the chair beside me. ‘I also resorted to slipping the hostess a hundred-dollar bill and asking her to pump the AC as high as it’ll go.’ She points, moving her finger back and forth between Trish and me. ‘So if your nipples start puckering—’ she shrugs ‘—sorry, not sorry.’

‘Where’s Jackie?’ Trish asks, saving me from doing it myself.

‘She dropped me off at the entrance so I didn’t have to waddle through the parking lot.’ Rose pours herself a glass ofwater from the pitcher the waitress left on the table. ‘That’s true friendship.’ She downs the glass in one go, wiping a drop of water off her chin when she’s done. ‘But enough about me.’

‘That’s something I never thought I’d hear her say,’ Trish murmurs, shooting me an amused smile.

Rose ignores her with a wave, before staring into my eyes. ‘How areyoudoing?’

Her sudden concerned tone has me exchanging frowning glances with Trish.

‘What do you mean?’ I ask.

‘The whole thing that blew up this morning with Felix and Amanda,’ Rose asks, scanning the TVs hung around the restaurant. ‘I mean, I know you’re just his pet sitter, but I’m sure his whole team has been in an uproar.’

I stare blankly at the back of her head.

‘There.’ Rose having found what she wanted, points to one of the TVs in the corner. One of the only ones not playing ESPN. ‘See what I mean, everyone’s talking about Felix and Aman—’ She stills. ‘Oh fuck.’

The split screen of Felix and Amanda’s headshots fade, replaced with a different picture.

‘Is that you?’ Trish asks.

Wordless, I nod, my eyes staring at a photo of Felix and me at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab. Kissing.

‘That was for work, I, uh, had to stand in. For the scene.’ My stammers are met with sympathetic stares.

Rose pats my hand. ‘That’s good. It’s bad enough that he’s cheating on his fiancée by having an affair with his co-worker. I wouldn’t have wanted to like a guy who was also sleeping w?—’

‘I’m sorry?’ My brain still doesn’t seem to be working. ‘Fiancée?’

A pinch forms between Rose’s brows. ‘I mean, he didn’t bringit up last night, so I didn’t, but I thought he just got engaged to Camilla Branson not too long ago.’

‘Engaged.’ The word falls from my lips, sounding foreign and dangerous.

Rose nods and pours herself another glass of water.

‘Um, Rose?’ Trish’s eyes bounce between me and the TV screen.

Not seeming to hear her, Rose points at the screen. ‘Someone at the hotel last night said Felix entered Amanda’s room and didn’t leave until this morning.’