Page 31 of Tempting the President

Uh...right.

I think I’ve heard enough.

But just as I’m about to take a step back, Villainous Charlize Lookalike raises a hand, and a hushed silence falls over the entireclub.

“Ifyoureally came here from the penthouse like you say—”

“I’m not lying.”

“Then you must be a gift to Zio from the other boys,” she says dismissively. “One last prank...before Zio gives up his bachelor days...to marry me.”

Don’t cry, Jayne.

I lift my chin while telling myself that I need to give as good as I’ve got.

Remember who you are!

And so I take a deep breath and say...

“I’mnota gift.”

Great, just great.

I wanted to sound as cool as all of my favorite MC romance heroines, but instead I ended up sounding more like some one-dimensional character who’s just so boring—

“I completely agree,” the other woman drawls.

She did?

“I’d say you’re more like trash to me—” She shrugs, and so do her fanatics. “But we can’t all have good taste, can we?”

I...want to say something. Butwhat?I’ve never been lost for words in all the classes I teach, but there’s just nothing—nothing!—that comes to mind. Maybe I’m really not heroine material like I thought I was?

“Zio is mine for the rest of our lives, but I’m feeling pretty generous, so...just this one night, I’ll loan him to you. So just go back to the penthouse, pretend this never happened, and do make the most out of this evening...since it will never happen again.”

Harlie’s too nice.

This bitch isn’t even fit to look at our queen in the eye.

Just looking at her pisses me off.

Their queen bee in leather gestures to her court. “Let’s go, girls.”

And off they really went, and all I can do is stare because...this is one of those things that my fancy PhD didn’t prepare me for.

My heart starts to crack as I spin toward the elevator. I can feel them staring at me. Hear them laughing at me as the doors slide open, and I stumble inside and jab the lobby button.

Was Patrizio really engaged to another woman?

If he wasn’t...then who was she, and why would she lie about such a thing?

But if he was...

Then there’s nothing to think about.

My thoughts are still a mess as I walk out of Midnight Tower, and it’s a struggle to even lift my hand up to hail a cab.

The cab driver looks at me through his rearview mirror as I slide into the backseat. “You okay?”