Page 127 of The Bad Boy Prince in Love

“You may not care in the moment, but I think once you’ve cooled off you’ll appreciate the fact that I saved our fake relationship.”

Hallie hated the idea that he was right, but maybe she did want to keep up the fake relationship just a little bit longer.But how much longer?She had sort of become dependent on it, and this wasn’t good.

“Just go away,” she said.

“Yes, Ma’am.”He retreated into his guest room.

Hallie went to her bedroom, and as soon as she closed the door, she realized she missed him already.

She replayed in her mind the way he’d kissed her.It had seemed in that perfect moment in time like his feelings were real.But then he was an expert at making women believe in his sincerity.

The one person she could have talked to about it was Jessica, but then they had that stupid fight over the phone.

Then Hallie remembered there was one other person she could always talk to, maybe not disclosing the full details of what happened.

She ran downstairs and got behind the wheel of her truck.Seeing Gigi always made her feel better, no matter what horrible things had happened.

After sending a quick text to Gigi to ask if it was okay to come over, she got a reply almost instantly.

“Gigi, you’re the best,” she whispered, turning the key in the ignition to begin the short drive to her grandma’s house.

Luckily, Gigi was alone and not with her boyfriend Bob, who would often hang around ever since they got together on their famous date at the charity auction.

“You look all upset,” Gigi said.“I had a feeling from your message something was wrong.Would you like some tea, dear?”

“I would love some, thanks,” Hallie said, already feeling better as she anticipated the sweetness of ice tea soothing her nerves.

Soon she was slumped on Gigi’s comfortable couch, sipping tea and eating cheese puffs and chocolate wafer cookies.

“So, are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”her grandmother asked carefully.

Hallie sighed, but she thought it would be better to talk about it rather than keeping it all inside until she exploded.“Let’s just say Luke did something bad.”

“Did he cheat on you?”Gigi asked without missing a beat.“Because you can get past cheating, really, if you love each other.”

“Oh, Gigi!”

“Well, do you think you love each other?”Gigi insisted.

“Absolutely not!”

“Then why are you so upset about it?”

Hallie was about to make an angry retort, but she just sat there with her mouth open.Gigi did sort of have a point.

“Okay, maybe there are some feelings, but I wouldn’t call it love.”

“Love hides behind almost every feeling,” Gigi said with a wistful smile.“Even ones you think are the opposite of love, like anger.”

“Anger is something I have plenty of,” Hallie muttered.

“You see?Well, it’s good to be angry sometimes.Don’t shut away your feelings, dear.”

If only Gigi knew the whole story...But Hallie didn’t want to expose Terry, even after what she had done.There could be some bad consequences, and she didn’t want to be the one who uncovered a secret that could ruin a marriage.

She didn’t know why she was so angry.Maybe it was because somewhere deep down she had been hoping that their relationship had some meaning and that Luke treasured it enough not to throw it away on a whim.

And why Terry of all people?Maybe he got caught up in the moment, but shouldn’t he have stopped himself, knowing that he and Hallie had shared their first kiss just the previous day?