Page 62 of The Love Chase

How had I never noticed how devious my manager was? While her words might have been true, when she said them all like that and in that order, it felt dirty and deceptive and I suddenly wanted zero part in all of it.

Especially if it meant Emma was hanging precariously in the balance.

“Sorry, Bridget, but we’ve already asked Emma to sacrifice enough when she became my wife. I won’t ask her to pretend to be someone she’s not.” I squeezed her hand tighter. “She’s enough as she is.”

Bridget rolled her eyes, and Emma gave my hand a squeeze, likely sensing my rising anger. She had a way of offering silent support that made my tightly coiled insides relax.

“While I’m sure she appreciates the sentiment, Emma didn’t sign up to be enough. She signed up to be your wife—and everything that entails. She agreed to play a part—the part of Liam Walker’s wife. That means wear the right clothes, the right makeup, and hang on your arm like a love-crazed woman. Tonight, she was just the girl next door who got lucky enough to marry you. This isn’t what we wanted.”

I took a step toward Bridget, outrage making my body shake. “How dare you?”

“Be reasonable, Liam. This wasn’t the plan.” She waved a vague hand at Emma, wordlessly insulting her. It had me seeing red.

“Don’t forget you signed the contract too,” she reminded me.

I clenched my teeth so hard my jaw ached. Words fled my mind, and Bridget’s eyes shone.

She thinks she’s won.

“Good. We understand each other then.” Her voice was smug, and I hated it. How did I ever think she was a good manager? “This deviation from the right image won’t happen again.” Her gaze flicked between Emma and me. “Will it?”

Emma stayed quiet the entire time, but I could feel her fury rising, saw the way she bit the inside of her cheek to keep her words at bay. I hated that I’d dragged her into this. She deserved so much better.

What have I done?

Bridget patted my shoulder, taking my silence as confirmation. “Good. Head home and get some rest. You’ll need it for the next gig.”

She was halfway out the door when she turned and said, “And Liam? I don’t think you want to find out what happens if you breach your contract. Understood?”

Emma

“It could’ve been worse,” I said to Maya over the phone.

I was sprawled across the bed, my arm over my eyes as I talked to my cousin. Liam and I had gotten home twenty minutes ago after what felt like the longest flight back to Iowa ever, and he’d been in the shower ever since. He’d barely spoken to me since we left the venue, nicely brushing me off when I asked if he was all right, and it had my insides twisting.

He was obviously angry about everything that went down with Bridget after his performance, but he wouldn’t talk to me about it. It meant everything to me that he’d defended me so fiercely, but I didn’t like that he took the brunt of Bridget’s wrath and was now suffering in silence. I wanted to help, but he wasn’t letting me in so that I could.

“Sounds like it also could’ve gone better,” Maya offered.

I blew out a breath. “I’ve never seen him like that. He was so…protective of me.”

“He’s always been that way though,” Maya said.

I squinted at the ceiling. “What?”

“Ever since you two were kids, he’s been protective of you. Like a big brother.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Trust me, there was nothing big brother about him tonight.”

Especially when he pushed me against the wall and kissed me senseless.

His words about not believing that he waited twenty years to kiss me kept replaying in my head. They were simple words, but I kept spinning them over and over, trying to figure out what he meant. Did he mean that he was happy he finally tried it? Or did he mean that he liked it and wanted to keep kissing me? Or…

I sighed. There were too many possible meanings, and Liam wasn’t exactly being forthcoming with his feelings.

For all I knew, he was being the guy the tabloids made him out to be. A womanizer, kissing any girl that would kiss him back. Or maybe he was taking advantage of the fact that we were married.

I didn’t like that option very much, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn’t think Liam would do that.