Page 92 of One Sweet Lie
HARLOW
Istared at my bedroom ceiling, convinced that the past forty-eight hours were nothing more than a nightmare. That the tears drenching my sheets were merely a twisted ruse from my imagination.
Pierce and I are still together.
He doesn’t know about my one sweet lie.
I still have time to tell him, and I will.
I will definitely tell him.
In the next few minutes, I knew Pierce would send me a message about changes in today’s routine, along with a subtle note about where we’d have sex later.
One hour passed.
Then another.
My phone remained silent.
The only thing I received was a text from an unknown number.
Hey girl, hey! It’s Belinda from high school! Are you still making those cute cupcakes or nah? Can I get a freebie discount since we took classes together?
~
Countless missed diaper changes and sleepless nights later
FORTY-SIX
HARLOW
My heart ached as I stepped through the departure doors at LaGuardia Airport. Today was the first day I’d gotten out of bed, and only because I’d never missed hanging out with Sasha before she took off for her international book tours.
“Over here, Harlow!” She waved at me from our usual coffee spot. “Here!”
I forced a smile and sat next to her.
“It’s good that you finally quit your nanny job,” she said. “I’m proud of you for realizing it’s time to focus on starting your bakery. I bet you’ve been working on it nonstop, huh?”
“Yeah.” A lump rose up my throat. “That’s all I’ve been doing these days.”
“I still can’t believe he gave you that huge building as an early birthday-slash-parting gift,” she said. “It might be true love after all.”
I really am a liar.
“Why do you look so sad?” she asked. “You should be the happiest woman in the world.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay. Well, seeing as though I’m not going through security until it’s closer to boarding time, whatdoyou want to talk about?”
“Your books,” I said. “Are you working on any new ideas?”
“Oh my god, yes!” She pulled out her notebook. “Tell me what you think about this one: He’s a cinnamon roll style hero, and he has a heart of gold.”
“Okay, go on…”
“He proposes to his long-time girlfriend, but she says no and embarrasses him in front of millions of people. And then…” Her eyes darted around the terminal. “He returns to his hometown to find the first girl he ever loved, but his old house is filled with vampires and half-dead zombies!”