THE DEAL by Marsh, Nicola (electronic reader txt) 📕

No matter what Steve had told her, it didn’t change facts. Matt had paid her to pose as his girlfriend and she had, she’d fallen in love and he hadn’t. End of story. Even when she’d given him a final clue it wasn’t about the money for her, he’d ignored it. If he’d felt anything more than lust for her, he’d have chased after her when she’d dropped the cheque at his feet.

But he hadn’t. And it was well and truly over. Time to pick up the pieces and move on. At least one good thing had come out of this mess. Sal’s business had been saved and Kara had played a big part in it.

Draining the last of her coffee, she stood, eager to get home and finally vent her feelings. She had a few stress balls lying around that were going to be sore and sorry by the time she’d finished with them.

As she walked out of the cafe her mobile rang and she waited. It took five rings to realise it couldn’t possibly be Matt. He wouldn’t be calling her ever again.

Checking the number, she saw it was Sal. With more than a hint of guilt, she hit ‘divert’. She couldn’t face talking to Sal right now, when she was more than likely to blab the whole sordid tale to the one person in the world who loved her unconditionally. She would ring her later, after taking time to compose herself.

She waited until the phone beeped, indicating a message had been left. Playing it back as she strolled to her car, she almost stumbled as she listened to the last part of Sal’s message. I

“The DATY presentation is tomorrow night, honey. I need you and that hunky man of yours to be there for the final publicity shots. You two look fabulous together. Great advertising for the agency. Give me a call to discuss wardrobe. Love you. Bye.”

The only thing she and Matt could advertise at the moment was an instruction manual on how to send men to Mars and women to Venus and get them to stay there. Forever.

What the heck was she going to do now?

Twelve

Kara had never been any good at hiding emotions. If her transparent expressions weren’t bad enough, Sal had the uncanny ability to hear the slightest nuance in her voice as well. And tonight had been no exception, though it probably had more to do with her bursting into tears the minute Sal had answered her callback.

Predictably, Sal had rushed over; she’d always been there for her and Kara loved her for it. “What’s going on, sweetie? I’ve never seen you like this.”

Sal’s concern tore at Kara’s heart. She didn’t want to burden her with the whole sorry tale, so she decided to give her the edited version.

“It’s a mess, Sal. My life’s a shambles.”

Sal stared at her, eyebrows raised. “You’ve got your own business, your own place, you’ve been glowing the last few months...” She trailed off and clicked her fingers. “That’s it. This is about that spunky lawyer of yours, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I think I’ve done something stupid.”

Sal waved her hand, as if shooing away all her problems. “That’s not stupid dear, it’s called having a little fun. And it’s about time too”

“I’m not talking about that. I think I’ve done something a thousand times worse.” She fiddled with the hem of her skirt, reluctant to say the words out loud.

As intuitive as ever, Sal grabbed her hand. “You’ve fallen in love with him.”

A statement, not a question, and Kara wished it wasn’t true. If it had been a question, there could’ve been all sorts of answers and outcomes. As a fact, there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.

She nodded. “See? Told you it was stupid.”

Sal squeezed her hand. “Excuse me for being old and senile, but isn’t this a good thing?”

“He doesn’t love me.”

There, she’d admitted the painful truth. No thunder, no lightning and she hadn’t been struck down. It was only her heart that felt like it had been electrocuted the minute she’d walked out of his office earlier, when she’d finally realised he didn’t love her.

“You’re kidding me? The way that young man looks at you, it’s positively obscene. He adores you.”

“Love isn’t lust, Sal.”

“No, it’s not, but Matt cares for you. Don’t forget, I know people. I’m in the matchmaking business.”

Sal reminded her of a wise, old sage, sitting there in her flowing gypsy skirt and silky shawl. The image lightened her mood for the first time that day, bringing a smile to her face.

“Yeah, don’t remind me. It’s your fault I’m in this mess in the first place. You and your darn computer.”

Sal rolled her eyes. “My darn computer, as you so politely put it, hasn’t been wrong before.”

“Trust me. This time, it had a short-circuit and a melt-down.”

They laughed. It felt good, as earlier Kara suspected she’d never laugh again.

“I know this throws a major spanner in the works for tomorrow night. What happens to your publicity shots?”

Sal sobered quickly. “I need you both to be there. Wouldn’t look too good if the 1000th couple broke up before the presentation. Heck, they might even take the award off me.”

For one moment, Kara could’ve sworn she saw a gleam of cunning in Sal’s eyes, but it disappeared in a flash.

“I can’t contact him, Sal. It’s over.” She hated the finality of the words all over again.

“I understand, dear. Don’t worry, I’ll think of something.”

Sal sat back and closed her eyes, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“That’s what