False Pretences Page 13

  “I….I…I…” Lara stuttered, fumbling for the right words…

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lara sat there, gaping at the million-dollar engagement ring in front of her. Never in a million years would she suspect that her benefactor was in love with her. Granted, their viable working relationship was great and she never wanted for anything…but she didn’t love Christian…she loved the man she’d been parading around London for weeks…Alexander Collins.

  Before she could open her mouth again, there was a noise outside the door and she heard retreating footsteps. It could only have been Alexander and he must have encountered the proposal.

  “Christian, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me since you became my patron.” Lara said slowly, pulling her hand away. “But I cannot accept your proposal…there is someone else I love.”

  Christian was taken aback by her refusal and he quickly rose to his full height.

  “Don’t tell me it’s that polished toerag you’ve been hanging around with lately” Christian sneered, replacing the box back in his pocket. “He can’t make you happy…he doesn’t have a penny to his name!”

  He then pulled his cigar case out of his breast pocket and took a cigar out.

  “That polished toerag has been nothing but kind and respectful to me, something I’ve wanted for a long time!” Lara replied heatedly, suddenly angry at Christian. “He may not be much to you, but he’s everything to me…and I want to be with him.”

  With that, she stood up and stormed out of the room.

  Alexander stood outside the mansion, wiping his eyes. What a fool he’d been. He was just a bought and paid for toy…he was never in Lara’s league.

  Upon his hasty departure from the office door, he called a cab. He was tired of the charade and wanted the parade to end. He couldn’t even look at Lara the same way anymore.

  “She probably used me to make the rich bastard propose to her out of jealousy…how could I be so stupid?” He groaned, slamming the palm of his hand against the pillar nearest him. “Well no more. I am walking away from it all. I don’t need Lara anymore and I don’t need her lies!”

  Just then, the cab arrived, pulling up in front of the fountains at the edge of the lawn. Wiping his eyes, he headed towards the black car.

  Lara had been passing a window overlooking the front grounds when she saw Alexander heading towards a waiting cab. Her heart leapt into her throat and she ran downstairs to the front door.

  Not wanting him to leave without her, she opened the door and rushed outside to catch the car.

  “ALEX!” she called out, just as he was getting into the back of the cab. “Wait for me!”

  Alex looked over his shoulder and she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw he had been crying. Wordlessly, he turned back to the task on hand and climbed into the cab, slamming the door behind him. The cab then pulled away from the curb, leaving Lara standing there in disbelief.

  Alexander sat on his couch, his eyes red from weeping. How stupid could he have been, thinking there would be anything between the two of them. He soundly regretted getting involved with the whole charade and tried desperately to come up with his next plan.

  Scrubbing his face with a hand wearily, he stood up and went to the mini-bar and poured himself a glass of bourbon over ice. Taking the bottle and full tumbler with him, he sat back down on the couch and set the bottle down before taking a long pull of the stiff drink.

  He was in the midst of pouring himself a second helping when he heard a knock at his door. He quickly drank the bourbon and headed to the door, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. He opened the door, revealing the uncertain figure of Lara, who looked pained.

  “Oh…it’s you” he mumbled, his hoarse voice betraying his seemingly stoic demeanor.

  “I came to talk to you.” She replied, walking in and closing the door behind her. “About the proposal…”

  Alexander drank his third glass quickly and then slammed the tumbler down, making her flinch at the sound.

  “I don’t know whether to give you my congratulations or condolences.” Alexander sniped, sneering at her. “I give it a year at most. Rich bastards like Christian never settle down.”

  “What are you talking about?” Lara retorted, frowning at him in confusion.

  “I saw everything, Lara!” he spat angrily, standing up to face her. “I saw him propose to you…I saw the look in your eyes. What was I to you? A disposable toy?”

  “Will you calm down and let me explain?” She hissed angrily as he towered over her. “It’s not what you think!”

  “I know what I saw, Lara!” he exploded, slamming his fist on the arm of his sofa. “I saw the look in your eyes…this is what you wanted all along…a rich husband. Funny how I could never peg you as a gold-digger at first, but it puts everything in perspective now. It’s no wonder why you kept hesitating before…he was working you all along.”

  Alexander’s heart constricted at his words. The pain he felt was so immense that he wanted nothing more than to crawl under a rock and die. Lara looked taken aback…much like a chess player whose secret strategy was found out.

  “I came to tell you that I rejected Christian’s proposal!” she mumbled, tears springing to her eyes.

  “How noble of you!” Alexander sneered, narrowing his eyes at her. “Did you do it to get more out of him?”

  THWAK! Pain exploded upon his left cheek as Lara’s palm collided with it. For a smaller girl, she had quite the slapping arm.

  “How dare you!!” Lara shouted, looking at him in disbelief as he held his stinging cheek. “He was just my patron, nothing more. How dare you accuse me of being a gold digger? You’re obviously not the man I thought you were!”

  “Go tell someone who cares!” Alexander replied in an even voice as he glared at her. “Do you think I will believe anything you’ve said? You’re a liar and a user, Lara! Leave my flat immediately!”

  Lara gave him one last scathing look before she turned on her heel and stormed towards the door. Opening the door, she turned to him one last time.

  “You’re a blind and stupid fool!” she said quietly, tears streaming down her face. “You’re blinded by so much jealousy that you can’t see what was in front of you. Goodbye, Alexander!”

  With that, she left, slamming the door in her wake.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Venessa was concerned. It had been a couple of days since she’d heard from Lara and it wasn’t like her friend to be quiet for so long. The gala was coming up in a few days and she hadn’t even mentioned anything about purchasing her dress or making an appointment with a stylist.

  She left the office early that afternoon and headed to Lara’s apartment, wondering if something terrible had happened. Thankfully, she didn’t have to buzz Lara to be let in, as she had Lara’s spare key.

  She spent the short time in the elevator, ruminating over all the possible scenarios that could have taken place. With each passing second, every idea became direr and more frightening to her. By the time the doors opened and she stepped out, she was in a panic.

  Rushing to Lara’s door, she quickly let herself in and suppressed a gasp when she saw the state of the place. Garbage was strewn everywhere and it looked as if Lara hadn’t left the place in days.

  “Lara!” Venessa called out, in a panic, rushing into the living room. She dropped everything unceremoniously on the hardwood floor, stopping in her tracks.

  There Lara was, sprawled out on the floor amid empty cartons of Ben and Jerry’s “Half-Baked” ice cream, a discarded blanket, and empty bags of Cheetos. Lara herself was a bedraggled mess…a cross between Swamp Thing and Samara from “The Ring”. Her hair was in knots and hung low upon her face and her stained pajama pants and tank top told Venessa that she hadn’t changed her clothes in days.

  “Lara!” Venessa gasped, rushing over to her despondent friend. “Oh my God!”

  “God’s busy…can I take a message?” Lara slurred, slowly sitting up and
knocking over more empty ice cream cartons.

  “You need to pull yourself together…you have a huge gala coming up.” Venessa exclaimed, kneeling down and brushing Lara’s greasy hair out of her face.

  “It doesn’t matter.” Lara sniffed, her red rimmed eyes filling with tears. “I don’t have Alexander to share it with!”

  Venessa’s eyes widened in realization. Despite everything she had given many warnings against, Lara had ignored everything and went in too deep, falling for Alexander.

  “You didn’t listen to any of my advice, did you? You went and fell for the man you were pretending to be with!” Venessa hissed, suddenly livid. “Do you ever listen to my advice?”

  Lara gave her a pathetic expression and her anger dissolved into concern. She could be angry at Lara later. Right now, she needed help…and judging by the state of things, Venessa came just at the right time.

  “First things first.” Venessa announced, taking off her coat and throwing it upon the chaise by the window. “We need to clean you up. Come on!”

  She took Lara’s hand and helped her to stand. Judging by the dark circles under her eyes, her friend had been suffering for days. She immediately felt bad that she hadn’t come by sooner. Lara burst into tears and clutched Venessa desperately.

  “We will fix this mess, okay?” she said calmly, helping Lara to the bathroom. “Clean up and then you can tell me everything from the beginning.”

  She ran a hot bubble bath for Lara, pouring some of her jasmine bath oil into the water. Lara slowly stripped bare and gingerly lowered herself into the tub, her hands grasping the edges for dear life. She submerged herself momentarily before surfacing and leaning her back against the edge.

  After a long soak, Lara was finally able to pull herself together enough to tell Venessa everything that had happened from the very beginning.

  Venessa perched herself upon the toilet, leaning towards Lara as she began.

  “It was during our second public date. After making our way around the donut bar, Alexander told me he liked me and wanted to spend more time with me. I was extremely cautious, but he seemed sincere and told me that we could take things in baby steps…then I agreed, thinking that no harm could be done. He came over to my place the night after the meeting at the Barbican and we watched The Shining and ate Chinese food.”

  “Go on” Venessa urged, handing Lara some toilet paper as her eyes filled with tears.

  “There we were, enjoying ourselves when I suddenly panicked. I made an excuse and went to the bathroom, where I took a look in the mirror and questioned everything. I then came to the conclusion that I was going to start enjoying my time with him and to hell with everything else. I felt I deserved the happiness it would bring. So, we began seeing each other privately after that.”

  Venessa felt the realization dawn upon her. She saw so many signs and yet she ignored them. Even after she told Lara to be cautious, she managed to fall for Alexander, who was apparently too good to be true.

  “So what happened next?”

  Lara filled her in on the intimate details of how they became closer, omitting the first night they slept together. When she came to the part where Christian invited them for dinner, she paused, waiting for everything to sink in.

  “This is all leading to a big climax, isn’t it?” Venessa asked, hanging onto Lara’s every word.

  “I need to get out of the bath first.” Lara immediately said, standing up. “Hand me that towel, will you?”

  Venessa grabbed the big bath towel and handed it to Lara, who wrapped it around her body as she stepped out of her tub. She pulled the plug out and let the water drain as she put on her robe.

  Lara led Venessa into her bedroom and motioned for her to sit upon her bed as she changed into a clean pair of pajamas. When she finished, she sat next to Venessa and continued.

  “Christian invited us out to his mansion for dinner on Friday night and we went. Alexander was nervous and so was I. We had no idea what Christian wanted. We enjoyed a nice dinner and dessert and then Christian decided to give us the grand tour of his home. Alexander had to go relieve himself and he left me alone with Christian, who led me to his office instead of the sitting room, where I told Alexander where we would be. It all happened so fast. One minute, I was sitting there, and then, Christian suddenly pulled a velvet ring box out of his pocket and shoved it in my face. I was so surprised and stunned that I couldn’t speak.”

  “I knew it!” Venessa exclaimed, slamming her fist in her palm. “I figured he had feelings for you…I don’t know how you didn’t notice!”

  “He was my patron…all I saw in him was a professional friendship. Never once did I entertain romantic feelings for him and never once did I expect him to think differently of me than as a friend.” Lara replied sharply.

  “That’s besides the point, I suppose…” Venessa said grudgingly, waiting for Lara to continue. “What happened next?”

  “I don’t know how much Alexander saw or how he managed to see us in the office, but he watched Christian propose to me. He slipped away before I refused Christian and I ran out of the room, searching for him. When I finally saw him, he was climbing into one of Christian’s town cars. I ran out of the house, he had the driver speed off. I had Christian’s other driver take me to Alexander’s flat, where we argued and I stormed off. For some reason, Alexander thought I was well on my way to becoming Christian’s wife. When I tried to convince him that I had no interest in Christian, he accused me of leading him on and called me a gold digger.”

  “A misunderstanding?” Venessa surmised, snorting. “He thought you accepted Christian’s proposal? How stupid was he to think that you would betray him that easily?”

  “He saw what he saw and believed what he wanted to believe.”

  “Tell me something, Lara” Venessa said, suddenly turning serious. “Do you love Alexander?”

  Lara considered lying but she knew it was futile. Venessa was already in the loop and wouldn’t believe anything else but the truth.

  “I do” she said quietly, fresh tears springing to her eyes as she thought of him. “He has made me feel safe and secure...I haven’t felt this happy in ages. I wanted nothing more than to spend all my time with him.”

  Venessa took everything she’d heard from Lara into consideration. She had spent countless times harping upon image and the dangers of falling for Alexander to Lara. Mulling everything over, she began to realize that perhaps her friend’s happiness was more important than rules and restrictions.

  The gala was days away and Lara really had nothing to lose if she followed her heart. Perhaps something could be done to salvage the fractured relationship she had with Alexander.

  She made up her mind and stood up.

  “I need to go run a few errands” she said suddenly, arousing Lara’s suspicion as she dashed into the living room and grabbed her coat and purse. “Please clean your apartment. I will be in touch.”

  Before Lara could speak out and stop her, Venessa was out the door.

  Venessa stood in her home office, holding the manuscript Alexander had given her weeks ago. She knew she had to find a way to get through to Alexander. Talking plainly to him would be fruitless…from what Lara described, he was a stubborn ass who only believed what he wanted to believe.

  Now, if she had some sort of peace offering, he might not turn her away so easily. It was a complete shot in the dark, but her instinct urged her on.

  She picked up her phone and dialed the number of her contact at Harper Collins publishing.

  “Hello, Walter…it’s Venessa. I have a manuscript you might want to see!”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Alexander stood in his flat, gazing at a photograph of Lara he’d found in the Daily Mail. It had been days since their tumultuous fight and he felt miserable.

  Yet he knew what he saw. Every time he closed his eyes, he watched Christian proffer the ring to Lara, who looked surprised and speechless…like a child on Christmas morning. T
he nightmare was put on a cycle of repeat and he could not rid himself of the images that haunted him every night.

  There was no way any woman could turn down such an expensive ring, let alone Lara Clayton. He was still convinced that she was lying when she said she declined the proposal. Why would anyone turn down a rich man’s proposal the way she claimed?

  He slammed down the photo and poured himself a glass of bourbon. He hadn’t the heart to break open his scotch…it brought back painful memories of Christian the rich bastard and his smarmy attitude.

  Quickly draining the glass he’d poured, he slammed the tumbler down on the coffee table and was about to pour himself another when the doorbell rang. Slowly stalking his way to the door, he hoped it wasn’t Lara. He couldn’t face her right now…not after that explosive fight.

  When he saw Venessa standing on his doorstep, he groaned inwardly. What did the bitch want?

  “You have ten seconds to tell me why you’re here” he informed her flatly as he led her inside.

  “Your novel” was all she said, causing him to whirl around.

  “What do you mean, my novel?” he demanded, incredulously looking at her.

  “I come bearing good news, Mr. Collins.” She replied, her eyes landing on the open bottle upon his coffee table. “Won’t you offer a lady a drink?”

  Alexander grabbed another tumbler and filled it halfway with bourbon before handing it to her.

  “What good news have you come to give me?”

  Venessa smiled broadly, saluting him before sipping her drink.

  “I spoke to a friend of mine…an Assistant Editor at Harper Collins…they want to publish Mind Meld.”

  Alexander couldn’t believe his ears. After so long, someone finally wanted to publish his work.

  “I don’t know what to say…” he trailed off, unsure of what to say.

  “Thank you would do just fine” Venessa said sardonically, setting her tumbler down. “I pulled a few strings to have this happen for you…now will you do me a favor?”