Page 8 of A Little Bit Engaged
“Oh, no. No. No. No.” Cara’s voice trembled. Her lower lip quivered. “Please tell me this is a sick joke. An early April Fool’s prank. Payback for me making fun of your movie franchise.”
Brody wanted to wipe away her worry. Instead, he shut off the video. “I wish I could.”
Cara stared at his phone. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I know the feeling. It’s like I’m on a roller coaster that won’t stop—only, this ride hasn’t been any fun.” He placed his phone on the old, beat-up trunk that doubled as a coffee table. “I just want it to end.”
“Why would Caitlin do this to me? To us?” The pain in Cara’s voice hurt Brody. “I’ve stayed out of the public eye on purpose. Now she’s pushing me into the spotlight. Can you stop this?”
The hope in Cara’s gaze made him want to say yes, but he couldn’t tell her another lie. “I thought about going to my lawyer, but Caitlin talked me out of it. She said the real-life parallel with the movie is too perfect not to exploit. The show was taped this morning. It’s set to air on Thursday. That gives us time.”
“Time for what?” The lines on Cara’s forehead deepened. “My sister has lost it.”
“Caitlin panicked.” She needed people to think well of her, and she’d been stressed over her film’s release. He wished she hadn’t dragged him and Cara into this, but he wouldn’t desert Caitlin. Without her, he would have never been cast as her costar in a role that turned both of them into megastars. He not only owed Caitlin, but he also cared about her. They could have lost her when she was seventeen and mentally hit rock bottom. He didn’t want that to happen again. “She’s worried about her reputation. We need to play along. Pretend to be engaged.”
“Other actors have survived bad reviews and box office flops. Why is this any different?”
The upcoming premiere was only one reason Caitlin had reacted this way. Brody dragged his hand through his hair.
“And let’s not play dumb.” Cara squared her shoulders. “My sister didn’t come up with the life-imitating-art speech on the fly. This was premeditated.”
“No, it wasn’t,” he countered. “Caitlin was caught off guard. Her anxiety ramped up. She did what she could to salvage the situation.”
“What situation? She threw us under the bus. No, in front of a runaway semi. Or train.”
“Caitlin’s built her career on being a sweet, honest person. A role model for young women. She did what she had to do, and we have to help her.”
“Help, yes, but not enable.” Cara rubbed her face. “Caitlin must be having a mental breakdown. Or maybe she’s taking a new anxiety medication, and this is a side effect. Those are the only reasons for her to have lied so badly.”
Guilt coated Brody’s mouth. He rubbed his sweaty palms over his thighs. The last two and a half years replayed in his mind. Each memory made his throat hurt more, but he had to tell the truth. “Not everything Caitlin said was a lie.”
Cara’s lips curved into a condescending smile that hit like a kick from an undefeated MMA fighter. “Don’t let love blind you.”
The tightness in his chest quadrupled. Lying to her had been difficult, but he never expected to feel as if his own heart was going to explode. “There’s stuff you don’t know.”
The color of Cara’s eyes deepened to a forest green. “What stuff?”
He wanted to skip this part, make something up the way Caitlin had during her interview, but Cara deserved to hear the truth, even though she wouldn’t like what he had to say. “Caitlin and I broke up two and a half years ago. Since then, we’ve been pretending to date.”
Cara blinked. “Pretending?”
She sounded breathless as if she couldn’t believe what he was saying. Brody understood. If he could change the past, he would. He would tell Cara the truth. No, he wouldn’t have pretended he and Caitlin were still dating.
“Yes.” Saying that brought no relief. Only regret.
“But you and Caitlin are in love.”
“I love Caitlin, just not romantically. She feels the same way about me. But there are benefits to us remaining a couple until the final movie in the franchise releases in December, so we—”
“Lied.”
The lump in his throat grew to the size of a baseball. He nodded and then swallowed. “No one else knew.”
“If that’s supposed to make me feel better—”
“It’s not. But I didn’t want you to think we kept the truth only from you. In January, we were planning to release a statement about breaking up and then go on with our lives and careers separately. But now…”
Cara’s face flushed. “I see.”
