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  Trying her best not to jump to conclusions, Sara did her best to keep calm. “So you went to Vegas for your bachelor party. Where’d you guys go?”

  “We did go to the Eiffel Tower Restaurant, but he took us to some strip club after dinner.” The idea of Evan going to a strip club repulsed her. There was no doubt all of the women there were all over him once they found out he was the bachelor.

  “How many girls?” Sara’s voice demanded the answer.

  “Four total, but it was nothing.”

  “Nothing? You think it was nothing? You had four naked women rubbing their bodies all over you, pushing their tits in your face. They were grinding on your lap, trying to get you hard enough to blow your load, or worse, get you horny enough to take them to the backroom.”

  “I wouldn’t go anywhere with them. I’m not like that.”

  “Evan, you were drunk and at a strip club. You wouldn’t be the first guy to let that combination turn into a really bad decision.”

  “You should know me by now; nothing happened.”

  “I thought I knew you, but now I don’t know.” The tears were streaming down Sara’s face. She had never cried over a boyfriend before, and here she was balling her eyes out. “You lied to me, Evan.”

  “I never lied to you.”

  “You told me you were going to a convention and you didn’t.”

  “I thought I was when I told you that.”

  “But you didn’t correct it once you found out. You could’ve texted or called me.” She thought about the last words she said to him the previous morning. “I even said I know you have the convention and I was going to let you go. You could have told me everything then, but you didn’t.”

  “You’re right; I should’ve said something.”

  Sara wiped her eyes and cheeks forcefully with her hands. Her only desire was to chuck her phone right at Evan’s face, but with him being on the complete other side of the country, that wasn’t going to happen. “What did you do after the strip club?” She did her best to show no emotion other than anger when she spoke through gritted teeth.

  “We came back to the hotel and went to a club. I was there for a while. I danced, had some drinks, and then came up to my room.”

  “And you were alone?”

  “Yes, I was alone,” Evan snapped. “I can’t believe you really had to ask me that.”

  “Well, you haven’t given me much of a reason to trust you.” She finally admitted it out loud. She didn’t trust him anymore, but did that mean she didn’t want to be with him?

  “I know I screwed up. We both know I should’ve let you know what was going on, and for that I’m sorry.”

  Neither of them spoke for a few moments. Sara had no idea what to say to Evan. In two days he had become someone she barely recognized. The man she loved wouldn’t have lied to her or kept something like this from her. There had to be a reason for it.

  “Once you found out about the bachelor party, why didn’t you let me know about it? Why did I have to find out like this?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t think about it at first and then Waters started ordering drinks. I guess I got caught up in the allure of Vegas after a couple of drinks.”

  “See, that’s why I tried to warn you before you went to meet them. I know how easy it is to get swept up in it. Julie and I went there once and it was a shit show.”

  “Really what happened?”

  Knowing this was Evan’s attempt at switching the subject in hopes of easing the tension, Sara figured she had two options. She either could stay mad at Evan, or she could try to move past it.

  “That’s a whole other conversation. Right now; we’re talking about your time in Vegas.” She bit her lip in frustration. At least he didn’t fuck another chick, Sara thought.

  “I’m sorry,” Evan said. His voice was lower and somber. “I don’t know what you want me to do. It’s not like I can go back and change what happened.”

  “I know, but it’s going to take time to win my trust back.”

  “I’m guessing I should call the vineyard and caters.”

  “Why?”

  “We’ll have to push back the wedding.”

  Sara was taken aback by Evan’s suggestion. Neither of them realized the wedding was in a few short weeks. So much had been planned in a brief time frame. Evan worked hard to make the arrangements, it would suck for all of it to go to waste.

  “I think we need to take a few days to think things over.” She knew saying she needed time was crushing to his morale, but Sara really did need to re-evaluate her situation to make sure this was what she wanted. “In the meantime, I want you to focus on finishing up this tour and your book.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I still love your naïve ass, and I want you back home so we can actually spend some time together.” The thought of having Evan back for longer than a month or two warmed her icy cold skin.

  “Okay. I should get going though. I have to finish packing and meet up with the others. My flight leaves in two and a half hours.”

  “Text me when you get there.”

  “I will. I love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  Sara hung up the phone and stared out the bedroom window, trying to imagine what life would be like once Evan came home. She loved him and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, but would he be the Evan from Vegas or would he be her Evan?

  The early morning sun peaked out from the clouds, embracing the room with its light. It was the peaceful calm after weathering the storm of Evan’s Vegas trip. There was nothing that was going to rip Sara from her bed. Nothing, except the doorbell.

  With a grunt, she threw a robe over her pajamas and headed downstairs. When she opened the door, she found a familiar face leaning against the frame.

  “What are you doing here,” Sara asked. She only met the woman twice. The first time was at Evan’s book signing in Jersey. The second was when she showed up at her hotel room to put her in a fabulous dress the night Evan proposed.

  “Good morning to you too,” Kat smiled. She looked Sara up and down before putting her foot in the doorway. “I suggest you get dressed.”

  “Dressed? Why?”

  “Well, I don’t think you want to walk around shopping in those clothes.” Kat’s finger pointed at the red and pink frilly pajamas hidden behind a peach robe.

  “What do you mean shopping?” Kat pushed her way into the apartment. “And why are you in my house?”

  “Evan called me a few days ago and asked me to come to New York. He wanted me to help you find the perfect dress for the wedding.”

  “Are you his personal assistant or something now?”

  “I consider it being a friend with a financial incentive.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means; he pays me to help him whether it is a personal errand, like picking out clothes for you, or professional advice.”

  “Evan has a publicist and an agent. Why does he need to pay another person for advice?”

  “Evan trusts me. We both feel that Mr. Waters and Ms. Stone have their own agendas that may or may not be beneficial to Evan.”

  “So you’re saying he can’t trust Mr. Waters?”

  “I’m saying you need to get dressed so we can leave.”

  An hour and a half later, Sara and Kat were entering a department store that was filled with several styles of white gowns. It was obvious Kat had brought Sara to go shopping for the wedding dress.

  “Why are we here,” Sara asked.

  “I would think the dresses in the front window or the sign on top of the store would have clued you in.”

  “No, I mean why are we shopping for wedding dresses? Evan and I decided to take a few days to consider pushing back the wedding.”

  Kat held out her hand, stopping Sara from taking another step forward. “What do you mean; push the wedding back? Why would you push the wedding back?”

  “We kinda had a big blow-up this mornin
g.”

  “What did he do?”

  “His agent lied to him about changing their schedule. Instead of going to a convention in Vegas, Waters threw him a bachelor party. Then he decided not to tell me about the change until days after it happened.”

  Kat’s eyebrow rose with interest. “What did Evan tell you?”

  “He told me they went to dinner and then to a strip club. Afterwards they went to another club at the hotel and then went up to his room to sleep.”

  “And he was there alone?”

  Sara didn’t like the way Kat had responded which put her on guard. “That’s what he said. Why?”

  “Waters looks at his clients as his property or investment. If he feels anything might threaten it, he’ll find a way to deal with the problem.”

  “Deal with it how?”

  “By any means necessary.”

  “And you think he views me as a problem?”

  “I don’t know. I was let go right after the Jersey tour.” Before Kat could continue, a saleswoman interrupted them. Instantly, Kat stopped talking and beamed a smile that said “we’re here to spend money.” Once they picked out a few things, the girls headed to the fitting rooms. Kat politely waited outside on the couch.

  Sara tried on dress after dress without finding a single one she liked. By the fifth gown, Sara emerged from the dressing room beaming with delight.

  “What do you think?”

  “I think Evan will rush the wedding just to get to the honeymoon.” It was an inappropriate comment for someone to make when they hardly knew each other, but Sara found the comment flattering.

  Sara paraded and strutted in front of the mirror. Her eyes were fixated on how beautiful she looked in the dress, and how far Evan’s jaw would drop when he saw her in it.

  Kat’s lips curled into a devious smile. “I think I have the perfect way for you to get even with your wonderful fiancé.”

  Sara enjoyed the thought of a little payback. It would be a way to punish Evan for what he did and even the score. “What do you have in mind?”

  “I think a fun little bachelorette party would be perfect.” Sara looked up in surprise. “Do you have friends that you’d like to invite?”

  Sara picked up the phone and texted Julie immediately.

  S: Hey, you up for a bachelorette party?

  J: I’m game.

  S: What about the whole late thing?

  J: Took the test. I’m not preggers.

  S: Aweseome! I’ll have my friend Kat send you the details.

  J: Who’s Kat?

  S: Evan’s personal assistant.

  J: Is she cool?

  S: Yeah.

  J: Is Evan going to be okay with it? He completely flipped the last time we had a girl’s night out.

  S: Doesn’t matter. He had a bachelor party and didn’t tell me until I pried it out of him.

  J: That little weasel. Oh well, it’s our time now. Let’s party.

  Sara looked up from her phone with a smirk. “My friend Julie’s in. When do you wanna do this?”

  “Give me a day or two to set something up.”

  Chapter 32-Evan

  It had been several days since Evan confessed his role in the bachelor party and what took place. It was the right thing to do. He needed to tell Sara to get the lies off his chest. Knowing it would take time to win back Sara’s trust, he decided to keep a low profile during his stay in Seattle. He didn’t dare venture from his room other than to go to one of the book signings.

  The nightly calls were going to straight to voicemail, which didn’t allow much hope of forgiveness to enter Evan’s head. Despite the lack of discussion, Evan continued his routine of text messages of wishing Sara good morning, good night, and when he arrived at his hotel room after a signing, letting her know how things went. His phone would sporadically ding, informing Evan of the new message, or the reply to one of his many messages.

  On his final night in Seattle, Evan decided to snoop around Sara’s Facebook. It was wrong on so many counts, and would be considered spying on her, but he didn’t care. Evan needed to know what was going on back home, before leaving the next morning for his flight to California.

  Scrolling through her timeline, he noticed random status posts, and stupid quizzes she took throughout the week. Then he checked her pictures, finding several from a few nights earlier. The photos showed Sara at a bar taking a selfie with Julie. It wasn’t uncommon for her to spend a night on the town with her. He knew they needed some time to catch up and have fun while he was out of town. Evan scrolled a little more, finding a picture of Sara standing with her arms around Kat and Julie.

  Evan remembered sending Kat to New York to get the perfect wedding dress for Sara, but didn’t think she would become friends with his fiancé. Knowing how quickly things got out of hand the last time Sara had a big girl’s night out, Evan wasted no time in contacting Kat to get the full story.

  He dialed her number and heard her voice after the second ring. “Evan,” she said with a bit of surprise. “I wasn’t expecting your call so soon.”

  “Cut the crap Kat. What the hell happened the other day?” He could hear her inhale as if she were about to deny knowing what he was calling about, but he beat her to the punch. “I saw the pictures on Sara’s Facebook.”

  “Oh…”

  “You mind telling me what happened?”

  “Look, Sara was fuming about the whole bachelor party thing when I picked her up from the apartment. I took her out for a while and got her to agree to a dress. She told me everything, including how Waters deceived you about why you were in Vegas.”

  “So you know it’s not my fault.”

  “No, it is. You could have stayed in your room that night, or told them no at any given point throughout the night. You could’ve told Sara the next day, or sent her a text that night.”

  “I know what I should’ve done, but I was pretty wasted. I didn’t think texting her that night was a good idea. I was still piecing everything together from the night before when she called me the next day.”

  “What do you mean; piece everything together?”

  “I was trashed, and didn’t remember most of the strip club, or leaving to go to the club at the hotel, or going back to my room.” Evan thought about telling Kat about finding the panties in his jacket pocket too, but didn’t want to incriminate himself any further.

  “I don’t like that you left yourself that vulnerable around them. We both know Christopher Waters is a bit of a snake, and I trust Audrey as much as I can throw her.”

  “I’m fine. I questioned them both about that night until they told me everything until I made it to my room. Nothing happened.” He took a moment to consider finding the thong in his pocket one more time, but dismissed the notion. “Besides, you need to tell me what happened the other night. Why were you out with Sara and Julie?”

  “Well, since you had an unplanned bachelor party, I decided it was only fitting Sara had one of her own. So I put one together for her and had a fun night out with the girls.”

  There was an uneasy feeling creeping up on Evan. “Where did you girls end up going?”

  “We went into the city for dinner and a show. Then we went to a couple of bars and saw some male strippers before dropping the girls back off at the apartment.”

  The information poured into Evan’s head, but the only thing he picked up on was the word male. “Strippers? You took my fiancé to see male strippers?”

  “You went to a strip club. I only find it fair that Sara went to one as well.” Anger consumed Evan as his left hand balled into a fist, wanting to strike anyone or anything in his way.

  “You crossed the line, Kat.”

  “First off, cut that tone. I am not your property and will not be spoken to in that manner. Secondly, you crossed the line before either of us did. I was merely trying to cheer up your fiancé and do some damage control on your behalf. Lastly, nothing happened that night. Sara had fun drinking and dancing, but mostly
talked about you all night.”

  “She did?”

  “Yes, she did. So if you speak to her, you better not make her feel like shit about going to her bachelorette party.”

  “Okay, I won’t” Evan said timidly. Thinking back to the last two days, Sara barely responded to his texts and refused to answer his calls. Something still felt off. “Is she still mad at me?”

  “I think she’s still a little hurt, but I don’t think she’s mad.”

  “Then why hasn’t she called me back?”

  “I think one day was due largely in part to a massive hangover from a fun night of partying. Other than that, I suspect she feels a little guilty over not telling you.”

  “I gotta go. I need to talk to her.”

  ********************************************************

  Sara

  Sulking around her room for the second straight day after working eight hours, was not Sara’s idea of fun. She would rather be out on a date with Evan, or driving around Jersey with Julie. Anything would be better than sitting around doing nothing, but somehow it felt deserved.

  She spent two wonderful days hanging out with Evan’s friend/associate, Kat. She took her shopping, accompanied her to the movies, and did anything Sara wanted to do. It was like having a best friend that just wanted to make her happy. On top of Kat spending all of her free time with Sara, she also planned a bachelorette party that was more than she ever dreamed of.

  She didn’t know how to pay Kat back for the show, the dinner, or the limo, not like Kat would let her try. Any time Sara pulled out her purse, she was told by Julie and Kat to put her money away.

  “This is just the prelude to a night you’ll never forget,” Kat told her. It was a thought Sara was afraid of, and prayed nothing happened.

  The bars and clubs were where Sara’s fears went into overdrive. She remembered what happened the last time she let her guard down when there was a lot of alcohol involved. Julie almost went home with a random sleaze ball, and Sara was groped while the sleaze ball’s friend tried sticking his tongue down her throat. With a gorgeous woman like Kat hanging out with them, every straight man in town would be on the hunt.