But Tamra found him, grasping his arm and asking him where he was headed.
He glanced at the cracked doorway I was peeking out of. “I...I thought I saw someone I knew. Did you see a girl? Um...maybe Latino, long dark hair, purple highlights.”
“Purple highlights?” Tamra said, her smile freezing. Then she shook her head. “No, I sure didn’t. Sorry.”
Gasp!
Liar!
Okay, so I was a worse liar than she was. But she was trying to trick him into bed. That was just wrong.
After she urged him away, grasping his arm to steer him back toward the direction of our table, he tossed one last wistful glance to my door but then turned away.
I blew out a thunderous breath, counted to ten, then whipped on my mask as fast as was humanly possible, hoping to God I didn’t have it on crooked. Then I eased out of my hidey-hole and hurried back to the table as well.
No way could I let that whore get away with doing this to my Asher.
I reached them just in time. They were both standing, Tamra was slipping her purse strap over her shoulder as if getting ready to leave, and Asher was tossing some cash onto the table to take care of the tip. Then he set his hand on the small of her back and turned her toward the door. But I popped in front of them, right into their path.
They pulled up short, so I had to pretend to pull up short in surprise too. “Oh, hey. You guys leaving?” I asked innocently enough.
“Yeah.” Asher sent me an odd look. “I just tried to find you, but you weren’t in the bathroom.”
“Oh...yeah. I....” Crap. I spotted the bar and quickly ad-libbed. “I went to get another drink, then decided against it.”
He nodded. “Well, we’re going to go. This is Tamra, by the way.”
I turned to her, sending her a pleasant smile, if I did say so myself.
“Tamra, this is my friend, Remy.”
“Hey,” she greeted, holding out her fingers in one of those lame, limp-wristed ways that drove me crazy.
I took the tips of her hand anyway. “Nice to meet you.” Then I snapped my fingers and pointed. “Oh, hey. You’re that chick who was tucking her wedding ring in her purse just outside the john a few minutes ago, weren’t you?”
“Say what?” Asher whirled toward her, his eyebrows lifted.
Shock clouded her face. “I...I...I most certainly was not.”
“Yeah, that was definitely you,” I cooed, unable to hold back a grin as I shook my finger at her. “You were bragging to your friends about how you were about to score Asher the rock god Hart, weren’t you?”
“What? How...” She shook her head, gaping at me, trying to figure out how I knew as much as I knew. Then she whirled to Asher. “That did not happen. Not like that.”
Maybe not exactly the way I’d described it, but oh, it had definitely happened.
Asher didn’t seem to care how the conversation had gone down. “Are you really married?” He took a decisive step away from her.
“I...” The guilt spreading across her face told us both she was.
“And you lied about not knowing who I was,” he further accused before lifting his hands. “That’s just…not cool.” Then he turned and walked away.
Tamra’s mouth dropped open. “What the hell?” she cried.
When she glanced my way, I shrugged. “Hey...life’s a bitch and then you die, huh?”
“You...” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re such a fucking liar. Thanks for ruining my night.”
As she stomped away, I was about to call after her, something about a pot calling a kettle black, but then I stopped myself.
I was a liar, and I was probably a worse liar than she was. She’d only planned on tricking him for one night. I’d been tricking him for weeks, and would keep on for who knew how much longer. There was no end in sight to my deception, because I just didn’t know how to tell him the truth.
Feeling like crap times ten, I scoured the place until I found him at the bar by himself a couple minutes later, nursing some water, probably trying to sober up. His shoulders looked tense as he hunched over the counter, consoling himself.
I slumped down beside him.
For a couple seconds, no one spoke. Finally, I said, “I’m sorry.”
He blurted out a harsh laugh and sent me a weary glance. “What the hell are you sorry for?”
“I just...I cock-blocked you,” I mumbled. Because I was an evil, jealous bitch who hadn’t been able to stand seeing him take another woman home.
“No. You just saved me from fucking a married woman. I should be thanking you...not you apologizing to me. Idiot.”
“Still...” I blew out a long sigh. “If only I’d kept my big mouth shut, you could’ve found a little relief.”
“Or ruined a marriage,” he argued. Turning to me, he looked me dead in the eye and set his hand on my shoulder. “You saved my ass just now. Thank you, man. You’re a true friend.”
Except I didn’t feel like a friend at all. My deception pierced me to the depths of my soul and I felt like the biggest fraud ever.