Mira didn’t seem to notice. “Thanks. Be back shortly!” Under her breath, she added, “Hopefully.”
Stacy kept her head down while she moved behind me, as though she were deliberately avoiding looking me in the eye. Waves of hostility rolled off her body. She’d been cold in the past, but this was different. More angry. Was she mad that I’d refused to see her video? How petty was that?
I debated whether I wanted to break the tension or not. Finally, I decided to try. “Are you excited for the renovation celebration?”
“Sure.” Again, her response was curt.
And not a lot to work off of. “I imagine it will bring new business. Will you be hiring more help?”
“Probably.”
Yeah, definitely some rage going on. I felt the waistband loosening as she removed the last pins.
“Lift.”
I raised my arms for Stacy to pull the dress over my head. She was rough as she did, and when my hair got caught, she muttered an unconvincing apology. Then she turned to hang up the outfit on the rack.
I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling odd in my panties and strapless bra in front of a woman I barely knew. A woman who apparently was not very happy with me.
I considered letting it go.
But letting things go had never been one of my strong points.
Stacy remained turned away as she worked, so I had to address her back. “Are you mad at me?” She didn’t say anything so I clarified. “Mad that I didn’t want to see your video?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she huffed. Then, after a beat, “That’s not why I’m mad.”
“But you are mad?” I knew it! My paranoia wasn’t always off-base. “Why?”
“Seriously?” She flew back around to face me. “I offered that video as a gesture of kindness. One woman to another—we’re supposed to look out for each other. At least we are in my book.”
I was completely lost. “I have no idea—”
She cut me off. “I told you Hudson didn’t know that I had it. And then you went ahead and told him about it anyway. That was just…just low.”
My head swam. “Wait, wait. I’m confused.”
“What exactly is confusing about it? I went out of my way to help you and you pretty much betrayed my confidence.” She leaned against the dressing room wall, throwing her gaze up. “I don’t know what I expected. He’s Hudson Pierce, after all. He gets everybody’s panties in a wad with just a glance.” Her head shot back toward me. “Hey, he didn’t trick you into telling him about it, did he?”
“No. No, he didn’t trick me.” Things were starting to fall in place, but not enough of them. I took a step toward her. “Look, I’m sorry that—”
“Don’t bother.” She practically spit. God, she was mad.
“Please!” I put my hand up either to prevent her from stopping me or to shield me from any further assault. “Please let me finish.”
I don’t know why I waited for her permission, but she gave it to me. “Fine.”
“I’m sorry I told Hudson, and that it betrayed your confidence.” Honestly, it hadn’t occurred to me that she wouldn’t want me to tell him. Now that I thought about it, perhaps it hadn’t been in good taste. “I wasn’t trying to…hurt you…or piss you off in any way. I was just trying to be honest with my boyfriend. And I didn’t tell him what it was, obviously, because I didn’t know. I asked if he knew what you might have and he said he had no idea. End of discussion.”
She started to open her mouth to say something, but I spoke before she could. “Wait, one more thing—” The most important thing. “How do you know that I told him?”
She tapped her finger against her thigh as though considering whether or not she wanted to tell me. “He’s emailed,” she said after a beat. “And called me, asking about it.”
“Emailed…?” Hudson had emailed Stacy about the video?
“And called. Every day last week, in fact.”
The color drained from my face, and I had to sit down on the dressing room bench. “But why would he do that? What did he say?”
“His email said he learned that I had a video with him in it, and he wanted to talk to me about it. He mentioned a bunch of legal things about privacy and libel and all that crap. Then he asked if I’d send it to him. His phone messages said the same.”
“What did you say?”
“I didn’t actually talk to him. He kept calling, though, so I finally sent it Thursday. There was really no point keeping it from him. He knows I saw what’s on the video, even if he didn’t know about the video itself.”
If she sent it on Thursday, then Hudson had most likely already seen it himself. Was that what he’d been referring to the other morning? His secrets?
“Then he emailed me today and asked me if we could talk about what he’d need to do in order to ensure the video was gone forever.” Her voice was thick with disgust. “Like I could be bribed.”
“I don’t understand.” My eyes rested on my lap, my words for myself, not Stacy. “He said there was nothing you could possibly have that would interest me. He wasn’t concerned about it. Why would he…?”
“Because he’s lying to you, Alayna!”
Stacy’s emphatic statement drew my focus back to her.
“That’s exactly my point about him. You can’t trust him or anything he says. He’ll string you along, make you think he’s interested, make you think he’s available. But he’s not. I don’t know what the hell game he’s playing, but he’s good at it.”
A game. Was that what the whole thing was about? Had Stacy been one of his victims? It would explain why he’d been so protective about the material.
I felt sick.
Though I knew about the things he’d done to people, it didn’t mean I was comfortable with it. Didn’t mean I wanted to have to meet face-to-face with the people he’d hurt.
And what if that wasn’t what this was about at all? If he’d scammed Stacy, I could deal with that. It wasn’t new information.
If it was something different…
I made a choice. One that I didn’t know if I’d necessarily be proud of later, but the only one that would protect my sanity. “What’s on the video, Stacy?”
“Uh-uh.” She turned back to the dressing rack, busying herself with straightening the clothing. “I’m not playing this game. You didn’t want to see it.”