Follow Me Darkly (Follow Me #1) - Helen Hardt Page 0,54
my blotter.
“What the hell are you doing?” I demand angrily.
She picks up the tube of lipstick. “What have we here? Cherry Russet lip stain.” She hurls it to the floor, startling Baby, who shrieks again.
I’m not only angry at Addison for touching my stuff, I’m flummoxed. Truly flummoxed. Why would anyone care what kind of lipstick I use?
“You have no right to—”
“Get over it,” Addison says. “Your purse will survive, and as long as Baby is otherwise occupied, so will your lip stain.”
I tamp down my anger long enough to try to figure out what’s going on. “I don’t understand. Did she call to thank me for the comment?”
Addie scoffs. “Do you really think the director of social media promotions for a top cosmetics company would call to thank someone for a comment?”
“Why else would she—”
“She wants you to do a post, Skye. She wants to pay you to promote the lip stain on your Instagram profile.”
“Me? I’m no influencer.”
“You are now. Apparently you’re Braden Black’s girlfriend, and that makes you an instant influencer.” She scoffs again. “Oh, and to quote Eugenie, the stain is”—air quotes—“‘absolutely fabulous’ on you.”
“I don’t know what to say.” I truly don’t. I never wanted to be an Instagram influencer. I just want to take pictures. Really good pictures that move people. Not selfies wearing lip stain.
“This all makes sense now.” Addie tosses my empty purse onto the desk.
“What are you talking about?”
“You. And Braden.” She shakes her head. “He’s just using you, you know.”
A spear slices into my heart. Her words hurt, but I won’t show her that. “We just met.”
“He’s using you. Trust me. He knows I’m getting older. He’s trying to make you into a bigger influencer than I am. Put me out of business.”
“What?” I cock my head, incredulous. “You can’t be serious. First of all, Braden has his own business. Why would he have any interest in taking down yours?”
“This has his stench all over it.”
“Second,” I continue, “I’m a nobody.”
“For God’s sake, Skye, you’re Braden Black’s girlfriend. You stopped being a nobody the minute he posted that first photo and tagged you in it.”
The thought warms me but at the same time sends icy chills over my neck.
Is she right? Is Braden using me?
We got hot and heavy quickly. Too quickly, really, and he doesn’t want a relationship.
Self-doubt washes over me. No. No, no, no. He likes me. He can’t stop thinking about me. He wants only me.
“Call Eugenie,” Addie says. “Do the post. Make a few bucks. But you’ll never be me, Skye. You’ll never be as big as Addison Ames.” She marches back to her office and slams the door, leaving her dog still ricocheting wall to wall.
I don’t want to be you, I say silently. I never wanted to be you.
Still, her words have carved out a piece of my heart.
I don’t care about Eugenie or Susanne Cosmetics. I don’t care about Addison’s anger at the moment. I don’t even care about her accusations that Braden is using me, though they’re most likely true.
I care only about my heart.
And I may be losing it to Braden Black.
Chapter Thirty-Six
I coax Baby into her kennel and set her next to my desk. Then I gather the scattered items, including the Cherry Russet lip stain, and refill my purse.
I’m angry with Addie. Big-time. But I’m more befuddled than anything. Knowing full well it may cost me my job, I walk to her door and knock.
“What is it?” she yells angrily.
“I need to talk to you.”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“Maybe not. But I have something to say to you.”
“Nothing I want to hear.”
“Please. It’s important.”
“Fine,” she huffs. “Come in.”
Addison doesn’t look me in the eye. Instead, she stares at her laptop screen while sitting at her desk. She doesn’t stand, so I take a seat on one of the leather chairs facing her.
“You need to tell me,” I say, “what happened between you and Braden.”
“I don’t need to tell you anything.”
“How else will I know if I’m making a huge mistake?”
“You can take my word for it.” She still hasn’t looked up from her laptop.
“I didn’t even know you knew Braden until last week,” I say. “Can’t you just tell me?”
She closes her laptop and finally looks me in the eye. “He’s bad news. The worst.”
“You’ve already said that. What you haven’t said is why.”
“I’ve told you—I don’t talk about it.”
I raise my eyebrows. Addie is never one to mince words. She says what she thinks and doesn’t