“Age is all a state of mind. You’re only as old as you feel.” Lennon smirked at me. She’d just celebrated her big four-oh but looked like she was twenty-five. Part of it was good genes and an expensive skincare and gym routine. But I knew most of her youthful glow came from a skilled surgeon and her willingness to go under the knife. It was common in our field to chase the fountain of youth, but I’d yet to start running. I was happy with the way I looked, even if my natural, thirty-six-year-old face and body limited some of the career opportunities that came my way. Don’t get me wrong, I worked myself to the bone to maintain what I had, but so far, I had no regrets about not medically enhancing what I’d been blessed with.
I pushed my long, dark hair over my shoulder and lifted it off the back of my neck where it was starting to stick. I hated sitting outside, but Lennon insisted. Now that the news of the finalized divorce was beginning to make the rounds, she wanted to make sure it didn’t seem like I was hiding or feeling sorry for myself when Erik was the one who’d trashed our relationship.
Erik Barnes was a former boy band superstar who’d managed to leverage his stardom when he was younger into a successful solo career. Before his infidelity and general callousness became fodder for the gossip rags, he’d still been beloved by not only the fans he’d had from his boy band days, but also by a whole new generation. He was really popular until his true colors came out. Now, he was doing damage control while trying to make me out to be the bad guy every chance he got.
Playing the victim wasn’t going very well for him when he’d been caught with his dick out… literally.
I should’ve known he wasn’t a good person when all of his former bandmates refused to come to our lavish, over-the-top wedding. A couple of them had even sued Erik over financial disputes when we first started dating. But I’d been so head-over-heels in love with him, so swept off my feet by his charm and what I thought was a caring personality, I’d missed the million-and-one red flags right in front of my eyes. Including the fact that Lennon hated him from the start. I should’ve listened to her back then, but all I could do was thank her now.
I reached out and caught one of her manicured hands in mine. I gave her fingers a squeeze. I flinched when one of her big diamond rings dug into my skin. “I feel like I’m a hundred years old these days. However, when I spend time with you, it always makes me feel better. I can’t thank you enough for sticking by me through everything. For a long time, I credited Erik with getting my life back on track, but it’s always been you, Lennon. I don’t know where, or who, I would be without you.”
She put her other hand over mine and patted our clasped hands. “Stop. We saved each other. I was on the verge of quitting when you found me and signed with me. I’d always worked for someone else—usually a powerful man who didn’t appreciate me. I walked out of one of the biggest agencies in this town without a plan when I’d had enough of the sexism and misogyny, but you came with me anyway. You were my first client when I branched out on my own. You didn’t bail even when things were rocky and it was hard to find you work. You trusted me. You helped me build my business from the ground up. Anything I have, I have because you believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.”
We both sniffed loudly and had to blink away moisture in our eyes. It wouldn’t do to be seen crying in public, so I cleared my throat and pulled it together. “Now that Erik can’t keep hassling me for everything I earn from each new project, I’m hoping you have something exciting lined up for me.”
I’d pretty much taken the last two years off, only making an occasional public appearance and working more behind the scenes on projects I’d been really passionate about. I’d needed the time to heal both my body and my heart, and I wasn’t about to work myself to death just to hand my unfaithful ex