and the tension built. Oliver wanted to ask her what had happened, what her coming after him meant and how the hell she’d gotten hooked up with Thomas Shane. But he didn’t know where to start, and she didn’t break the silence.
Not until they were sitting across from each other at a small booth, waiting for the waitress to return with their coffee did she attempt an explanation.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“Excuse me?”
She was looking down at her own hands, which she kept twisting together on the table, and cleared her throat. “I’m so sorry you had to see that.”
He was about launch into a barrage of questions when he realized what he was not seeing on that hand.
The ring. That big ugly ring.
His heart flipped in his chest. Had she ended it? Broken off with the golden boy?
“I didn’t mean for that to happen. I had no idea Tommy was coming up here or I would never have put you in that position. Or myself, for that matter.” She rolled her eyes, disgusted. “He’s a publicity hound.”
“How the hell could you even think about marrying someone like that?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, the waitress returned with two steaming cups of coffee. She chatted a little, offering them dessert, but they both declined, waiting for her to leave.
Once she had, they both sat silently for a minute, stirring their coffee, searching for words.
Eventually, Candace began to explain.
“I’ve known Tommy since I was a toddler. He and Mad have been my two best friends my entire life.”
He blinked in surprise, but didn’t interfere.
“Tommy and I had a lot in common. We were both artistic and emotional and very theatrical, while Mad was the calm, blunt one who evened us out and kept us steady. We made a good trio, spent our entire childhoods together. Every school year, every summer break, every birthday party, Tommy was with us.”
He didn’t doubt anything she said, having heard that the breakout star had come from Florida, just as Candace had. He had never really thought about the young lives of the rich and shameless, but it sounded like Shane’s had been pretty normal.
“So what happened when you grew up?”
“I studied design in college, he went into theater. Madison decided to move to New York to go to grad school, so we thought we’d give our starry-eyed dreams a shot and moved to L.A.”
“You lived together?”
She nodded.
He clenched his teeth so tightly his jaw flexed. He had to busy himself lifting his coffee cup to his mouth, sipping it though it remained very hot, just to avoid saying something he shouldn’t. She’d said they hadn’t been lovers, yet they’d lived together? Was it even possible for a woman as beautiful and sexy as Candace to live with a man and not tempt him into bed?
“It’s not what you’re thinking,” she insisted. “We weren’t lovers, Oliver. I never lied to you. Tommy and I have never had a physical relationship, and we never will. I think of him as a brother. Period.”
A hint of relief washed through him. It didn’t last long.
“Brothers and sisters don’t usually exchange wedding vows,” he objected, unable to keep his anger as tightly controlled as he’d like.
“There are other reasons to get married, aside from romantic passion.”
“Not any better ones,” he snapped.
She sagged back in her seat, sighing deeply. “I know.”
“Then why?” A thought occurred to him. “Is it because he’s rich and famous?”
“Yes, although not in the way you might imagine. I don’t know if I can make you understand....”
“Try.”
She nibbled her trembling bottom lip, casting her eyes away, still twisting those hands. Her anguish as she tried to figure out how to explain something he already found unfathomable made his chest tighten, and he nearly reached out and covered her hands with his, wanting to stop that desperate, heartbroken clenching.
He didn’t. She might have taken the ring off, but she still hadn’t said whether she’d broken this sham engagement.
“As you said, Tommy is a star. He’s under a microscope, his every move dissected, every part of his life spied upon and discussed.” She shook her head sadly. “He doesn’t deserve it. He’s a good guy, one of the best, and his world is coming apart because people can’t mind their own damned business.”
“If he’s such a good guy, why did he put on that ridiculous performance back there? Why did he back you into a corner and talk you into marrying him when you’re not