“You can believe that if you want,” she said, sticking her nose in the air.

Liz laughed, trying to remain casual. “It’s okay, Calleigh.”

“What’s okay?” she snapped.

“I believe him,” Liz said with a smile. “I believe that Hayden wanted nothing to do with you because of me. Because you stood no chance.”

“What the fuck?” Calleigh muttered.

“Your threat that day that he interviewed for the job was kind of cute actually. To think that he would go near you. He was appalled that I was even irritated with what you had said.”

Misdirection. That was the name of the game. Maybe she could get the other woman frustrated enough to just leave, and then Liz wouldn’t have to deal with anything else Calleigh was alluding to. She figured Calleigh was grasping at straws and had just shown up at Liz’s door on a whim.

“Wow. Someone is in a bitch mood,” Calleigh growled, losing her cool.

“You did wake me up from a nap,” Liz said with a shrug. “Which I’d actually really like to get back to. So if you want to just . . . head out.” Liz gestured toward the door.

Calleigh shook her head and then started to leave. Liz held her breath. She just wanted her gone.

“I guess this was pointless,” Calleigh said.

“Pretty much.”

“Are you applying to Charlotte Times to be closer to Hayden? I hadn’t heard anything about your application.”

Liz smiled brightly. At last, one question that she could answer truthfully. “Actually I just accepted a job at the New York Times. So I’ll be moving to New York after graduation.”

“What?” Calleigh asked, stunned.

“Yeah. I’ve been interning with them all year and I just accepted a position.”

“Well, congratulations,” Calleigh said through gritted teeth. “How is that going to work with you and Hayden?”

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll figure it out,” Liz said. She couldn’t keep the self-satisfied smirk off her face.

“Great. That sounds wonderful. I guess I’ll see you in Charlotte sometime,” Calleigh said, opening the door.

“Sure,” Liz said. No chance in hell.

Calleigh walked through the door without a backward glance and then she was gone. Liz shut the door heavily and then nearly collapsed back against it. Holy shit! That had been so fucking close.

Chapter 30

HIGH STRESS

Liz had her phone out of her pocket in a matter of seconds. She skipped responding to Brady’s text message and just called him. She couldn’t handle the amount of stress she was dealing with right now, and she needed his reassuring voice to calm her down. Brady would make everything all right.

Liz was just proud that she had been able to redirect Calleigh. If she had realized how close she was to learning who Sandy Carmichael was then Liz was sure that she wouldn’t have left so easily. Luckily, Liz had been able to use Hayden to her advantage. Sure, Calleigh might find out tomorrow that they had broken up, but Liz didn’t give a shit. That bought her a day to talk to Brady and figure out what they were going to do.

She just needed a day.

“Liz, I’ve been waiting for your call. What happened?” Brady asked after answering on the first ring.

“Sorry. So sorry. Stressful day. Hayden left a while ago, but I passed out and only woke up a couple minutes ago,” Liz told him. Her voice was shaking. She had lost the calmness that she had before her conversation with Calleigh. At least she was able to be herself with Brady.

Brady sighed heavily. “I’ve been in Chapel Hill for nearly two hours waiting to hear what happened. A text would have been nice.”

“I know. Gah, I’m sorry. Just emotionally exhausted, Brady. Hayden and I got into a huge argument . . . more like a screaming match.”

“Was he trying to salvage?” Brady asked coldly.

“Yeah, he was. He tried to tell me that Calleigh Hollingsworth—you know, the girl who he wrote the article with—brought the story to the editor without his say.” Brady scoffed. Yeah, Liz wasn’t sure she believed that either. “And then he said a bunch of bullshit about how he didn’t put my name in it and we could work it out. Yada, yada, yada.”

“But it’s over?”

“Yes. Very much over.”

“Well, I can’t say that I’m disappointed. I just wanted to make sure I was nearby in case you needed me. I’ve been working out of a coffee shop. It’s kind of peaceful.”

“Maybe you should ditch the suit more often,” she said with a giggle.

“Not happening.”

“Good. I like them,” she said softly. “But there is one more thing.”

Brady sighed. “What is it? I’d like to hear it all before having to go back and deal with everything I left behind when I kidnapped you on Friday.”

“You kidnapped me?” Liz asked. “I went willingly.”

“How could you not?”

“Arrogant ass,” she mumbled.

“What is it you were going to tell me?”

“Calleigh Hollingsworth stopped by when I woke up from my nap.”

“The reporter ex-girlfriend?” Brady asked. His voice was like ice. She was sure he already saw red flags.

“Yeah. I think she might know something. Hayden didn’t tell her it was me, but I think she’s really close to guessing.”

“Did she say that?” he demanded. “Do I need to get Heather on it?”

“She didn’t say anything exactly. It was what she was implying. I think she wanted to see if I knew who it was or if Hayden had told me, but she kept skirting around it. I wouldn’t worry too much about it right now, but I wanted you to be aware. We might have to, um . . . alter our plans if she starts sniffing around.”

“All right. I’ll mention her name to Heather and see what comes out of it. I’m sure she’s already had someone looking into both of them extensively.”

“That’s good. Yeah,” Liz whispered.

“Hey,” Brady said, his tone softening. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Totally. Um . . . just a little freaked out and overwhelmed and exhausted. I just feel like everything happened really, really fast. Like a year and a half ago I wanted this, then we were apart for so long, and now it’s only been a weekend and we’re suddenly just jumping into things,” Liz rambled on.

“Do you . . . not want to?” Brady asked. It was so strange to hear the hesitance in his voice.

“I do. I do. It’s just . . . well, can you understand how insane this might all feel to me? I never thought we would get back together, Brady. Certainly not publicly. When I left you, I really left. I tried to forget and move on. I wanted you to have the things that you wanted.”

“I wanted you.”

Liz nodded and wished that he could see. She wasn’t trying to push him away, but she didn’t want to hold in everything she was feeling either. “I know that now. I want you too. I mean, I wanted you the whole time. It’s just hard adjusting to fighting so hard to let you go to this, and then the whole public aspect. I’m just worried. Not about us,” she quickly corrected. “But about everyone else.”

“Well, we can’t really do anything about anyone else. I think as long as you’re not worried here. Right here. Then we’ll figure the rest out,” Brady told her.

“That’s true. I’m just . . . I don’t think I’m ready to go public, Brady.”

“We’ll figure out when the best time is, but, Liz, if you’re going to be with me, that’s kind of a side effect. I’m not hiding you anymore.”

“I do want that,” she said. “I wish this was coming out better. I know that we have to beat the reporters to figuring it out and I don’t know how much time we have for that, but I just wish however much time it is that we had more of it. Am I making any sense?”

“You want a normal relationship. I get that,” Brady said gruffly. “But you want me and I can’t give you that. I never could.”