Snowed In with Her Ex by Andrea Laurence Page A

She barely knew me. She certainly didn’t love me. Missy has never been interested in anyone but herself. The truth was that her last album tanked and she was scrambling. I had no intention of renewing her contract and she’d burned too many bridges to jump to another label easily. That’s when her whole demeanor changed. She was buttering me up, using sex to get her way. I knew that much. What I didn’t know was that she’d realized it wasn’t working. Before I could end it, she’d cooked up the fake pregnancy to keep it going.
    “That just turned into a publicity gold mine for her. Celebrity weddings and babies are big news. She started this whole charade to save her career, and it worked better than she’d ever imagined. The publicity about the engagement and the pregnancy boosted her mediocre songs to the tops of the charts. She’d sold the exclusive rights to our engagement and ceremony photos to
Celebrity Magazine
. The wedding was even going to be televised. Did you know that?”
    She didn’t. Natalie might have mentioned it, but Bree had spent last Monday in a daze after finding out about Ian getting married. “Sounds romantic.”
    “Doesn’t it? Every step she took was cold and calculated. She was going to revive her career so I would resign her. And if not me, she would see to it that she made enough headlines to get some other label to do it.”
    “The whole thing sure backfired on her, though. Who’s going to sign her now?”
    “I don’t care,” Ian admitted. “It sure as hell won’t be my label. The wedding is off and the minute she’s fulfilled the final obligations of her contract, I never want to see her pinched face again. If anyone else is dumb enough to offer her a record deal after all this, they deserve what they get.”
    They sat in silence for a few moments, absorbing everything that had happened in the past hour. Apparently being held hostage by a blizzard was just the beginning. Finally, Bree spoke. “Well, I’m sorry about all this. There’s nothing I can really say or do to make it better, but I wish that I could.”
    Before she could stop herself, she reached out and clasped his hand in her own. She expected him to accept the brief gesture of comfort and pull away, but he didn’t. He tightened his grip on her fingers, sending a surge of emotions through her. She probably wasn’t the best person to help Ian through a moment like this, but she was the only one here. She wanted to hug him. Comfort him. But was that dangerous with their biggest barrier suddenly removed?
    “Thanks, Bree,” he said, running the pad of his thumb over her skin. “I guess I should be happy the snow kept Missy from getting here. Can you imagine the three of us trapped in the house when this happened?”
    She shuddered, but she wasn’t sure if it was his words or his touch. “I would’ve had to cut a bitch,” she said with a sly smile to help lighten up the situation. “Seriously, I know how important being a good father is to you.”
    Ian nodded. “I keep telling myself that everything works out for the best. A part of me is relieved. A part of me is so giddy to break things off with Missy that I want to skip through the house. At the same time,” he added, a sadness creeping into the green depths of his eyes, “even though I didn’t want Missy to be the mother of my child, I wanted that child just the same. Even though he or she was never real, it felt real.”
    “Of course it did. And you should give yourself the time and space to grieve for the baby, imaginary or not. You can’t just blink and have the whole situation suddenly not matter anymore.”
    “Thanks for understanding. You’re right, and that’s how I need to think about it. I’m glad I’m here instead of back in Nashville. I think some people there would just pat me on the back and say to get over it because none of it was real.”
    “It was to you. So take the time you need. Do what you have to do. I think you