Page 39 of Charming Deception

Fuck. Time to just lay all my cards on the table.

“Look, I’m not allowed to tell anyone about this challenge, right? I can’t tell women why I can’t hook up with them, which makes it extra fucking difficult.”

He says nothing, just frowns.

“Also, I make it a policy not to lie to people I care about. And Nina has always been good to me. But I lied through my teeth to her in Vegas, because of the fucking challenge. The only thing I could think to tell her that wouldn’t piss her off was that I can’t hook up with her because I’m in a relationship.”

Graysen’s eyebrow lifts with interest. “You told her you have a girlfriend?”

Yeah. That was the plan. But me being an inexperienced liar, it kind of spiraled out of control. “I told her I have a fiancée.”

“And that worked?”

“It worked. She was actually happy for me. Threw me an impromptu dinner with her band.”

He shakes his head. “And how long do you think that lie’s going to hold?”

I exhale, rubbing my face. “Maybe a few weeks until she wonders why I haven’t publicly announced my engagement?”

“You have another lie locked and loaded to deal with that?”

“No,” I growl. “And I really hope you’re happy that this challenge is killing me slowly.”

My brother goes quiet in a way I know I’m not going to like as he stands there, hands on his hips, thinking.

“I just realized you haven’t sat down since you got here,” I say uneasily.

“I’m thinking.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“Your sex life is a magnet for gossip,” he mutters, the gears turning in his head.

“Speculation about my sex life,” I correct him.

“I tried to make it stop by making you give up sex,” he goes on like I haven’t spoken. “But that didn’t work. So, if we can’t stop it, we need to counteract it. Bury the gossip under something bigger.”

“Such as the truth?” I say dryly.

Graysen scowls at me like I’m an idiot. “No one cares about the truth.”

“I do.”

He starts pacing, ignoring that. “What’s the one thing that could effectively bury these never-ending gossip pieces? What could outshine the rumors of a playboy lifestyle?”

Damn. How did this spiral so out of control? The media is my domain. That “playboy lifestyle” is usually an asset for us, whether my brother wants to admit it or not.

Suddenly, it’s become a liability.

When I realize maybe he’s waiting on an actual answer, I grimace. “I told you. The truth. I’m already talking to PR?—”

“A fairy-tale romance.” Graysen answers his own question. “With one woman. That’s the only thing that gets more attention than this shit. Nina Joy bought into it, right?”

“Uh—”

“What makes the covers of magazines and featured articles and goes viral every damn minute? Celebrity love stories.”

A vein starts throbbing in my forehead as we stare each other down.

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