Page 179 of My Five Daddies

I narrow my eye in his direction. “Would it matter if I’mnot?”

“Of course it would,” Harold says, cutting in. “We want you to behappy.”

I look at them a little and shrug. “He’s good. I’mcomfortable.”

They nod and smile at me, but I’m feeling a little weird. Actually, this whole thing is strange. Why is Holly here, and why would both of these guys need to be at this one dinner? These are two powerful guys, they don’t take meetings like this for noreason.

I finish off my steak and sip my drink as conversation turns to trivial things. Holly is quiet so Harold does most of the talking. When everyone is finished and leaning back in their chairs, I notice Franklin giving Harold a little look, and I don’t like it one fuckingbit.

“So boys,” I say to the two men. “I have to ask this. Why are you two sitting down with both me and Holly rightnow?”

Harold smiles a little at that. “You don’t like to play games, huh?” he asksme.

“Not really,” I admit. “I’m just wondering why the producer and a studio executive would want to have this littlemeeting.”

The two men share a smile and Harold sighs. “Okay, so you see through it. This isn’t some socialcall.”

Holly turns ghostly white. I try and ignore that. She’s been in this business longer than I have, and I can only imagine what she’s thinking right now. Maybe we’re about to get fired orsomething.

“Here’s the thing,” Harold continues. “Like I said, we all think this movie can be big… and we think it can benefit from somepublicity.”

“You see,” Franklin cuts in, “your relationship with Holly here is an integral part of the film,right?”

I hesitate a second. “You mean the relationship our characters have,” I say tohim.

“Not exactly,” Harold says. “I mean literally, your relationship withHolly.”

I glance at her and she looks back. She smiles a little sheepishly, but the color’s returning to hercheeks.

“Spell it out for me,” I say toHarold.

“We want you and Holly to date,” he sayssimply.

I stare at him for a second and then start laughing. I can’t help myself, it’s just such an absurd thing to say. Holly looks a littleinsulted.

“What’s wrong with dating me?” she asksme.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” I say, grinning my face off. “It’s just, goddamn, are you really asking me to date her for the sake of themovie?”

Harold smiles a little and exchanges another look with Franklin. “This isn’t unheard of,” he says to me. “Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise did it for years. Brad and Angelina. Jay Z andBeyoncé.”

“Wait, hold up,” I say, shocked. “You mean Jay Z and Beyoncé aren’t really inlove?”

Harold laughs and gestures at me. “This is Hollywood, Jackson. Nothing is real here, not even the musicpeople.”

I’m fucking appalled. I feel like my whole world is collapsing. If Jay Z and Beyoncé aren’t really in love, then nothing is true. I don’t know if I can even believe in real loveanymore.

“It won’t be so bad,” Holly says. “My last boyfriend wasfake.”

“It’s a tried and true promotional thing,” Franklin adds. “People love seeing movies where the leads are together in reallife.”

“It’ll supercharge the box office,” Harold says. “You two date, do the press tour together, and when the movie comes out on DVD, you breakup.”

“Which’ll drive DVD sales,” Vincent chimesin.

“Fucking hell, you guys have it all planned out,” I say, shaking my head andsmiling.

Harold smiles at me, leaning toward me over the table. “Look, Jackson, I know you’re new at this, but trust me. This is a regular part of it. Your relationship with Holly won’t bereal.”

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