Page 19 of The Match Faker

As my parents and what felt like the whole world loved to remind me, it wasn’t my acting skills that pulled in the roles and endorsement deals for everything from underwear to health supplements, sportswear and cars. It was my shell. No one cared what I said or thought, as long as I looked ‘hot’.

What was it that Geena told me? “Men want to be you and women want to bed you.”

Whenever an unflattering photo came out, Mum or Dad would call warning me that if I didn’t take care of my looks, my career would suffer.

Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t complaining (okay, maybe a little). Superficial or not, this face and body had helped me buy a mansion and multiple cars and paid off my mum’s mortgage. Dad’s too. Not that he deserved it. I’d done well out of it. But I knew all this wouldn’t last forever.

‘Appreciate you saying that. You done for the day?’ I picked up a towel and wiped the sweat from my face and the back of my neck.

‘Yep.’ Nate pulled a T-shirt over his head, being careful not to mess up his short curly hair. He’d always taken pride in his appearance.

As well as being ripped, like you’d expect from a personal trainer at the top of his game, his beard was always immaculate, like every hair on his light brown skin had been meticulously cut, then brushed into place.

‘Wanna grab a drink?’ After having a couple of glasses of scotch last night, I couldn’t have any more alcohol, but that didn’t stop Nate from having his favourite rum and Coke. ‘It’d need to be here, though, because…’

‘I get it. I can stay for one, but then I gotta get home to my lady.’

Poor guy.

His fiancée, Melody, had probably given him a curfew and if he wasn’t home by a certain time, he’d get an earful. I didn’t need that kind of stress. The single life suited me just fine.

Although I didn’t want the ball and chain that came with having a woman, I could do with having some friends in London.

After moving to Spain, I’d lost contact with a lot of people. And when Mum had forced me (she’d say encouraged) to do modelling, I’d started moving in different circles. Then came the film audition offer in Hollywood and since my career had taken off, I hadn’t come back here often.

It was hard to make new friends. I never knew if they were genuine or just interested in money and fame.

So, yeah. This was gonna be a very lonely couple of months. Especially if I kept my promise not to sleep around.

Walking away from that actress at the theatre last night wasn’t difficult, but who knew how long my willpower would last?

‘One drink: got it.’ I threw the towel in the laundry basket. ‘Can you gimme five while I grab a quick shower?’

‘Sure. It’ll give me time to text Mel and let her know I’ll be a bit late.’

Wow. Nate was well and truly under his woman’s thumb. That’d never be me. I liked my freedom too much.

I’d hoped Nate and I could hang out whilst I was here, but sounded like he preferred to spend his evenings at home with his pipe and slippers.

Just as I came out of the shower, my phone rang.

‘Hey.’ I wrapped the towel around my waist and put Geena on loudspeaker.

‘I’ve spoken to Annalise and she’s come up with two options.’

‘Oh.’ I’d hoped she was calling with news on a role.

‘We can either say you’ve been staying in a sex addiction clinic, getting treatment…’

‘Hell no!’

‘Or we could set you up with Kandi Beaumont.’

‘That young actress?’

‘You know her?’

‘Yeah. Saw her coming out the bathroom at a party a few months ago—off her head on coke. The public might think she’s sweet right now, but she’s a train wreck waiting to happen. And if we pretended to date and that got out, people would think I take drugs too.’

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