Page 100 of The Match Faker

I pulled away gently, wishing I could superglue our lips together, permanently.

‘Thank you.’ I smiled. ‘For inviting me. And for the kiss…’

‘The pleasure was all mine, trust me.’ His eyes darkened.

‘Shall we go?’

‘I need a second,’ he said. ‘Like I said, the pleasure was all mine…’

‘Ah, got it,’ I said, my gaze subtly dropping between his legs.

After a few minutes we filed out of the private box and through the exit.

There were a few paps, but this time I just grinned, which probably wasn’t the kind of photo they were after. They wanted scandal and gossip. To see us looking unhappy or arguing, but these days, whenever I was around Liam, I always had a smile on my face.

Wow. What a difference a bit of fake dating can make.

A few weeks ago, whenever I was within five feet of Liam, I had a perma-scowl. Now I wanted to be as close to him as possible, all the time.

Shit. This was bad. I was falling for him. I could feel it. I had to rein in my emotions.

After getting in the car and putting on our seat belts, I pulled out my phone. I needed a distraction. Staring into Liam’s beautiful eyes wasn’t going to help. There were several messages from Trudy.

‘Oh my God!’ I laughed.

‘What’s up?’ Liam turned to face me.

‘You’ve gone viral!’ I showed Liam my screen. ‘Look! The Tube passengers posted their photos online. They’re calling you a man of the people!’

We skim read the various articles that Trudy had sent over, which had headlines like ‘Hot Hollywood Superstar Liam Stone Spotted on the Tube’ and ‘Sexy Liam Stone Shocks Passengers on London Tube’. The story had even gone transatlantic with ‘Heartthrob Liam Stone Rides the Subway’ on an American website.

There were quotes from passengers saying how nice he was and snaps of the photos I’d taken of him with the woman.

‘Don’t you think this is amazing?’ I said excitedly, like a child high on sugar.

‘I guess.’ He shrugged.

‘But this is what you wanted! Positive publicity! They’ve even mentioned in some of the articles that you have a ‘serious girlfriend’ and how you seem to be abandoning your playboy lifestyle. It’s working!’

‘Obviously it’s better that they’re saying nice things, but really? Running a story just because I took the Tube for two minutes? Is that really news? Thousands of people do that every day.’

‘Not famous people, though.’

‘I get that, but… never mind.’

‘Tell me.’ I faced him. He sighed deeply.

‘I guess, I just always hoped that I could use my fame to do something more… useful. Instead it’s just always so… superficial. Who I’m sleeping with, how ‘sexy’ or ‘hot’ I look. God.’ He dragged his hand down his face. ‘I sound so fucking entitled and ungrateful. This is why I didn’t want to tell you. I know it’s a first world problem and that I brought that kind of press on myself by dating so many women. I know I’m lucky. And I know I shouldn’t complain. Forget I said anything.’

‘Liam.’ I rested my hands on his. ‘Your feelings are valid. Just because you’re successful and others have it worse than you doesn’t mean your emotions don’t count. Like I said earlier, there’s nothing wrong with having dreams or wanting to make a difference in the world. I started my agency because I wanted to help couples fall in love and be happy. Other people save lives or help the sick and injured. Is what I do as impressive as that? No, but I still believe what I do is important. So is your job. And what you did on the Tube tonight was meaningful.’

‘Come on!’ he scoffed.

‘It was! You made their day! You spread joy and happiness. I bet afterwards they called everyone they knew to tell them they’d met you. They’ll treasure those photos for the rest of their lives. Just those few minutes you spent giving them the time of day will stay with them forever. You have value. Never forget that.’

Liam was still. I could hear the cogs turning in his brain as he processed what I said.

‘Thank you.’

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