Page 96 of Going All In

“I should get going,” Darcy said, her voice wooden. “Lots of studying to do. I’ll grab a cab or something so you guys can work or talk or whatever.”

“Yeah. Studying. You do a lot of that. Perfect for fixing Jake’s image. He never told me why you agreed to this. Is he paying you?” Ralph asked.

“What the fuck, man,” Jake growled, trying not to draw attention from the crew, but he was this close to inflicting violence on the man.

“What? We all know what’s going on.”

The guy was fucking clueless. Read the goddamn room, idiot, Jake wanted to shout.

“Right. So. I’m going to go,” Darcy said, pulling up her phone, most likely to open her Uber app since he’d driven her today and she clearly wanted to get away from them.

Not that he could fucking blame her.

“No. I’ll drive you home,” he said, reaching for her. When she tilted away, he turned to his agent.

“Listen to me, asshole. Do not ever speak about Darcy or to Darcy like that again. You have no fucking idea what is going on between us, and I will not explain how you are on extremely thin ice again, got it?”

Ralph’s eyes widened. “Calm down, Jake.”

“I will not calm down. Keep this up and we’re done,” Jake said, feeling Darcy still at his side but unable to look at her. He wanted his agent to get the message plain and simple. Ralph might be a shark and one of the best agents around, but Jake would walk away from that if the man kept this up.

“Fine. Relax,” Ralph muttered before he spun on his heel and stalked out of the studio.

“Jake,” Darcy started.

“Can I take you home? I’m so fucking sorry about that, and I hate that he embarrassed you and insulted you, but I don’t want to get into it here. Too many eyes and cameras,” he said, willing her to understand.

“Fine. But know that I’m really pissed right now,” she bit out, but she allowed him to wrap up and guide her out of the studio and into his car.

He faced her, not turning on the car. “I’m assuming the gist of your conversation with my dick of an agent was about your stellar acting skills as my fake girlfriend?” he asked.

“Yep,” she quipped, not looking at him.

“I know that we started this as a game, a ruse to benefit both of us, but you have to know that it hasn’t been that for me in a long time. I really like you; this isn’t fake to me anymore,” he said.

She stiffened slightly when he reached for her hand.

“It’s not like that for me either,” she said softly, finally turning to face him.

The color was high in her cheeks and a mixture of pain and frustration was in her eyes. He felt like the biggest asshole to have put her in this situation, but he’d had no idea Ralph would show up today, let alone run his jackass mouth.

“So we are going to treat this like a real relationship and see what happens?” he asked.

“I would like that,” she said, her voice still tentative, and he hated it.

“If Ralph pulls that shit again, I’m done with him. He’s a shark and one of the best agents around, but with the way I’m playing, I can find another agent. It took everything in me not to punch him right in the face.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t have minded if you did,” she said, finally gifting him with a small smile.

He tugged her over the console and into his lap, snuggling her into his body.

“So, we’re good, right?” he asked, tilting her head back and locking his eyes with hers.

“Yeah. We’re good.” Then she leaned in, giving him the sweetest and softest kiss he’d ever had.

For all of Ralph’s faults, at least he got them to push off this fake nonsense and confirm they’re on the same page.

Well, not the exact same page. He’d fallen in love with her, but he wasn’t ready to tell her yet. That would make him more vulnerable than he’d ever been in his entire life, and it scared the shit out of him. But how long could he stick to their agreement to keep it casual without giving himself away?

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