Page 25 of The Fake Play

“Because you’re a good person, and I want you to think well of me.”

What am I supposed to say to that? Tell him that being a good person is a recent development? If I admit to that, he might not hold himself to my alleged standards.

“Luke, my opinion doesn’t matter. Only my results do. And if you continue gallivanting around town, you’re going to screw them up.”

He reaches out and takes my hand. “Your opinion matters to me.”

I give him a squeeze, unsure what to do with his bald honesty, then get up for a bottle of water. “Good. In that case, my opinion is you don't need more scandal following you around. The team certainly doesn't need it, either. I'm not saying you can't ever date again, but for now, while I'm fixing your reputation, I need you to stay away from drama and other people’s beds, married or not.”

He frowns, crossing his arms over his chest. “Do you have any idea what you're asking of me?”

“Do you have any idea what it costs to save your career?”

“You're the expert. I'm not against it in theory, but literally, no one is going to believe that I've stopped going out.”

He’s probably not wrong about that. I’m not sure about the next step yet so I start verbally brainstorming. “Then we need to give you a reason to stop going out.”

“Like what?”

“We'll make it look like you're focusing on something more important.”

I open my mouth to say something else but before I can, he grins. It’s different from his usual grin and something about it unnerves me.

“What?”

“Date me.”

I blink, caught off guard by the suggestion. “Come again?”

“Date me,” he repeats with a mischievous glint in his eye. “All the guys stopped going out once they got a girlfriend. That makes you the perfect cover."

My stomach does a weird little flip, and I struggle to maintain my composure. “Have you been drinking? That's a ridiculous idea.”

“Is it?” He leans back in his chair, clearly enjoying this. “For the record, I’m completely sober. Seb and I stopped drinking two hours before I left.”

“Okay fine, but?—”

“Think about it,” he goes on, excited. “It solves all of your problems and mine. You’ll have the perfect excuse to babysit me, and you get to do it right by my side, so there’s no chance of me screwing up. You’re gorgeous, and you’re exactly the kind of girl I’d take as a girlfriend. It makes total sense.”

He said I was gorgeouslike it wasa given.

I try not to let his matter-of-fact tone go to my head. No one has ever said that about me. I’ve been called cute a lot but never gorgeous. Heat floods my cheeks but I ignore it. I shake my head, trying to understand the absurdity of it all.

The idea goes against every instinct I have as a PR relations expert. But what kind of an expert am I, really? I’ve been fired from both jobs I ever had, even if technically, it wasn’t my fault.

Technically.Oh my God, I’m starting to sound like Luke.

Whatever the case, I couldn’t deny thathis idea held weight. Still, it was wrong. “You're out of your mind.”

“You said it yourself, Keke. People expect me to be wild, to keep making the same mistakes. I’m tired of doing the expected. But no one will believe I've changed unless I have a good reason to. What better reason than being in a relationship with someone good and beautiful like you?”

I open my mouth to argue, but the words catch in my throat as my cheeks flush again. He has to stop complimenting me as if I hear compliments all the time and accept them as fact. There’s only so much flirting and complimenting I can take before I make a bad choice with him.

I shift gears to focus on the problem instead of my basic instincts. If people believe Luke is in a committed relationship, it would explain his sudden shift in behavior. It would also keep him out of the tabloids, buying me the time to rehabilitate his image. But pretending to date Luke was a minefield that could blow up in our faces in a thousand different ways.

I close my eyes, trying to steady my thoughts. I can’t believe I’m even considering this. “Do you always have insane ideas, or am I special?”

“You’re special,andmy ideas are insane, but this could work and you know it. That's the only reason you haven't flat-out said no. You're the one who said we needed a good way to keep me out of the tabloids. Can you think of a better one?”

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