Page 15 of If You Need Me

“Which will negatively impact the entire team. Even if I’m the one in the right, the consequences of that will have a huge ripple effect. It’ll stain both of our careers.” Do I hate him for all the stupidity he and his friends put me through as kids? Absolutely. But being a jerk our whole childhood and ruining my prom is not the same as screwing over the entire team. They’re like family, to me and to each other. And Dallas…he’s beloved.

I’ll never live it down. I’ll have to leave Toronto and the Terror. I won’t have Shilpa or the Badass Babe Brigade anymore. This is the first time in my life that I’ve really felt like Ifitsomewhere outside of my immediate family. Sure, there are a few people in the office who aren’t my biggest fans, but I’m used to that. I don’t want to lose everything else.

“Option number two, you play along. Dallas is your date for the reunion, and he owes you for saving his ass for the rest of his life.”

“And if I go with option two, how do I spin it?” I wring my hands. I can’t believe I’m considering this.

“You say you’ve been trying to stay on the right side of the line, but you’ve been spending a lot of time together, which istrue. Dallas is involved in a lot of charity stuff, and you always go with him. You never send Hammer,” Shilpa says.

“Because he’s chronically late! And he needs managing.” I sound defensive.

“Either way, he has promo stuff, and you always attend it. You spend an extraordinary amount of time together, so selling that you unwittingly developed feelings for each other should not be that difficult.”

“But I loathe him.”

“Hmm... Well, there’s a fine line between love and hate, so we can sell them on you crossing that line, and for at least the next few weeks, you need to flip the hate coin and turn it into love.”

I rub my temples. “This is a nightmare.”

“It could be. But the only way this works is if you sell it and then live it, at least until you’re through the reunion.”

“Which means I have to lie to the girls, and the rest of the team, and my family.”

Shilpa nods. “It’s too risky otherwise.”

She’s right. No one else can know besides Shilpa and Ash. If the truth came out, it could be detrimental to Dallas’s place on the team and both of our careers. “It’s less than a month away. I can do anything for a few weeks.” It comes out more like a question than an answer.

She points to my bedroom. “Now, let’s dress you for maximum badassery. We have a head office to sell on your new boyfriend.”

“Fake boyfriend.”

“Not for the next several weeks.”

CHAPTER 7

HEMI

Half an hour later, I’m sitting in a conference room with Jamie Fielding, the GM, Coach Vander Zee, and two other members of staff. Nancy, Coach’s secretary, does nothing to conceal the disapproving look on her face as she regards me over her reading glasses. Shilpa is waiting to be called in later. Dallas is supposed to be here, too, but none of us have heard from him.

I try not to strangle my own hands or sweat through my blouse as Shirley, the head of HR, reads over the no-fraternization policy. Slowly. In excruciating detail. I want to die right now. How is it that Dallas has the ability, even ten years later, to embarrass me this badly?And where is he?

Shirley stops reading.

“Thanks, Shirley,” Coach Vander Zee says.

Fielding taps his pen on the table. “I…don’t understand. You know the policy, Hemi. We just went through this.”

I can handle anger and frustration a lot better than the disappointed look on his face. I want to sink into the ground. I’d also like to bludgeon Dallas with his hockey stick and throw his body in Lake Ontario. And then maybe eat a pint of ice cream.

I hate lying, but I have no other choice if I want to save both of our jobs. There is solace in knowing Dallas will be indebted tome forever now. “We had a discussion last night, Dallas and I.” This is the truth. We did. But not about me being the love of his life. “And I promise, we’ve kept it professional. We were planning to come in today to talk through logistics and sign all the appropriate paperwork.” All this lying is making me sweat. “But I guess he got excited and jumped the gun.” My mouth is horribly dry, and my palms are damp. I need a gallon of water and some deep breathing exercises.

There’s a knock on the door.

“There’s a meeting in progress,” Fielding calls out.

Dallas pokes his head in. “Hey. Yeah, Shilpa said you were all in here. Sorry I’m late.” His eyes slide to mine. “Wilhelmina.” My name is laden with apology.

I’m not sure if I’m relieved to have him here or not. “I was explaining that we’d planned to come in today to discuss the progression in our relationship, but in your excitement, you preemptively shared it with the world by accident.”

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