Page 7 of No Reservations

I couldn’t help but smile. “I would. It kinda sounds fun. I’m not too good at just lying around and relaxing. This might make my vacation a bit more interesting.”

Chapter 4

Cole

The wild conversation from the night before still echoed in my head when I woke up in my cabin the next morning. The sun crept around the heavy curtain and splashed across the bed. Still half asleep, I rolled over to avoid the light and ended up squashing my morning wood against the plush mattress. With a groan, I reached down to adjust myself.

A memory of the ruggedly handsome Matthew burst into my mind, and I frowned in an attempt to dispel the surge of attraction I felt. The gossip sites weren’t wrong about his looks. Shaggy light brown hair, broad chest and thick arms, thighs like tree trunks, a firm, round ass, and warm brown eyes with little flecks of gold and amber.

Most of the men I dated or hooked up in the past were smaller than me, which led me to accept that they were my type. I never really thought I had a type. If I found a man attractive and we clicked in some way, I’d spend time with him. It seemed simple up until the point where they always ended up wanting things beyond connection and sex.

Matthew wasn’t a musclebound hunk or a bear. I supposed the ruggedly handsome description fit. He didn’t look anything like the men I usually spent time with. Maybe that was a good thing. I groaned again and rolled out of bed to pad to the bathroom.

It didn’t matter what he looked like. His suggestion latched onto my wakening thoughts more than his face or body. It was a ridiculous idea. A fake relationship? Why would he agree to such a thing?

The obvious answer was money or social clout. It’s what most of my past dates wanted from me. Halfway through my shower, my brain finally got up to speed. If he wanted money, it would make it nothing more than a business transaction, like a unique, strange PR campaign. There wasn’t a price I’d put on my peace of mind.

I pulled on a pair of navy shorts and a cream striped camp shirt just as my phone vibrated on the nightstand.

Brooke:Spk w CB. Call me.

I assumed CB was Carter Bennett, the very obliging owner of the Halcyon Inn. I tapped Brooke’s number and listened to it ring twice.

“Cole, I knew this would happen.” She didn’t sound happy.

“People would’ve recognized me wherever I went, unless it was to some straight boomer convention in The Hamptons.” I sat on the edge of the bed and ran my toes over the braided rug.

“There are places with better security than some small-town inn in upstate New York.”

The whole thing felt ridiculous, but I guess celebrity status was that at the best of times. I had worked hard to build my client list, and I considered Eclipse 6 a top-tier triumph. There’s no way I could regret the money either, but all the fuss that came with it was starting to wear on me. “Security.” I nearly growled the word. “No one attacked me.”

The silence stretched so long I thought maybe I lost signal. Finally, Brooke spoke again. “Who was the dinner date? Do we have to pay someone off?”

“It’s funny you should ask that.” I knew she suspected blackmail or some sort of scam. She made a cushy living out of always expecting the worst and dealing with it masterfully. I told her about Matthew’s suggestion of a fake relationship, explained that paying someone to pretend to be my boyfriend for a while and then staging a public but perfectly amicable breakup just might get the gossipmongers off my back.

“Hm.” When that was all she said for a while, I jumped in again.

“He seems sane, Brooke. We have him sign an NDA, make a contract with strict legal parameters, and offer him attractive but not excessive financial compensation. We show up in public a few times together, part ways, and then I can get on with my life.”

“You’d need to do an in-depth background check. Find out who this guy is.”

I stretched my feet out on the rug and leaned back. “Of course.”

Her deep sigh and a bit of muffled cursing punctuated her next silence. “I hope you know what you’re doing. You know Thad is going to jump at this rumor. Expect him to try to poke his nose so far into your business you’ll feel it when he sneezes.”

“What an odd and unpleasant metaphor.” Thad, my media nemesis, might push harder if he thought he could find a crack in the story, but it was the only thing that could potentially get him off my back for good. “It’ll be fine. Everything will work out exactly as planned.”

The idea of braving the restaurant for coffee triggered another burgeoning headache. I opened the inn app and ordered a whole pot and an egg white omelet instead. The lure of muffins and scones nearly won out, but I still had a public image to maintain.

My finger hovered over the ‘order’ button. Maybe I could relax a bit. Didn’t people sometimes put on a few pounds when they got in a happy relationship? Would that make it more believable? I huffed out a dark laugh and added wheat toast to my order.

Three kayakers paddled by thirty feet offshore. I watched them until they disappeared behind the pines that curved around the cabin’s little clearing. The lake looked inviting on such a hot summer day. Vague memories of a vacation house my family stayed at in my youth flitted through my head. As long as it wasn’t mucky or weedy, I loved to swim in natural fresh water.

Did Matthew like to swim? He had the shoulders for it, and his arms definitely looked like he was used to regular physical activity. I closed my eyes and let the first impressions of the man fill my mind. He didn’t have a swimmer’s build at all. Every inch of him was big, broad, and yes, ruggedly handsome. The gossip sites got that one right. What would it feel like to be the little spoon for a change? Shaking my head, I retreated to the couch to wait for my coffee.

Three hours later, I had eaten the omelet and toast, drank half the carafe of coffee, and answered a dozen emails from publicists, venue managers, and other parts of the famous pop band machine. CJ, the bass guitarist and smartest one of the group, sent me an update on the boys’ vacation activities. They seemed to be staying out of trouble well enough. Of course, I scrolled through the social sites myself to make sure.

Eclipse 6 party at a trendy dance club. Lead singer, Dylan, seen snuggling with a cute blond. Nothing unusual there. Tour tickets go on sale… I clicked to the next tab to see my own name in bold type at the top of the page.Cole Gilliam’s Secret!A few cropped and filtered photos of Matthew and I sitting in the inn’s restaurant ranged down the page with ridiculous captions like “Caught in the act! Cole’s clandestine love affair revealed” and “Straight rumors suffer in the face of hot man in the morning.”

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