Page 25 of Let It Be Me
Slowly pulling my phone away, I see my messages icon with a double-digit number. Tapping on it, I click on Logan’s name and the headline makes my jaw go slack.
‘Bad Boy Hockey Right-Winger Dating Mysterious Redhead’
I tap on the article and it doesn’t report on anything reputable. But there is a grainy picture of us from when we went to the jazz bar followed by one from today. Today's picture caught Sarah’s head thrown back in laughter and me staring at her like a lovesick fool. I’m about to rush back to Sarah’s car, if she hasn’t already left, but stop when I see her already resting on the side of my SUV with her own phone in her hand.
“I take it you just saw the article?” She asks and waves her phone in the air.
“Yeah. Here you are helping me with my reputation yet you’re getting dragged into it.”
“This does seem like something you’d talk to your publicist about,” Sarah jokes.
“How are you joking about this? Wouldn’t this blow back on you?”
“It’s a coping mechanism and probably. I just need to tell my boss it’s not what he thinks it is if he sees this before I have the chance to explain.” She says and leans back on my car.
I look at her unabashedly while she does her thinking to hopefully get us out of this new mess fans have created. I’m about to offer a solution when she beats me to it.
“If your being seen with me makes you be seen in a positive light, why don’t we run with it?”
“Huh? I thought you were all about not fanning theflames? Now you want to fan them? I’m confused,” and I really am.
“You’re already being seen better by the fans, your team, and even sponsors just from the handful of events I’ve had you do. But if news gets out that you’re also in a committed relationship, then you’ll also appeal to younger families and the sponsors who’ve been married for decades.”
When she says it that way, it makes sense. “So we date?”
“Fake date,” she tells me.
Why does the idea of fake dating make me happy but also sad? “Fake date, huh?”
“Just for the season. And then we part ways in April. Both me as your publicist and as your fake girlfriend.”
The thought of not having Sarah in my life next spring makes me nauseous. But the thought of being able to date her for six months has me holding my hand out to her.
“Deal,” I say.
“Deal,” she says as her hand meets mine and our eyes lock.
There is no denying that Sarah and I have chemistry. I feel it every time we lock eyes or brush up against each other and tension fills the air. But if I only have six months with her, then I’ll use that time to convince her that we can last longer than that.
11
SARAH
Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.
I pace the floor in my office and think about the idiotic way I opened my mouth and suggested fake dating Riley. I mean, sure he’s cute. Okay I’m lying to myself. He’s fucking handsome. But he’s also younger than me. And I’m his publicist. So there’s that. I could have used my brain and said I would put out a statement on his social media accounts denying any coupling happening between us. But I didn’t. And now I’m in this mess with Riley until April.
I yawn for the tenth time in thirty minutes as my lack of sleep is finally catching up with me. I’ve been up since before the sun trying to get the story of Riley and I being linked killed before either of us has a chance to figure out what it is we’re supposed to do. While the story was taken down, there is no guarantee that people didn’t screenshot that article or the photos of us.
A knock on my door causes me to jump.
“Yeah?” My voice comes out squeaky and I clear my throat.
Jeff pops his head in and his brows furrow in confusion when he sees me in front of my window. “Everything okay?”
And the cause of my pacing stands in my doorway. I can only hope he’s been too busy with his own clients, managing those of us who work for him, and being a father to have had the chance to read the article. If it’s any inclination that he did see it, maybe he’s waiting for me to fess up? Because if he did, he would’ve stormed into my office the first chance he got. But if he didn’t see it, then I have a chance to take the lead on where Riley and I go from here.
You know where you want to go, my evil twin says.
