Page 22 of Sunrise

"And you get screwed in the meantime?" she asks.

"Yeah, the worst part is the studio said they want me to clean up my act and appeal more to families. I've been trying for over a year to drop the playboy title, but the press finds ways to keep playing it up. I haven't dated or even slept with anyone in over a year. I rarely go to clubs anymore. I was only at this one to celebrate the release because the studio demanded we make an appearance."

Lin looks up as our food is delivered, then looks back at me.

"You know you could try dating a girl for a month or so. Make your dates public and have her break up with you, break your heart," she says.

I laugh. I can't help it. "My mom said something along those same lines. The problem is, all the girls I've tried to date use me. Mostly for their fifteen minutes of fame and some to launch their careers by dating and screwing me over. Others want me to spend money on them. I'm not one to flash my money around. I don't have a mansion, and I don't have expensive parties every weekend. I guess I just don't know who to trust anymore. It's very exhausting when you don't have a safe space." I cringe. I don't know why I admitted that to her.

"Well, on the flip side, you are rich enough you can have a trophy wife. Marry someone who knows the score, gets a monthly allowance, smiles, and sings your praises in public. She knows the score, and you both play your parts."

I shake my head. "I may be a fool, but if I marry, it will be for the kind of love my parents have. I haven't gone so Hollywood that I'd marry just to further my career," I tell her.

I pause and look at her. "You'd be perfect, though." I smile.

She laughs. Full throws her head back and laughs. "I'm not marrying you." She shakes her head.

"Not to marry, to date. It could fix my reputation and boost sales here for both inns," I say, planting the seed.

She pushes her food around on her plate, lost in thought before she looks back up at me.

"I'm not like those Hollywood girls," she says.

"Exactly. You aren't trying to better your career, and I'm telling you right off the bat, I'd help promote the inns. We both go into it knowing the score, and the media will eat it up because you're not a Hollywood girl. I'm stuck here for another week or more, so it's perfect."

"How is it perfect?" she asks, scrunching her eyebrows together, and it's so damn cute.

I can't admit that it's perfect because it gives me a reason to put my arms around her and maybe even steal a few kisses. No, that will send her running. I can feel it.

"It's perfect because the press can't get here to hound you, and by the time the bridge is fixed, we will break up. I will pay for security here afterward if any press tries to take it too far. I won't have to hide inside. We can go out in town and let people see us. They will post pictures, and it will be perfect. I can post about the inn on social media. You get to go out be a tourist in your own town, and we can relax a bit. No more worrying if it gets out that I'm here. We can toss the NDAs out the window and take all the pressure off," I try to reason with her.

"It sounds great in theory, but I'm sure it will all blow up in our faces," she says.

"Not if we don't let it. We are two adults. We know our boundaries. Plus, think of Travis's face when he realizes you are dating me. Tell me you don't want to rub that in his face." I smile at just the thought because I sure as hell want to rub it in

She relaxes and smiles. "That would be great." She chuckles and shakes her head. "Better than anything Brynn could do."

Then her face goes serious. "I'm not sleeping with you." She levels me with the “I'm not kidding around" glare my mom used to give me.

"No sex. Just some hugs, hand holding, and a few well-staged kisses," I tell her as her cheeks develop a light pink on them. My cock hardens at the thought of sex with her, and the pink on her cheeks makes me think about her lying on my bed flush from an orgasm that I just gave her.

I shift and try to adjust myself and get back on track.

"Then I get to break up with you. For whatever reason I want?" she asks.

"Well, within reason. Personally, I think saying I picked my career over you would work for us both. I left to go back to Hollywood. You had to stay here with the inn. It just didn't work out," I say and study her face.

She taps her fork on her plate and bites the inside of her cheek, lost in thought.

"I don't know. That makes me sound weak and heartbroken. I don't want people walking in here, your fans in particular, saying how I wasn't good enough for you anyway. You know they will," she says.

I know she's right. I've seen how hard they are on the girls I've dated in the past.

"Well, what reason would you give to us breaking up? It can't be cheating because I want to get away from that label."

She bites her bottom lip and studies my face. I know when an idea hits her because she sits up straight and smiles.

"How about you got too serious, and I wanted to keep it casual? Maybe that I was just using you to get back at Travis." She smiles.

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