Debbie seemed to sense the tension because she mumbled a quick goodbye and headed straight back to her desk.
Clara walked into my office. “I’m meeting up with Kerri and some of the other executives’ wives to help decorate today for the party. She and I have been texting ideas back and forth all week, and she wanted me to come in to finalize a few things. You might have known that if you’d said more than three words to me over the last few days.”
I pulled her into the office, flipped the switch that darkened the windows, shielding my office from view, and whirled her toface me. “Things have been busy. You still could have told me you were coming. Or sent a text at the very least.”
“What’s the big deal?” She smiled wickedly. “Unless you’ve got another woman in here. Is that it?”
“Very funny.” I shook my head and walked back to my desk. “The other woman is my job, and she’s needy as hell.”
“I’m not here to distract you,” Clara said. “If anything, I thought you’d be thrilled I was getting in good with your bosses’ wives. If I can convince them you’re ready to take on a bigger role here, that will get back to their husbands and you’ll be all set to become one of them.”
“That’s not my goal,” I said and let out a breath. “I just want more creative control. I have ideas for shows, for new segments during the games.”
“My, my, Luke, I had no idea you had such a creative streak in you,” Clara said, eyeing me appreciatively.
I met her gaze head-on, liking what I saw. “It’s not putting on a Santa costume, but I’m out there in front of the cameras. It’s still a performance. I definitely don’t talk like that in real life.”
Clara laughed. “Can you imagine? You would be unbearable.” She pitched her voice lower, to be me, I supposed. “There goes Clara, putting the bread in the toaster. The heat is on, folks. Will she make a sandwich or just spread some butter on it?”
I laughed, too. “Now you messed up. I am absolutely going to start commentating on your life.” I switched to my announcer voice. “In the office today, we’ve got Clara Snow, a newcomer to the scene who is already making big waves with the executive wives. And who can blame them for taking her under their wing? She’s smart, gorgeous, and ready to make a name for herself.Keep an eye on this one, ladies and gentlemen. She is full of surprises.”
She giggled and rolled her eyes, but her cheeks had flushed a pretty shade of pink. “That’s not so bad, but I imagine after an hour of it, I would run screaming.”
“I’ll save it for special occasions then.”
“Before I go find Kerri, there was one other thing I wanted to discuss with you,” she said, wringing her hands suddenly.
“Talk to me.”
“Well, we haven’t really spend a lot of time together this week,” she said, looking at me.
“I know, I’ve been busy,” I said, but she raised her hand to stop me.
“Listen, my point is, if you want this fake relationship to be believable, we need to do couple things.” She shook her head. “You’re not proving anything to anybody by keeping me locked up in your tower.”
“Okay, I guess I see your point,” I agreed, nodding.
“We also told everyone at dinner the other night that I’m just visiting for Christmas. So it makes sense for me to do girlfriend things while I’m here, like bringing you dinner before you go on air and checking in on you from time to time.” Clara grinned. “I might be a fake girlfriend but I refuse to be a bad one.”
I couldn’t find any flaws in her logic. It seemed like Clara had put more thought into this fake relationship than I had. Then again, I hadn’t given her much to do. She had nothing but time to think about the ruse we were trying to pull off.
“You’re right,” I said, shrugging. “This is exactly what should be happening if I want to convince people this is real and I’m settling down.”
Especially if I wanted to beat Troy. But I didn’t tell her that. Clara still had no idea about the bet.
She nodded and shot me a serious look. “That means you also need to start acting more like a boyfriend and not the dragon who keeps me locked up.”
I wanted to argue, but I let out a long sigh instead and let it go. “In that case, would you like to stay for the taping? If you’ve got some time before you have to meet Kerri. It won’t take long.”
Clara looked around my office while I grabbed my notes from the desk. Then I dragged her downstairs to the set, where she glowed, in awe to the point I wasn’t sure her mouth would ever close properly again.
“The studio is impressive,” she told me. “I’ve been on movie sets, but this is so different. Thanks for giving me a look behind the scenes.”
I leaned in close to her ear so that no one else could hear me. “Thanks for thinking about our relationship more than I have. You were right. I should have brought you around a lot sooner.”
“Better late than never, I suppose,” she said, smiling at me.
When Clara pointed that smile my way, it was difficult to remember this was fake. She was mesmerizing when I looked into her eyes. Everything around me fell away and I just wanted to keep that connection.
