‘Go on,’ she said slowly.
‘So, erm, I’ve the Olivier Awards coming up—’
Called it.Ellie quickly raised her hand to interrupt before it got any more bloody awkward. ‘No worries! If you don’t need me any more that’s perfectly fine by me.’
Alex’s brow furrowed and he pushed his glasses up with his index finger in a nervous gesture. ‘No! I still need you.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I mean, if you’re still willing to come to the awards ceremony that’d be great – Savannah was meant to be my plus one, but she’s too busy arranging her wedding to my brother.’ Ellie’s heart squeezed at the sourness of his tone. ‘I need to ask you something, well,begyou for a favour… Oh man, it’s going to sound so weird.’
Thiswas the weird part? Every moment with Alex had been strange, but, she had to admit, it was also exciting and frightening. Didn’t she want to live her life to the full? She tried to lighten the mood with a joke. ‘You’re not going to ask me to dress up in my uniform and nurse you back to life, are you?’
He jerked backwards. ‘What? Oh man, did someone ask you to do that?’
‘Yep. So, it can’t be as weird as that. Can it?’
He took his glasses off briefly and scrubbed a hand down his face, looking both awkward and utterly gorgeous at the same time. ‘I guess not, but it’s still pretty weird.’
‘Spit it out.’
‘I want you to be my girlfriend.’
Ellie’s universe shrank to nothing, and then expanded with a force as great as the Big Bang. She could hear every drop of water as it splashed in the nearby fountain, could feel her pulse thrumming and the blood rush with dizzying speed around her ears. A blast of heat washed over her from head to toe.
Okay, it’s not real – it’s a misunderstanding, surely?He means just as friends. Nothing more. Americans call their friends girl-friends, right? Although, wasn’t that usually womenwho said that, about their platonic female friendships? ‘Alex, what do you mean by “girlfriend”?’
Alex sighed, looking torn. ‘According to Richie, I need to be dating someone. He says my profile has been nosediving since the scandal. People are saying I’m toxic, controlling and emotionally abusive. Normally, I wouldn’t give a damn what the press says about me, but Richie says it’s affecting the success of the play, and it might also be why I’ve not been offered any more projects. Richie agents my whole family – including Savannah now, apparently.’ His lips thinned with disapproval. ‘He needs to look after all of our interests, and he needs to change the current narrative of a love triangle with warring brothers and broken hearts. He’s worried their wedding might seem a littleinsensitiveand they could be perceived as the villains here.’
Ellie scoffed at the injustice and Alex threw her a tired but grateful smile, taking a moment to remove off his glasses again and rub his eyes before putting them back on.
‘While I might agree with that sentiment, I don’t want them to lose everything they’ve worked so hard to build, and I don’t want anyone’s pity. You probably think me nuts saying that. But for some reason I’m still… loyal to them.’
‘I understand. Families are complicated.’
Alex’s back straightened and he placed his hands on the table and leaned forward. ‘Please, be my girlfriend,’ he pleaded. ‘Just for a short time. Richie says I need to distract the press. Show them that I’m happily in love with someone else and don’t give a shit about their wedding or that they’re together. It will solve all of our problems, and the awards ceremony can be our relationship debut – the big reveal. You saw how things were earlier outside your house, how they stopped asking about Liam and Savannah and started asking about you. It worked really well, didn’t it?’
‘Sure.’ If you liked to be the centre of attention, which she didn’t. But then again, it must have been a relief for Alex.
He took a deep breath. ‘After the wedding, everything will die down, the press will get bored and we can decide publicly toremain friends.’ He used air quotes and winked at the last bit. It made her stomach drop – David had said they werejust friendswhen he’d not wanted to admit the truth. ‘You’d be doing me a real solid, Ellie.’
‘Why?’ she asked, unsure of how best to word the hundreds of questions scrolling before her eyes like a knock-offMatrix.
Why me?
Why not some actress or supermodel?
Why a plus-size nurse from the East End?
What the hell is going on?
Alex leaned forward, his expression confident for the first time since he’d ended his call. ‘I can trust you. I’m not saying it won’t be tough. People will have a lot to say about me dating again. There will be plenty of scrutiny…’ He paused. ‘But itwillbe worth it.’
She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. ‘It will?’ So far, it sounded like her worst nightmare. Dating a hot man who would ultimately reject her in front of the whole world – been there, done that.
He nodded. ‘That flat you wanted? I can buy it for you… and I can give you an allowance too, for while we’re together. Or a lump sum? Just name your price.’
‘Oh.’ Why was she disappointed?Erm, maybe because he’s turning you into an Only Fans account?‘That seems a bit… much.’
Alex shook his head. ‘It’s not. You’ll need a dress for the awards night – it’s black tie.’
‘I was going to make something. I like dressmaking… it’s a hobby of mine… I made this dress that I’m wearing.’ She cringed.She was babbling like a lunatic. Plus, she didn’t want to admit the real reason why she made most of her clothes from scratch – because she’d spent too many of her teen years crying in clothes store changing rooms.
