“No. She’s not.”
“I don’t know, Jett. There’s about a million ways this could go wrong,” Dan says.
“Name one.” I poke at him, but I know he’s right. Still, I’m confident that Poppy and I have thought this through.
“It could get out, for starters,” he answers.
“So, we’ll be careful. We both know the stakes, Dan. We’ll make some public appearances, enough that no one will question our relationship.”
Dan lets out ahmmon the other end. “I’m sure Brooke will have some ideas to make you out to be a happily married man.”
“Exactly. We’ll sort out the whole scandal issue in the background, but in the meantime, we’ll give the press something else to talk about. Something Chase will like. If I’m off the market, I can’t get into any more trouble, right? And they might be willing to forget about this hiccup with the morality clause.”
“It’s a long shot,” Dan says.
“I know. It might not be enough for Nuclear to change their decision but?—”
“I mean it’s a long shot getting Brooke on board. She likes tried and true strategies, you know that. She’s not a risktaker, and this is a risk,” Dan clarifies. “But I’ll call her now and run it by her. If she’s in, we’ll have to get moving on getting you some airtime as a couple.”
“Okay,” I say. “Work your magic, Dan.”
He grunts as a response.
“Full transparency, I don’t think this is theworstidea you’ve ever had,” Dan admits.
My mouth turns upward at that.
Poppy is watching me, waiting with bated breath. She gives me a look that sayswell?In return, I give her a thumbs up.
“It’s not every day you’re asking me if you can be in a relationship, so I think this shows some growth.”
“Gee, thanks.” I roll my eyes, and it’s evident in my tone.
“Stay by the phone, I’ll get back to you.”
I hit the end call button and slide my phone into the pocket of my sweatpants before joining Poppy on the couch again.
“So?” Poppy looks at me, her expression half hopeful, half hesitant.
“He’s running the idea by Brooke,” I tell her, realizing in the moment that Poppy doesn’t know who that is. “My PR person.”
“Okay, so we… wait.”
“We wait.”
Poppy turns the TV back on to whatever she was watching before I showed up, and we settle in again while we wait for Dan to get back to us about the plan.
“This? You want to watch this?” I ask, my eyes darting between her and the gory horror movie she’s turned on.
“Yeah.” Poppy turns to face me, her eyes aglow. “Too afraid?”
She quirks an eyebrow at me in challenge, and something ripples in my gut.
“No, not afraid,” I say.
Maybe a little. But I don’t admit it as the opening scene plays.
The music becomes more eerie, and I’m holding myself tense as I wait for the jump scare. But right before it happens, my phone chimes in my pocket, making both Poppy and I startle. She lets out a little shriek and then picks up the remote to pause the movie.
