I offer a lopsided smile. “Hell, this fake marriage shouldn’t be all doom and gloom. We can try to make it fun.”
He chuckles under his breath. “What’s supposed to be fun about press conferences and media scrutiny? They’ve been tedious since I was a toddler. I’m trying to play tennis, remember?”
“We’ll skip the formal press conferences,” I say. “Plenty of celebrities do. And I might not be your ideal date, but we can make use of our time together. Fancy restaurants, front-row concert tickets, maybe a resort vacation every now and then. Hell, I know you’ve earned some luxury relaxation.”
“Luxury relaxation and fun. I guess that is my husband’s specialty.”
“And you can help keep me respectable. It couldn’t hurt to keep my image out of the gutter while I’m launching the new album.”
“I doubt I could make you respectable even if you were my husband,” Spencer jokes. He studies me. “Although, if you’d let me trim your hair.”
“Don’t even think about it.” I lift a finger. “Don’t even think about thinking about cutting my hair.”
Alyssa walks back in. “Look at you two both smiling at each other,” she says. “That’s good. Keep practicing that.”
I look to Spencer. He’s quickly wiped the smile off his face, but his mood is still lighter.
I renew my grin for him. “Lucky you’re a morning person. You’ll be naturally sunny at breakfast tomorrow.”
He forces the corners of his mouth up. “With you as my date? How could I not be?”
CHAPTERELEVEN
GABRIEL
I rapon Spencer’s door just after eleven in the morning, and he almost immediately answers.
“You dressed up,” he says.
I look down. Under my old black leather jacket, I’m in a black sweater and charcoal slacks, and I kick my boot out, modeling its fresh shine for him. “It’s our debut. They told me I had to. Don’t I?”
“I just wasn’t sure what yourdressed upwould actually look like,” he mumbles, smoothing down the front of his royal blue sweater. “You don’t think I should wear a tie?”
He’s nervous, which makes sense. Spencer has spent his entire life in the closet, and he’s about to encounter a new world.
When we finished our meeting yesterday afternoon, he immediately left to throw himself back into training. He was at the gym this morning, too, but I guess that’s normal for him.
With a smile, I pull the rings from my pocket. “We should probably stick to wearing these now,” I say as I slip one on my finger. I go to place the other on Spencer’s finger when he laughs and snatches it away from me, putting it on himself.
“I wish I liked rings. But I have to take them off whenever I pick up a tennis racket.”
“Fox apparently picked these out.” I hold my hand out. “Asshole didn’t get us any gems.”
Spencer holds his hand out, too. “It looks strange on my finger.”
“Such a big hand. You might as well put a ring on it.”
He arches an eyebrow. “Thanks?”
I hold up my hand. I painted my fingernails black this morning, and I’ve got on a few other rings today in addition to a leather strap bracelet. “You’ll adjust to the jewelry,” I say. “Ready for brunch?”
He nods as he pulls on his winter jacket. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Let’s hope it’s painless. I’m sure a crowd will gather once word spreads that we’re out in public, but I called in our brunch order ahead of time. We’ll eat and exit before the mob descends.”
Spencer grunts. “Ordering for me already?”
“Veggie egg white omelet, extra egg whites, and a side of greens. How’d I do?”
