Covering it up by nervously clearing her throat, her voice wavers slightly when she speaks. “Um. Can I get you two something to drink?”
“I’ll have a beer,” Lizzy replies. “Whatever IPA you have on tap.”
“Make that two,” I add, giving her my signature Rowan Cade smile.
Lizzy snorts and shakes her head at me as the server leaves, green eyes piercing straight into my soul.
“You just can’t help yourself can you?”
“What?”
She raises both eyebrows and for some reason it makes me squirm in my seat.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Whatever you say, Hollywood,” she quips, leaning back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest. “Let’s talk about this fake girlfriend crap.”
I clear my throat. “Wow. Straight to the point.”
“When have you ever known me to be subtle?” She quirks an eyebrow, and the familiar gesture makes my heart clench.
“Right.” I lean forward, resting my forearms on the table. “Like I explained before. The studio execs are willing to let me direct, but they’re concerned about my... reputation.”
“You mean banging anything and everything that moves?” she asks bluntly.
I wince. “I’m not that bad?—”
“Please,” she scoffs. “I’ve seen the tabloids.”
“Can you just… hear me out?”
Pushing the menu aside, she gives me a pointed look. “Fine. How would this go down?”
“They want me to show I’m capable of commitment,” I explain, running a hand through my still-damp hair.
The server returns with our beers, and I take a long swig before continuing. “We’ll need to be seen together. We’ll start out slow. A coffee date here, a lunch date there. You’ll come visit me on set where I’ll give you a tour and introduce you to everyone. Maybe attend a few events when I go back to L.A. for meetings. Nothing too intense.”
Lizzy takes a slow sip of her beer, studying me over the rim of her glass. When she sets it down, there’s a tiny foam mustache on her upper lip. Without a second thought, I reach across the table and swipe it away with the pad of my thumb.
She freezes at my touch, eyes widening slightly as she sucks in a startled breath.
“Sorry,” I mutter, sucking the beer off my thumb. “Old habits, I guess.”
We both go back to studying our menus until the server returns and we order.
When she’s gone, I let Lizzy in on a little something. “Technically, our little ruse has already started.”
“What the hell do you mean, it’s already started?”
I take out my phone and swipe up before handing it over. “See for yourself.”
Her eyes widen as she stares down at the screen, mouth parted in shock. I’ve just handed over photos of our awkward run-in at the coffee shop.
They all show some version of my hands pressed against her chest as I attempted to soak up the coffee from her shirt with a wad of napkins. Meanwhile, she’s glaring up at me, my hands quite literally manhandling her tits.
“Holy shit,” she gasps, swiping through the pictures. “Who took these?”
“No idea.” I lift my glass and gulp a mouthful of beer. “But my publicist texted them to me this morning. They’re already making rounds on social media.”
