He spun around, his easygoing smile widening when he noticed her standing there. “Hello, pretty lady.”
“Hey, Caleb.” Harlow hovered in the doorway. “Got a minute?”
“Absolutely. C’mon in.”
Caleb’s colleague discreetly slipped away while she made her way inside. “Before I forget, have you gotten anymore anonymous tips about me cutting down trees?”
“Nope. The case is officially closed. Are you working on getting those motion detectors put up?”
“It’s still on my list.”
“Have a seat.”
Harlow perched on the edge of the chair. “I have some bad news.”
“The studio moved your start date up, and you’re leaving sooner than planned,” he guessed.
“No. Remember yesterday when we noticed a bike going by slowly?”
“Yeah.”
“It was a snoopy cameraman. He snapped a photo of us. It’s on the front page of one of the major tabloids.”
“What you’re telling me is that I’m famous,” he joked. “How do I look?”
“Photoshopped, AI’d, or maybe a little of both.” Harlow told him that they had published his name and occupation. “I can show it to you if you’re interested.”
“Sure. I guess I can cross being photographed with a celebrity off my bucket list.” Caleb grew quiet while Harlow pulled up the tabloid story. She clicked on the photo to make it bigger and handed him her phone.
“I gained some weight. My face looks a little off-center and my hair is yellow.”
“At least you don’t look like you just crawled out of bed.”
“You look cute with your hair all mussed up.” Caleb slid his finger over the screen. “According to this story, we’ve been busy.”
“House shopping, shacking up, spending all of our time together.”
“Wow!” He made a choking sound. “This story mentions us hiking the island’s trails. So I guess the path out behind your house is considered a trail.”
“Meaning this person is sneaky enough to stay out of sight yet close enough to spy on me.”
Caleb handed her phone back. “How much do you think this story and fake photo is worth?”
Harlow threw out a random dollar amount.
His jaw dropped. “Are you serious? I need to get a job as a part-time paparazzi.”
“You would never sink that low,” she said. “I’m here to warn you I wasn’t kidding when I said hanging out with me would bring unwanted attention and scrutiny. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning. If you think the photo was bad, it’s guaranteed to get worse. Scandal sells.”
He rubbed the stubble on his chin. “I’m okay with it.”
“You might want to avoid being seen with me, at least for the time being.”
“No.”
“Just flat out no?”
“Not gonna happen. We’re friends. I’m not scared. They can print all the lies they want.”
