Sofia chuckled, and God, that sound, he could live off it. As if probably realizing what she had just done, her cheeks aflame, she turned serious, all business. “Jamie probably told you I signed the contract.”
He nodded, still grinning.
“And Alejandra told me you were at Coxos, taking the edge off. So, I figured we’d…start already.”
“Couldn’t stay away from me too long, eh, habiba?”
She rolled her eyes.
“Needless to say, this is strictly fake,” she said firmly. “Us hanging out. Pretending to be a couple.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll remind me of that very often.” He smirked, cocking an eyebrow. Baiting her.
Her lips pressed together, plush, irritated, and inviting.
“Listen, I really need that money, and I wouldn’t have accepted if—”
“No need to justify it to me,” he cut her off gently. “We’re both doing what’s best for our careers. You get your funding. I get a shot at redemption. No judgment.”
He extended his hand in a sign of peace.
She hesitated for half a second, then shook it. Her hand was smaller than his, but warm. Strong.
“Okay. I’m sorry. I just—this whole thing is new to me. I’ve never done something like this, and I have no idea how to act.”
“In public, we act like a couple,” he said smoothly. “In private, you can keep pretending to loathe me.”
He leaned in a little closer. Her cheeks flushed.Zwina. Same reaction as before. He was definitely getting under her skin.
Sofia stepped back, shaking off the tension. “How long are you staying in Ericeira?”
“I’ve got time off until May 3rd. That’s when I have to be in Snapper Rocks to get back in the USL circuit. So, I’ll be around. We should be seen together often, at least in the beginning.”
“You’re staying a month?” She frowned. “Don’t you have a home?”
“My sister’s in Bali. My mom’s in Spain. And I’d rather stay here than going back to Morocco.” Then motioning between them, “You and I? We’ve got a contract. So, as you said before, why don’t we start already?”
Sofia leaned against his Jeep, arms crossed, watching him change into jeans and a sweater, towel-drying his curls. She looked skeptical, but curious.
“So, what’s your plan for launching this fake love story? Soft or hard?”
He pointed between them. “We’ll start with a soft launch. Instagram story, maybe. Tag each other. Let people speculate. They love to dig into stories. If we hand them all the information, there would be no fun for them.”
She scrunched her nose. “Do you really think people would care about us?”
“We are both a very interesting mix, with Spain being our common background, and the Spanish gossip blogs are pretty wild. They already speculated about me for years, and they are still doing it after the punch. So, as soon as they see us together, they will go wild.” He frowned. “Aren’t you a well-known influencer?”
“Content creator, and I’m a marine biologist before everything else.” She sighed, her gaze shifting to the horizon. “But scientists are not as important as athletes are.”
“Scientists are cool,” he admitted. “Plus, marine biology is sick. People should definitely pay more attention to you than to me, to be honest.”
Sofia scoffed, but then found his gaze. “We need some rules.”
“For example?”
“No kissing. No touching,” she said quickly, her cheeks on fire.
The more he talked to her, the more she became a puzzle he couldn’t quite figure out. She was gorgeous, undeniably so. It didn’t surprise him that she’d become a content creator; those doe-like eyes could draw anyone in. And yet, she didn’t seem to care, or even realize, the kind of pull she had on the world. She blushed at the mere mention of a kiss or a touch, like her mind had wandered to places that weren’t entirely innocent, which prompted him to think that maybe she didn’t believe her own words and was putting on an act.
