Page 43 of Tempting the Player
Miss Gore’s sigh was a work of art and managed to silence both of them. “How did you two meet?”
Since Bridget said nothing, he decided it was up to him to come out with the truth. “We met at a bar about a month ago. She obviously knew who I was and my family, since she works with my brother’s girlfriend. I didn’t know this.” And truth be told, he wasn’t sure whether, if he had known, it would’ve changed anything that night. “Anyway, we spent a few hours together.”
Bridget had gone very quiet during this and seemed relieved when he hadn’t elaborated any further, and he wasn’t going to, no matter how many questions Miss Gore asked. Luckily, she nodded and moved on.
“You two will need to act as if you’re in love.” Miss Gore rocked back on her heels. “You should definitely hold her hand while you’re out. And— What?” She frowned at his raised eyebrows. “You know, place your hand in hers.”
“I know how to hold hands,” Chad growled, and Bridget snickered. He sent her a look, and her eyes rolled. “And contrary to popular belief, I know how to date someone.”
“Now that is shocking.” Bridget took another drink. “I thought you only knew how— Hey!”
Chad shot forward, moving so fast that he knew he’d startled her. Very carefully, he took the glass from her. “I think you’ve had enough.”
She gave him a dirty look. “Not nearly enough.”
While he thought her feisty responses were rather cute—and he wasn’t sure when cute became a part of his vocab—his ego was starting to get a little bruised.
Miss Gore smoothed a hand over her tightly pulled back hair. “I think we could do about three public appearances during the week, plus a night out on Saturday. If the press catches on, you may be required to spend the night here, Bridget, to make it believable.”
“What?” Her eyes had gone wide. “I didn’t agree to that.”
His publicist’s lips thinned. “There are guest rooms here, and you’re both adults. Start acting like it.”
Bridget’s cheeks flushed. “I really don’t like you.”
Chad bit back a smile.
“You don’t have to like me,” Miss Gore responded coolly. “There is also a Christmas event hosted by the Nationals you’ll be expected to attend together. With the very public dates and that event, it should calm down the press or at least switch to more appropriate write-ups on your personal life, Chad.”
“What about after the New Year?” Bridget asked. “If we ‘break up’ afterward, wouldn’t that be bad press for him?”
He was kind of surprised that Bridget even cared if it was, but then again, he didn’t really know why she agreed to do this in the first place. He’d thought for sure she’d have told Miss Gore to take a flying fuck and slammed the door in her face. Only a true wacko who craved attention would want to join this three-ring circus. Chad frowned.
“There will be no public statement, but eventually the press will catch on to you two not being seen together. At that point, I will release a statement that you two remain good friends.” Her dark gaze landed on him. “After this month is over, it doesn’t mean you go back to your old ways.”
“I figured as much,” he said dryly, wondering if the woman thought he was an oversexed idiot.
“If by the end of the year, the Club is happy with the changes in your behavior, your contract won’t be canceled.” She paused, and he knew she was thinking about her own reputation, not that he could blame her. “And hopefully you will take this as a learning experience.”
What he’d learned so far was that the press greatly overexaggerated the truth and generally sucked ass.
Miss Gore went over a couple more ground rules, all really just common sense, and a general breakdown on what you do when you like someone. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Miss Gore must’ve believed he was an imbecile when it came to women, he would’ve laughed.
When it seemed like his publicist had run out of things to say, he wanted to ram his head into the wall. “So are we ready to do this?”
Miss Gore nodded, but he didn’t really care what she thought. The other woman was sitting on the couch, pale and stiff, her fingers clenched in her lap. As he stared at her, he felt a pang of regret. He had no idea why she was doing this, but it was clear she really didn’t want to. It was fucked up, but the more upset she appeared the happier it made him. He hadn’t liked a version of Bridget as attention seeking. Now he wanted to call this whole thing off. It wasn’t right. His career shouldn’t be more important than her comfort.
