Page 71 of Faking It
Privileges with the boss.
Friends with benefits.
Getting the perks out of playing the part.
Any way you want to define it is fine by me . . . except it is not a relationship.
Those I’m horrible at.
Those only lead to pain.
Those are something that I know Zane never agrees to.
“ROBERT! WHAT CAN I DO for you?”
“Just checking to see how things are going. You’re in Nashville today, right?”
“Yes.” Another damn day on the bus. Another day closer to getting back to my life. Another day of getting to sleep with Harlow. “You got the info I emailed over? The new stats and subscription increases.”
“They’re looking great. Are you pleased with them?” He asks and I can hear a bustle in the background, as if he’s seated at a restaurant.
“I am. They could always be better, but that’s just me being a perfectionist.”
“Agreed. I’m researching a few ideas to see what else we can do to have the subscription base at max capacity before the hard launch.”
“I look forward to hearing them.” My voice falls off when Harlow walks down the length of the coach. Her nipples are hard beneath her tank top and her hair’s a mess. The sight of her pulls at everything in me to go feel how warm her body is fresh from the sheets.
“But everything else is good otherwise?” Robert asks.
“Yeah. Sure.” Silence fills the line and I’m hit with a pang of dread.
“And things with Harlow are well?”
Shit. Here we go again with the marriage counselor stuff. I can already feel it.
“Yes, things are great, thank you.”
“I heard you two had quite the fight in the lobby of the hotel the other night.” His voice is quiet, searching, and pissing me off.
How the hell does he know about our fight?
“As two people are bound to do when they’re around each other twenty-four-seven without any space. I don’t need a fucking handler.”
“No one said you did. Zoey is simply there to facilitate all of your events and she just happened to mention that when she was leaving the ballroom and heading—”
“Call your dogs off me, Robert.” I shove up out of my seat and eat up what space there is in the tour bus. “How would you feel if someone had been documenting your and Sylvie’s every move?”
“They would have seen how a real relationship works,” he says quietly making me feel like an ass for even asking, but hell if I need a father figure. “That there are fights and you get irritated. That sometimes it’s not all roses but you get through it and everything in between.”
If I could bang my head on a brick wall, I would because he’s just not listening.
“You’re missing my point, mate. I warned you the last time you stuck your nose in my business that I won’t have it. Partners or not, you only get a small piece of me and Harlow. The rest is our damn business.”
“Wait. That’s brilliant. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Come again?”
“Still ad campaigns are good because they create an image people relate to, but it’s the watching people go through ups and downs that make people come back for more and care. You just gave me an idea about how to keep this campaign fresh and alive so that every time your events are reported on, they get new life.”
