The Publicity Stunt

5. Chapter Four

Walking into the restaurant in California after her fifth concert in less than two weeks, Bri puts on a happy face even though she”s exhausted. She finally has a break, and Nia insisted they meet for lunch. She hasn”t had much time to pay any attention to the media between traveling and performing, but it wouldn”t surprise her if there”s yet another development they need to strategize about to get ahead of. There”s also a chance she just simply combed her hair wrong or made some fashion-don”t list.

The hostess smiles at her and leads her back to a private room with only a handful of tables, all empty except for the one Nia sits at. One of the perks of going out in the Los Angeles area is how unfazed people are with celebrities. They”re just a dime a dozen nowadays.

Food sits on a plate at the table, and she knows Nia already ordered for her. Which means whatever is about to happen can”t be good. In fact, it”s probably very, very bad considering she ordered Bri”s favorite pasta. Her mind starts wandering, but she doesn”t miss the two extra plates at the table.

”What”s going on, Nia?” Bri asks, her stomach knotting.

The last time she came to a dinner like this, her parents tried to force their way back into her life, and with it, convince her to give up her money. They worked with her former manager who believed he was reuniting an estranged family for good reasons, and he made it happen. With everyone on her team, Bri has been explicitly clear on the no contact with her family rule. Her trust issues run deep, and for good reason, and it was the last time she ever spoke to her manager.

”I want to talk to you about the media frenzy,” Nia says as the server brings out another martini and sets it in front of her. ”Eat up. I know it”s your favorite, and I”m sure you”re starving. You always need extra carbs at the start of your tours.”

Even though she feels like a teenager going through a growth spurt, she can”t sit down and eat until she knows what she”s walking into. It feels like a trap. ”Who”s coming, Nia?”

Her eyebrows raise as the martini freezes halfway to her mouth. ”Oh, sweetie, I know better than to even mention those creatures some would call your parents. That”s the furthest thing from what this is, and I”m so sorry. I didn”t even think...”

Feeling at ease, she sits down and grabs a fork to start with the salad. ”So, who”s coming?”

”Are we late?” a male voice asks, and she turns around to see a handsome man in a navy, well-fitted suit. Behind him walks what Bri can only describe as a literal giant.

Her eyes bulge out of her head as she watches the largest man she”s ever seen in person walk up and pause. The mammoth of a man has the broadest shoulders she”s ever seen. He makes the first man look almost child-sized.

”Hello, Neo. Not at all. Please, sit,” Nia says with a wide smile.

She”s slept with this man. Bri can always tell when Nia”s engaging with a man she”s taken to bed. And a few women, too.

”What is this?” the giant asks.

At least she isn”t the only one walking into a plan of sorts. ”You”re not sure what you”re being conned into, either?” Bri asks and takes another bite of her salad. ”I have to say, it”s kind of a relief knowing it”s not just me.”

They sit, and knowing without a doubt her family won”t make a surprise appearance, she moves to the pasta. She doesn”t care if she looks like a pig scarfing down whatever slop the farmer set in front of her. She”s starving.

”It”s nice to meet you, Brianna. I”m Neo Pratt, and this is Kace Lyons. You may recognize him from the Bootleggers. I’m his PR rep working for a competing firm from Nia.”

”Bootleggers?”

Nia giggles and pats her hand. ”Excuse her. It”s been an exciting few weeks. The NHL team, sweetie.”

Hockey? Bri”s never watched a game a day in her life. ”Uh, yeah, sure. Sorry, I”m a bit distracted. I thought I recognized you.”

”You have no idea who I am, do you?” Kace asks as a different server brings out a giant steak the size of the plate, and a separate plate of mashed potatoes and gravy. He watches the food as it”s placed in front of him and grabs his silverware.

He”s handsome. Really handsome. And she can’t deny she”s intrigued to be in the presence of someone so large. If they walked into the middle of traffic, she has no doubt he could almost stop a bus coming right for them like a superhero.

”I”m so sorry,” she says and laughs, covering her mouth with her napkin. ”I don”t have time to watch sports, and I don”t think I”ve ever watched a hockey game in my life. I grew up in a small town in Texas, and the only reason we had a football team was, well, because it was Texas.”

He smiles, and she”s surprised to see he has all his teeth. Nice teeth, too. The only thing she does know about the sport is how many players lose their chompers for the love of the game. ”I”m from Texas, too. Where are you from?”

”Enderlin.”

”I”m from Brunsville. It”s, like, fifty miles south.”

The man seems friendly enough, and she realizes he”s already inhaled half his steak. Every bite of his matches at least three of hers. She doesn”t feel so much like a pig now.

”Yeah, I”ve been there. It”s much larger than Enderlin,” she says.

”What year did you graduate?” he asks and shovels a forkful of potatoes into his mouth.

”I finished school on the road, but I would have graduated seven years ago if I”d stayed.”

His eyes widen as he lowers his fork. ”You”re twenty-five?”

”Twenty-four. I was the youngest in my class. Let me guess... you thought I was younger?”

”Older, actually. Don”t you write your own songs?”

”Every one of them.”

He chews thoughtfully. ”You seem to have more life experience than a twenty-four-year-old.”

”How old are you?”

”Thirty-one.”

”You two have so much in common already,” Nia says with a smile.

Narrowing her eyes, she looks over at her rep and lifts her water glass. ”The only thing we have in common is that we come from Texas. The second largest state by population in the United States.”

”No, I agree with Nia,” Neo says. ”You two would make the perfect couple.”

Bri chokes on the water she attempted to drink. ”Excuse me?”

”Yeah, I second that,” Kace says and waves his steak knife in a circle over the table.

”Okay, so we had an idea,” Nia says, ”and we”d like you to hear us out before dismissing it.”

Neo nods. ”You two already made a splash when Kace went to the opening concert in Texas. People have claimed they overheard him talking about how attractive and talented you are. And how much of a bastard your ex is.”

”The shit about her ex was Brett, not me,” Kace clarifies. ”I didn”t know much about Erectile Dysfunction at the time.”

A flush creeps up her neck, and she can”t look at Kace. Not only is he handsome, but he finds her talented? Not just talented, but attractive, too.

”We all agree her ex is a bastard,” Nia says.

”I made the mistake of listening to his most popular song. What did you see in this guy, anyway?” Kace asks. ”Can”t make a decent song to save his life, and he”s obviously an idiot.”

Her eyes flash up to his, and Nia holds out a hand to her. ”Bri-”

”I didn”t know you were a music expert,” Bri says, ignoring Nia. ”What label do you work for?”

How dare a man who glides around on skates for a living judge someone else”s creative outlet? Sure, she didn”t love Easton”s music, either, but there”s no way this Godzilla in front of her would have the guts to get on stage and sing songs he”s written. To show the world such a personal side of himself.

”I”m not, but I know what sounds good and what doesn”t. You sound good. Great, even. A dying donkey sounds good compared to that guy. Plus, he”s so scrawny. I thought cowboys were supposed to have muscle from, you know, working on a farm.”

”Well, not everyone can be built like a mammoth like yourself,” she says and stabs her pasta.

He smiles. ”You think I”m large?”

”You take up half this table. Your size in this present state isn”t exactly a secret.”

”You have sass. I did not expect that from you.”

”She gets a little defensive when people critique music, especially when they”ve never written or performed it,” Nia says. ”Believe me, it”s a battle I also never win with her.”

Bri shrugs. ”You can critique someone for anything, but insulting their creativity is pretty low brow. Sure, it”s not everyone”s cup of tea, but it doesn”t give anyone the right to tear it down.”

”I”m more of a coffee guy. Strong and black. I guess you still love the guy?” Kace asks.

”Because I defend his right to create music means I love him? I must love all of the music industry by those standards.”

Nia leans towards him. ”She never really loved him.”

Neo holds his glass of red wine in the air. ”Even better!”

Letting out a breath to settle herself, Bri looks at the table. There”s no point in getting worked up over her ex with a man who compares masculinity on a vastly different scale than others. ”What are we doing here, Nia? What”s this idea you”re talking about?”

”We want you two to date,” Neo says.

This time, she does actually choke on a noodle she hasn”t had time to fully chew, and Nia quickly pats her on the back.

”Well, since you asked nicely,” Kade says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He glares at Neo, and Bri”s pretty sure he believes the man is as big of an idiot as Bri does.

”Not for real. Unless you want to. But we want to play up the speculation everyone has already created regarding whether or not you two are actually dating,” Nia says.

”Why?” Kace asks. ”Okay, so she gets to shove it to the pipsqueak, but what”s in it for me?”

Oh, it”s just for her benefit this came about? He”d be lucky to date her! Even if it was fake.

”Because your team has a solid chance of taking home the Cup this year, and the added publicity will increase attendance and broadcast numbers. On top of that, your endorsements will go through the roof. Everyone wants to buy the products the guy who snagged the world”s hottest pop star reps.”

”So, I”m basically here to make him money while he”d be here to help me, what? Save face? I think I”m doing okay right now,” Bri says.

”I didn”t mean-”

Nia holds a hand up to stop Neo. ”It sounds bad, but it”s not what you”re thinking.”

Sniffling, she takes a drink of her water. One day she”ll be able to go through life without people only seeing dollar signs when they look at her. ”What Cup are you taking home?”

Kace lifts his eyebrows. His plate sits completely empty while she had to stop eating halfway through her pasta out of fear of throwing up. ”The Stanley Cup.”

”Okay?”

”The championship of the entire league,” Nia says.

”Oh, like a Super Bowl ring? Except a cup or something?”

Kace looks at Neo. ”Seriously? You want me to date a woman who knows nothing about hockey? Not even the basics like what the goddamned Stanley Cup is? Who”ll believe that?”

”Excuse me for having more on my plate than sports,” Bri says. ”But I agree. I don”t think people will buy us as a couple. Especially because I”m apparently going to be quizzed on hockey rules and regulations. I”ll fail that for sure.”

”Sweetie, they already have bought you as a couple. Everyone”s speculating and hoping. And it”ll really help us spin the attention after the latest news Easton”s camp just released.”

Her stomach drops even further, practically to her toes, and she leans back in her seat. She”s done eating for the rest of the day from the sounds of it. When her eyes glance to Kace, he stares at Nia with rapt attention.

”What now?”

”Johanna”s pregnant.”

”What?”

Nia nods. ”Right after he got caught cheating, his songs picked up on the charts for about a week, but they”ve fallen since your tour started. The tactic seems to be elevating him by humiliating you to gain him attention.”

Bri stares at the ceiling. ”Why can”t he just do whatever he wants without his team pulling my name into it? Humiliating me by getting caught having sex wasn”t enough? He now has to share that he”d been sleeping with her far longer than speculated?”

”Are you sure you don”t love this guy?” Kace asks. ”It sounds like it hurts.”

”It”s embarrassing,” she says and lowers her head to avoid looking at him. ”Easton and I were never going to live happily ever after. That wasn”t a secret, but it was nice to have someone to talk to about how crazy this life in the industry could get. Especially the media frenzy.”

”That doesn”t answer the question.”

Her eyes lift to stare into his bright green ones. They complement his light brown hair cut in an easy-yet-stylish shorter style. ”No, I don”t love him. I never did. It doesn”t hurt because I”m jealous. It hurts because it seems like everything he does is a purposeful attempt to humiliate me. I wish he”d just live his life and leave me out of it. There”s only so much embarrassment one person can take.”

Kace leans back and matches her stance, his eyes staring hard into hers. ”Then let”s show him he means shit to you.”

”Wait, you actually want to do this? Have a fake relationship?”

”Look, I”m recently single, and my ex was one of your biggest fans. I don”t really give a shit about the money because I”m already doing well, and we”ll still make it to the Cup with or without our relationship status. But, God, it”ll kill her to know I”m with the person she idolizes most.”

”I”d be a revenge tactic?”

”Wouldn’t I?”

Does she really want a fake relationship? ”Let me think about it.”

”Works for me.”