Chapter 16
You won’t know what hits you
Harley
If I wasn’t sitting, I would’ve stumbled back and landed on my ass.
Kaz wants me to be his fake girlfriend?
In what parallel universe did I step into?
“I know it’s a lot to ask,” Kaz says. “My publicist has been pushing me to consider that as an option, but I’ve always turned her down because the idea of spending the evening with a model, actress, singer, socialite, or God forbid, an influencer is as attractive as swimming through a swamp infested with piranhas. ”
I tilt my head to the side. “Why would you say that? There isn’t anything more natural in the world than the pairing of an All-Star athlete and one of the attractive women you’ve listed.” Women who are poised, educated, sophisticated, glamorous, successful, rich… the polar opposite to me.
“If it’s a genuine pairing, I agree.”
“Models, actresses, and singers ooze with talent,” I say.
“Socialites come from money. I have nothing to bring to the table. Unlike those women who can afford to buy the most coveted pieces straight from this season’s runway fashion—or designers send them clothes for free publicity—basement bargain shopping is all I can afford.
And by that, I mean shopping on the discounted racks of discounted stores. ” I twist my fingers together.
“Since I’m inviting you to the event, it’s only fair I pay for an outfit for the evening.”
“Kaz—”
“Yesterday, thanks to Devlyn, I made the gossip news. Again. I don’t want to walk the red carpet at the event fielding the press’s questions about my ex-wife’s appalling behavior.
” He rakes a hand through his thick brown hair and lets out a frustrated breath.
“Harley, you’d be doing me a huge favor.
Not only in regard to shifting the attention away from my unhinged ex-wife, but…
you’d be helping me craft a new image that would help me get the foot in the door of a brewery owned by a Montana-based owner that’s struggling.
I have it on good authority, they’re looking to sell.
I want to buy them out, but I can’t get a call back from the owner to save my life.
I suspect it’s because every time my name appears in the press, it’s connected to drama. ”
My eyes lower to the kitchen island’s striking countertop.
He twists the empty jar on the counter—left, then right.
He does that a few times.
“How does fake dating your ex-stepson’s ex-girlfriend supposed to help your image?” I arch a brow. “Won’t the gossip rags crucify you?”
“You didn’t date him that long and you weren’t photographed together in the press.”
Chett didn’t even take any photos of us together on his birthday for his socials. “True, but his friends and teammates who were at his party know. Same for the women who accompanied them.”
“I’m not trying to come off like a saint.” He rubs a hand over his face. “I just need the spotlight pointed away from the bullshit my ex might be spewing next.”
I bite the inside of my cheek.
“Alina can handle the fallout.”
I frown.
“Chett has the attention span of a fruit fly when it comes to women. She’ll paint you as the one my playboy ex-stepson was too stupid to hold onto.”
I flashback to the day Chett’s mother interrupted my breakfast when she sat down across from me, uninvited, and proceeded to belittle me and tell me how I wasn’t good enough for her baby boy.
The smugness shining from her eyes was nauseating.
This woman who thought she was better than me was nothing more than a hypocrite.
I don’t come from a hockey family, but at least I’m not a cheater.
Bitch.
Maybe I never had the courage to pursue my dream to become an actress because of my fear of rejection, but I can put to good use all the drama classes, hours spent in the drama club in high school, and auditions that didn’t get me far.
I’ve dated wealthy men, so it’s not like I’m going to be out of my element.
I’d be doing Kaz a solid. Without this man’s generosity, where would I be now?
I might not be good enough to be with a man like Kaz, but I can act like I am.
If I’m going to fake it, might as well go all the way.
I stare into his blue eyes. “What’s your favorite food? Your biggest pet peeve? How do you like your coffee? Do you prefer your grilled cheese cut across or diagonally? There are so many questions bouncing around in my head.”
“Excuse me?” His brows dip low. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“As your girlfriend, I would know these things.”
His eyes shine bright. “You’ll do it?”
“I’ll be your fake girlfriend, Kaz.” I rub my hands together. “Let’s give them something good to talk about.”
Devlyn Frostburg, you won’t know what hit you. I’ll go from being a nobody in your eyes to dating hockey royalty—your ex-husband.