7. Dotty
Chapter 7
Dotty
N othing has been normal since I agreed to fake date Zac Maple. For one, my phone has been blowing up with notifications from social media. It only took me reading about two dozen of the comments to see how incredibly catty some of his fans were being. They must have posted without thinking that I might actually see their words. Is this what Zac deals with every day?
The second weird thing is how relaxed Sylvia suddenly was. She wasn’t worried about the fact that I haven’t finished the story on Betsy. She insisted she had plenty of content given the storm. We both already knew that but, in the past, she never would have acknowledged it.
One of the senior reporters on staff who always asks me to pick him up a coffee from Haley’s bakery stopped by my desk a few minutes ago to give me a coffee. I suspect he was fishing for details about Zac, but I accepted the cup and smiled sweetly, pretending to be coy. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing, since Zac and I never came up with an official cover story.
My phone dings with another notification, and I’m about to silence it at my desk when I see Sadie’s name.
“What are you doing?” She hisses as soon as I answer the call.
“Answering my phone,” I say, deciding to play dumb until I know what this is about. I have a pretty good idea that she’s calling for details.
“You’ve been dating Zac without telling me?” There’s hurt laced in her tone, and I hate that. I hate that she’s going to think I was holding out on telling her about this. When she first started crushing on Barrett, she shared everything with me. Heck, I was the one who drove her out to his place for her failed booty call.
“Why are you whispering?” I ask instead of answering her question. It’s a technique I learned when dealing with my parents. Sometimes, it’s easier to get them talking than it is to answer their questions.
“Because Barrett hasn’t seen his phone yet,” she says. “Now, you and Zac. Explain, please.”
I’m silent for a moment, collecting my thoughts. Sadie will never blab about this to anyone. None of my friends will. They always have my back even though I’m still considered a newcomer to Courage. Finally, I settle on telling her what I can. “It was a whirlwind thing.”
“So, it’s recent?” She presses.
“You could say that,” I answer.
Across the room, I spot Zac walking into the office. He’s holding a bouquet of sunflowers as he scans the crowd of office workers. Many of them stop and stare at him openly, something I doubt they would have done before this latest breaking news story.
“I’ll call you back. I have to go,” I tell Sadie.
“Fine, but we are discussing this later. I want all the details,” she tells me as I end the call.
I stand up from my desk, trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach. The moment my gaze connects with Zac’s brown one, I can barely breathe. The man is sinfully handsome. His mouth quirks up in that one-sided smile I’ve come to love so much. How is it I only met him yesterday and I already love his smile?
He crosses the room in three quick strides and holds the sunflowers out to me.
I didn’t realize when I agreed to this just how much it would affect me to have Zac doing nice things for me.
“Thank you,” my voice trembles and I tell myself it’s only because I’ve never had a real boyfriend or even been on a date. That’s the only reason I can’t catch my breath when he’s around.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you all morning,” his voice is soft and husky. I wonder what he sounds like in the bedroom. Is his voice soft and raspy or is it gritty and commanding?
I make a breathy whimper and clutch the flowers tighter.
He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear and leans close. “I’m stealing you away for a lunch date.”
“Now?” I murmur, aware that everyone in the office is pretending not to look at the two of us. They’re probably wondering why we’re together and what he sees in me. I push back the depressing thought. That doesn’t matter. The only thing that does matter is that my handsome fake boyfriend asked me on a fake date.
He makes a little hum in the back of his throat as his fingertips ghost my jaw. His eyes darken as electricity dances along my skin. “Now.”
I grab my purse and together, we walk out of the old brick building that serves as the office for The Courage Chronicle .
Zac slips a hand around the small of my back to guide me through the parking lot that’s littered with potholes. “Relax,” he murmurs. “You’re a woman in love, remember?”
I blow out a deep breath and force myself to relax my tense muscles. He’s right. I have to look the part if we’re going to do this. That means pretending I’m comfortable with Zac touching me. It means pretending that the strength in his hands doesn’t completely melt me.
He helps me into his truck, sliding his big hands around my hips. I shiver at the casual touch and search his face. There’s no sign of disgust in it. Either he’s a very good actor, or he doesn’t mind touching me at all.
Nope, I can’t let my thoughts head in that direction. I can’t wonder if my fake boyfriend would like to touch me in other places.
I wait until he’s driving down Main Street to ask him, “What’s our cover story?”
“Cover story?” He repeats.
“People are going to ask how we met. I’ve been avoiding the question for now, but I don’t know what you want me to tell them.”
He’s quiet for so long that I don’t think he’s going to answer. “You’ve been writing how many stories about Betsy?”
I can’t believe he’s been listening to me. I’ve told my parents at least four times about the stories I work on, and they never remember. “Three stories. I started writing them a few months ago.”
“Then we’ll tell everyone that you were searching for Betsy who had wandered onto my farm. It’s close enough to the truth that we’ll remember it,” he says as he turns off Main Street. I’m not sure where we’re going. We’ve already passed Ernie’s Diner, which is the best burger place in the state.
“And we’ve been secretly dating ever since,” I add.
He nods. “Have you been out of Courage since you came to live here? Maybe we can say you snuck away to meet me on tour a couple of times.”
“No, but we can tell them we kept it long-distance. Video calls and text messages. Then there are the letters you sent me.” As soon as I say the words, I grin. It’s kind of fun sitting here with my fake boyfriend and building our cover story.
He chuckles. “I sent you letters?”
I sigh dreamily. “The most romantic ones.”
“Cool. Then you sent me sexy selfies wearing lingerie.”
I hastily amend, “Maybe they weren’t that romantic.”
“Maybe you were fully clothed in the selfies.” He gives me a grin before he sighs and makes a U-turn.
“Why are we going back to town? Did you forget something?”
“I had plans to take you to my place for lunch, but Ernie’s is probably a better idea.”
“Because people will see us together?” I ask. It makes perfect sense. We shouldn’t waste the opportunity to be seen especially since Thea has already made an announcement confirming our relationship.
“Because if I get you alone, it won’t be long before your pants are around your ankles and my head is between those sweet thighs.”
My cheeks flame at his words even though I really like that image. Still, I’ve never trusted another person with my body, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to. I whisper softly, “That wasn’t part of the deal, Zac.”