Chapter 13
LUKE
Several days had passed since Clara arrived and I had only seen her briefly in the afternoons before I had to go to work.
It wasn’t an ideal situation, but it was probably for the best. The closer we got, the less this felt fake, and I wasn’t trying to get with my best friend’s sister. No matter how tempting she was.
Now I was at my office on Friday, working for a bit before going on air for the last time until Sunday, when I would be on air most of the day. Weekends were always pretty busy since that was when most of the games were played.
My phone buzzed, interrupting me while writing up an analysis of an upcoming game. I looked down. Nic was calling me. Shit.
My stomach dropped to my toes but I answered the phone. There was no way I could ignore it.
“Luke, dude, I’m glad I caught you,” Nic said.
“What’s up, man?” I asked, knowing exactly what was up.
“Clara went to New York out of the blue. Have you seen her around?”
Nic, of course, didn’t know about my scheme with Clara. I had expected this call to come, but despite that, I still wasn’t sure how to handle it.
The smart thing to do would be to lay it all out for him honestly. So far, I hadn’t technically lied to him about anything. Keeping secrets wasn’t exactly the same thing as dishonesty. But now that he had asked me directly, my only two options were to tell the truth or lie.
The truth seemed like the way to go. My arrangement with Clara was odd, for sure, but there was nothing unsavory about it. I wasn’t hooking up with Nic’s sister and I wasn’t planning to.
I wanted to, but no one else needed to know that minor detail.
I opened my mouth to tell him everything, and not just about Clara helping out my image at the network. I was going to tell him about the stupid bet with Troy, Chris’s dumb side bet, and how much I would be paying Clara. In my experience, money trumped morality these days.
Then Clara suddenly appeared in my line of sight, walking with a huge smile on her face with my assistant, Debbie, already seeming like fast friends.
“Nic, I’m sorry man but I have to call you back,” I said and ended the call.
I got to my feet just as they turned the corner into my office. “What a surprise,” I said, not sure what to expect. “What are you doing here?”
Debbie seemed to sense the tension because she mumbled a quick goodbye and headed straight back to her desk.
Clara walked into my office. “I’m meeting up with Kerri and some of the other executives’ wives to help decorate today for the party.
She and I have been texting ideas back and forth all week, and she wanted me to come in to finalize a few things.
You might have known that if you’d said more than three words to me over the last few days. ”
I pulled her into the office, flipped the switch that darkened the windows, shielding my office from view, and whirled her to face me. “Things have been busy. You still could have told me you were coming. Or sent a text at the very least.”
“What’s the big deal?” She smiled wickedly. “Unless you’ve got another woman in here. Is that it?”
“Very funny.” I shook my head and walked back to my desk. “The other woman is my job, and she’s needy as hell.”
“I’m not here to distract you,” Clara said. “If anything, I thought you’d be thrilled I was getting in good with your bosses’ wives. If I can convince them you’re ready to take on a bigger role here, that will get back to their husbands and you’ll be all set to become one of them.”
“That’s not my goal,” I said and let out a breath. “I just want more creative control. I have ideas for shows, for new segments during the games.”
“My, my, Luke, I had no idea you had such a creative streak in you,” Clara said, eyeing me appreciatively.
I met her gaze head-on, liking what I saw. “It’s not putting on a Santa costume, but I’m out there in front of the cameras. It’s still a performance. I definitely don’t talk like that in real life.”
Clara laughed. “Can you imagine? You would be unbearable.” She pitched her voice lower, to be me, I supposed. “There goes Clara, putting the bread in the toaster. The heat is on, folks. Will she make a sandwich or just spread some butter on it?”
I laughed, too. “Now you messed up. I am absolutely going to start commentating on your life.” I switched to my announcer voice.
“In the office today, we’ve got Clara Snow, a newcomer to the scene who is already making big waves with the executive wives.
And who can blame them for taking her under their wing?
She’s smart, gorgeous, and ready to make a name for herself.
Keep an eye on this one, ladies and gentlemen. She is full of surprises.”
She giggled and rolled her eyes, but her cheeks had flushed a pretty shade of pink. “That’s not so bad, but I imagine after an hour of it, I would run screaming.”
“I’ll save it for special occasions then.”
“Before I go find Kerri, there was one other thing I wanted to discuss with you,” she said, wringing her hands suddenly.
“Talk to me.”
“Well, we haven’t really spend a lot of time together this week,” she said, looking at me.
“I know, I’ve been busy,” I said, but she raised her hand to stop me.
“Listen, my point is, if you want this fake relationship to be believable, we need to do couple things.” She shook her head. “You’re not proving anything to anybody by keeping me locked up in your tower.”
“Okay, I guess I see your point,” I agreed, nodding.
“We also told everyone at dinner the other night that I’m just visiting for Christmas.
So it makes sense for me to do girlfriend things while I’m here, like bringing you dinner before you go on air and checking in on you from time to time.
” Clara grinned. “I might be a fake girlfriend but I refuse to be a bad one.”
I couldn’t find any flaws in her logic. It seemed like Clara had put more thought into this fake relationship than I had. Then again, I hadn’t given her much to do. She had nothing but time to think about the ruse we were trying to pull off.
“You’re right,” I said, shrugging. “This is exactly what should be happening if I want to convince people this is real and I’m settling down.”
Especially if I wanted to beat Troy. But I didn’t tell her that. Clara still had no idea about the bet.
She nodded and shot me a serious look. “That means you also need to start acting more like a boyfriend and not the dragon who keeps me locked up.”
I wanted to argue, but I let out a long sigh instead and let it go. “In that case, would you like to stay for the taping? If you’ve got some time before you have to meet Kerri. It won’t take long.”
Clara looked around my office while I grabbed my notes from the desk. Then I dragged her downstairs to the set, where she glowed, in awe to the point I wasn’t sure her mouth would ever close properly again.
“The studio is impressive,” she told me. “I’ve been on movie sets, but this is so different. Thanks for giving me a look behind the scenes.”
I leaned in close to her ear so that no one else could hear me. “Thanks for thinking about our relationship more than I have. You were right. I should have brought you around a lot sooner.”
“Better late than never, I suppose,” she said, smiling at me.
When Clara pointed that smile my way, it was difficult to remember this was fake. She was mesmerizing when I looked into her eyes. Everything around me fell away and I just wanted to keep that connection.
Bonnie, my producer, pulled me away for a quick session in the makeup chair. It was mostly just powder to keep my face from being shiny on camera.
“Don’t forget the eyeliner,” Clara said from beside the chair.
I gave her a playful glare and then looked at my makeup artist. “Don’t listen to her, Delphine. She’s just kidding.”
“And who is this lovely lady?” Delphine asked.
“Delphine, meet Clara, my girlfriend.”
Delphine almost dropped her makeup brush. Eyes wide, she gave Clara another look, more critical this time. “I never thought I’d see the day,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Clara. You must be really something to land a free bird like Luke.”
Clara smiled and shook her head. “He came chasing after me, if you can believe it. Begged me to come visit him for the holidays because he missed me too much.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet.” Delphine smacked me in the arm with a laugh. “Why didn’t you ever tell me you were such a romantic?”
“I’m only finding it out myself,” I said with a chuckle. “But when you find the right one, you just know.”
Delphine nodded. “I can see it when you look at each other. It’s the real deal.”
Clara’s gaze met mine again and the sparks I saw there sure felt real.
A few minutes later, I went live with the other analyst, jumping right into a story about a quarterback who got injured. The words scrolled by on the teleprompter and I read them without stumbling over anything, but my focus was on Clara.
Beyond the glare of the studio lights, she stood with Delphine watching me, her eyes shining, her hands clasped between her breasts like she was both nervous and excited for me. I was feeling it too, surprisingly.
Today’s broadcast should have been no big deal, just another show like any other. But with Clara there, I wanted to be at my best, to impress her. It was a silly thing to do for a fake girlfriend, but maybe fake wasn’t enough for me anymore.
Near the end of the show, my co-anchor asked about my Christmas plans, which wasn’t scripted. We usually did a bit of light banter like that while we wrapped things up. I realized he had given me the perfect opportunity.
My brothers might see this. All of the country would see this.
I put on my most charming TV smile and looked dead center into the camera. “I’m glad you asked me that, Johnny, because I have a bit of an announcement for everyone.”
Johnny chuckled. “Wow, an announcement. You’re not retiring on us, are you?”
“Not yet,” I said. “No, my girlfriend is visiting for the holidays, actually.”
“Whoa, stop the presses,” Johnny said. “Luke Whitaker has a girlfriend? I know a lot of ladies out there who will be disappointed to hear it.”
I laughed. “True love isn’t something to be disappointed about. It should be celebrated. Now, I didn’t plan this and I don’t want to put her on the spot, but she’s here today. Clara, come on up here.”
Her eyes went wide as dinner plates and she shook her head vehemently. The crew around her gestured encouragingly, knowing this was great television and not caring if she was uncomfortable.
Clara walked into the stage lights, looking camera-ready and hot as hell. Without thinking, I walked directly up to her once she was onscreen. Then I leaned down and pressed a deep kiss on her lips.
The contact was electric, and when she leaned in to me, not pushing me away but inviting me in, I thought I might take her right there on camera in front of the entire nation.
“There you have it, folks,” Johnny said, still sitting at the desk. “Join us next time. Maybe there will be a wedding.”
The show ended and the stage lights dimmed. I barely noticed, with how much Clara dazzled me.
“Let’s get out of here,” I told her gruffly.
Clara blinked and nodded, jolting herself back to reality. She waved goodbye to everyone in the area and we left.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with her after that earth-shaking kiss, but then she reminded me she had to go do some work with Kerri.
We parted ways, and I went back to my office feeling things I had no business feeling.