Chapter 10
SADIE
If you had told me two weeks ago that I would be the constant subject of media scrutiny, I would have laughed and told you to get your head checked because insanity was clearly setting in.
Yet here I am, staring at another freaking gossip page headline.
“At least the photos are decent,” I mutter to myself as I close the browser window.
It wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for my sister, my friends, heck, even my mom sending me links all the time.
My colleagues seem to have settled; perhaps Gus wasn’t wrong to tell me to work from home for the last while.
But family and friends don’t have the same boundaries.
Of course, part of it is because in my family, I’ve never been the one in the limelight.
Sienna and Simon were the ones who loved the attention, Simon moving to LA to pursue acting, and Sienna taking the synchronized swimming world by storm.
I’ve always been content to let them be the bold, outgoing ones.
It was easier for me to be the smart one, the helpful one.
Okay, fine, the boring one.
But I can’t dodge my mother’s not-so-subtle insinuation that she would like to meet Maverick for long.
Only that’s a conversation I’m not looking forward to broaching with him.
He’s a tough nut to crack, and even after two weeks of spending time together several days a week, I barely feel like I know him.
What I do know is that he’s not the jerk the media makes him out to be.
His teammates know that, his brother knows that, and I know that.
I’ve watched him overtip waitstaff, hold open doors, and swoop in to pick up a book someone dropped the other day.
I’ve seen him be friendly with kids who come up to him, and it makes me wonder how no one else can see that underneath the reckless behaviour is a good man.
He’s also an incredibly sexy man who smells like heaven and makes me feel so safe and protected, even when we’re approached by strangers or media.
Standing up from my lumpy couch, I stretch my arms overhead.
I stayed up late last night working, meaning I had little to do today, and I just finished my last task.
Wandering into my kitchen, I open the fridge and examine the contents.
It’s meager. Maverick and I had another fake date last night and we went out for dinner.
The night before, Ali and I had a girls night.
So I haven’t cooked in several days, and the lack of food is proof.
I grab an apple and a yogurt, and make my way back to the horrible couch, still thinking about how nice Maverick’s arm feels around me. And how I really need to not get used to it. We’ve got just two weeks to go until the foundation gala, which was the agreed-upon end date for our little situation.
I’m busy trying not to think about why that thought makes me a little disappointed when my phone starts to vibrate with an incoming call, and I glare at it. But my sense of responsibility wins out over my desire to live like a hermit and ignore the world. Then I see who’s calling.
Heidi Morgan used to work as a nurse on the oncology ward until she decided to go back to school to become a doctor, and then moved to Vancouver Island to finish out her residency.
She fell in love with another pediatrician, and they’re engaged.
It startles me to realize her wedding is this coming weekend.
With all the Maverick insanity, the date crept up on me.
“Hi, bride-to-be,” I say, answering the call with a genuine smile on my face. This is one call I don’t want to ignore. “If you’re calling to tell me you have cold feet, I’m going to say you’re nuts and to stick them in warm water.”
Heidi’s giggle is full of so much joy. “Heck, no. No cold feet here. I can’t wait to marry Max.”
The love dripping from her words makes me smile for her. She deserves to be happy.
“Good. So what’s up?”
“Well, when you and Dirk broke up, I know you decided to just get a hotel room in Westport for the weekend. But with Maverick in the picture, I thought you might want something better.”
I arrange my legs underneath me on the couch, frowning slightly as I try to figure out what she’s getting at. Thankfully, she doesn’t keep me in suspense for long.
“The resort finished the renovations on two more cabins, which means there’s one available for you! You don’t need to stay in a boring hotel after the wedding, you and your new man can have a romantic night in your own little cabin. How perfect is that!”
“Perfect,” I manage to croak out. Oh no. Oh freaking no. How did I not think about the fact that Heidi would automatically assume Maverick would come with me to the wedding? The whole country knows he’s still not back playing ball, so why wouldn’t he accompany his girlfriend on a weekend getaway.
Except he doesn’t know about the wedding, and he’s not my real boyfriend. We’ve never spent more than a couple of hours together, and that’s always been for show. Going to my friend’s wedding and having to play the part of a happy couple for an entire weekend? There’s no way he’d say yes to that.
Especially not the part where we have to spend two nights in a romantic beachfront cabin together…
“Listen, Heidi, I’ve got to run, work call in a couple of minutes.” It’s upsetting how easily the lie falls from my lips, but then again, I’ve had plenty of practice spinning tales these days.
“No worries, I just couldn’t wait to tell you. We’re so excited to see you on Saturday! Oh, and I promise, we’ve already told Sawyer to tone down the fanboy around Mav.”
I give a pained laugh in response to her much more excited one. Max’s younger brother, who’s dating Willow’s best friend, is a huge Tridents fan. This situation just got even more complicated for Maverick.
“Thanks, Heidi. I’ll see you soon.”
I hang up the phone and drop my head in my hands, letting out a rare curse. “Holy shit.”
I don’t call Maverick right away.
In fact, I don’t even call him that day. Nope, my big ole chicken self waits a full twenty-four hours after Heidi’s call before I even get up the courage to open our text messages.
And then I stare at my phone for several minutes, typing and deleting, trying to figure out how to bring up the subject.
This is why, when my phone suddenly vibrates with an incoming message from him, I yelp and drop my phone in surprise.
MAVERICK: Colin thinks we need to do something this weekend. I guess we can go to that market again if its open.
It’s the perfect opening for me to bring up the wedding.
We could easily get some photos on the ferry ride to the island.
When we all met for coffee earlier in the week to check in, Colin said we needed to post more on social media, to which Maverick just laughed.
Apparently, he doesn’t have a social media presence except for the one Colin manages for him.
I agreed to share a few photos but have yet to do so.
Okay, Sadie. Time to just rip off the Band-Aid. The worst that could happen is he says no and you have to come up with an excuse for Heidi.
SADIE: Actually, I won’t be in town this weekend. My friend is getting married over on Vancouver Island.
MAVERICK: Oh. Okay.
SADIE: They’re expecting you to come with me. If you want to.
I wait for him to respond, sitting on my hand so I don’t chew my nails from the stress of it all. When he finally does, I exhale in relief.
MAVERICK: Fine. Send me details. Colin says we need to make sure people see us doing shit.
I’ll save the whole only one cabin thing until later, I guess.
Switching over to my email, I send a quick message to Maverick and Colin with details for the weekend.
Then I get up, go to my bedroom, and pull on some comfy clothes before grabbing my keys and a bottle of wine from my fridge and heading out to my car.
Twenty minutes later, I’m knocking on Ali’s door. She opens it, her eyebrows raising as she takes in my harried expression and the wine.
“What’s going on?”
I push past her, not answering until I’ve opened the wine, poured some into a coffee mug, and taken a long drink.
“Maverick is coming to the island with me for Heidi’s wedding. We have to share a teeny-tiny cabin. And I haven’t even booked a leg wax.”
She approaches me slowly, taking the bottle of wine, and pouring some for herself. I drain my mug and make grabby hands at the bottle, needing a refill.
“Let me get this straight. You’re spending the weekend with your hot fake boyfriend, in a romantic cabin, and you’re worrying about a leg wax.”
I give her a hard look. “The leg wax is just one of my many problems.”
“I mean, I get it. Priorities. Last thing you need is your hottie baseball boyfriend thinking you’re a Sasquatch with hairy legs. But that’s an easy fix, one phone call. No big deal. So what’s really going on.”
I move to Ali’s not-lumpy couch and slump into the corner. “He’s a good guy, Ali.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that.” She sits down next to me and sets the bottle on the table. Such a good friend. “And?”
“And he’s really hot.”
“Still stating the obvious, babe.”
“And even though I only said yes to this insanity because I wanted to make Dirk suffer, I also want this to work out for him. I want to help him fix his image and get the public to see he’s not who the media makes him out to be.”
Ali’s still looking at me, waiting for me to get to the point.
“So far, all of our dates together have been carefully planned PR stunts, designed for media exposure. They’ve all been for him.
For his career. Now I’m asking him to spend an entire weekend with me, convincing people he doesn’t know or care about that he’s actually with me.
What if…what if he can’t? What if it all falls apart this weekend?
Then his career will be ruined, and it’ll be my fault.
And Dirk will find out I’m a pathetic loser that agreed to fake date a baseball player for revenge. ”
“Holy hell, you’re spiraling, girlfriend.” Ali lifts my glass to my mouth. “Drink up, calm down, and let’s talk.”
I dutifully take a drink, then stare down at the glass.
“People are going to be watching. Not photographers, not his teammates, but people that will recognize him, know who he is. Then they’ll look at me, see how different we are, and wonder what the heck is going on.
We have to spend forty-eight hours sharing the same living space and constantly being on in front of these people.
What if he can’t do it? What if he can’t pretend to like me for that long? ”
“Sadie LeDuc. You’ve gone from ‘I need a leg wax,’ to ‘I might destroy his career,’ in two point five seconds.
Take a breath, girlfriend. And remember this is not just on you.
He’s got skin in this game, and if he wants this to work, he’s gonna have to step up.
It’ll be his own damn fault if his career implodes.
Don’t forget, you’ve held up your end of this deal for the last couple of weeks.
Now it’s his turn to show that he can do it.
It’s not your responsibility alone to convince people this relationship is real.
You wanted him to help get Dirk off your back, and part of that is continuing to have everyone think you’re happy together.
And as for him pretending to like you, how hard can it be? ”
My best friend sounds offended on my behalf, and I finally crack a smile.
“You’re amazing. You’re beautiful, smart, funny, kind, and basically the most generous person I know. There’s absolutely nothing about you not to like, which means this is the easiest job he’s ever gonna have.”
I pick at invisible lint on the couch beside me, trying not to let my insecurities get the better of me.
“Dirk was right, I’m boring. I live a boring, normal life.
I wear boring clothes. I’m not a supermodel, or some beautiful, elegant, perfect woman.
I’m not the kind of girl professional athletes date.
” I hold up my hand when I can sense Ali about to protest. “And I’m okay with that.
Honestly. But we’re so different. It’s a lot to ask of him, to put aside those differences and somehow be believable in his attraction to me for this long.
And if he can’t do it, then everything we’re trying to accomplish with this farce is at risk.
Because I asked him to come to a wedding. ”
Even as I say it, I know Ali’s right and I’m spiraling, taking on all the responsibility for something that wasn’t even my idea to begin with.
But now that we’re in this, I feel so much pressure to do it right.
To make this work for Maverick. There’s so much on the line, and I’ve just upped the stakes.