I closed my eyes for a moment, recalling the photo Carlotta took.
“Coveralls?” My voice was a growl.
“Yeah, they look like coveralls. You should buy your fiancée a new wardrobe. Coveralls don’t fit your image.”
“Shit,” I muttered.
Nat twisted her hands in front of her. Judging from how pale she’d gone, she could probably hear Billy just fine.
“You should have given me a heads up,” said Billy. “I’ve been negotiating your interviews, and I just had your producer on the line. This kind of info is what I need to do my job.”
“Our engagement isn’t real,” I said flatly. “Nat and I aren’t getting married. We’re not even dating.”
She met my gaze, nodding vigorously. “That’s right,” she muttered.
Billy went silent for a moment while he digested this news. “Well,” he drawled finally. “That’s disappointing. You sure you don’t want to pop the question?”
“How the hell did the story spread so fast?”
“Beats me, but I’ve seen it on at least three gossip sites this morning. Did you tell someone you were engaged?”
“Yes, but how did the news get onto three different gossip…?” I broke off, shaking my head. It was a waste of time to focus on how it had happened. “How do we fix this?” I asked instead.
“Fix it? Are you crazy? It’s great publicity. The studio heads will be creaming their pants right now, imagining your jump in ratings.”
“We need to tell people it isn’t real,” I said. But watching Nat chew her lip, I remembered why we’d lied in the first place. “Soon,” I amended. “We should come up with a plan to come clean, right after Nat’s sold her café.”
“Okay!” Billy was so enthusiastic, his exclamation hurt my eardrum. “We’ll ride the publicity wave for a while, do a few interviews, then announce your split. A conscious uncoupling, or whatever they’re calling it these days. Then you’ll get twice the publicity. Spoiler alert, that’s twice as good.”
“Hold on.” I pulled the phone away from my ear. “What do you think, Nat? Did you hear everything he said?”
She nodded. “Don’t worry about me. Or about Gigi and Butch. We should do whatever’s best for your career.”
“My career will be fine. If you want to come clean right away, we will.”
There was a choking sound on the phone, then Billy’s voice came booming through, loud and clear though I was holding the phone next to my shoulder. “You mean, announce you lied? Dude, why?”
Nat was worrying her lip with her teeth like she was trying to chew a hole. “We can’t do that,” she muttered. “Now we have no choice.”
I put the phone back to my ear. “I’ll call you later, Billy, after Nat and I have talked.”
“Call me soon. You know you have an interview with Mona from The Morning Show on Saturday? Can’t have been more than two seconds after I heard the news, I got an email from her saying she wants to talk about your engagement on her show.”
I groaned. “Mona knows?”
“Quite a scoop for her.” Billy sounded gleeful. “Her show will be your first post-engagement interview.”
Nat took her glasses off and rubbed her hand over her eyes. “First interview?” she asked faintly.
As quiet as her breathless question had been, Billy must have heard her.
“First of many,” my agent boomed. “This is going to be huge.”
Chapter Eight
Natalie
“How could news of our engagement possibly spread that fast?” I asked, for at least the tenth time.
Kade spread his hands, looking as frustrated as I felt. “People love to gossip.”
Moving to the oven, he opened it to peer at the bread he had baking inside. The aroma that filled the café's kitchen made my mouth water almost as much as it had while I’d watched him knead it. There was nothing in the world sexier than Kade kneading bread with his big, capable hands, his arm muscles and pecs flexing against his tight T-shirt as he man-handled the dough into submission.
My levels of sexual frustration had already been in the red zone before he started. Now my entire body felt like a quivering mess of nerve endings. The merest brush of his hand might cause a violent, spontaneous orgasm.
Kade even looked good from behind as he opened the oven to peek inside. I imagined a freak accident, a rogue blast of hot air blowing his shirt right off. And maybe—
My phone buzzed.
I jumped with fright, then clutched my heart, glad it was still beating. I was equally glad that Kade still had his back to me and hadn’t caught me ogling him.
Tugging my phone out of my pocket, I saw it was a message from Carlotta.
You and Kade are engaged????
My heart sank.
“Carlotta’s seen the rumor,” I muttered.
“We don’t have to do what my agent wants.” Kade closed the oven door and turned to face me. “We can clear this up by going online and saying it was a joke. One or two tweets, and we’re no longer engaged.”
“That’s okay. I don’t mind pretending to be engaged for a while.” I couldn’t believe people had swallowed the lie. Kade dated stunning supermodels, and they thought he’d decided to settle down with me?
My phone buzzed again.
When did he pop the question? Call me!!!
I glanced at the clock. Dad and his friends were about to arrive, so I’d have to call her later.
I’d pushed several tables together in the middle of the café, and put up a sign to say we wouldn’t open to the public until twelve. Usually I’d stay open while Dad was here, but this way Kade would get a chance to catch up with him.
At ten o’clock exactly, the bus from the assisted living center pulled up outside, and I went into the kitchen to let Kade know. He was pulling a tray of freshly cooked small cakes out of the oven, and the aroma was incredible.
“Dad’s here,” I said. “And at least my father and his friends don’t browse gossip sites, so they won’t have heard any
