I never trusted Jack before, and I certainly didn’t now.
“You think people want me in a committed relationship?” Jack’s voice changed, suddenly excited. Thoughtful. Scheming.
Frank didn’t hesitate. “Yes. It would show you’ve matured. Grown. Become a wholesome, trustworthy man.”
“Well…” Jack’s smile grew, though he steadied his voice into a mockery of respectability. “As nice as that sounds for me...my girl deserves better than getting tossed to the media sharks.”
I frowned.
“Your girl?” Frank repeated.
“Why should I have to parade my girlfriend around to prove my behavior is honest?”
“Your…” Frank shared a moment of utter confusion with the rest of the room. “You have a girlfriend?”
Jack’s eyes darted to mine.
I silently mouthed to him. “What are you doing?”
He grinned. That was a bad sign. Jack was just getting started. He savored the attention and that meant everyone was in trouble.
“Yeah, I have a girlfriend. Long term. Which is why this whole issue is insulting to both of us.”
Jolene and Finn shared a puzzled look. They asked Jack the question at the same time.
“Who’s your girlfriend?”
His dimples flashed at me.
My stomach flipped. Twisted. Rebelled.
No way. He wasn’t about to drag me into this. He wouldn’t lie to save his own ass.
Would he?
I chilled in rage and warmed in indignation. The penetrating and undeniably fierce gaze of a prowling Jack Carson focused on me.
Yes, he would.
He would totally lie, and he would drag my reputation down with him.
He was going to use me to get out of trouble!
“We haven’t made it public…” Jack said.
His smile would slay me. My heart crashed against my ribs.
Don’t you dare.
He shrugged. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to let everyone know.”
He wouldn’t.
“Kiss, you know I’m crazy about you.”
I saw red. I’d never count to ten without exploding, so I tried in different languages, only making it to tres, trois, and drei before Jolene freaked out.
“You’re…you’re dating Leah?” She squealed.
No!
“Yes, ma’am. I’m head over heels for her.”
No, no, no!
I didn’t have the air left in my lungs after that gut punch. I stared at him, dumbfounded, trying to figure out how to scream without any breath.
“We’ve been keeping it quiet.” Jack looked too goddamned proud of himself. “You know how she is. Leah would rather put someone else in the spotlight. I think she cares about my career as much as she cares about me. She’s got a big heart. That’s what drew me to her in the first place.”
I’d kill him. I’d absolutely, positively kill him.
Was he trying to give me a stroke? Or get me fired? I denied his advances, but that was no reason to destroy my career! He was a lunatic!
Oh, sweet baby Jesus, he lied to the league president.
Frank’s voice hollowed. “You, Jack Carson, are in a committed relationship with your publicist?”
Jack wagged his eyebrows at me. I’d smack that smug grin off his face. “We wanted to keep it low-profile, but, with all the talk of running me out of the league, I’m sure Leah won’t mind vouching for me—her loving boyfriend and biggest client.”
He used the PR firm against me. He knew how much I needed him as a client to advance my career!
This wasn’t happening. I couldn’t pretend to be in a relationship with a cocky, playboy like Jack. No self-respecting woman would ever admit to being his girlfriend. Jack was nothing more than a woman’s naughtiest fantasy. No future. No promises. No family. No anything besides a night of pure sex and a regretted mistake for notching on his bedpost.
Jack insulted me, tried to ruin my reputation, and would destroy me to save his own ass.
Except…he was right. He was our biggest client. And he paid us a lot of money.
Jolene’s crush gave me the lead on everything. I headed most of his interviews, organized his media exposure, and called for his sponsorships. Another year or two of working at this level, and she’d promote me to partner.
My dream job…all at the whim of a man who kept his brain zipped up tight in his pants.
If he lost his job, I’d lose an opportunity to build my own career.
I’d heard of women sleeping with their bosses to get to the top, but faking sleeping with someone? That was just as distasteful. Especially since I was the one woman in a tri-county radius not sleeping with Jack Carson!
No way was Frank going to buy this once I leapt across the table and choked the life out of that arrogant son of a bitch.
But I wanted my job as badly as Jack wanted his.
He grinned in excitement, loving the game almost as much as his new chew toy. I didn’t have time to think of an excuse, and I couldn’t imagine any other way to dissuade Frank Bennett from expelling Jack from the league.
Pop the damn champagne. Apparently I was dating the hottest, most depraved bachelor in the league.
“It’s…true.” My voice wavered. God, I hoped becoming partner in the firm was worth all this. “We’re, uh, very…happy.”
Finn’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t believe it! Leah, you’re such a…nice girl!”
Jack crossed his arms behind his head. He knew he got off with absolutely no consequence.
Lucky for him.
What the hell did it mean for me?
“That’s the reason I wanted to keep our love on the DL,” he said. “A good girl like Leah, caught with a rogue like me? That’s a scandal. But I guess it was bound to come out sooner or later, right, Kiss?”
I gritted my teeth. “Right.”
He enjoyed watching me squirm. “Guess we’ll have to go public. Don’t worry.” He flexed again, intentionally, knowing I studied every inch of his sculpted biceps. “The media will eat this up.”
Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of. Jack grinned, and I wished it didn’t warm me from the inside out.
“It’s time for the world to meet the lucky girl who belongs to the one-and-only Jack Carson.”
Chapter Three - Leah
Oh, this wouldn’t work.
His girlfriend? The idea was insane. He was insane.
That had to be it. Jack Carson wasn’t just a playboy trouble-maker brandishing muscles, tattoos, and indecent one-night stands. He was certifiably crazy. A meat-head that went rancid and decided to spoil my life too.
The meeting ended. I didn’t move, didn’t even offer my long-term, committed boyfriend a kiss before he strolled out of my office without even a slap to his wrist.
Though he slapped my ass on the way out the door.
His girlfriend?
Of all the idiotic, ill-conceived plans…
Jack came out looking like a damn martyr by protecting his girlfriend from the public eye. Not only did it give him cause to refute the allegations of his womanizing, now he had my word to say he was an honest and responsible man. Frank Bennett might have swallowed his own tongue by the end of the call, but his displeasure was as evident as the condom imprint in Jack’s back pocket.
This was more than a mess, worse than spaghetti on a white carpet or skirt tucked into pantyhose.
Except, for the first time, I was the one causing the problems.
“Leah.” Jolene called from her office doorway. “Can I have a moment with you in private?”
Cripes.
“Be right there.” I gathered my laptop and paperwork, pretending the tremble of my fingers was a result of my newly exposed relationship and not the peak of my blood-pressure before I stroked out.