Page 18 of Unromance

“I’m fine, West,” she said coolly, coming to a halt in front of him.

He didn’t react at first, then—he blinked multiple times in succession, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck nervously. He cleared his throat. “I was going to talk to you about that today. I understand if you’re mad. I—” He sighed heavily. “I wanted to be anonymous for a night, and then when I saw you again… There’s not really a way to say, ‘Hey, by the way, I’m mildly famous,’ without sounding like a complete dick. I didn’t want to make it weird or for you to treat me differently, but I may have done that anyway, huh?” He shrugged helplessly.

Something inside her melted at his tone. She was no stranger to people treating her differently when they thought they could get something from her.

“I’m not mad,” she said sincerely. “I get why you didn’t say anything. It’s nice being anonymous. Only, now my bartender thinks I slept with some actor guy because he saw me leave with you.”

Mason smiled down at her. “Youdidsleep with me.”

Sawyer waved away his comment. “Yeah, but I don’t want him to know that.”

Mason shoved his hands in his coat pockets, shoulders ratcheting up to his ears. “So, where do we go from here?” he asked nervously. “I promise full transparency moving forward—”

“No,” Sawyer interjected, holding up her hand. “I think this is good, actually. We agreed no names that night—”

“Which I ruined—”

“Yeah, but I think we should reapply that rule now.” Mason raised his brows skeptically at the glaring flaw. “It’s too late for our names, obviously, but everything else—we don’t need each other’s life story to do this. In fact, if we’re doing a bunch of romantic shit, probably best if wedon’tknow each other too well.”

“Surface level,” Mason mused, dimples appearing as he pursed his lips. “Smart. Add it to the rules.”

Sawyer grinned, banging an imaginary gavel. “Motion passed.” Surface level was where she lived, paid rent and property taxes, the whole shebang. Why hadn’t she thought of this safeguard before?

“But as it pertains to our list, I think I should know: Are you gonna be recognized everywhere we go?”

Mason shook his head. “We should be fine. The only paparazzi in Chicago are fans with smartphones, but we’ll keep public stuff to a minimum. And when we do go out, best thing about winter is thata coat and a hat do wonders to make you anonymous. Most people won’t recognize me if I’m not in scrubs.”

Sawyer chewed on the inside of her cheek. She had no desire to get dragged into his publicity mess, but googling him had only fortified her belief that if anyone could go toe-to-toe with her staunch attitude toward love, it would be the hopeless romantic standing before her now. She’d accepted Mason’s offer to cure each other on a whim, but she was quickly beginning to view it as a lifeline. Researching things to ruin with him was the most creative inspiration she’d felt in months. She needed this to work.

“We’re already here,” Mason said reasonably. “Give me today, one list item. I promise I won’t be recognized, and if you’re not inspired—at least a little bit—by the end of the day, I won’t waste your time with the rest of the list.”

Narrowing her eyes, Sawyer met his gaze. “Is that a challenge?”

Mason grinned, opening his arms in invitation. “Do your worst, Greene. Ruin me.”

Sawyer couldn’t help but return his grin. “Alright. But, full disclosure: I don’t have cable, so I’ve never seen your show.” Though the visual of Mason in scrubs did tempt her nether regions. She might have tostartwatching, but that might make not sleeping with him again impossible, and she did not have time for that kind of distraction right now. A one-night stand was one thing, but a relationship while she was on deadline? She knew all too well how that went.

He smiled. “I figured. If you do ever watch it, don’t tell me.”

Sawyer laughed. “Fair enough. I’m the same way about my books.”

“Oh,” he said mischievously. “I already read your books.”

She blinked at him, eyes widening in surprise. “Books? Plural?”

“Oh yeah.Almost Lovers”—he counted each one on his fingers—“Friends & Other F Words, andWhy We’re Not Together.”

“Oh my God,” she mumbled, hiding her face. “Why?!”

He laughed. “I didn’t think I was going to see you again and I was curious! I auditioned for theAlmost Loversmovie, but I didn’t get the part—obviously.”

Sawyer peered out from between her fingers. “Are you serious?”

“One hundred percent. Also, I get it now: the bookisway better than the movie.”

Sawyer placed her hand over her heart. “Thank you.”

Shoving his hands deep into his coat, he grinned shyly down at her. “So, are we good? We still on?”

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