Page 42 of About that Fling
“Wait, what?”
Mia looked back at the screen and began to read. “‘According to an anonymous source, the reclusive G.G. Buckingham is actually an elderly man living in rural Canada. Calls to Buckingham’s agent went unanswered, but if reports turn out to be true, this could be a juicy twist in the summer’s runaway bestseller about kinky sex and secret liaisons.’”
“Oh, God.” Jenna set the knife down on the counter, but missed. It skittered off the floor, nearly skewering her foot, but she barely noticed. “Where did you see that?”
“It’s trending on this gossip site I just pulled up, but there are links to other articles. The cat’s not exactly out of the bag, but it’s clawing at the edges.” She looked up at Jenna and frowned. “Are you okay? You don’t look so hot.”
“I’m fine, I’m just—does it say anything else?”
“It says the author photo on her book jacket is some model in Australia, and that the bio is totally fabricated. How’d they pull that off?”
“I don’t know,” Jenna whispered. “I think her agent and editor handled all the details of the pseudonym. They created the whole G. G. persona to be the author, and they seemed like they knew what they were doing.”
“If it makes you feel any better, it sounds like they haven’t actually pinpointed who G.G. Buckingham is yet. Do you think Gert knows?”
Jenna shook her head, thinking. “Maybe not. Maybe the whole thing will blow over. They think she lives in rural Canada? And that she’s a man?”
“That’s what the article says.”
“So they’re on the wrong track.” Jenna unclenched her fist and bent down to retrieve the dropped knife, her hand shakier than it had been five minutes ago.
“I don’t know, Jenna. If people want to figure it out, it might not take them very long. Should we tell her?”
“No!” Her voice came out more snappish than she intended, and she pressed her palms against the counter to keep them from shaking. “I don’t want to worry her unnecessarily.”
“You think she’d care that much?”
“Privacy is very important to Gert.”
“Huh.” Mia didn’t say anything, but the look on her face was skeptical.
Privacy is very important to me, Jenna thought, then bit her lip. And my career.
“Why don’t we just sit on this for now?” Jenna said. “I’ll put out some feelers with Gert, maybe try to get a sense of what she knows. She’s got a great agent. If Gert doesn’t want to be found, I’m sure Michelle can do something to throw them off track.”
“And what if she wants to be found?” Mia tapped a fingernail against the screen. “This article is trending, which means a lot of people are seeing it. The book is selling like hotcakes. Maybe a scandal like this is exactly what Gert wants.”
“I don’t think so,” Jenna said turning back to the block of cheese in front of her. She took a deep breath and said a small prayer she was right.
Everything’s under control.
Please, please let that be true.
Jenna’s week crawled by in a shimmery haze of avoidance. She avoided Adam’s eyes in the mediation sessions, and avoided the temptation to stalk him on Facebook.
She avoided Mia’s teasing about her love life and the jumbled thoughts of how Mia might react if she found out about the fling with Adam.
She avoided talking to Gert about her books or the risk to her anonymity, though she did manage a conversation with Gert’s agent.
Jenna tracked down Michelle’s number from the caller ID on their landline, and plugged it into her iPhone with a pang of guilt. True, she’d spoken to Gert’s agent a few times over the years, making idle chitchat when Gert was slow getting to the phone.
But she’d never gone out of her way to call Michelle. Never gone behind her aunt’s back to discuss her career. Michelle was guarded at first, but she warmed up when Jenna asked about the article threatening to out G.G. Buckingham.
“I saw it on one of those gossip sites,” Michelle said, giving an indignant snort. “An elderly man in Canada? Please.”
“Still, they’re not too far off. What if they find her?”
“Everything’s under control,” Michelle assured her.
