Page 135 of Biggest Player
He nods his agreement. “You should see some of the articles that have been written about me—there have been some doozies. Do you know how many times I’ve been called a piece-of-shit womanizer?”
My eyes get wide. “Are youa piece-of-shit womanizer?”
He laughs. “No. Not at all.”
My head hangs as I walk toward my bedroom. He trails along after me as I explain, “I was seriously hoping our relationship wasn’t going to become tabloid fodder.”
“It’s not.” He pauses. “We could have gotten ahead of the story and leaked some information, but that would be like jumping the gun, yeah? And we didn’t exactly disguise ourselves when we were rock climbing. Or when we went to eat.”
Dex sits on the edge of my bed, watching me, when I go into my bathroom so I can remove my makeup. “Know what I discovered tonight?”
“What?”
“Your last name is Mahoney.” His chuckle makes me shiver. “Never would have guessed.”
“We’ve been out how many times and you didn’t know my last name?”
“You didn’t tell me. It never came up.” He shrugs. “It suits you though. It’s cute.”
“You think my last name is cute?” That’s a new one. I turn back to the mirror, dabbing at the last traces of mascara. “Well, I guess I can live with cute.”
“Good,” he says, his voice suddenly serious. “Because I like it. And I like you, Mahoney.”
“Do not start calling me by my last name. I’m not one of your bros.”
“Bros before hoes.” He grins when I scowl at his ridiculous mantra, and I gawk at his reflection in the mirror.
His phone rings, and he looks at the screen, then glances up at me. “It’s my agent. He wants to video chat—is it okay if I take this call?”
“Of course! This is work, you can’t ignore the call.”
Dex stays in the room, sitting on the edge of the bed as he answers the call. I can hear his agent faintly through the phone.
“Hey, Dex. You have a second?” His agent’s voice is deep and direct. “I want to go over this situation with your new girlfriend.”
Situation? New girlfriend?
This perks me up—his agent didn’t mention my name, but he’s obviously speaking about me. That’s a good thing, yeah? His agent knows I exist! Yay, me!
“What about it?”
“I ran a short focus group with some fans who were touring the stadium today, and the survey came back favorable. Seventy-five percent of the results show you in a more positive light than they did before it was released that you’re dating a single mom.”
What’s this now?
I stop running a toner-soaked cotton ball across my face so I can listen, not wanting to be noticeably eavesdropping.
“Uh-huh.” Dex’s finger taps the side of his phone as if he’s futzing with the volume button.
“Case in point,” his agent is saying. “According to the numbers, everything we discussed is working. Good job.”
“Thanks,” Dex deadpans, no expression on his face.
His eyes dart and meet mine in the mirror.
“I say you give it another few weeks, then pull the plug on your fun. Tamryn Clarke’s people followed up about the Daytime Goldie Awards and wanted to circle back around to see if you were still interested in being her date.”
I recognize that name.
