Page 53 of Faking the Pass
“Spousal privilege says married people can’t be compelled to testify against each other,” he explained.
“You can’t be serious. I thought that was just something you said to get Randy riled up—which worked extremely well, by the way. He’s got a bad temper, but I’veneverseen him that angry.”
“I’m extremely serious,” Presley said. “If he pursues this lawsuit thing, you and I… are going to get married. It’s the most sensible thing to do.”
“Are you crazy?”
“No, listen to me, it’s a perfect plan. If we get married, he’ll have basically no shot at getting that money from you. If he’s still dumb enough to take it to court,I’llpay the legal fees. And if you happen to lose, I’ll pay the NDA fines.”
“It’s so much money.” I stared at him in disbelief. “Why would you do that?”
“It’s a matter of principle at this point.”
He pointed at the door Randy had exited minutes before.
“We can’t let that guy win. And our ‘marriage’ will give all those jackals in there something better to write about than howyou got duped into thinking that asshole actually loved you. Maybe it’ll help your career, too.”
Presley offered me a hand up from the chair. I robotically took it and rose to my feet.
“We can create an even more compelling story for the entertainment shows than two co-stars getting married,” he said. “We’ll give them high school sweethearts who reconnected and realized the magic is still there. They’ll eat it up. Instead of awful headlines and sad photos of you being chased down and alone, they’ll have shots of the two of us in cool places, having fun…”
He waggled his eyebrows in a silly way. “...looking beautiful and glamorous—at least on your part. Let’s take advantage of the fact they follow you everywhere and give them somethinggoodto write about.”
I blinked in astonishment. “Just so I’ve got this straight… you want me to recover from my fake marriage… by entering into another fake marriage?”
“Exactly.”
“We’d never be able to pull it off. We barely know each other.”
“We know each other… sort of,” he said. “Besides, you’re an actress—a good one. I can’t act to save my life, but with you around, no one will be looking atme.”
I blushed, but his compliment didn’t make this any less insane. “I still don’t understand. What doyouget out of all this?”
“That’s the perfection of it.” Presley beamed. “You’d be doing me a favor, too. I don’t want a real relationship. For one thing, I suck at them. I can never please women.”
Here he held up a hand. “Outside the bedroom, I mean. They always want too much, and I just don’t have it to give. Not if I’m going to break that record.”
Gesturing between the two of us, he went on.
“If everyone thinks we’re married and in love, maybe women will stop stalking me all the time, bothering me in bars when I’m with my friends,” he said. “Maybe the football groupies will stop hanging around the practice field and stadium, waiting to ambush me on my way to the car. And my exes will just give up when they realize I’m officially ‘off the market.’ It’s a fair exchange. You won’t be financially ruined, and I won’t be distracted.”
Presley was so sure of his plan. And I had to admit I much preferredthisruse than my other option.
If I had to choose between fake marriages, I’d much rather be in one with Presley, my sort-of friend, than with Randy, who no doubt hated me with the fire of a thousand suns by this point.
“Okay,” I said, wheezing a bit. “Let’s do it.”
Presley gave me a brilliant smile. “Let’s do it.”
He opened the door for me, and we walked together toward the front of the mansion, where the now-ravenous press awaited.
Just before pushing the front door open, Presley took my hand, and a bucketful of wriggling worms filled my stomach.
We’re really doing this.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized itwaskind of perfect.
Having been betrayed in the worst way, I had zero interest in embarking on a new relationship anytime soon.
