Page 39 of Away With You
That’s an actual headline, by the way.
“I have to speak to Nathan.”
My friend clutches my arm in a surprisingly strong grip. “You aren’t going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on. Is this true?” Her brows are furrowed, and she looks hurt; like it pains her that I’ve kept this a secret.
“It’s true, and it’s not.”
“What does that mean?”
I roll onto my side and tuck my arm under my head. She does the same, so we’re a mirror image of each other. “What I’m about to tell youmuststay between us. Do you promise?”
She huffs out a breath. “Of course. I’m like a vault.”
I snort. “Nope, more like a sieve. I mean it, Jay, you can’t tell anyone. Not your yoga friends or your tarot card reader. Not even your mum. Promise.”
Her dark eyes sparkle with glee. She knows whatever it is, it’s going to be juicy. “I promise.”
I glare at her for several more seconds, so she can sense the gravity of the situation and then give in. “You know how Nathan’s ex-girlfriend broke up with him and then hooked up with his brother?”
Her lips curl in disgust. “She’s a rat.”
“Yes, well, it gets worse.” I detail the quick engagement, how Nathan’s family wants him to move on, how the press and public have been treating him and how all of this ended in our agreement to pretend to be a couple.
“So, it’s not real?” She pouts, looking crestfallen.
I lie on my back to hide the same expression on my face. “Nope. All just pretend. I’m helping him out of a tough spot, is all.”
The silence lingers between us, and I risk a glance over at her. She’s frowning at her phone, her lips pursed in concentration.
“I don’t know, Katie. This doesn’t seem fake to me.”
She pokes her phone back in front of my face, and I tilt it down to get a better view. On the screen is a photo of us at the restaurant last night. Nathan has his arm wrapped around my shoulders, and I’m leaning into him. My face is turned forward, laughing at something Cherry must have said. And Nathan? Well, he’s staring at me like he can’t believe I’m real.
“It’s not what it looks like,” I tell her, and my traitorous heart. The organ took one look at that photo and is planning our wedding. “He’s just an excellent actor.”
She snatches the phone from me and squints at it. “I don’t know. The man is a race car driver, not a Hollywood actor. And don’t forget, I’ve seen him here in real life. That morning, here in your flat, he couldn’t keep his eyes off you. It was like he had to shove his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching for you.”
I scoff.What is she seeing? And why does it belong only in a romance novel?“Jade, I love you, but you’ve got it all wrong. We’ve spoken about Victoria, and I’m pretty sure even though he’s hurt and seems to despise what she’s done, he’s not over her. Not completely.” My best friend looks to argue the point, so I push on. “And if you’re correct in your assumption that he’s into me, that he’s so desperate to touch me, to be with me, why wouldn’t he have just asked me to be his girlfriend? Why go down the fake dating path at all?”
She chews on her lower lip, her eyes still scanning the screen in front of her, before lighting on something. “Maybe because of this?”
Again, her phone is smooshed against my face, and I angle it to see what she’s talking about.
Is Nathan Jackson Racing Towards Another Heartbreak?
I stare at my friend, who’s looking back at me grimly.
“Seriously? What an awful headline.”
She nods, her braids bouncing along in solidarity. “If the media are speculating that you’re going to break his heart, that could be what he fears, too? Maybe he’s using this fake dating nonsense as a way to ease into a relationship with you?”
I need a cup of tea to deal with this.
“I mean, maybe? But it’s a bit of a stretch. This”—I wave her phone in front of her—“is exactly why we’re doing the fake dating to begin with. Nathan knows we’re just friends, that wedon’t have feelings for each other like that and because of this, I won’t break his heart and shatter his pride all over the internet. It’s the only way he can see to get through this, to salvage his pride. And I’m happy to help him in any way I can.”
Her smile is small, the furrow between her eyes reflecting her doubt. “If you say so. But promise me you’ll be careful. Because if a man who looks like that, looked at me like that, I’d be halfway in love with him by now.”
I swing my legs out of my bed and turn away from her. She’s my best friend and I tell her almost everything. But right now, she doesn’t need to know that I’m fighting this exact thing. That my heart is struggling not to give in and fall all the way in love with Nathan already.
