Page 42 of Kicking it with my Fake Fiancé
Matty
“Soyou’redefinitelynotdoing the tour?”
Jared shook his head. “I’m definitely not.”
“Then we really need to talk to someone atDestination Love. Probably soon.” Before I had a chance to say anything else, an insistent buzzing began from somewhere on the floor.
Jared scrambled to get up and fish for his phone from where it had been left in his jeans pocket to answer it. “Hello?” I couldn’t identify the voice on the line, but Jared quickly put it on speaker.
“Doug Cutler here. Is this Jared? Do you have a minute to chat?” the voice said. Doug was the executive producer ofDestination Love, and I grimaced as I heard his voice.
“Yeah, sure, Doug. Thanks for calling. I’ve just put you on speaker. Matty’s next to me.”
“Excellent, glad to get you both at the same time,” Doug said smoothly. “I’ve just spoken to Charlie Blythe and there are some things we need to work out.”
My stomach churned, icy dread filling me. “Ja, we agree, Doug.”
He hesitated for a moment before continuing. “See, here’s the thing, gentlemen. You signed a contract.”
“We know. But we didn’t agree for the producer to try to rip us apart by springing something major on us in front of the cameras. We didn’t even have a chance to process the news or decide how to react before we were just… being recorded.”
“Jared. That’s just how these things work. The viewers want drama and romance, we give them drama and romance. And believe me, ourDestination Loveviewerslovethe drama. They crave it. And you two, well, you’ve just been too much in love. You’re giving us the romance, but not the drama.”
Jared stifled a laugh, but not before I caught the grimace on his face and the hard shake of his head. “We’re not breaking up just for your show. Why isn’t the drama we just went through enough?”
“Okay, so you don’t want to give in tothisdrama, we’ll have to findsomedrama. Maybe Matt has second thoughts. Maybe your parents hate each other. Maybe your kickball team gets you hammered at your bachelor party and nearly ruins the wedding. Look, I don’t particularlycare. I just needsomething.”
Jared scrubbed his hands over his face, clearly frustrated. “Fine, we‘ll agree tosometype of excitement. But it won’t be us breaking up, and we’re keeping it as lighthearted as possible.ThatI can promise you.”
A sigh came from Doug. “Great. We’ll figure something out. But in the meantime, this is a wedding show. Do some fucking wedding planning. Charlie’s on her way back to you. Got it?”
“Loud and clear,” Jared said.
The call ended silently. Our only indication that Doug had hung up was Jared’s phone screen blinking off.
Jared turned to me, where I was still sprawled in bed, naked. “Well?”
I shrugged. “I suppose we need to get dressed and ready for wedding planning then.” I sat up and sighed. “Shall we?”
It only took about a half hour for us to shower and get dressed again, despite Jared’s valiant attempts to get his mouth on me again in the shower. I couldn’t deny that it was tempting, but I also wasn’t interested in more drama with the show.
Once we were both clean and dressed, we headed to the living room, Jared saying he was going to get started on dinner prep, even though it was barely lunchtime, while I sat and pretended to read, anxiety eating me from the inside while I waited for Charlie and Heidi to return. Soon enough, though, the crunch of gravel in our driveway stopped both of us.
“Show time,” Jared said from the kitchen, the unhappiness clear in his sullen tone.
When footsteps sounded from the front porch, I put my book aside and opened the door. Charlie stood on the other side, offering me a bright, fake smile. “Matt! Good to see you again.” It seemed she was going to pretend nothing had happened.
That wouldn’t do. I couldn’t let her get away with it. “Charlie.” I gave her a terse nod. “I can’t say the same, I’m afraid.”
“Listen.” She stepped inside, Heidi close behind with the camera hanging low at her side. “Let’s put that past us. You and I have worked well together so far. Let’s not let one little bump ruin it.”
“You seemed to quite enjoy trying to break us up. It’s hard to call that little.”
She placed a hand on my shoulder and I shook it off. “Here’s the thing. I’m just working from what Doug gives me. I don’t make the decisions. Let’s not take it personally.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but instead, Jared stepped into the room and cleared his throat. “How about we just get this over with?”
Charlie’s gaze darted back and forth between Jared and me before she fixed the smile on her face and nodded. “Sounds excellent.” She paused a moment before continuing. “For today, I have us trying on tuxes, cake tasting, and taking a dancing lesson. Busy afternoon, so we need to get to it.”
