Page 26 of The Hearts We've Broken
“I just need to prove a point, okay?” she grumbled.
“Listen, Peach. I can give you as many pictures as you want, hell, I’ll even give you a video, but media attention is where I have to draw the line.”
She scoffed, unlocking her door and hopping out of the truck, setting off the alarm.
I followed as she stalked off to the bar. “Dammit, Juniper, wait.” I reached out to grab her arm.
Her eyes darted to mine, icy blues piercing my soul, chilling my bones.
“You do realize that if I agree to this, it’s going to extend our agreement, right?”
She nodded. “I don’t see the issue. Even if we ‘break up’ now, we’re just going to have to ‘get back together’ this summer.”
She had a point. Conflicting feelings settled in my stomach as I thought about it. Maybe if the fans and reporters saw me with a girl, they’d stop hounding me about being distracted. I could attempt to repair my playboy imageandwin the bet.
I closed my eyes, letting my lungs fill with air before slowly exhaling through pursed lips. “Fine. The likelihood of the media finding us anyway is pretty high. I guess avoiding each other at the event while our friends believe we’re dating would have been off the table anyway.”
“Exactly. Now you just have to convince the boss man to let me go.” She strutted away, her hips swaying with each step.
I followed her into the bar. It was pretty slow with it being mid-afternoon. There wouldn’t be a rush for another couple hours. Rudy stood behind the bar, wiping down the counter.
“Hey, Rudy, can I talk to you for a minute?” Juniper’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Sure thing, what can I do for you, Miss Juniper?”
“I was wondering if I could take a few weeks off work.” She pulled her lip between her teeth, obviously not having high expectations for the request.
“You wanna do what now?” Rudy’s booming voice filled the bar. But his tone wasn’t mean or accusing, just curious.
“I want her to come with me to the Houston Rodeo. To support me as my girlfriend,” I explained, thinking it might come better from me. Not that Juniper couldn’t fight her own battles or advocate for herself, but Rudy knew who I was and how big of a deal this would be.
Juniper shifted on her feet. “I know it’s a big ask, and I absolutely don’t expect you to say?—”
“Well, now, yes, that’s fine! You should have led with that! It’s about time this mustang here got roped in. I thought I’d be dead before he ever settled down.” Rudy let out a deep belly laugh.
“You…what?” Her face contorted in confusion.
“Go on, have fun. I’m sure Olivia and Nicolas can handle things here. We won’t be terribly busy until May anyway, and I assume you lot will be back for the Bucking Horse Sale, yeah?”
I nodded. “Wouldn’t miss it, you know that, Rudy. We’ll be back in mid-April since we’re driving and hitting some rodeos on the way back.”
“Then I don’t see what the problem is. Your job will beready for you when you come back, Juniper. Make sure you keep this one in line. It’s nice to see him behaving for once,” Rudy teased, slapping me on the shoulder as he headed to the back office, his soft chuckles audible even after he turned the corner.
“Well, there you have it. Guess you’re coming with me on the road. You ever been to Texas before? They say everything’s bigger there. Definitely true when I roll into town.” I winked at the innuendo, and she rolled her eyes.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night. Now, let me get to work, Casanova.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Leaning in to kiss her cheek, I whispered, “Thank you for this. You’re doing me a huge favor.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
juniper
I’d never been to Houston before, and my jaw dropped at the sight of the city skyline before us. The drive down had been long—just under twenty-four hours—but we’d survived without ending our fake relationship early.
The long road trip was actually helpful to get to know each other better. Luckily, since the relationship was new, we had an excuse for not knowing every single minute detail about each other. But eventually, we’d be expected to know simple facts about one another.
“Where are you from originally?” I’d asked on a long, boring stretch through Wyoming.
