Page 25 of The Hearts We've Broken
Juniper was waiting for me on the front steps when I made it up the driveway and quickly hopped in the truck.
“Hi,” she huffed.
“What’s on your mind, Peachy?”
She buckled her seatbelt and slumped in the seat. “This Houston thing. Natalie thinks it’s a bad idea, and honestly, I have to agree with her.”
“Why’s that?” Her hesitation both intrigued and frightened me.
“For one, it’s not like I can just leave my job for a month. Not only because it’d make me a shitty employee, but I need to make money.”
“I’ve got you covered. You’re my girlfriend—” I started.
“Fake girlfriend,” she cut in.
“Yes, like you love to keep reminding me. You’re myfakegirlfriend, so it wouldn’t make sense for me to not pay for your food in Houston, and you’d be staying with me, so that’s also free. Getting a hotel room would be suspicious, don’t you think? I’ll handle Rudy.”
Juniper wrinkled her nose but didn’t say anything.
“What?”
“Staying with you is a bit much, don’t you think?”
I sighed. Sure, we agreed not to do sleepovers here at home, but Houston would be different. “Not if we want to make this thing believable.”
“See, that’s what I mean. This all sounds like more hassle than what it’s worth,” she protested.
Fuck. I needed her to come with me if I was going to get that patch of land.
“What else do you want? What’s going to convince you to do this?” I asked, hoping my question didn’t come off as desperate as it sounded.
She gave me a puzzled look then tapped her lips in thought. “I mean, I have something, but I don’t think you’d be down for it.”
After she explained her idea, my stomach dropped. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Juniper. We’d have to stay together for much longer if we did that.”
“I mean, we wouldn’thaveto. Think about how many celebrities are only in a month-long relationship for PR. We do one appearance together and that’s it.”
Yeah, but they don’t have the media hounding them for being “distracted.”
“I can’t.”
“Then I guess I can’t go to Houston with you.” She faked a yawn and kicked her feet up on the dash.
I ticked my jaw. “Surely there’s a way we can compromise here?”
She shrugged. “Possibly.”
Brat.
“Why do you want media attention so badly?”
Her face blanched, and she planted her feet back on the floorboards. “Just forget it.”
We pulled up to Rudy’s, but as she reached for the door handle, I locked the pickup.
“What are you doing? I need to get to work.”
“Answer my question.” Sure, most girls wanted their fifteen minutes of fame by getting a picture with me to post on their social media or whatever, but Juniper didn’t seem like that type of girl.
