After All

“Well hurray for me then. Glad I could keep you on your toes and our picture all over the damn internet.”

“Once I find out who took that picture, you know I’ll fucking kill them. You didn’t sign up for any of that and I should have been more…aware of the situation. I guess I just…I don’t know. I’m not used to this, you know? That people give a shit and give a shit about the wrong thing.” He looks off, his eyes absently searching the walls. “I know the last thing you want to hear is the woe is me celebrity thing, I got that from you last night, but the honest truth is I forget that my life has changed and in some ways is no longer my life, no matter how hard I try to keep some things private.”

I can’t help but laugh. “What do you keep private? I don’t even keep up with this pop culture and yet I know that you’ve hooked up with a shitload of girls, that you’re getting in fights, that you’re causing trouble on set. What else could you possibly keep under wraps? If the world feels like they know you and own you, it’s because you let them.”

He stares at me blankly for a few moments as if he didn’t hear what I said. Then he scoffs. “Forget about keeping me on my toes. Sometimes I think you want to knock me right down.”

I shrug. “Just calling it as I see it. As an outsider. Although I guess I’m not really that anymore, am I?”

“No, you’re not.” He looks serious for once. “And that’s why I had to talk to you. You see…I know that this is all new and strange for you and you probably don’t appreciate having your photo splashed across the internet, even though they are very lovely photos, of course. You look fucking fantastic.”

I don’t even bother mentioning the way the sites are humoring the way I look and how different I am from his usual arm candy.

He goes on. “So I can see why this is a shock to you and an invasion of privacy of sorts. But…I don’t think this is the end of the world.”

I frown at him, crossing my arms. “Come again.”

He takes a step toward me, his broad hands raised. “This is going to sound all sorts of crazy but just hear me out, okay?” A beat passes, his mouth quirks up into a half smile. “I have a proposition for you.”





Chapter 6





Emmett





Alyssa is immediately suspicious. I don’t blame her. I mean I just showed up at her apartment when she never told me where she lived and now I have a proposition for her. And I know she’s going to get even more wary once she hears what it is.

Not that I mind. She’s fucking adorable when she’s confused, her cute nose is all scrunched, her mouth is pursed and pouty, all ready to fire some kind of insult or comeback at me.

Fucking hell. I could easily kiss her all over again, get lost in it. And I love how relaxed and messy and real she’s looking right now, totally your girl next door except she’s a girl next door that turned me into a total savage last night.

But whatever vibes she was giving me last night she’s sure not giving them to me today. She’s pissed. At me, at the situation. And I totally get it. No one likes their privacy violated.

Which makes what I’m about to propose to her all that much trickier.

To be fair, it was my publicist’s idea.

I’m still not even sure it will work.

But I got the message loud and clear.

I don’t have much choice.

I rub my lips together as Alyssa stares at me impatiently, waiting for the shoe to drop.

“Autumn, my publicist, thinks that you are just what I need.”

She cocks her head at me, taken aback. “Huh?”

“You see, they say all publicity is good publicity and that’s not exactly true. Good publicity is good publicity and if you have too much of the bad, you need the good to balance it out. Like anything in life, right. So I’ve been pretty fucking bad as of late. Now it’s time to turn it over.”

Alyssa shakes her head. “I don’t understand. What does this have to do with me?”

I know I have to tread delicately and wish Autumn was here with me to do this the right way. I’m not exactly known for my tact and Alyssa is especially prickly. Plus, there’s a part of me that seems to like pissing her off.

“Don’t ask me why or how. I don’t understand how the fucking industry works, the tabloids and the gossip sites. I don’t know why certain things get hits or seem to attract the public. But the fact is, people are really…enamored with those photos. The idea of me with, well, someone like you.”

She looks like I just slapped her. I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. “Sorry,” I say quickly, “I mean–”

“Oh, I get it,” she snipes with fire in her eyes. “People think you’re all humble now because you’re with a fat chick.”

Now I feel like I’ve been slapped. “Fat? What the fuck are you talking about? You’re gorgeous. You’re perfect.”

“I’m ten times the size of whatever girl you’re usually with. I’m curvy, I’m soft, I have a cute face. I’m not all angles and bones and fake boobs and long legs and–”

I raise my hand. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Alyssa. Let’s not get crazy here. You’re all those wonderful things and people like that. They think it’s a good change of pace for me. All of them, all of the comments, they want this to be a thing. For the mystery girl to actually mean something to me and not be just some random screw.”

“So what?”

“So the fact is, I want to keep up appearances. I want the world to believe that you and I are serious.”

Her face is blank. “But we aren’t.”

“I know.”

“We had sex.”

“I know.”

“That was it. Right?”

Normally I would be careful here because every single time I’ve been with a girl who seemed okay with a one-night stand or a purely physical relationship, it turned out they always hoped for more or expected more. But with Alyssa, I’m pretty sure she might just hate me, so…

“Right. I honestly never expected to see you again,” I admit.

She doesn’t flinch. “Same.”

“But here I am.”

“And you’re talking nonsense. What did your publicist say exactly?”

“Autumn. You’d like her. Really. She said that if you were my girlfriend that it would make me a lot more palatable for people right now. The bad boy image apparently doesn’t work when you’re thirty-eight.”

Alyssa stares at me for an eternity, eyes flickering with something I can’t read while a million thoughts seem to wage a war inside.

“Your publicist thinks we should date?” she repeats. “How is that even a PR strategy?”

“I assure you she’s good. She’s been in the business a long time, deals with actors here and in LA all the time. She’s got contacts. She’s got ways. She was able to get me your address, after all. If she suggests this, I believe her.”

She shakes her head, rubbing her hand down her face with a sigh. “It’s just…stupid. Why would you even entertain this? Just get your shit together and stop acting like a douche. Is it so hard?”