Single And In Love With My Fake Boyfriend (Single Girls Club #1)

Chapter Eight

Callie

The second I walk into the office, nearly every single one of my coworkers gathers around me and demands answers regarding Lincoln. Some of them have barely said two words to me since I started working here, and now all of a sudden I’m some sort of a…celebrity? The thought of it makes me shiver with apprehension because, like I said, I don’t like being in the spotlight. When will this torture end?

I mutter, “Sorry, I really need to get to my desk,” and then plop down with a heavy breath, leaning my elbows on my desk and burying my face in my hands. I have no idea how I’m supposed to function in my daily life like this. Can’t Lincoln like, I don’t know, tumble with another woman down a hill or something? That would certainly take the spotlight off me.

“Sorry about all of this.”

When I lower my hands from my face, I find Julia giving me a sympathetic smile.

“I saw the way they accosted you,” she continues. “That wasn’t very cool.”

“Reporters.” I roll my eyes playfully.

She chuckles. Then she leans forward and whispers, “I don’t want to invade your privacy like them, but I’m not going to lie. I’m bursting to know what’s going on between you and Lincoln. Have you been secretly dating him all this time? Why didn’t you say anything when Becca assigned you the interview?”

I don’t blame her for being curious, and maybe a little betrayed. As far as anyone knew—at least before the last twelve hours—Lincoln and I had no relationship. The fact that they think I was lying to them must sting.

“It’s not what it seems,” I say. “Lincoln and I aren’t—”

“Lincoln Walker!” someone shouts.

My head snaps toward the sound of the voice, and then I nearly fall off my chair. Because Lincoln has just walked through the doors.

“Oh my gosh, what’s he doing here?” I gasp.

Some of my coworkers get into “work mode” and immediately fire questions his way. He waves them away with a kind smile and surveys the area, as though he’s looking for someone. Oh gosh—is he here to tell Becca not to publish the article? Is he so mad about the…incident that he wants nothing to do with The Spring Falls Press ?

Should I do something? Intercept him before he reaches the editor-in-chief and beg him not to blame this entire establishment for my physical shortcomings?

But then I hear him say my name and one of my coworkers points in my direction. I go as still as a statue when his sapphire eyes land on me.

And then he heads my way.

Every single person in the office stares as he edges closer to me, many of them jotting down notes. He doesn’t have a ticked-off expression on his face, so I guess he’s not upset about the spectacle I caused?

When he finally reaches my desk, he offers me a pleasant smile, which softens his features and makes him look so much more handsome. “Hi, Callie.”

“Hi…”

He nods to Julia before focusing back on me. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

I blink at him. He came all the way here to talk to me? I hope he’s not planning on suing the paper because of me. Becca would murder me again.

“Please?” he urges. “Is there an empty room where we can talk?”

“Yes, of course. Sorry.” I jet to my feet, knocking over the piles of papers I have on my desk. Lincoln catches a stack before they topple to the floor. “Thanks.” I clear my throat as I gather them and put them back in neat piles. “Um, we can talk in there.”

I lead him to a small conference room, trying to ignore the stares of my coworkers. They are professionals and have interviewed famous people before, but never has a celebrity actually walked through the doors on his own accord to meet with one of the journalists.

After closing the door, I face him, trying my hardest not to show how nervous I am. I have no idea if the emotions coursing through my body are due to the fact that I’m in a closed space with a super sexy guy whom I used to obsess over, or because this guy is about to ruin my career.

He takes a step closer with nothing but guilt in his eyes. “I’m so sorry for all of this.”

I gape at him. “What?”

He releases a breath as he runs his hand through his light brown hair. “The photo has gone viral because of me. I never meant to disrupt your life like this.” He pulls out one of the chairs and lowers himself on it, shaking his head with a frown like he’s upset with himself.

“Um…” I move closer and sit on the chair next to him. “Are you blaming yourself for this?”

He raises his eyes to me and nods. “Of course. It must be extremely hard for your life to suddenly blow up. I rose to fame pretty gradually. It must be a total shock for it to happen overnight.”

My mouth moves, but no sound comes out. Then I manage to say, “But I was the one who slammed into you. I was the one who…” My cheeks flame. “Caused us to be in that, um, position.”

He shakes his head. “No one would give a darn if it wasn’t me. Ever since I was named the most eligible bachelor of the year, attention from the public has skyrocketed. I’m really sorry, Callie. Do you want me to do something? I can make a statement setting the record straight that we’re not dating. That should get the attention off of you.”

My body sags with relief. “Thanks. That would be great. You have no idea how much this has been driving me insane.” I laugh nervously.

He chuckles, too. “I can definitely imagine. I’ve been learning to live with constantly being the center of attention. But people tend to move on when something more interesting comes along.”

“All of this is so insane. Can you believe I told my ex we’re together? Oh, gosh.” I bury my face in my hands. “I have no idea what I was thinking.”

“Wait, you told your ex we’re together? May I ask why?”

Slowly lowering my hands from my face, I stare at my lap as I mutter, “He cheated on me.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“Thanks. And then he flaunted his new girl in front of me and…I don’t know. I lost it. Ugh.” I cover my face again. “I feel so stupid for lying. I’m better than that. I guess he made me feel like a loser. He even insinuated that I’ll have to move mountains just to find someone who will love me—”

I snap my mouth shut, feeling totally mortified. What did I just admit to the hottie quarterback? Does my mouth not have a filter?

But he’s not looking at me like I really am a loser. He’s staring at me in an odd way, as if he’s thinking about something. After a moment or two, he bends forward, eyes squinting as he rubs his chin. “You just gave me an idea. A crazy idea, but it might be something we can both benefit from.”

“What?”

“Ever since I was named the most eligible bachelor of the year, women have been throwing themselves at me and sending me many messages on social media.” He shrugs. “I think most guys would like that, but I’m looking for…” He shakes his head. “What I mean is, I don’t like when my private life is displayed publicly like that.”

“That’s totally understandable. You have the right to keep the most precious parts of your life to yourself, without the world watching like you’re on some sort of soap opera. Even if you are QB for the Atlanta Armadillos.”

His lips lift in a smile. “Thanks for understanding. But ever since the photo of us went viral, women have been backing off. The messages on social media have started dying down, too. If they think I’m no longer single...”

A lightbulb flicks on in my head as I see where he’s going with this. “They’d leave you alone. You wouldn’t have to deal with them throwing themselves at you anymore.”

He nods.

My brain is now working overdrive. “And if my ex thinks we’re together, I wouldn’t have to admit to him that I lied. I wouldn’t look like a pathetic loser.”

He bends forward, soft eyes on mine. “I don’t know you, Callie, but I’m positive you’re not a pathetic loser. You seem like a kind and determined person. You shouldn’t care what your jerk of an ex-boyfriend thinks.”

“That’s true,” I say with a sigh. “But I just wish I could, I don’t know, show him that he can’t make a mockery of me. Like, if he saw I was with a famous quarterback, that smug smile would be slapped right off his face. I’d be showing him I could do much, much better than him. That I’m not sitting at home crying over him.”

He’s quiet for a bit, keeping his eyes on me. “So are you saying you want us to…?”

“Fake date?” I offer.

He raises his hands. “Do you?”

“I think so.”

“We don’t have to do it for long. Maybe just a month. Enough time for you to get back at your ex, and enough time for the article to blow over and hopefully women will no longer throw themselves at me. But you have to understand what you’re getting yourself into, Callie. Dating a famous football player won’t be easy. You’ll constantly be in the spotlight. Imagine today happening thirty times.”

I get up from my chair and start to pace. I’ve never been in a fake relationship before. And Lincoln is right—dating an NFL player will mean my face will be plastered all over. But what’s the alternative? For Lincoln to announce that he and I aren’t together and the jerk will throw it in my face? I know, I know, I shouldn’t care what he thinks, but he cheated on me. How else can I get back at him besides for choosing someone ten times better than him? And we’d be in the news often—that should tick him off, right?

I turn around to face Lincoln. “Just a month?” I’m sure I can handle that.

He nods, then stands and makes his way over to me. “I want to make sure you’re one hundred percent okay with this. I can’t guarantee what will happen. People will want to know every little detail about your life.”

I scoff. “They’ll be disappointed to learn I’m the most boring person in the world.”

“I sincerely doubt you’re boring.”

“I’m serious. Other than Spencer, I had no other relationships. They won’t find any dirt on me.”

He nods slowly. “Okay. So do we keep this a secret from everyone?”

“Besides for my friends. We tell each other everything and there’s no way I can keep something like this from them. They’ll see right through me. But they’ll guard this secret with their lives.”

“Okay, that’s fair.”

“Will you tell anyone?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “Unfortunately, I’m not that close to anyone.”

A look of longing passes over his face. I can tell he wishes he could have that one special person in his life. Like I told him yesterday, I’m sure he’ll find her one day soon. He’s a good guy and deserves to be happy.

“What about our parents and family members?” I ask. “It’s hard for me to lie to them, but I think they’d be happy to know I’m doing okay and am with a better guy. They’ve been worried about me.”

He bobs his head. “My parents would be glad to know I’m seeing someone, too. Even if it’s only for a month.”

“Okay, so what’s our story? Have we been secretly dating all this time?”

We sit back down at the table and fine-tune the details. Our story is that we’ve been secretly dating for the last few weeks, and since we were caught in a passionate embrace yesterday, we have no choice but to go public with our relationship.

After we get to our feet, he holds out his hand, palm facing up. “Our first public display of affection?”

I stare at his hand before slowly, as though time moves at a snail’s pace, slide mine into his. As soon as our skin makes contact, a spark jolts up my arm. His hand is warm, but rough and strong. I don’t know why, but holding his hand like this makes me feel protected.

My stomach is in knots as we leave the conference room. When everyone in the office sees our interlocked hands, they immediately snap photos and throw questions our way. Lincoln doesn’t say anything, just smiles at me. I return it.

His hair falls into his eyes and I have an urge to push it away, but I hold back. That feels a bit too intimate for two people who have just decided to fake date.

“I’ll pick you up for lunch?” he asks after I’ve walked him to the door.

“Yeah, I’d love that.”

“Cool.” He leans forward and whispers. “We didn’t establish any rules. Do you want to kiss?”

I freeze in place.

“I understand it must be hard, you know, after your ex,” he says. “Maybe I can kiss your cheek?”

“Um, yeah. That’s fine. Thanks.”

His scent engulfs me as he presses his lips to my cheek, causing butterflies to flap around in my stomach. My teen self would be over-the-moon happy with this turn of events, but I have to remind myself to be careful. There’s no way a guy like him would ever consider someone like me. Besides, the last thing I want right now is to get involved in a real relationship.

He gives me a sweet smile. “I’ll see you later, Callie.”

I wave as he leaves the office. When I turn around, every single person stares at me. And then they waste no time asking me questions. I try to answer some, like that we’ve been dating for a few weeks and what I admire most about him, but then Becca calls, “Callie! Into my office right now.”

Oh, shoot. Am I in trouble again?

Once I’m in her office and sit down before her desk, she says, “Why didn’t you tell me you were dating Lincoln when I asked you to interview him?”

I shift in my seat. I’m the worst liar on the planet. “We didn’t want to make it public yet.”

“You should have told me you couldn’t do the interview. This is a conflict of interest.”

“I asked him unbiased questions. It didn’t matter that I’m in a relationship with him.”

She shakes her head. “I’ll have Phoebe write the article. Please hand her your notes and voice recorder.”

“Okay.”

“And I’m setting up an interview with you and Hector. I want you to speak to us first before you talk to any other media.”

“I’d be happy to. You know my loyalty will always be with this paper.”

She nods. “Thank you. Now please get back to work.”

When I return to my desk, Julia and some of my other coworkers who sit nearby waste no time asking me details about my relationship with Lincoln. They all want to know how we got together. Shoot, he and I hadn’t discussed that part. Maybe we need to go over more details during our lunch date.

I mutter something about needing to get my work done and focus on my computer. I can tell they’re disappointed by that, but they grudgingly go back to work. This is turning out to be much harder than I imagined. What exactly have I gotten myself into?