“Jason, was that a smart thing to do?” Tom asked. “Especially when you are trying to lay low? They could’ve written you up with a college girl if they had gotten a whiff of your scent in there.”

“If they had pictures, trust me, they would’ve released them with the rest of this. I was okay.”

Megan’s sharp eyes were still on me. “So, what is your decision?”

“Decision? About what?”

“We have an opportunity here, Jason. It’s up to you if we use it or not, at this point. If you accept, all I’m going to do is release who she is to the media and give a short back story of how she is your childhood friend—”

“She is my childhood friend’s sister,” I growled.

Megan just kept going. “And how she is the author of the adaptation... Well, everything will fall into place even easier than we expected. No one will assume your marriage is fake. All they’ll see is two friends falling in love after seeing each other again after so many years. The public will love the story. It’s the perfect cover, Jason, and you know it.”

“No, Megan. No matter how perfect this all sounds to you, I won’t use Olive. No.”

“Who said you’ll be using her? Your PR team will be using your story. Not you. She is your friend isn’t she? Wouldn’t she want to help you? You’re already friends, so what if you live in the same house for a few years?”

“She is right, Jason,” Tom jumped in. “I don’t think Olive would mind helping you, and I’m sure you remember what I told you about the book… I think she might be more than okay with this.”

I dropped my head into my hands. Olive, my wife? Dylan would skin me alive. Him aside, I didn’t even want to think of what her parents would think of me.

“Here.” Tom handed me the tablet again. “Look at these photos and tell me I’m not right.”

“The chemistry between you two speaks for itself, Jason. You already look half in love with her in these. It wouldn’t take much to make people believe that you married for the right reasons,” said Megan.

I grabbed the tablet from Tom—maybe a little too forcefully—and glanced at the website where our photos were plastered.

Funnily enough, we did look in love.

Yeah, I was definitely in trouble.

Chapter Fifteen Olive

“Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”

“Go away,” I groaned, tossing a pillow over to where the sound was coming from.

“You have to get up, Olive. You’re all over the internet.”

Of course it would be Lucy trying to wake me up. It was never the sweet Char. Why, you ask? Because Char wasn’t a cruel person. Not like Lucy. Lucy had a real problem with people sleeping peacefully. She was a problem all on her own.

“Awesome. Goodnight,” I mumbled. I turned my back to her voice.

The bed sank with her weight when she sat next to my hip.

“I don’t think you’re getting it, Olive.” Her hand gripped my shoulder and she forcefully turned me on my back. She also had the power of a she-hulk even though she was only five foot three.

“I don’t want to get it. My head hurts, Lucy,” I pleaded, narrowing my eyes at her as I slowly pulled the covers over my face. “Come back in a few hours and I’ll listen to whatever you want. I’ll even nod.”

“Fine. I guess you don’t care that your cozy pictures…with Jason Thorn…are plastered all over the internet.”

“What?” I shouted as I sat up a little too fast for my poor brain. “Ow, ow, ow.”

“Here.” She placed her laptop on my lap and waited for me to take a look with an annoyingly awake and excited face.

As I scrolled down, with each picture I saw, my eyes got bigger and bigger.

“Holy shit,” I mumbled when I started to read the article.

“I know, right? You’re gonna have Jason Thorn’s dimpled babies. I’m gonna be the cool aunt. I’ll babysit. I’ll come and watch your half-naked husband while I’m babysitting.”

I laughed; granted, it was a little forced, but it still counted as a laugh. “Are you on something?” I scrolled through the pictures again. I couldn’t stop looking. “What are you talking about?”

She looked at me as if I was stupid, then sighed and made herself comfortable in my bed—again—by lying down beside me.

“You have to stop getting in bed with me,” I mumbled, trying to push her off the bed.

“He is in love with you, you are in love with him. This is happening.” She brushed her palms together. “My dreams are coming true!”

“Your dreams? Please, tell me what you’re on so I can make it my life mission to join you in la-la land one day.”

“Oh, shut up.” A sneaky maneuver and she was right under the covers with me, stealing my pillow. I pushed at her legs and got down from the bed.

“What am I gonna do?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not Jason who looks in love in these photos, Lucy, it’s me! Can’t you see that?”

“And…?”

“And he’ll never talk to me again. Dylan will lose his head when he sees these.”

“Clearly you’ve gone blind from typing away at all hours on your laptop.” She rolled her eyes and made herself even more comfortable on my bed. “You both look smitten with each other.”

“Babe?” I heard a voice right outside my door. I made my eyes go as big as they could.

“Jameson? Again?” I mouthed to Lucy.

Then Jameson’s head peaked in.

“Oh, here you are.” He didn’t even knock! “I thought I heard your voice.” He opened the door wider, and I got a good look at his naked chest, and then lower…

“Oh god! Jameson, your penis!” I screamed, my eyes hurting. “Put some clothes on for fuck’s sake!” I groaned as I covered my eyes with my hand.

“Oh, hi, Olive. I didn’t see you behind the door.” He laughed. “I thought Lucy had sneaked into your room to get some sleep.”

I peeked through my fingers. Lucy was just lounging in the bed, enjoying the view with a satisfied smirk on her face. Then I glanced at Jameson; I tried not to look down, but well, isn’t it always impossible to do that? Well at least he was covering his man parts with his hand, not that he was doing a good job of it.

I groaned louder.

“Babe, I have an early class. If you’re good, I’m leaving.”

She shrugged and Jameson winked at her.

“Congrats on the book, Olive. Can’t wait to see the movie.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, looking over his shoulder instead of in his eyes. When Jameson finally left and I heard Lucy’s door open and close, I turned back to look at Lucy. Her hair was all mussed up and she had a mischievous grin on her face.

She wiggled her eyebrows. “He has a good size on him, doesn’t he? Which is why we don’t call it a ‘penis’ like you just did. That’s almost like an insult.”

I shook my head. She was impossible…but, yeah, he did have a good size on him. Good for her. “Is that why you made him your boy toy?”

“And you wouldn’t? Didn’t you see the size of his monster just a minute ago? And those tattoos? Damn…even thinking about it is ma—”

“If you finish that sentence, I’m going to deck you, Lucy.”

She laughed and opened her arms. “Do your best, mystery beauty.”

I groaned and leaned my back against the door, just in case. I didn’t want to have a second look at Jameson’s man parts.

“What am I gonna do?”

“Nothing.”

“What do you mean nothing?”

She shrugged and patted the bed. I walked over and sat down, trying not to fidget any more than I already was.

“You, my lovely friend, are going to wait until Jason calls you,” she said.

“What makes you think he’ll call?”

“His people must’ve seen this already. Trust me, he’ll call you when he sees it.”

***

It was three hours later and I was lounging on the couch with my laptop glued to my fingers.

Someone unlocked the door and my head flew up. Seeing that it was just Char, I greeted her.

“Hey. You’re home early.”

“Yeah, Professor Kindley had an emergency and ended class early.” Tossing her handbag and her notebooks into her room, she came to sit next to me. “What are you doing?”