Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 90598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“Just a short walk,” I tell him. “But after I eat dinner, we’ll go to the dog park, and you can play with your friends, okay?”
Shiloh wags his entire body as if he understands me. I tell him to sit as I walk to the door and grab his leash. Just as I’m about to hook Shiloh up, the doorbell rings.
“Wow, the pizza got here quick today. Don’t worry; we’ll still go. The pizza will stay warm …” I’m still talking to my dog as I open the door and find that it’s not a pizza delivery guy at my door.
It’s Spencer James.
I cross my arms in front of my chest. “What are YOU doing here?”
“Can we please go inside,” he whispers, looking around in case he was followed.
With a sigh, I step aside so he can come in and close the door behind him. Shiloh forgets about my broken promise when he sees Spencer, jumping on the man, leaving paw prints on the front of his black, V-neck T-shirt.
“Shiloh, stop. I’m sorry about that. He’s ruining another set of your clothes.”
“It’s fine. I already told you I like dogs.”
“How did you find my address?” I ask. “What are you doing here?”
“Once you get tracked by the tabloids, it’s pretty easy to find your address online.”
I gulp. “Seriously? Do I need to move because of you?”
“No, I already have my agent working on scrubbing your address from any public sites. At least, the ones I had a hand in. You know it’s really easy to find an address in general, right?”
“You’re not making me feel any better.”
“Sorry, I’m just telling you. I saw some pics of you at work, and I used that to figure out your last name, and then I was able to find your address by doing a quick Google search.”
“So that explains the how you found me question, but it doesn’t tell me why you’re here. By the way, maybe come up with a better story if you have to explain yourself to someone else. It’s kind of creepy that you basically stalked me.”
“I did it good-naturedly.”
“Is there a good-natured way to stalk someone?”
“There is when you owe them an apology. I’m really sorry that all this is happening to you. I know you didn’t sign up to be on the cover of a magazine. You were just enjoying a nice afternoon in the park.”
“I had no idea the paparazzi would care about me. I’m nobody! I barely spoke to you for more than a few minutes. That picture is entirely out of context …”
Spencer sighs. “I know, which brings me to the why part of your question.”
Shiloh whines. “Do you think we can do this outside? I need to take Shiloh for a walk. As much as I don’t want to be seen in public with you again, I do need to put my dog first.”
Spencer cringes. “I don’t know. A walk might not be a good idea. I’d rather talk in private.”
“Fine, how about we go to the dog park in the back of this complex? There shouldn’t be anyone there right now. Only a couple of other dogs use it, and they come later in the evening.”
Spencer doesn’t look happy about it, but he says, “Fine, yeah, let’s go.”
Before we can leave, my pizza actually does arrive, and Spencer carries the box while I handle Shiloh, and we walk over to the fenced-in dog area I pay extra for. I let Shiloh run free in the dog park while Spencer and I sit on a nearby bench.
“Are you hungry?” I ask him, opening the cheese pizza.
“No, but thank you.”
“Well, I’m going to eat while you talk, then.”
“Okay. So, here’s the thing, I kind of need something from you.”
“You want me to make a formal statement that we’re not dating?”
“Actually, I want you to do the opposite.”
I nearly choke on my bite of pizza. “Wait, what?”
“I think we can help each other out here. My manager is riding me to date my costar, and I don’t want to, so when those pictures surfaced, I may have told him that you and I have been dating since we met six months ago at a club.”
“I don’t go to clubs. No one would believe that story.”
“Randy did, and that’s what matters. The meeting part doesn’t even matter. The point is, maybe we could pretend to date for the media for a while. Just long enough to get Randy off my back about dating Candy, and so I can earn a new role the old-fashioned way.”
“What’s the old-fashioned way?”
“My talent.”
“Okay. But how long is just long enough?”
“I’m thinking two months. That’ll get us to the end of filming my current movie and most of the press behind it.”
“Two months of pretending to date you?” I ask. “God, Spencer, this is like the plot of one of your terrible movies.”