“I…live here…” I reply cautiously.
“You look so familiar to me. Are you sure we haven’t met somewhere before?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Maybe I saw you at a party?”
I snort a laugh. “I do my best to avoid parties.”
“What’s your name again?”
I flick a look at the door. “Oh, um…” I don’treallyneed tea and cake.
“Elsie, isn’t it?”
“Um…”
“Elsie Hoskins? I think someone mentioned to me you’re dating a very eligible bachelor.”
Her wink clicks all the pieces into place.
I frown. “You’re the journalist fromNow Weekly, aren’t you?”
“I’m, um…”
“Mallory Something-or-Other.” I can’t remember her surname. Not that it matters. It won’t change anything even if her name is Babington or Froud. I won’t be speaking to her if she’s a reporter.
She bites down on her lip.
Confirmation.
Shaking my head, I step out of the line and edge around the customers scrambling for a coffee. I refuse to hang around to see if she admits the truth, but I’m not alone when I head for the door. The frantic clip of chic boots follows me.
“Elsie! Tell me how you first met Luke Gallo!”
“I havenothingto say to you.”
I try to push past, but Mallory flings her arms out to block the doorway. Tapping my foot, I raise my eyebrows as a bead of sweat slides down my spine. She’d better get out of my way. I’m cooking in this overstuffed cafe, and my mood has been sour since Sawyer rejected me. Today is not the day for the antics of a tabloid journalist.
“Elsie,” she says. “I’ve seen you two—”
“Please move.”
“Luke asked me to print that he was seeing you in the issue the other week.”
He…what?
My fingertips retreat before I can grab my umbrella.Lukeis the exclusive insider? I frown at her huffing breaths as she barricades my escape. She’s lying. He’d never admit to our arrangement. That was the whole point of “no strings attached”—plausible deniability.
Mallory shoves a business card at me. “My number at the motel is on the back. Call me. We pay for information, and we pay well. You can buy a hundred of those coats if you offer me an exclusive about Luke Gallo.”
My heart thuds in my chest. Mallory Something-or-Other is offering me the chance to get even for the hurtful things Luke said, to lash out, and to hurt him the way he hurt me. My revenge on a silver platter. But…
Revealing the secrets of my arrangement with one of the country’s most eligible bachelors will do more damage to my reputation than his. I love this tiny town. I never want to leave. I don’t want whispers of how easy I was to coax into his bed following me until people eventually find some other story to gossip about.
And Luke’s trying. His apologies aren’t exactly softening my heart, but heistrying.
Mallory stands in front of me, her rictus grin taut and the business card shaking in her outstretched hand.
