Page 12 of Heart Breaker

He doesn’t smile, but I can see he’s enjoying this from the subtle shift in his beautiful gray eyes.

I set the cup down. “Start talking,” I say, meeting his gaze. “Because this mess you’ve created—” I gesture between us. “—we’re fixing it.”

“Fair enough,” he says. “Let me explain.”

I lean back in my chair, crossing my arms. “Please do.”

He tugs his hat off, runs a hand through his hair, then puts it back on. “This wasn’t my idea,” he starts. “The photos hit, then the headlines followed, and before I could shut it down, Victoria—our publicist—already had a plan.”

My brows pull together. “A plan?”

“She saw it as something we could use,” he says. “After everything Cove’s been through with the eco backlash last year. Then my past coming up again more recently.” His jaw tightens slightly. “The board didn’t want any more damage and having me painted as the guy with a bad track record and a revolving door when it comes to women isn’t great for the brand.”

I blink at that. A revolving door of women?

I’ve never actually seen him with a woman. Not once. Not on a date or with some random girl hanging off his arm. But if he’s admitting to a “revolving door” then he must be a player. I guess he’s just been good at hiding it.

I watch him more carefully now.

“They need people to see me differently,” he continues, his voice even but softer than before. “Not as the guy from that story. Not as the version of me that everyone decided I was back then. And this gives them that. It gives them something else to look at.”

I tilt my head. “So, this was your publicist’s idea and you just…went along with it?”

He exhales slowly but doesn’t break eye contact. “Not at first. I told her to shut it down. I told her it wasn’t right to spin a false story involving you without asking. But she wouldn’t back off and before I had a chance to stop her, she put the story out.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t see the headlines?”

“It all happened so fast, I didn’t really have time to think,” he admits. “Once the story was already out, I thought about it, and I realized Victoria wasn’t wrong about what it could do.”

“What it could do for you,” I say pointedly.

“For Cove,” he corrects. “For my brothers. And yeah,” he adds, quieter now, “maybe for me, too. I spent a long time trying to get out from under that scandal,” he says, his expression less guarded. “And it doesn’t matter how much time passes—one story comes back and suddenly it’s like the past ten years didn’t happen. As far as most people are concerned, that story is me.”

It hits me unexpectedly, how hard it must be to be judged the way Wes has been. How exhausting it must be to carry around a version of yourself that isn’t the real you. I’ve read the articles about Wes, about the trouble he got into when he was younger and the arrest that followed. They make him sound like a guy with a chip on his shoulder, someone who doesn’t care about who he’s hurt. But I know that’s not the whole story. Madeline hasn’t told me everything, but she’s said enough to make me feel that Wes didn’t really get a fair shake.

“I’m not that guy,” he says, echoing my thoughts. “And this… you… it gives me a way to remind people of that.”

“Why me, Wes?”

He thinks on his answer for a moment like he’s choosing his words carefully. “Because I can’t think of anyone who would look better next to me,” he says finally. “You’re smart. You carry yourself like you know exactly who you are, and you don’t bend for anyone. People respect that.” His gaze holds mine. “And you’re beautiful, Lottie. The kind of beautiful that isn’t just what people see—it’s what they feel when they’re around you.”

My breath hitches.

“I’d be lucky to have you as my wife—real or fake. But I know it’s a big ask,” he continues. “I’m not expecting you to just go along with it for nothing.”

I swallow, trying to catch up.

“I want to help you, Lottie, and I’m in a position to do that.” He pauses for a second, long enough to make the unease in my chest settle. “I know your dad is sick,” he continues, quieter now. “Madeline mentioned it once. She didn’t betray any trust. She was just concerned. And I know he’s been going down south for treatments and what that kind of care costs. It adds up fast.”

My fingers tighten around my cup thinking about my dad and how terrible this year has been for him. How hard his declining health has been on the entire family.

“I’ll take care of it all, Lottie. The medical bills. All of it.”

My eyes widen. It’s a lot of money.

“But if we’re going to do this,” he adds, “it has to look real. Victoria wants the marriage to last at least a year, and you’d need to move in with me. You wouldn’t have to think about rent, or bills, or any of the day-to-day things that add up. It would all be taken care of.”

I blink, trying to process what he’s saying, and the way he’s saying it like it’s nothing.