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Jake mentally added it up. At least six nights in Costa Rica. Another day to travel to Argentina. Then there’d likely be multiple stops at different wineries. Probably at least four days there …
And then what?
Chile?
Panama?
Jet over to the Bahamas to see what was new there?
Hell, it could be weeks before he’d be able to see Grace—
At the thought of Grace, a realization hit him over the head.
“You want me to leave this Friday? But the baseball game is on Sunday.”
Cassidy nodded. “Trust me, I know. Camille is pissed. She took this one all the way up the food chain, but ultimately I won.”
“You’re canceling the game?”
“It’s still on—you just won’t be there. And why do you sound so bent out of shape about it? You’ve done nothing but complain about the game ever since you heard about it.”
Jake lifted a shoulder. “I thought it was a big deal.”
“It is. And the readers will be disappointed, of course, but we can frame it to add a nice element of drama. Instead of a tepid parting of ways between you and Grace, you’ll be the no-show, can’t-commit bachelor. Oxford readers will relate. And Grace will be the scorned woman, to which Stiletto readers will relate.”
I’m tired of being that guy.
Whoa. Where had that thought come from?
But it wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was that they were going to make Grace into some sort of poor victim who got stood up. She wouldn’t want that. The last thing she needed was to feel like a fool again.
“It’s a little demeaning, isn’t it?” he said. “Painting women as victims and men as soulless, unreliable jerks?”
Cassidy turned immediately serious. “When you put it that way, yeah. We’ll handle it carefully. Convey that it was a relationship that just didn’t work out. Happens all the time. People will get it, and feel for you on both sides.”
Jake nodded, even though he didn’t like it.
“Plus you and Grace are no longer the sole show,” Cassidy said. “Given the Costa Rica opportunity, we’ve shifted emphasis a bit. The game won’t be a finale for you and
Grace so much as a launch of the next couple. We’re featuring one of Camille’s interns, and Cory Garrison will be taking over for you. People can whip themselves into a frenzy about that.”
Jake didn’t give a fuck who the next couple was. “So Grace will be at the game alone?”
“Her friends will be there, Camille will be there. Hell, I’ll be there. There are tickets for thirty people. The only thing left to figure out is what we’re going to do for the kiss-cam.”
“The what?”
“You know, when they show the couples kissing. Camille’s most recent over-the-top idea. Normally we’d just call it off, but since you two have become local celebrities, the local stations already have the slot booked. It was supposed to be you two on camera with everyone weighing in on whether it was a good-bye kiss or a sexy kiss. That sort of thing.”
That sort of thing. Cassidy made it sound so simple.
Jake rubbed his temples. He didn’t know which was worse, the fact that this whole thing was turning into a spectacle or the fact that he wouldn’t be there. “So what’s your plan?”
Cassidy shrugged. “We’ll get Cole or one of the other guys to step in. Plant the seed that Grace will have her happily-ever-after with another guy.”
Over my dead body.
Jake opened his mouth to tell Cassidy that he had to be there. That he needed to be at this game and see this thing through.
