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“Daddy?” Audrey says from a few feet away, fear in her little voice.
Jaxon snaps out of it at Audrey’s plea. He finally releases Trey and turns to Audrey. “It’s okay, honey. Daddy is just making sure this man understands that when a woman says no, she means no.”
Trey brushes his hands over his shirt to smooth the wrinkles out. “Duly noted,” he says, then turns to me. “I apologize. Who is this guy anyway?”
“My boyfriend,” I say.
JulieAnn looks Jax up and down appraisingly. “I take back what I said about the town. Now I really see the appeal. He is delicious.”
“What is all of this?” Jax asks, gesturing to JulieAnn and the photographer.
“This is my publicist, JulieAnn,” I say.
Audrey’s eyes widen as she takes in JulieAnn. “So, you’re the evil villain?”
JulieAnn raises a brow then smiles. “Only to my three ex-husbands, darling,” she says, smoke trailing all around her.
I wave the smoke from the air in front of Audrey. “JulieAnn thought pictures of Trey and me together, reconciling our relationship, would help my career.”
Jaxon’s eyebrows are scrunched. “So your ex-boyfriend is here to reconcile with you?”
I give a nervous laugh. “He was never my real boyfriend.”
“No,” Trey says, nervously laughing with me. “I’m her fake-boyfriend, you see. This,” he says signaling to us both, “never actually happened.”
I shake my head emphatically. “I told you before, we just pretended to be together as a publicity stunt, well and to help me get the role I’ve been training for.” Jax knows all of this, but I can’t seem to stop rambling, as if hearing it again might help it all make sense. “Oh, and to help Trey have a better image to America.”
Jax looks even more confused. “So, dating a drug addict was supposed to help his image?”
I cringe. “I wasn’t a drug addict when we were first fake-dating, but Trey cheated on our fake relationship, which led me to drugs apparently.”
Trey shakes his head. “No. Remember, it was your drug use that l
ed me to another woman.”
I narrow my eyes at him “Yeah, I still don’t like that narrative.”
Jax rubs a hand over the back of his neck. “You guys can’t even keep your own lies straight.”
Shame washes over me—he’s right. This whole thing is ridiculous and it has all gotten so out of hand.
“And what now?” Jax asks, his lips drawn into a tight line. “You’re reconciling? You’ll just kiss him, they’ll take pictures, and you’ll go on lying to everyone more?”
“No,” I say. “I told them I'm not doing this anymore. That’s what I was saying when you came down.”
Trey tilts his head back like a junior high girl about to roll her eyes. “We had a deal.”
“But I already got the audition,” I say. “I don’t need more publicity stunts. I can earn my place in the movie based on my acting skills. So, you can go back to your player ways, and I can live my life with Jaxon without hiding.”
JulieAnn calmly flicks ash onto the sidewalk. “Not if you want the part.”
My gaze snaps to her. “Wait, what?”
Trey steps toward me, but Jax glares at him and he backs away. “You got the audition because I told Henry that he would get a couple promoting the movie.” Trey shrugs. “He loved the idea.”
A muscle in Jax’s jaw twitches. “How long is this going to go on for?”
I feel at a loss for words. I know it’s not ideal, but I’ve worked so hard for the part. If this is what it takes to get the job, then I have to do it. I don’t have a choice. But how do I get Jax to understand where I’m coming from? “Jaxon, it’s not real,” I reach out and squeeze his hand. “We’re real. They just need pictures for a job, that’s all. And once I get through this movie—”
