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“What then?” she asks, cocking her head in a way that says she’s getting ready to eat my lunch, and not in a good way.
“If everything works out, I’d get my endorsements and your stalker would be long gone.”
“Just like that, huh?” She snaps her fingers and shakes her head like I’m an imbecile who can’t see past his nose.
“Sure.”
“It would never work.” Her tone drops and sounds defeated. I’m not sure why, but I hate it.
“Says who?” I challenge, stepping in front of her and forcing her to look at me.
“What would I tell my boss?”
“You’re dating a player.” I shrug. “The same thing I’d tell Buddy. I think as long as we were upfront about it, no one would care. It’s not like we work for the same company or for competitors. There isn’t any fraternization going on here. We’re two consenting adults who met through mutual friends. As far as they know, we were already dating privately before you became the reporter for the Revelers. But now we’re ready to be more public… we’re moving in together,” I add, raising my brows, hoping she’s catching on to the plan unfolding.
Greer bites down on her bottom lip and averts her gaze, but I can’t tell what she’s thinking.
“Also, if it’s anyone on the team fucking around with you because you’re new, when they think you’re with me, they’ll back off.”
“I—” she starts, but bites her bottom lip.
I feel an immediate disappointment.
“I can’t do it. I’m sorry,” she continues, sounding exactly that, like -she wants to say yes, but she won’t allow herself to. “You made some valid points, but I can’t.”
Reaching out, she places a hand on my arm, making my entire body light up from her simple touch.
“You’re a good guy, Mack. I know we kind of rub each other the wrong way sometimes, but I can see under all that posturing you’re a real stand-up guy. Thank you for the offer, but I’m trying to uncomplicate my life, not make it more difficult.”
With a final squeeze that feels more like a branding, she brushes past me and walks out of the house.
I should accept her response and leave well enough alone, but I know myself. I won’t. Somehow, I need Greer to see this is the best option for both of us.
CHAPTER NINE
GREER
Over the past week,I’ve dodged Mack Granger as much as possible, which wasn’t that hard since they were out of town for three days. But it doesn’t mean I haven’t had to interact with him. And I don’t know why it feels so…ugh.
I don’t know what it feels like.
His proposal of moving in with him did make sense. I see where a stable relationship could improve his reputation in the media. I’ve seen it happen countless times.
But what about the day-to-day of actually living in the same house?
Would we share meals?
Could I handle seeing him half-naked?
I’m assuming if we were faking a relationship neither of us would be allowed to bring people back to the house, but there’s no way we’d also be expected to go months without sex, right?
Not that I’m in the market for a hook-up right now. All I can think about is doing my job and steering clear of a stalker.
Living with Mack could also help with that, but that night, I convinced myself I didn’t need any help. Fixing the stalker issue was as simple as taking it to my boss and the authorities. Problem solved.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy.
George did take my concerns seriously, much more seriously than I thought he would. But once we spoke with a local police detective, I felt like we were at a standstill. They have the emails, but haven’t had any luck tracking down who sent them. I also turned in the note from my car, but they dusted it and found nothing. They also pulled tape footage from the day I found it and the only thing they were able to learn from it was the person who left it, climbed a fence and wore dark clothes.
