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“Good lord, you’d be found out before you sat down for your first dinner. All it’d take is for one of his other clients to recognise him and you be rumbled. Or you’d be accused of acting outPretty Woman.”
“Whatever way you look at it, I’m a bit of a sad sack to have come to this.” He’d brought it all on himself. “Let’s go with generic, and we can figure out something. I really want to get a statement out as soon as possible.”
Alex pointed at the screen. “If you’re happy with this wording, and don’t want it run past a solicitor, I’ll upload it onto your website as I’ve now got full access. And you’re not sad, just going through some difficult time.”
Dorian stared at Alex, and he was struck that maybe the answer to his problem was sitting in front of him. “You’re gay and single.”
Alex’s eyes narrowed. “What of it?”
Dorian plastered what he hoped was his most charming smile. “You could be my fake boyfriend. It could be a paid position, like you suggest. Finite time, specific boundaries.”
“No.”
“No? Not even a let-me-think-about-it?” he asked more out of hope than expectation.
“Dorian, you’re a movie star and I’m the Earl of Crofton’s secretary, it would be a ridiculous notion that you would want to date me. Now, I’m not for sale beyond my contractual obligations in my employment.”
“Maybe there’s a charity you’d like to support?” Alex would be perfect. He knew how to handle himself, wouldn’t get ruffled in the face of the press and would look lovely on his arm.
“No.”
“Sure?”
“Positive?”
“Irrefutably.”
Dorian grinned and stood. “I’ll take that as a maybe.”
“You should take it as a no. Now go away. I need to get this done.”
“How about a drink tonight? We could go to the Red Lion.”
Alex shook his head. “As soon as I’ve uploaded your statement I am heading to see my parents for the weekend.”
“Next week then?”
“No.”
Dorian sidled out laughing as Alex tutted. His spirits lifted from when he’d first entered the room and he had Alex to thank for that. He might not have convinced Alex to play along as his fake boyfriend, but he sure was fun to rile up.
CHAPTER18
Alex had long stopped trying to argue with his mother about an acceptable frequency for him to visit home. Anything less than once a month had been frowned upon for as long as he could remember. He parked up, seeing his brother’s car in the drive, which meant he would be able to split the attention from his parents, which he was more than happy about.
He grabbed his bag off the back seat and fished out his keys. He slid his key into the lock but it didn’t give. He tried another key thinking he’d got the wrong one but no joy.
The side gate opened, his dad beckoning him over. His long grey hair was tied up in bunches and he was wearing a bright purple puffer jacket. “You’ll need to come round the back, Ali.”
Maybe the lock had broken and they’d not got around to fixing it. There was always some minor repair needed, and his dad tried his best, often ending up making things worse or abandoning the job to tinker with something more interesting.
“What’s wrong with the front door?” he asked as he followed his dad down the side passage into the back garden.
He stopped mid-stride, almost falling over as he noticed a large tent covering half of the lawn, plus two smaller ones. “What on Earth is going on?”
His mum appeared from out of the main tent. “Ali, darling, you’re home. I wasn’t expecting you this weekend.”
“When I phoned last week you said I better turn up or you’d disown me.”
