Safe Bet (The Rules #4)

by Monica Murphy

  Ouch. “Tell me how you really feel,” I drawl, crossing my arms. Guess she doesn’t like me much after all.

  Sydney comes to a sudden stop. At least she looks embarrassed by what she said. “I’m sorry. Really. I wasn’t trying to be mean. It’s just…”

  “You have no desire to be with me. I get it.” I drop my arms to my sides and tell myself to get over my hurt feelings. “Let’s consider the situation, though. We need to be realistic.”

  “Okay.”

  “You need this fake relationship way more than I do.”

  “I’ve been dealing with the situation as best I can,” she mutters, sounding irritated.

  “How? By hiding out in the Callahan mansion and pretending those stories out there don’t exist?” By the way she flinches, I’m guessing I just nailed her recent behavior pretty accurately. “You’ve made the front page of a few gossip rags. I saw you on the cover of some magazine at the supermarket.”

  “You go to the supermarket?”

  I roll my eyes. “I have to eat, right?” If she thinks I’m some sort of superstar like Drew who’s mobbed any time I set foot out in public, she’s completely off base. “Despite your hiding, the stories aren’t going away. Maybe pretending to be something that we’re not is the right thing to do.”

  Sydney nods, like she gets what I’m saying. But I don’t even know if she’s able to focus on the words that just came out of my mouth. I think she’s too wrapped up in her own turbulent thoughts.

  “This will pass,” she says firmly. “The reporters or whoever they are will all move on when some other star does something crazy. Maybe Tom Brady and Giselle will finally get a divorce. Who knows? But the media can’t hold onto this story forever, especially when there’s nothing real behind it.” Her confident words are belied by that slight tremble in her voice. She’s nervous. Maybe she doesn’t believe this story is going to fade anytime soon, and Drew and Fable don’t believe it will either.

  That’s why they want Sydney and me to pretend we’re in a relationship. That she’s my girlfriend and I’m her boyfriend and she belongs to me. I’ve been a player. I’ve messed around with many a girl over the years, but never once have I had a steady girlfriend. For the longest time, I firmly believed I didn’t need one. Once Owen got together with Chelsea, and I saw what a great relationship they shared, I knew someday I would want something like what they have.

  Just not yet.

  Tilting my head to the side, I study Sydney. Really study her for the first time, and I have to admit…

  I like what I see. She’s pretty. Average height and a bangin’ body from what I can tell, with striking blue eyes and wavy golden blonde hair and that kissable mouth. There’s no denying we have chemistry. I’ve felt it. I’m feeling it right now.

  Hell. I scrub a hand over my face, telling myself I shouldn’t focus on just how kissable her mouth is. If we really do this, I wonder how far I’ll have to take this fake relationship thing. Will we hold hands? Will I have to slip my arm around her shoulders, her waist? Will we kiss in public? That might get weird.

  Or then again, it might not…

  Wade is blatantly checking me out. And when I say blatantly, I also mean thoroughly. Like I can feel his gaze scan the length of my body, lingering on certain parts. My face. My chest. My legs.

  The typical guy checking out a girl deal.

  So I decide to give him a taste of his own medicine. I check him out right back, starting at the top of his dark, shaggy hair and cruising on down. But he has more body to check out, only because he’s so much bigger than me. His shoulders are broad, as is his chest, and his arms are thick with muscle. He has a trim waist and hips, big thighs…he’s a big man. With a beautiful face. Dark brown eyes and a sharp nose and high cheekbones and that jawline…I’m a sucker for a good jawline. There’s something so inherently male, so sexy about a strong jaw to me.

  And Wade has one of the best jawlines I’ve ever seen.

  He has full lips. Nice, straight teeth.

  “Do I measure up?” he asks, his voice full of amusement.

  “Do I?” I throw back at him with a glare.

  “Touché.” He smiles and my glare disappears. Wade has a nice smile too. He has a nice everything, truth be told.

  But do I really want to pretend I’m in a relationship with him for a week? A week’s a long time. A lot of things could happen. This could also be a pointless endeavor. The reporters and gossip people might not believe us. They’re not dumb. They’ll probably see right through our plan. How are we supposed to act like a real couple anyway? Throw ourselves at each other? Kiss each other, hang all over each other? We might not have any chemistry…

  Oh, I’m in total denial. We definitely have chemistry. I feel a buzz when we’re in the same room together, let alone when we’re alone or when he actually touches me.

  It wouldn’t be a total hardship, pretending Wade Knox is my boyfriend.

  “You want me to be honest? I think the idea’s crazy,” Wade says, interrupting my thoughts. “But Drew and Fable have done so much for me over the years. I almost feel like I owe them. I mean, how bad can it be, letting photographers see us together for a few nights in a row? We can hold hands, shoot each other longing looks, and hopefully that’ll end all the Drew-with-the-nanny speculation that’s currently going on.”

  “Do you really think it’s going to help?” He frowns at me, and I continue. “Us pretending we’re a couple. I mean, can we make the two of us together seem believable?”

  Wade shrugs those impossibly broad shoulders of his. “It can’t hurt to give it a try. Unless you have a problem with spending time with me.”

  “I don’t have a problem spending time with you,” I say hurriedly, making him smile.

  But I can’t smile in return. My mind is a whirl of emotions. This is crazy. Insane. I shouldn’t agree. I barely know this guy. Truly, I barely know the people asking me to do this either. What if Drew and Fable are a bunch of weird psychos who get their kicks torturing other people just for their amusement?

  It could happen. Run with me here.

  “So. Are you in?” Wade asks, his deep, rumbly voice breaking through my thoughts.

  How have I never noticed just how sexy his voice is before?

  “Are you?” I ask with a raised brow.

  Another shrug. “Yeah. I think I am.”

  “Before I commit, I need to know a few things about you first.” I grab a patio chair and sit down, then wave at him to do the same.

  He chooses the one directly across from me, of course. Settling that big body of his into the chair, his thighs spread wide in that typical guy way, he studies me. “What do you want to know?”

  “Where are you from?”

  “I grew up in Chico. Went to college there too.”

  “Ah.” I nod. “Brothers or sisters?”

  “None. Only child.” His mouth goes thin. “Single mom.”

  Aw. “I’m sure she’s really proud of you and all that you’ve accomplished,” I say softly.

  “She is. That’s why I’m working so damn hard to stay on the team. I don’t want to disappoint her.”

  “But I thought you were already on the team?” I’m so confused.

  “I am, but they can still cut me. If I’m still there after the last preseason game, I’m pretty much in.”

  I’m sort of clueless when it comes to sports. I’ve never had an athletic boyfriend before. I was always drawn more to the soulful musician types. The tall, lanky boys who wrote bad poetry and thought they could change the world with a song.

  Yeah. Wade Knox is nothing like those types of guys.

  “Oh. Well, I’m sure you’ll remain on the team.” I sound confident, but really, I have no clue. “What was your major in college?”

  “Finance. I wanted to make sure I knew how to properly manage money and investments, especially if I was going into the NFL.”

  Well, I have to admire his drive. He’s planning his future and
not just counting on football, which is smart.

  “Gotcha,” I say with a nod. Gotcha? Really? I sound ridiculous. “And your best friend is Fable’s brother?”

  “Yep. Owen Maguire. He just got drafted by the Broncos.”

  My mouth drops open, but then I snap it shut. I somehow forgot Fable told me about her brother, the newly drafted Denver Bronco. Seriously, what is up with all of these football players? It’s downright surreal. “Are you serious?”

  “Uh huh. He’s a great player. He’s the one who wanted to get picked up by the Niners so he can stay close to his family.” Guilt crosses his face but it’s gone in an instant. “Instead, I’m the one who’s with the Niners and playing with his brother-in-law.”

  He feels bad about that, I can tell. And it’s kind of sweet.

  “Is the job interview finished?” Wade asks amusedly.

  I smile. “I think so.”

  “Am I worthy?”

  I tap my index finger against my chin as I watch him. “Still contemplating.”

  “Well, while you’re contemplating, it’s my turn to ask you a few questions.” He clears his throat as he leans forward, his hands linked in front of him. He looks very serious, like he really is about to interview me. “Where did you grow up?”

  “Texas. Here in California. Everywhere.”

  Wade raises a brow. “You traveled a lot?”

  “Sort of.” I don’t want to tell him too much. I don’t want the poor little rich girl judgment. Not that I think Wade would be judgey, but I don’t know. People treat you differently when they realize you come from wealth.

  “Brothers or sisters?” He’s totally copying my earlier line of questions.

  “An older brother. Gabe. My parents are still together, but we think they hate each other.”

  “That sucks,” he murmurs with a slight shake of his head. “You’re nineteen, right?”

  “Yes.” Unease trickles down my spine. What else could he ask me? I have a few secrets, and I’m not big on revealing them, especially to a stranger. Even Drew and Fable don’t know everything about me. How I ended up with this job is kind of embarrassing.

  As in, everyone was doing me a favor.

  “Do you go to college?”

  I look away from him, my brain scrambling to come up with an excuse. “I’m saving up for college right now. I can’t really afford it.” I meet his gaze once more, trying to appear confident. More like I didn’t go, I lied to my parents that I was, and that lie ruined everything.

  And there’s no one else I can blame but myself.

  “I understand that. Luckily enough, I got a football scholarship.”

  “You must be really good.”

  Yet another shrug. “I’m all right.”

  He’s so modest too. This guy is almost too good to be true.

  “We should do this. We should help them,” I tell him before I chicken out. “We’ve got nothing to lose. How hard can it be?”

  “So I guess I passed the test?” He smiles and the sight of it makes my heart race.

  He is really too good-looking. I don’t know how I’m going to spend time with him and act like a normal human being. Of course, maybe it’s good that I won’t act normal. I’ll be a starry-eyed dork instead. Maybe that’ll be more convincing.

  “Did I pass your test?” I ask him.

  The appreciative glow in his eyes as he studies me is obvious. And it makes me warm. “Oh yeah.”

  “Okay then.” I take a deep breath and stand, resting my hands on my hips. “Let’s go inside and tell them we’re going to go through with this.”

  I seriously cannot believe we’re going to do this.

  Wade and I have spent the last week going over stuff, collaborating our stories, making up our newly formed, shared background. Well, more like Fable and I have been putting this stuff together while Drew and Wade are at intensive practices, and then I share the info with Wade via text or when he comes over to the house. For days now Fable and I have been spending time with the kids and creating my make-believe relationship with Wade. In the evening, I talk with Wade, letting him know what we’ve come up with. He just nods and agrees, never protesting, but never offering his opinion either.

  I think he’s distracted by practice, by the upcoming game. It’s the last preseason game and he’s playing. Deep down, I think he’s petrified he’ll get kicked off the team. This is the final make-or-break moment for him, and he’s nervous. Edgy. So I do my best to talk to him and soothe his jangled nerves.

  I don’t know if it’s working or not, but at least I’m trying.

  It’s been kind of fun, making up this entire dream-like relationship between Wade and me. How we met each other the day Fable hired me (truth) and it was love at first sight. We’ve been seeing each other ever since (truth—as in we do literally see each other quite often since he comes over to the Callahan house all the time). So it’s not like we’re lying…

  But then again, we so are. Everything about this situation is fake. I mean, yeah, I think Wade is attractive. I’m guessing he finds me attractive too. But can we really pull this off? Can we really convince the media—the world—that we’re madly in love and only have eyes for each other?

  I don’t know.

  We decided against Fable or Drew doing any sort of formal announcement. It felt too forced and we were afraid the media wouldn’t buy it.

  Honestly? I still worry they won’t buy what we’re trying to sell them. A relationship with Wade looks awfully convenient, doesn’t it? I’m fully prepared for the media to ask me a lot of questions. And I think my answer to most of them is going to be…

  No comment.

  “What was Wade like when he was younger?” I ask Fable while we’re hanging out in the kids’ playroom upstairs on Friday afternoon. Jacob is toddling around picking up plastic blocks and throwing them back down onto the ground. Autumn is sitting at a tiny table with a coloring book open and a box of crayons spilled all around her, coloring as if her life depended on it. The grim determination on the girl’s face almost makes me want to laugh.

  Fable smiles and slowly shakes her head. “He was sort of a nightmare. They both were, Owen and Wade. They’d get in trouble all the time. They made me crazy, but Wade’s mom was so good to both of them, and to me. I’m so thankful she helped me out back then. It was a rough time. And those boys just didn’t give a shit.” She makes a face. “Pardon my language. I’ve gotten better about the cursing thing, but the occasional bomb flies out.”

  “Wade was a troublemaker?” I’m surprised. At Fable’s questioning look, I continue. “He just seems so…intense all the time. Like he’s always trying to do the right thing.”

  “He’s changed a lot these last few years. He’s straightened up, gotten serious about his career and what he wants out of life. But there’s still a mischievous side to him—a naughty side. I bet it’s just buried deep.”

  Interesting. I wouldn’t describe Wade as mischievous. Or naughty. Then again, I don’t know him that well at all.

  “In college he was a total ladies’ man. So was my brother, until he met his girlfriend. She changed his player ways,” Fable says.

  “Did Wade have a lot of girlfriends?”

  Fable shakes her head. “He had a lot of girls, but none of them were serious. I’m telling you, they lived in a well-known party house. Wade always had some girl on his arm, sometimes two, but they never meant anything to him.”

  Sometimes two? “Oh.” I understand why he would be a player. I mean, look at him. But I’d never peg him as one now, what with the way he acts most of the time. He seems like the type to keep to himself.

  But maybe I’ve read him totally wrong. I don’t have a ton of experience with guys. He could have me totally snowed, and I’d never be the wiser.

  “Our lives were so different then.” Fable’s expression grows distant. “I didn’t have the best mother. My dad was nonexistent, and our mom had a drinking problem, so I had to take care of Owen a
lot on my own when I was growing up. I became like a second mom to him.”

  I had no idea. She seems to live this enchanted life. I can’t imagine her suffering and having to take care of her brother on her own. “Are you still in contact with your mom?”

  “She died a few years ago.” Fable sighs. “I sound awful, but it was probably…for the best. She was a drug addict and an alcoholic, and she could never keep a job. Her life was miserable, and she made everyone else around her miserable too.”

  “I’m sorry.” I don’t know what else to say. I thought my parents were bad. Her mom sounds awful.

  “It’s okay. I met Drew and he eventually changed my life for the better.” Fable smiles, her expression soft now, and full of happiness. “Maybe it could work out between you and Wade like it did for Drew and me.”

  “Ah, I don’t know about that.” I’m suddenly flustered. It’s ridiculous to think Wade and I could have something real, something beautiful and full of love like what Drew and Fable share.

  “Don’t count it out,” Fable says, almost cryptically. “He’s a good guy. Solid. Smart. Attractive. On the offensive line for the San Francisco 49ers.” She starts to laugh. “You could do worse, you know.”

  I giggle along with her, shaking my head. “Can I confess something to you?”

  Fable’s eyes light up. “Of course.”

  “I don’t know anything about football.”

  The disappointment on Fable’s face is clear. “Damn it, I was hoping you were going to tell me something juicy! Like you’re already madly in love with Wade and praying he feels the same way.”

  I can feel my cheeks go hot. “No, I’m not in love with him! Besides, I already told you, I barely know him. This entire situation is all kinds of awkward. I’m terrified we won’t be able to pull it off.”

  “Just go with it,” Fable says, her voice firm. “You’ll be fine. Your first public outing is tonight, right?”

  “Yeah, he’s coming back here with Drew.” And I’m nervous as hell every time I even think about what we’re going to do. I hold up my hands in front of me to see that they’re shaking. “I hope I don’t make a mess of it.”