“You’re nothing special.” He smirked again. “I just haven’t been with anyone in a while, so it’ll have to do.”
Wow, he’s more than a jerk. He’s an asshole.
“Thanks, I’m sure this fake relationship is going to be quite enjoyable for both of us.” I shot him an angry glare out of the corner of my eyes.
“You can think about me too if you want. It’s okay.” He bit down on his bottom lip. “Me and my big… Stetson hat.”
Oh god, surely he doesn’t know.
“No, thank you.” I felt my jaw tighten. “I’m sure I can find someone much better to think about than you.”
The conversation drifted off and I felt myself fuming inside. I regretted agreeing to the fake relationship in the first place if he was going to act like this. I could handle a little flirting, and I wasn’t so innocent than a few sexy words would make my legs snap shut completely, but Brendan had turned my slight bit of interest into total disinterest with one conversation. He might have been ungodly attractive, but that was all he had going for him. The man underneath the Stetson hat was as bad as the guys I dated back in Texas—he might even be worse than Billy. At least Billy had the courtesy of taking me out on a date before he tried to get in my panties. Brendan treated sex like it was nothing more than a game. A game I no longer wanted to play.
“Okay, it’s probably been long enough.” He turned towards me again. “We need to mess up your hair a little bit and your dress needs to look like it’s been on the floor since you came upstairs. Make it look like you tried to fix it, though.”
“Fine.” I stood and ran my fingers through my hair a few times as I shook my head. “Is that good enough?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Brendan stood and ripped the top button of his shirt with a quick tug. “Look at that, you’re a little crazy when you get turned on.”
“I think that was uncalled for.” I twisted and bunched up my dress, making it look like it had been hurriedly put back on.
“Even crazier than I expected.” He popped another button and grinned.
“That’s enough—seriously.” I glared at him and walked to the mirror.
Brendan untucked his shirt from his waist and then hurriedly stuffed it back in while I checked myself out in the mirror. I caught a glimpse of his tight abdominal muscles peeking out the bottom of his shirt as he readjusted it. Even if he was an asshole, it was hard to ignore how attractive he was. Once both of our attires looked like they had seen better days, he put on his Stetson hat and walked to the door. I followed behind him, expecting him to at least hold it open for me, but he just left. By the time I exited the room, he was walking back down the stairs. I waited for a few minutes like I had before I left the bar, and then headed back to the party. I stayed long enough for the paparazzi to get a few shots, and then I decided to go home. My nerves were shot and I was long past the point of regretting the agreement as my mind started to process exactly what it would mean when the story made headlines.
One month later
The tabloids played right into Sawyer’s hands. The day after we pretended to hook up at the party, my face was on every country music gossip website. I didn’t even have a name at first. I was just a mysterious blonde woman that Brendan Tanner might be dating. We staged severa
l more dates after that, going out to dinner together, and then ending the night as his apartment. As soon as we walked through the front door of the building, I ran to the back door where my car had been parked earlier in the day. The charade started to take flight quickly. Once someone recognized me as the YouTube girl that sang Shattered Heart, my name was right there alongside Brendan’s on the gossip websites. His Stetson Hat hit the airwaves and within a week, it was already threatening to break into the top twenty.
“How long do we have to keep doing this?” I sat down next to Brendan in Sawyer’s office. “We’ve created the buzz you were after, so can’t we just go our separate ways?”
“Tired of me so soon, darling?” Brendan smirked and winked.
“You can drop the accent, asshole.” I glared at him. “Sawyer knows you’re full of shit just like I do.”
“I’m trying to make it a permanent thing. The ladies love it.” He grinned and turned towards Sawyer. “But seriously, how quickly can I dump this chick and start hooking up with some of the fangirls that want to heal my broken heart?”
“We need to get both of your albums out first.” Sawyer nodded and pushed a piece of paper to the edge of his desk. “The early sales projection are great. Let’s not shatter the fantasy before we get both of you established in the country music world.”
“All right, well I’ve got two tracks to record, so I’m heading to the studio. See you later, sweetheart.” He winked at me and walked towards the door.
“Go to hell.” I muttered under my breath and grumbled.
“Loving you is hell.” He chuckled. “Hey, maybe that’ll be my breakup song. It might even be more popular than Shattered Heart.”
“I’m sorry, Lauren. I know this isn’t what you envisioned when you came to Nashville.” Sawyer exhaled sharply once Brendan left his office.
“It wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t such an asshole! I mean, he doesn’t even treat me like a human being half the time! When he does, he’s just telling me he wants add an authentic flair to our relationship by really taking me to bed.” My words came out like an explosion of bottled frustration.
“Yes, Brendan can be a bit difficult.” Sawyer sighed and shook his head. “I’ve been dealing with him a lot longer than you have.”
“Yeah, well you’re not the one that has to pretend like you’re having sex with him.” I clenched my jaw and felt my arm twitch. “Do you know how hard it is to share a meal with him and smile when you want to stab him in the eye with your fork?”
“Please don’t do that—at least not until your albums are out.” Sawyer raised his eyebrows and sighed again. “Remember, this relationship is driving your success right now. It isn’t fair, but this is what Nashville wants, so we have to give them the full package.”