Page 34 of Faking the Shot

Ainsley slipped her hair from her long ponytail, ran a hand through it.

Zac gulped. If he wasn’t aware of people watching them, he’d be sorely tempted to run a hand through her hair too.You’re her friend, remember?“Uh, Ainsley?”

“Ainsley? Ainsley Beckett? And—whoa. Zac Parotti? Are you serious?”

Ainsley turned to Zac. “I don’t know. Are we?”

He was seriously in trouble. Because this fake thing wasn’t working for him.

Ainsley grinned, eyeing him, and inched closer. “What do you say we give them a picture to remember?”

He swallowed as she pushed into his personal space, her chest against his, then wrapped her arms around his neck. “Hi.”

“Hi.” His hands slid to hold her waist.

She drew closer still, until their noses almost touched, and his gaze fell to her lips. His breathing slowed, as she pushed to her toes. For someone who had said she didn’t want to do hugs, this seemed awfully close. And she was awfully close to getting herself kissed.

His pulse pounded loud in his ears as he breathed in her perfume, waiting, waiting for whatever she’d do next. She was in charge here; he was following her lead. And it looked awfully like she wanted to kiss—

She suddenly pulled back. Stepped away. Put on her sunglasses. Dragged her long hair into a ponytail again. “Well, that was fun.”

He blinked. Pretending they were about to kiss? Just for the sake of a couple of people with their phones?

But as he glanced around, he saw there were a few more than that, maybe closer to a dozen now. Some of whom were women who eyed him with the look he’d seen earlier on the ride. Women who, in the past, would lick their lips and pass him their phone numbers. There’d been hardly any of that today. None at last night’s game. None of that since news of his fake relationship with Ainsley had hit the gossip waves.

Ainsley grinned and glanced around, then said loudly enough so the fans could hear, “The people that you meet, huh?” She pulled on her helmet and collected her bike.

“Ainsley? Can I get a photo?”

“Sure.” She posed for a selfie with a fan. Others were braving up to ask too.

He got his bike, dragged on his helmet. This had the potential to escalate in ways that could get tricky to negotiate if they didn’t leave soon. “Come on, Ains, we need to get back.”

“Oh! Okay, sure.” She waved to a couple of others, like the celebrity she was.

He pedaled away, gesturing for her to take the path that led the longer way around the Lagoon, where less people were likely to be.

By the time they were halfway along North Lagoon Drive, she was puffing. Man, he’d forgotten she wasn’t an athlete. He slowed his pace. “Sorry. I just wanted to get out of there.”

“It got a little wilder than I expected.”

“You might need to expect some people when you return.”

“You think there will be photographers there?”

“Probably.” One hundred percent.

She grinned. “Good. So the plan is working.”

The plan might be working. For her. But he suspected it might be the death of him.

CHAPTER8

Ainsley glanced around her dining table, found her courage and a smile. “Thank you all for coming at such short notice. I just wanted to explain a few things about me and Zac.”

“Oh, Ainsley, I still can’t believe it.” Mom’s shining eyes said she wanted to, though.

“You and hockey’s All-Star MVP? I can’t believe it either,” her dad said.