Page 25 of I Think He Knows
“Likewise,” Freya twinkles, flashing her famous Hollywood smile. “Love the Chanel. New summer collection?”
Elena answers with a half nod, like speaking fashion is beneath her, and dives straight to business. “Sorry I’m late. I had a long talk with Marc on the way here.”
“Carter already told me about the premiere,” Freya says. “I’ll go with him, no problem.”
“Good. Marc was sure you’d be up for it. And Marc and I are also in agreement that the premiere is a valuable opportunity to playthisup as much as possible…” She moves her pointer finger between Freya and me, and then looks at me with a start, like she’s shocked to find me sitting in front of her. “Oh! That reminds me, have you had time to go over that script I sent you? TheEndless Possibilitiesone?”
“Was planning on giving it a read soon.” I shake my head as I hide my smile. Typical Elena, bouncing through a million ideas at once. I decide to get the conversation back on track. “But back to the Freya and me thing, you were saying that we should play it up as much as possible? Isn’t that what we’ve been doing for the past week?”
“Yes. That’s right.” Elena replies.
I run a hand through my hair and frown, trying to get ahead of the situation. “Well, the dating rumors are everywhere, and we’ve been photographed together in multiple places. What else would you want us to do? Release statements confirming our relationship or something?”
“Ooh! We could do a hard launch on Instagram!” Freya pipes in helpfully.
“What the hell is a hard launch?” I ask, but Elena cocks her head at Freya, then nods once, like she’s actually considering her suggestion, and whatever it’s hardness factor entails.
Then, she says, “Marc and I actually have something else in mind.”
She pauses. I wait. Because, if I know Elena at all, I know that there’s more coming. And I don’t like the look on her face.
It’s like she just cleared the area, and now she’s about to drop the bomb.
Elena finally steeples her fingers. “Marc and I think you two should get engaged.”
Boom. Bomb detonated.
“WHAT?” I practically yell. Multiple heads around the patio swivel, and I offer a small, benign smile of apology.Nothing to see here, folks!
“Obviously, it wouldn’t be for real. And it would just be until theIf Onlycast is officially announced.” She gives me a stern, no-nonsense, very Elena head nod. “If you want any chance at getting this role, Carter, the casting directors need to believe that you can one hundred percent embody this character, play a good man who is truly dedicated to the woman he loves. And what could be better to show this than a real-life romantic commitment?”
“This is hardly fair on Freya—”
“Think about it,” Elena cuts me off swiftly. “Hollywood’s most notorious bad boy, who’s about to star in the most buzzworthy movie of the decade, has cleaned up his act and is now engaged to America’s sweetheart, a former Disney star who has reinvented herself as a serious music artist…” Elena looks at Freya like a shark going in for the kill. “Just in time for her new album to drop, of course.”
Freya smiles slowly as she twirls a strand of hair around one finger. “Oooh, yes. I can see how that would be a big story. Can I choose my own ring?”
“I have a contact at Harry Winston I can—”
“Wait, you’re okay with this?” I interrupt as I gape at Freya. Strategically posed photos for the paparazzi are one thing, but faking an entire engagement? That’s lunacy.
Freya shrugs. “Sure. I mean, I did the whole fake relationship thing with that Canadian singer a couple years back when I was looking for breakthrough roles after the Disney Channel and before I switched to singing exclusively. We kept that up for almost a year and it was fine. Don’t mind doing it again, especially when I don’t have a boyf—” Freya stops abruptly, looking at me with wide eyes. “OhshootwaitIforgotaboutyourgirlfriend!”
I almost repeat my “WHAT?” moment until I remember the lie I put into gear the night we met. “Oh… right. My, uh, girlfriend,” I say feebly.
“Your girlfriend,” Elena repeats.
“I guess she wouldn’t be a fan of this engagement idea,” I conclude. Because what else can I do? My lie is already in motion, and it’s about to deal me a Get Out Of Engagement Free card.
Which I wouldn’t hate.
Plus, Lana will get a freaking laugh out of this. I’ll have to confess to her that I used her as a scapegoat when I next see her. She’ll tease me mercilessly, I’m sure.
Unless her date with the doctor reallydoesgo well tonight. Then maybe it’s not the best thing that I’ve been pretending she’s my girlfriend while she’s seriously pursuing other men for a genuine connection. Because that’s highly unlikely to go down well with whoever she’s dating.
Which yes, I do still feel weirdly bothered about.
And wish I was a big enough person not to feel that way.