Page 42 of I Think He Knows

“What hole?”

Elena cracks up. Jeez. Now is not the ideal time for my dead-serious manager to develop a sudden dirty sense of humor.

“Elena…” I say with a warning in my voice.

“Sorry, sorry!” She laughs merrily. She really is in a frighteningly good mood right now. “What I mean is that you better figure out a way to get your friend to pretend to be your fiancée, because the entire planet is gobbling up this little love story of yours like pudding.”

“And if she doesn’t want to pretend to be my fiancée?”

“Convince her. Dust off some of that charm of yours and make it worth her while. Because it’s sure worthyourwhile. Larter has taken the internet by storm better than I could’ve even hoped the Freya engagement story would. For the first time, I think you may be a shoo-in for this role. Like, you could drop a baby on its head and you’d still be in the running after today’s press.”

“Well, there’s a charming thought.”

“Forget a modern-day Timberlake and Spears,” Elena ignores me. “This is, like, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds level of endearing. Do you think you could blast out some funny tweets about your new wife-to-be? A few Larter inside jokes, maybe?”

Every single part of my body is tense. I’ve always done everything I can to protect Lana Mae from the spotlight, not wanting proximity to me to ever impact her life. And now, I’ve gone and set fire to the entire house of cards I’ve built for her. Some friend I am.

And yet… while I certainly wouldn’t blame her for being furious that her face is now slapped across every gossip article in existence, I’m also curious as to what on earth she was spinning earlier to that cop and his wife with the big hair and crazy eyes. I definitely wasnotexpecting that reaction when I sped into that parking lot like a bat out of hell. I admit that my heart jumped when she flung herself at me, and beat double-time when I teasingly pressed my lips to her cheek.

I know that she’s going to have some crazy only-Lana-Mae explanation for the whole charade that has nothing to do with her actually wanting to be my fiancée.

Lana Mae is the person I love most on this entire planet. And while everything in me wants to move on from this stupid bad-reputation rhetoric and step into the type of acting role that could cement my career in cinematic history, the one thing I want more is to make sure that Lan and Legs are both safe and happy.

“I don’t think I can do that, Elena. And please stop saying Larter.”

“Surely fake marrying your best friend is an easier task than fake marrying a practical stranger?”

Yeah, you’d think that’d be the case, wouldn’t you?

“Look, I’ll be back in LA tomorrow morning,” I say reasonably. “Why don’t I stop by your office then, so we can talk about this in person and make a plan?”

“You will do no such thing!”

I find myself, for about the millionth time this week, asking, “What?”

“Stay right where you are in Atlanta.”

“What about the commitments you mentioned I have in LA this week?”

“Consider them officially canceled, and your down time in Atlanta officially underway instead. This should be a welcome break for you. Stay put and work on what’s important right now: convincing Lana Mae this is a great move for both of you. This does also mean that she will need to attend the premiere of your new movie in Freya’s place.”

Ha. Freya. I wonder what she’s making of all this. She’s probably just delighted she doesn’t have to move to Atlanta.

“The premiere’s in LA.”

“Planes exist,” Elena counters.

“Assuming she agrees to do this with me,” I remind Elena.

“Andwhenshe agrees, you should also see if you can negotiate for her and her daughter to come live with you at your house. We’ll move forward with the original plan I had for you and Freya, just with Lana Mae instead. Ooh, do you think she’d be open to pregnancy rumors?”

“Absolutely not!”

“Okay, fine. No pregnancy. But the rest isn’t up for negotiation, Carter. You need this. Once the movie cast has been announced and your role is safe, you can stage a breakup right around the time some starlet has another meltdown. I’m sure Kim Kardashian is due another marriage soon. We could sneak something in around that.”

“That’s kind of ruthless.”

“It’s my job, Carter. I’m doing mine. Now I need you to do yours.”