Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 115308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
I looked down at the tablet, my throat tight, because suddenly this was all so very real. I was going to marry a man who didn’t love me, all for the sake of my career because my colleague was quite possibly a sociopath and had chosen me as her target for destruction.
If someone else had told me this was happening to them, I wouldn’t believe it.
“All good.” Baird shrugged. “Now can we get on with it?”
“We also want to discuss adding a few more filming dates to the schedule.” Hilary perched her elegant bum on the desk and crossed her arms over her chest. “Our team and the film production team feel like with the level of interest in you two, we should throw in some fun stuff to keep people engaged. Not just blatant promotion of our products.”
“Like?” I asked warily.
“Like footage of you living your lives together. Perhaps we could film you on dates.”
“But interesting ones,” Becky threw in unnecessarily.
“Bungee jumping.” Baird suddenly looked animated. “Why don’t we film us going bungee jumping together? I’ve always wanted to do it, and you said you wanted to have a bit of adventure.”
I gaped at him. What the hell? “Bungee jumping?”
“Or skydiving.” He waggled his eyebrows at me a wee bit maniacally.
What the … okay, something was going on with him.
“I’m not—”
“My type of guy.” Becky’s hot eyes raked over Baird. “I bungee jumped at the one in Perthshire. I’d suggest we do the shoot there”—her eyes flicked to me—“but Maia looks a little green around the gills at the thought.”
“I’m not green around the gills.” If she eye-fucked my fake fiancé one more time …
“It’s okay, Maia.” Her smile was saccharine sweet. “We’re not all adrenaline junkies. It’s okay to be too scared for adventure. We’ll figure out something else for the date.”
“You don’t know Maia.” Baird shot Becky an annoyed glower before he turned to me, expression softening. Yet there was still that wild glint in his dark eyes I didn’t understand, or like, because I’d seen it before—weeks ago, when he was chasing chaos.
Damn.
Were we back there again?
“I can bungee jump.” The words were out of my mouth before I really processed what I’d agreed to.
Baird let out a whoop, twirling me in his arms in his excitement. I would have been happy to see the return of fun-loving Baird McMillan if I didn’t feel so uneasy.
“Save it for the camera.” Hilary chuckled as Baird placed me back on my feet. “Now let’s go over a few more things before the team is ready for you.”
Three hours later, hungry, tired, and growing increasingly pissed off, I was glad when Bruno finally called a wrap for the day. Between having to share shivery soft kisses with Baird all afternoon, feeling his hand pressed firmly on my lower back, or having him cuddle into me as we selected products from the home department for our registry, all the while feeling alarmed about his current mental state, I was a mess.
Not only that, but I also hadn’t realized how difficult filming us picking our wedding gifts out would be. Though I would never have a wedding registry, I had imagined a moment in my life where I picked out plates and glasses and appliances and soft furnishings with my future partner.
To do it for the first time and have it all be fake … I mean, Pennington’s was donating all this stuff to us (and believe me, I had guilt about that too), and we’d have to live with it for at least a year. Together? We hadn’t planned to live together, but now we were under all this scrutiny. Would that go away after the wedding, or would the media continue to follow us? Would we have to pretend to live together?
How could two intelligent people seriously have not thought this through?
Moreover, there was definitely something up with Baird.
He was giving me the front-cover version of his personality. On steroids.
Fake smiles, shallow conversation, constant jokes. The deeper, more serious side of him that I loved was buried beneath something frantic and frayed.
There was still work to be done at the office, so I walked Baird out of the staff entrance where he’d parked his motorbike.
“I’ll see you soon.” He bent his head to press a barely there kiss to my cheek, and I grabbed his arm, halting him.
“Bear …” I searched his face for answers. “What is going on?”
He frowned, gently tugging his arm out of my hold. Then he flashed me a cocky smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Nothing. I need to get going. Got shit to do.”
“Aye, you said that … before you suggested we go bungee jumping on film.”
“It’ll be fun.” He retreated, walking back toward the motorbike. “C’mon, My, live a little. You could do with a wee push off a cliff.”