Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Maddox was surprisingly skilled, catching moments I would have missed, finding angles that showcased Legacy’s charm without veering into cliché.
By nine thirty, we’d amassed enough B-roll to establish the setting, and I was feeling optimistic about the day ahead. We returned to my rental car to stow some equipment and check our phones before heading to the lodge for my first official date.
None of my messages or missed calls were urgent, but Maddox frowned at his screen.
“Problem?” I asked.
“Little bit.” He typed something quickly, then pocketed his phone and glanced back at me. “Alex can’t make it. We’re short one date for your date video.”
I felt a beat of disappointment before feeling unexpected excitement come over me like the Grinch’s slow grin.
“I know where we can find a stand-in. He’s grumpy as hell, but he’ll look good in front of the camera despite the scowl.”
Maddox’s eyes widened before narrowing again. The narrowing did something to his whole face—made it sharper, more dangerous… and unfairly hot. The scowl in question was present and accounted for. “Not on your life. Remember rule three?”
I smiled brilliantly. “Rules were meant to be broken, Maddox.”
#FuckRule3 #GrumpyButCute #HotCocoaHotWater
4
#RULESCHMULE
MADDOX
After arguing with Adrian the entire drive to the lodge, I was this close to telling him to forget the whole thing. The only thing that kept me from pulling over and tossing him into the snowbank was remembering the stack of invoices on my desk.
I needed this money. Badly.
“I’ll call around,” I told him. “Find someone who can stand in. You go inside and scope out… whatever. Just give me a few minutes.”
I could tell Adrian wanted to roll his eyes at me and accuse me, yet again, of being a stubborn pain in the ass. A “creative purist” who wasn’t able to shift on the fly.
But that wasn’t why I didn’t want to be in front of the cameras with him. The real reason was simple—I wanted to be seen as the videographer, not the date. I didn’t want to be the recipient of his charming smile and pithy comments. I wanted to take the best damned images and video possible and use it to bring as many eyes onto my work as I could.
Without getting caught up in a silly fantasy.
“Yeah, Maddox, what’s up?” Nate Lewis’s warm voice rumbled over the other end of the line.
“I need a favor. I’ve got a guy—”
“Heard all about your guy,” he said with a laugh. “Everyone in town’s talking about it.”
“We need someone to be his date today for a video shoot. I was hoping you could—”
I could hear him talk to someone in the background before coming back to the line. “Definitely can’t today, but put me down for a sleigh ride with the guy. Maybe Sunday, yeah? Be good publicity for us. Sorry, Maddox. Gotta go.”
The call was over before I could say thanks.
I quickly dialed several other people. If they did say yes, it was the same as with Nate. They’d be happy to help, but not today.
After exhausting the list of contacts in my phone, I blew out a frustrated breath and dialed one more number.
“Sullivan Hardware, this is Maya.”
“I need your help with something.”
After hopping out of Adrian’s rental car, I walked to the lodge’s entrance to find the man and update him on the plan. I held the door for two teenage girls who were racing to catch up with their parents, but when they stepped inside, I heard one of them take a sharp inhale.
“Holy shit, Brynn. That’s Adrian Hayes!”
“No!” the other girl hissed, grabbing her friend’s arm. “No freaking way.”
“My parents are going to lose it. He changed my life. He seriously… omigod. How… how am I going to talk to him without acting like a complete cringe-fest? I have to say something to him, but what? And what if I burst into tears?”
Since they were basically blocking the door anyway, I didn’t feel bad eavesdropping.
Brynn nodded, eyes like lasers honed in on the beautiful idiot across the room. “Like, remember his post about his parents? And how he was so there for everyone in his comments. Hashtag ‘family complications’ went viral for days after that.”
The other girl closed her eyes for a beat. “He was so real for that. Like, so, so real.”
“And when he talked about burnout? I made my mom watch it with me. It was the first time she actually listened when I said I needed a break.”
Not-Brynn shoved her hand in her coat pocket, most likely looking for her phone. “That one got shared by, like, every teacher at my school. My counselor said it made the rounds on the staff Slack or whatever.”
“Ugh, he’s even hotter in person,” the original girl whispered. “He’s like the perfect guy, pretty and kind. I hate that he’s gay! It’s so unfair.”