by Lauren Wood
9
Victoria
Lucas insisted on me sharing a car with him to the office, but I refused. I was dressed in one of my sleekest pantsuits and I was determined to walk into work in the shoes of the only role I had originally signed up to fill—a PR consultant. That’s the job I signed up to do, and as far as I was concerned, Lucas’s and my arrangement had nothing to do with that.
I ignored the lingering stares and whispers as I marched through the workroom floor straight to the conference room for our AM meeting. I had the perfect strategy planned. Beating around the bush would only inspire more gossip and rumors. It was better to go in, guns blazing, and call out the elephant in the room to reassure everyone.
I intentionally planned my arrival to be just a few minutes late, so everyone else would already be seated and waiting for me by the time I breezed in. I purposefully avoided looking at Lucas as I made my way to the head of the table.
“Good morning, everyone, and thank you for convening here,” I announced sharply. “As you know, Lucas has invited me onto the Heartstring team to help out with the media and public relations, which is precisely what we’re going to discuss this morning. But first...I know you’re all curious about what you’ve seen in the media following our...somewhat surprising press conference the other day.”
I tensed up slightly, but quickly blew out a breath, trying to hide my lingering resentment towards Lucas for pulling that stunt.
“Yes, it is true that Lucas and I are entering into an engagement. But as far as everyone in this office is concerned, it has nothing to do with my job or what I’ve been hired to do. So, with that behind us...let’s move onto damage control. No one’s talking about Lucas’s love life in a negative light anymore. That’s good. But we need to redirect the focus back to Heartstring’s mission. We need to remind them why the service you’re offering is more important than its employees’ and executives’ personal lives.”
“Well, if that were the case, we wouldn’t be in this position to begin with,” Camille grumbled.
I ignored her beyond a brief, passing glance and continued. “I’ve put together an outline for featuring successful matches from the site. With three years under your belt, you’ve managed to bring together some couples that, by this point, have resulted in engagements and marriages. We need to remind the press and everyone else about these successes so they’ll be reassured that the service works. It’s the perfect celebratory focus for the three-year anniversary.”
Jada stood and passed out the files I had asked her to put together. “These are profiles on the couples we have successfully matched who are now in long-term relationships with marriage on the horizon,” she explained, handing each one of us a spiral-bound folder. “They’ve each agreed to our terms to be considered and given us details about their lives and relationships so we can pick the best ones to highlight.”
We each started flipping through the options as I explained that we would feature upwards of fifteen to twenty couples on the site, with a larger emphasis on three to five star couples, who would be more prominently featured and invited to the anniversary party.
“This woman’s knocked up. Shotgun wedding,” Camille huffed.
I nodded. “Not the ideal image for what we’re looking to promote.”
Jack leaned forward and laughed. “I can’t see these two exactly being envied by the masses...however superficial that may be.”
He held up a photo of one of the couples—both of them with yellowed, half-toothless grins as they posed with cans of cheap beer and hunting rifles.
“Ah, yes. One of our matches from the southern region.” I smirked. “They told us they’re getting married in a hayfield with a tailgate-style reception. No, I don’t think they’re quite right for this.”
“There are a few in here that look promising,” Lucas noted. “But what about skeletons in their closets? What if once they’re in the spotlight, cheating or secret debt or a myriad of other issues pop up to tear them apart?”
I jotted down some corresponding numbers on a sheet of paper and slid it across the table. “These are my recommendations for who to feature, but you’re right, Lucas. They’ll all be thoroughly vetted before moving forward. Everyone’s got a thing or two to hide, and the last thing we need is this positive spin being turned into another PR nightmare.”
“Here’s a thought,” Jack offered with his fingers poised under his chin. “Why don’t we feature you two?”
“Who two?”
“You and Lucas.”
“Uh...that’s really not...I don’t think…,” I stammered uncomfortably.
“That’s not a good idea,” Trent concluded.
“Thank you, Trent. I think.”
“Think about it,” Jack continued, unpersuaded. “We know your histories. There’s nothing bad or scary waiting in the wings to mess the whole thing up...at least beyond what they’ve already called Lucas on. And with him being our CEO and you being our PR consultant, it only increases the interest. And it puts us further away from this whole debacle with Lucas’s reputation. Two birds with one stone and way more press.”
“But they didn’t meet through the site,” Trent argued.
“No, but their own happiness is still inspiring. And we can put it as motivating them more than ever to bring other couples together, now that they’ve found true love,” he defended.
“I think inspiring happiness and true love is a stretch,” Camille muttered under her breath.
“Exactly.” Trent stabbed a pen in the air. “No offense, but you two obviously cooked this whole thing up, and when the media sees straight through that—they’ll tear us to shreds. We’ll be worse off than when we started.”
“Aren’t you in our finance department?” Lucas asked him, looking perturbed. “How exactly is any of this within your job description?”
“Marketing budget,” he shot back quickly.
“But not marketing opinion, because professionally...you have none,” I told Trent with a death stare. He was only sitting in that room because of me, and now he had the audacity to be working against me.
“Jack is right, as reluctant as I am to admit it.” Lucas shrugged. “Logically, featuring Victoria and me makes the most sense.”
I felt a pang. Why the hell was he reluctant to admit it? This whole thing was his idea. Surely he understood that after announcing it so publicly, before I had even agreed to it, it would quickly become the talk of the town.
“Lucas and I would have to discuss this privately,” I said. “But yes, it’s definitely worth considering.”
“How am I the only one who sees what a disaster this is?” Trent gaped incredulously. “I may not be a PR expert, but I know enough to realize the press are like vultures. They’re on high alert for any sign of a scandal, and this whole fiasco is like a wet dream for them.”
“The only thing you need to concern yourself with is the budget,” Lucas fumed in a low grumble, barely keeping his obvious rage contained.
“And as far as the budget is concerned,” I added, “this would actually save us money. We have to compensate the featured couples, of course.”
Joshua, who had seemed hungover and half-asleep up until that point, suddenly perked up. “Why don’t we offer them goods instead of money? Like a trade?”
Camille deadpanned. “We offer matchmaking services,” she said dryly. “They’re already matched. What exactly are we supposed to offer them?”
“Maybe Lucas can sleep with the girls in the couples as payment,” Trent hissed under his breath—just loud enough that we were all almost positive we’d heard exactly what he said, but still quiet enough for us to let it slide without questioning him. Of course, that didn’t stop Lucas from shooting daggers across the table with his eyes. If we weren’t in such a precarious position, I was certain he’d be fired on the spot.
“The budget is already worked out for compensation,” I sighed, trying to bring them back to focus. “The details of the p
lan are solid, okay? We’re good. And if everyone trusts my judgment, I’ll make my final pick for which couples to feature by the end of the day. As for Lucas and me...we’ll talk. And update everyone. As I said before.”
Trent muttered yet another snide remark under his breath, but this time it was drowned out by the shuffle of everyone gathering their things to leave. I felt so wound up that it was a little hard to breathe as they filed out the door. In some ways, it had gone better than I’d expected. In others, I was hit with even more negativity than I had accounted for.
Lucas stayed behind and shut the door once everyone was gone. “Let’s talk.”
“Right now?” I huffed.
“Why not? You sure you’re okay with this?”
“No, I’m not sure.” I shook my head. “But if we’re doing this thing...it’s kind of my professional duty to do it all the way to make it all the more believable.” I tried not to think about last night...which was about as believable as it got. We didn’t have to fake anything in the bedroom, that was for damn sure. “Surely you knew we’d have to be very public about our relationship. That’s the whole point of it.”
He nodded in agreement. “I know. Hey, this was my idea. And obviously, I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m just...checking in, you know. Making sure you’re ready to be announced to the world as Lucas Meadows’s fiancé.”
“I think you already did that part,” I quipped.
He looked out the door for a moment, glaring over the office floor. “Hey. One more question. I know you and Trent obviously aren’t a thing, but did you ever...date...or fuck...or anything like that?”
I let out a dramatic, groaning sigh. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no. We’ve never been anything but friends.”
“Huh,” he grunted. “Gotcha. Okay, well...I better get to work. Good job today. You killed it.”
I sank down in my chair as he walked out. It hadn’t exactly felt like I killed it, but it was over now.
10
Lucas
That morning’s meeting left a bad taste in my mouth. What the hell was Trent’s deal? I was trying to keep a professional, unbiased stance—even though he’d fucked up the moment I first saw him standing side by side with Victoria. But now he was shamelessly attacking both of us and the arrangement, which was none of his business.
Thankfully, I had a leg to stand on. My most recent media scandal aside, which left me feeling vulnerable to criticism, he had no right to question me and speak to me that way in front of my staff.
He knocked on the door to my office and I waved him in.
“You asked to see me?”
“Have a seat,” I barked, not even bothering with niceties. “And shut the door.”
He grew tense but shut the door behind him before taking the seat across from me. “I hope everything’s alright,” he sighed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees to rub his hands flat against each other.
I couldn’t help but smirk. He knew damn well why I had called him in.
“Enjoying your time here so far, Maddox?”
“I certainly am. Always grateful for the opportunity.”
I nodded, smiling wider. But it was a smile of anger, not politeness. “You didn’t seem so grateful this morning.”
“Just speaking frankly.”
“Well, no one asked you to do that, now did they?” I snapped. “It’s obvious you have something to say to me. Something that started to seep out in all the wrong ways this morning. So, in the interest of a peaceful work environment...I’m giving you a chance to air your concerns to me privately.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He laughed. “I said anything I had to say in the breakroom the other day.”
“Fine. I’ll say it for you. Maybe you were harboring a little something for Victoria before she introduced you to everyone here. But...whatever that is will have to be put aside.”
His face tightened, twitching with annoyance. “I think you’re projecting, Lucas.”
“Mr. Meadows,” I corrected him.
“You’re the one who’s obviously been harboring some kind of feelings for her. And maybe you thought this little arrangement would give you an in to get everything you want with her that she would never give you any other way...But I’m just looking out for the best interests of the company. Better than you are, apparently.”
It took everything in me not to lunge across my desk at him. “You don’t know the first thing about the best interests of my family’s company.”
“I know this whole thing with you and Victoria is a sham. And when it all goes up in flames...and believe me, it will...she’s going to walk away from it looking like a saint. And you’ll be exposed for the manipulative player that you are. As you would have already been definitively coined had you not used her and lied to everyone like you did.”
He stood up and started for the door. “I can’t believe I delivered her straight into your arms by coming in for that interview. But don’t worry. This facade of yours is just going to deliver her right back into my arms.”
I stood and cornered him. “She was never yours to begin with.”
Suddenly, the door behind us opened and Victoria was standing there, looking pissed as ever. “You’re right, Lucas. I wasn’t. But I’m not yours either.”
“This is a private meeting,” I warned her. “But you showed up just in time to see me fire your buddy here.”
“Lucas, stop it,” she said in a barking hiss. “I don’t belong to anyone, and no one is getting fired over this.”
“Oh, the only thing he’s getting fired for is inappropriate demeanor towards the CEO, aka his employer. He’s been disrespectful and hasn’t stopped questioning my authority since he was hired.”
“Maybe if the authority was more trustworthy,” Trent defended, squaring up to me.
“What’s going on here?” Camille appeared over Victoria’s shoulder.
“Lucas. I need to talk to you.” Victoria shoved Trent out for Camille to deal with him and slid herself into his place, securing the door again. “What the hell has gotten into you? How are we going to make this work if we can’t go a single day without something threatening to ruin this whole thing!? Trent’s right. This isn’t going to stand a chance under the media’s lens.”
“The only thing causing a problem right now is Trent. You said nothing happened between you. So, why is he walking around like he owns you?”
“No one owns me, like I said. Not even you.” She buried her face in her hands in frustration. “Ugh, this is the exact thing I’ve wanted to avoid in my work life. All that should matter is the work I do and how fucking great I am at it. I don’t like my personal life being in the spotlight.”
“You are fucking great at it,” I assured her. “True, maybe the lines are a little blurred this time. But you’re going to handle this whole thing with the same expertise you would any other marketing plan. I know you will.”
It made my whole chest seize up to think of our relationship as nothing more than a marketing ploy, but maybe she was right. If we were going to make this work, I had to start treating it as such. If that was even possible.
“I don’t know,” she fretted, pacing my office. “First, all that weirdness between us this morning. Now this with Trent. This just doesn’t seem like it’s going as smoothly as you hoped. Maybe we should come up with a different strategy before it’s too late.”
“Too late?”
“An unexpected press conference announcement is one thing,” she explained. “But we’re talking about flaunting our fake relationship in front of everyone, putting it on some kind of pedestal. Even if this was the real thing, some people would still be trying to tear it apart. But to make matters worse, it’s all a sham. Like Trent said. I don’t know if we can pull it off.”
“Me alone? No. But you? You’ll pull it off without a hitch.”
“You’re just trying to butter me up now.”
I grinned, seeing an opp
ortunity to have a little fun. Stepping closer, I dropped the tone of my voice. “If I wanted to do that, I’d take the strategy I did last night. Less talking, more…” I raised a brow.
“No,” she said sternly, but I noticed a glimmer of interest in her eyes. “Not here at the workplace. And really, we should put some sort of ground rules into place for sex anyways. I mean...it’s just for getting me pregnant, right? Shouldn’t we wait until after we’re actually married? Are we even going to get legally married? Oh, god...they’ll be able to track a marriage certificate or lack thereof. It’s public record.”
I put my hands on her shoulders. “Shhhh. You’re spinning out. Getting pregnant is the goal, yes. But surely...it’s not the only thing you get out of it.”
She flashed a hint of a smile. “Let’s not get too caught up in that. But...sure, yeah. Last night was...good.”
“Just good?” I raised a brow. She shrugged, blushing. “Because I thought it was fucking phenomenal. And personally, I can’t wait to do it again. Tonight, maybe?”
She darkened her eyes at me. “If we’re doing anything tonight, it’s figuring out how far we’re going to go with this thing. We need to decide before we start parading around in front of everyone like Couple of the Year. You never answered me about the marriage license.”
“You never answered me about the less than satisfactory adjective you used to describe last night,” I retorted, moving in closer. “If all I managed to accomplish was ‘good’—I’ll have to do better next time.”
She finally mustered up the willpower to push my arms away and put a safe distance between us. Which was for the best. One second longer and we might have ended up toppling over onto my desk. But wait...was avoiding that really for the best?
“God, Lucas. Stop thinking with your dick and focus. Is this thing with Trent and you really going to be okay? And how are we going to make things go more smoothly between us so this doesn’t blow up in our faces?”