“So do half the country music stars in Nashville.” I shrugged and sipped my drink. “She could be talking about anyone.”
“That doesn’t matter. All that really matters is that people think she’s talking about you.” He leaned forward and sat the glass of whiskey on his desk. “You want to get past this part of your career, right? You want people to know who you are and listen to anything you sing—notoriety is the start of that.”
Lauren Williams was beautiful. I couldn’t deny that. Her gorgeous curves and emerald green eyes had given me a momentary distraction when we met. I had been putting on a show that day, practicing my new accent on everyone I met. The song that got posted on YouTube was good, even if it wasn’t something I would normally listen to. I didn’t like the version Sawyer produced for her. There was no doubt that she was going to be a big deal once she found the right song. She would be riding my success for a moment, but there was a good chance she would have more longevity than me. Getting people to believe we were fucking would probably help us both. There were worse business decisions I could make, like trying to record one of my original songs.
“Okay, fine.” I sipped my whiskey and exhaled sharply. “How do we do this?”
“The party I’m throwing this weekend. Obviously, you’re coming, so while Lauren may not be ready to rub elbows with the rest of the artists I represent, we can make it work.” He nodded and reached for his glass. “You two can flirt a little bit, stay in front of the cameras until it gets late, and then head upstairs to one of the bedrooms.”
“She’s already agreed to this?” I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.
“Well, not exactly, but she’s thinking it over. I believe she’ll come around to it before the party. She doesn’t want to go back to Texas and I know you don’t want to go back to Chicago as a one-hit wonder.” Sawyer sipped his whiskey and smiled. “Right?”
“You’re right about that.” I exhaled sharply and nodded. “Okay, I guess I have a new girlfriend.”
“Not yet.” Sawyer smirked. “But after this weekend, you’ll be on the front page of every country music magazine in Nashville.”
I went back to the studio and worked on a few more songs since there was still daylight left. The next day, I got a message from Sawyer confirming that Lauren had agreed to be my fake girlfriend. The plan was set, we just had to pull it off. Thinking about Lauren made my thoughts wander back to my last relationship. I had pretty much sworn off ever dating anyone seriously again after that breakup. Lauren was cute enough, but her accent kind of annoyed me when we met. Luckily, we didn’t have to talk much. We just had to stay in front of the press long enough for them to take notice, and then let their imagination do the rest. It was simple. I knew I could make it believable. I hoped she could do the same.
Okay, Lauren Williams. Let’s see what you got.
The afternoon of the party approached, and I found myself getting slightly nervous about the whole thing. It was officially in motion once I signed the non-disclosure agreement Sawyer sent over. He said it was to protect the both of us, because we had to protect the integrity of what we were doing. That seemed laughable to me since there wasn’t much integrity in pretending to be in a relationship with someone just to make headlines, but I signed it anyway. It would at least prevent Lauren from releasing a tell-all book or talking to the press about our arrangement if her career took a nosedive. Seeing the agreement and how it was laid out made me question how many relationships in Nashville were nothing more than headlines. I could think of a few that seemed suspect, and Sawyer had represented a few of them.
Let’s do this.
I arrived at the party fashionably late. I had a few drinks at a bar before heading over to Sawyer’s place, so I had a mild buzz when I walked in the door. There were a number of country music stars I recognized sitting around talking and members of the press taking photographs. Sawyer allowed them in as long as they didn’t try to interview anyone, and the photographs were worth money since it was rare for anyone to get access to Sawyer’s clients outside of an award show or a scheduled interview. I hadn’t been offered either of those quite yet, but I was fairly certain it was going to happen soon since my song was getting played more and we had a second one on deck. There was even talk of me possibly being nominated for the Rising Star Award if the second song did as well as the first.
Okay, where the fuck is Lauren?
I leaned against the wall with a drink and flashed a couple of smiles when cameras were aimed my way. I was ready to take off my hat since it was making my head itch, but Sawyer insisted that I wear it anytime I was in public, and the party qualified. He didn’t even care that proper etiquette would normally require me to remove it since we were indoors. I let my eyes scan the room, wondering if Lauren had decided to be as fashionably late as I had. I finally caught a glimpse of her behind a crowd of people, sitting in a chair by herself. Our eyes met, and I motioned for her to meet me at the bar. She gave a quick nod and stood as I started walking that way. It was time to put on the performance of a lifetime and I felt slightly nervous, but the alcohol helped. I guzzled it down to the ice cubes as I approached the bar, so I would have an excuse for being there.
“I’ll have a whiskey and get her a refill as well.” I motioned to Lauren. “What’s that, Jack and Coke?”
“Just Coke.” She smiled and drained the last drops before putting the glass on the bar.
“Okay, smile and act like I just said something interesting.” I leaned against the bar and looked at her.
“How delightful.” She twisted her lip into a smile and laughed—it sounded as fake as my accent when I first came to Nashville.
“No, not like that.” I grumbled and shook my head. “Laugh like you’re flirting, not like you’re listening to Ron White.”
“Sorry.” The smile faded from her face. “I tried to rehearse this in the mirror.”
“You should have rehearsed more. Okay, laughter isn’t going to work.” I exhaled sharply and took my drink. “How about a light touch? I’ll start looking out to the crowd while you’re talking, and you put your hand on me so I’m forced to look back.”
“Okay, sure.” She nodded and started babbling about something, but I feigned disinterest, carefully checking to see if any of the photographers were looking our way as I scanned the crowd.
“There you go.” I smiled when she placed her hand on my arm and turned back towards her. “See, now you’ve got my attention.”
“Was anyone watching?” She lightly sipped her soda through a straw and looked up at me.
“Not yet, we’ll have to talk for a little longer. Each time I look away, just pull my attention back with a light touch.” I turned to look out at the crowd again.
I finished another drink and got a refill as we talked. The alcohol started coursing through my veins at a faster pace and it was hard to keep my accent as thick as it needed to be. There were people around, so I couldn’t turn it off completely, even though most of them couldn’t hear what we were saying over the roar of the crowd. We sat there talking about nearly an hour until I noticed a few members of the press snapping photographs, so I turned my attention to Lauren and pretended to engage in deep conversation. I mostly talked nonsense and she did the same, but at least it appeared that we were getting to know each other.
“Okay, I think we’ve got this setup perfectly.” I nodded and finished the drink in my hand. “I’m going upstairs. You sit here for a few minutes and then follow me. Act like you’re trying not to be seen and look around nervously as you’re walking. The guilt sho
uld be plastered all over your face, hidden behind a shy smile.”