I told her too damn much, what the hell is wrong with me? Billy grumbled to himself as he showered and dressed the next morning. It was one thing when they talked the entire night after they'd had too much to drink, but he found himself confessing the secret about losing the boat owned by Jabot in a poker game when he was stone cold sober.
He always trusted his gut and his gut initially told him he could confide in Amanda, but those little comments she kept making made him wonder. Her warnings might not be jokes, but rather her actual intentions-to do something to him-and she was telling him. Why? Why would she warn him about protecting himself if she had something nefarious in store for him? Maybe it was some sort of reverse psychology mind trick. She was after all "Amanda Sinclair your worst nightmare."
She was also that sweet, funny, vulnerable, warm woman he spent the night with the first day they met. And a day after that she became his movie pal turned fake fiance. How could one person be all of these different things at once? Amanda Sinclair was a bundle of contradictions and he was intrigued. Common sense told him to walk away as fast as possible and leave her alone to sue Devon Hamilton and deal with her ex- that is if there really was a troublesome ex.
Despite all of his foreboding Billy found himself texting Amanda to see if she wanted to meet down in the lobby for coffee and maybe they could go somewhere else for breakfast. When she returned the text saying she was agreeable to it all, he was elated, but admittedly still wary.
As soon as he entered the lobby he spotted her and Amanda trotted toward him wrapping her arms around his neck. He embraced her like it was the most natural thing in the world. They hugged for a long moment and he enjoyed feeling her in his arms until she whispered. "There's a reporter behind me in the lounge area interviewing one of the guests."
Billy smirked when he realized the reason Amanda was so happy to see him this morning. She believed there was a photo op. When he looked in the direction of the journalist, the smile fell from his face. It was none other than Frank Ellias.
Billy grabbed Amanda's hand and guided her toward the door. He knew Frank from his Restless Style days. Ellias was a true blue freelance journalist who could not be coerced. If he wrote a story that the GC Buzz wouldn't run, he'd keep going until he found an outlet who would. Billy wasn't too worried tho since Frank dealt with stories that had a national impact, not small local celebrity articles. Frank could have cared less who the most notorious Abbott was dating. Still just to be on the safe side, Billy thought it was best to leave the Grand Phoenix as quickly as possible.
"Where are we going?" Amanda asked. "This is a prime opportunity to get noticed by the press. He had a camera and was taking pictures earlier," she said as she struggled to keep up with Billy as he walked with long strides.
"He looks like a hack. I doubt he'd do a good job with the story," Billy said. They exited the building and headed toward his car in the parking lot. Billy opened the passenger side door for Amanda and she reluctantly got in. He then went around the car and got behind the wheel.
"Billy," Amanda had an argumentative tone in her voice."This is gossip, not Pulitzer Prize winning journalism and the guy from the park yesterday. If he was a journalist, he didn't take pictures of us. No one did. There is nothing online today. So what if the guy's a hack. I think we should go back."
"Well, yesterday was a crap shoot," Billy said smoothly as if he and Jack were not the reason no picture of them would ever publish anywhere unless an enterprising reporter like Frank Elias was on the story. "And I doubt a hack like that back there in the lobby would be able to cover two stories at the same time. If he was there to write about someone else, I doubt he'd pay you and I any attention."
"I guess you're right," Amanda put on her seat belt. "But the sooner we get more pictures and you make your statement the sooner you can live your life without having this fake fiance."
"I texted you and asked you to have breakfast with me. I invited you to attend a major event with me in two days thus the dress from yesterday." Billy pulled out into traffic heading to the Athletic Club. "Does it sound like I'm suffering over here?" He flashed a smile at her and winked before turning his eyes back to the road.
"No, you're doing all of this because you're so nice," Amanda said glumly. "That's why this is so unfair to you."
"I'm not that nice, Amanda. Trust and believe me when I say it." But even as he tried to disabuse her of the notion that he was some kind of saint, Billy had to admit, he liked the idea of Amanda seeing him as a morally upright person-even if he hadn't been in the past. Even if he wasn't telling her the truth about the pictures. And even if she, herself was not being honest about why she wanted him to pose as her fake fiance in the first place.
They both fell silent and Billy turned on the radio to a soft jazz station until they reached the club.