I’d thought Marcus would nix that idea as ludicrous, but I was in for a shock. Instead, he’d given a brisk nod and then, thankfully, left for another meeting, because if Sean had had to go into detail on how exactly he was going to fill that role, I had no idea how I would’ve handled it with Marcus.
God, I needed to pull it together. Yes, this situation was weird, and yes, I’d rather not be in it. But wishing it would just disappear wasn’t going to change the fact that someone was out there hunting me, and I needed protection. So the sooner I wrapped my head around things, the better.
After filling out a mountain of paperwork and HR issuing Sean an access badge—something Marcus felt he needed, to have access to the newsroom and my office at all times—we stepped out into the hall, where I caught sight of the clock and grimaced.
“You got somewhere you got to be?” Sean asked.
“Yes, actually. I had to miss tonight’s first rundown so we could get this all cleared up, but—”
“Now you need to get up there. Gotcha. Let’s go.”
Sean started to walk off. I took hold of his arm and drew him to the side of the hallway. “Are you going come with me? Right now?”
“That is the reason I just signed my name on five thousand sheets of paper.”
“Of course.” I looked over his shoulder to the people busily working behind their desks, and then back to him. “So we have to start pretending to be…”
“Dating?”
I screwed my nose up, and Sean chuckled.
“You can’t do that.”
“What?”
“Look like you just swallowed something gross every time I say we’re dating.”
“Oh God. I can’t do this. I’m not that good of an actor.”
“Yeah, you can. I know this is like something out of bizarro world, but it’s important. Your safety’s at risk, and we need this—us—to be believable. So suck it up, buttercup.”
I swallowed back my immediate impulse to argue. “You’re right. You’ve been right ever since I knocked on your door. This is all just so…foreign.”
“I know. But we’ve got this. Try to stop worrying.”
Easier said than done. As we made our way down to the level the newsroom and my office were located on, the glass doors loomed up ahead. I looked over to Sean to gauge his mood, and when my eyes caught on his baseball cap, too-long hair, and his Chicago Bulls t-shirt, I groaned.
“Sean? Wait up a second, would you?”
He stopped, and I tried to imagine telling people we were dating with a straight face…and just couldn’t.
“What?” When I stood there in silence, he let out a breath. “Xander?”
“Nothing. Sorry. I just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page when we walk through those doors, that’s all.”
Sean glanced over his shoulder to where a flurry of activity could be seen beyond the glass.
“Ah, I see. Trying to work out how to explain us, huh?”
“Something like that,” I said as my head began to throb with what would probably be a constant headache until all of this was over.
“Hmm.” Sean crossed his arms. “What were you thinking? I’m your hot new lover who won’t let you out of my sight?”
Definitely not. “No. I was thinking more that this is brand new and you wanted to come and see where I worked.”
Sean shrugged. “What about Monday?”
“What about Monday?”
“Well, I’m going to be dropping you off and hanging around, so once this little tour is over, then what’s my reason for being here?”
Yes, that headache wasn’t going anywhere. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and this will all be over by then.”
Sean shook his head. “You need a better plan if that’s what you’re pinning all your hopes on.”
“Okay, okay. On Monday, after you drop me off, I’ll find a place for you to hang out. Somewhere private.”
“Somewhere I can watch over you.”
Though I knew that was why Sean was here, something about the way he said it made my pulse skip a few beats.
Not wanting to examine that too closely, though, I agreed. “Right. I’ll talk to Marcus, and we’ll have somewhere set up so you can see the broadcasting studio and the feeds for the newsroom.”
“Your office, too. I need to be able to see in there. But yeah, that works.”
Sean sidled up next to me then and slung his arm around my shoulders. As he tugged me into his side, I stumbled into him. The move was awkward and…well, weird, and when I glared at him, he grinned.
“You’re gonna have to sell it better than that. The fact you find me irresistible.”
Okay, I really needed to stop thinking of him as Sean—Bailey’s annoying older brother—if there was any hope in hell of making people believe I was into him. I closed my eyes and channeled all of the drama classes I’d ever taken in high school. When I reopened my eyes, I aimed my most sensual smile in Sean’s direction.
He chuckled, and then lowered his mouth by my ear. “Keep that up, Mr. Thorne, and I just might just start to believe you myself.”
Shit, what the hell was that? Goosebumps covered my arms, as my entire body seemed to react to the way he’d just said “Mr. Thorne.” Jesus, Xander. Get it together.
“You ready?”
No. “Yes. Let’s get this over and done with.”
“Great attitude.”
“My attitude is the least of my concerns.” My confused body was now number one. I took in a deep breath and then let it out. “Just…don’t oversell it, okay? No one will believe it if you do.”
“So you’re saying I shouldn’t make out with you on your desk right away?”
I groaned. “Sean…”
“I’m just fucking with you. Relax. This is gonna be a piece of cake.”
He squeezed my shoulders, and I glared at him as he led us toward the doors. When he let me go to pull one open, I felt like I was stepping into the Twilight Zone.
“Oh good, you’re here,” Ryan said from across the room when he spotted me. “Jim is looking for you. Something about an update to the first run-through he wants you to look over before he approves. But he said he’ll catch you in the final.”
Completely ignoring Sean, Ryan continued on as though it was a normal day and I didn’t have a gigantic shadow looming over my shoulder.
“Your suit is hanging in your office, but they left off the tie. I told them to get it over here ASAP, but they couldn’t guarantee it would be here before you went on air. Stephanie is trying to track one down as we speak. But if worse comes to worse, I’m sure we can find someone around here wearing one we could use.”
Ryan finally acknowledged Sean by giving him a once-over, but then shook his head. “Clearly not him.”
“Got it,” I said. “Thanks. Anything else?”
Ryan seemed to think about that for all of two seconds then shook his head. “Nope. Team’s ready when you are for the final run-through, but everything else is good to go.”
“Okay. Just give me a few minutes, and I’ll be there.” Then, because I could feel Sean boring a hole in the back of my head, I plastered a smile on my face.