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My heart does a speedy downward spiral as panic sets in, and I jerk out of my chair without thinking, burning from the rush of adrenaline that sprouts through me.
The door opens right then, and Trevor waltzes in with a smile.
“Morning, everyone,” he greets when he takes off his sunshades and his baseball cap. All eyes are on him, and the air in the café is dense. Trevor’s smile slowly fades when he scans through everyone’s expressions and then finally looks at me.
“Did something happen?”
“You and I need to talk right now!” I march past Natalie with her phone and head out of the café with my nerves twisting into one tense ball of worry.
Never in a million years would I have imagined being tagged in the media as one of Trevor Hawkins’ girls!
He steps outside of the café a second after me, and I don’t even give him the chance to say a thing before shoving Natalie’s phone in his face.
“Have you seen this?” I question, my head throbbing from the slight ache there. “Someone saw us at the hospital together. They think we’re a couple.” I’m wound up tight like a bow on a string, and he is amused as he watches the video.
Trevor’s smile shocks me. “You find this funny?”
“It’s not a big deal, Gracie,” he says, but my glare returns and I cross my arms across my chest.
“Are you kidding me? What am I supposed to do? Play the part? Act like your fake girlfriend while rumors about us keep circulating?”
“Or you could be my girlfriend for real,” he answers. His words make me draw in the air quickly. My sharp gasp leaves my insides trembling from the tension that coils through me, ready to snap my insides in two any minute.
“Be my girl, Gracie,” he continues, the corners of his lips tweaking into a smile as he steps closer and reaches out to touch my chin.
I swat his finger away before I feel his touch. “Is this a joke to you?”
“Gracie …”
“You turned me down, remember? Six years ago, I told you I liked you and you said you didn’t feel the same way. You said youdidn’t want to hurt me, and you could never fall in love, not just with me, but with anyone. You said that …”
“I know what I said,” he stops me, meeting my eyes fully as the magnetic charge between us erupts again. His nearness makes my head swoon. His scent envelopes me and makes it difficult for me to breathe deeply without traces of him filling my lungs.
“I know what I said, Gracie,” he murmurs, reaching for my hand. His touch makes me whimper. I hate the feelings he stirs in me because it will only end in a disaster. I can’t let them control me.
“Then what do you want now?”
My question goes unanswered as we stare deep into each other’s eyes. I dare to think of the emotions flitting across his eyes as uncertainty. We’re trapped in the cocoon of heat spiraling around us.
My chest heaves with the sheer force of my breathing, and I’m gradually drowning in the heat rising through me when the roar of a car’s engine cuts into the moment.
We both turn at the same moment a troop of other cars pulls up in front of Espresso Books. Camera lights flash across my face as a crowd of local reporters rushes towards us with hungry questions flying around at the same time.
“Are you two really married?”
“What’s the story between you two?”
“When did you first meet?”
“Will you be playing in this season’s games? How about rumors of suspension from your team? Tell us more about your wife, Mr. Hawkins … Is there a baby in view?”
The lights blur my vision and make me lower my chin. Trevor takes my hand without saying a word to them and leads me into the café.
I’m shaking like a wet leaf, unable to completely absorb the shock from the sudden intrusion into my private life.
He shuts the door, turns around to everyone else, and announces in a calm voice. “I need someone to call the sheriff’s department!”
***