Not If I Date You First

Chapter 26

ADA

"I can't believe no one's noticed you yet." I study the stream of people passing by us through Central Park: couples holding hands, people yammering into cell phones, others so preoccupied with whatever their dogs are doing they barely bother looking up at all. Nobody gives us a second glance.

"If you pretend like you're just one of the crowd, everyone assumes you are. The secret is to avoid eye contact," Liam says, shoving his hands in his pockets and glancing over at me in a way that makes my heart do somersaults beneath my sternum.

I want him to hold my hand again, but there are no photographers out here, so he obviously has no reason to. Except there weren't any paparazzi inside the Plaza either, and I don't know what that means.

Our feet tread against the asphalt in rhythm with the sound of honking horns that fills the thick, summer air even this deep into the park. The sun is setting, making the canopy of leaves above us glow.

"Is that what you want?" I ask. "For no one to notice you, I mean."

Liam sighs. "Usually, yeah. I'd love to go to dinner with my friends and not need to sneak out the back door afterward. To walk down a sidewalk without getting mobbed or go for a run without some photographer snapping photos of me." He nudges my arm, and I bite my lip, feeling an unexpected twinge of guilt.

Spending time with Liam is making me question my dreams more and more every day.

"I love my job," Liam continues. "And I know how lucky I am to be able to do it. But having to work with the paparazzi to promote projects, to promote myself, it's hard for me. I've got a complicated history with the press."

I hold my breath, waiting to see if he's going to tell me more. We've spent hours together today, and once again, I haven't bothered to try and figure out what he's hiding. Even if I did, I don't know if I could actually go through with helping Agnes expose it anymore.

Grams would be so disappointed in me if she knew what was going through my head. I shouldn't even be thinking about guys right now. And I definitely shouldn't be letting myself feel things for someone I'm supposed to only be spending time with to land my dream job. But the fact that Liam didn't have his publicist tip off the paps about our location today has me fifty shades of confused. I peek up at him, but the expression in his eyes is closed like someone's hung a 'Do Not Enter' sign there. He starts toying with a hole near the collar of his shirt.

"Can I ask you a question?" I say.

"That depends." His tone is wary.

"What's the deal with the t-shirt?"

Liam laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. "I've been trying to make it look like all the shots the paparazzi take are from the same day, so the rags will stop buying them."

"How's that working out for you?"

"Not great honestly." He chuckles.

"I don't get it. You're trying to avoid photographers, and yet here you are, strolling through the park with your fake photographer girlfriend." I kick at a loose piece of gravel, and it takes me a couple steps to realize Liam's stopped walking.

I turn around, eyebrows creasing in confusion. He's standing there, looking at me, his eyes smoldering with an intensity that makes my head spin. A muscle in his jaw works as he studies my face. "Is this still fake for you?"

My face fills with heat as I scramble for an answer. If I tell him the truth, and he doesn't feel the same way, he might back out of our deal, which would not only be humiliating, it could cost me my job.