Safe Bet (The Rules #4)(16)

I won’t let them win.

“Should I say anything?” When Fable frowns, I continue. “To the media. Should I make some sort of statement?”

“No way.” Fable shakes her head. “The safest thing to do is ignore it for now. Like I said, most everything you read online and in the tabloids is completely false. You can’t trust the media. If you were to talk to them, they’d twist your words around and proclaim you’re in love with Drew or something stupid like that. Please don’t talk to them.”

“Okay,” I say with a nod. “I hope…I hope you’re not mad at me.”

The shock on Fable’s face is obvious. “Why would I be mad at you?”

“The photographers last night—we weren’t expecting them. It was a total fiasco. But I was so focused on getting the kids out of there, I really didn’t pay them that much attention. And then I fell and it looks like I caused even more problems.” My knees are bruised this morning, and a little scraped up, but it’s no big deal.

No, the real big deal is the photo, and all the articles about my supposed affair with Drew. I’d always heard that so much of the celebrity gossip is false. Now here’s actual proof.

“You’re okay after the fall, right?” Fable asks, pushing me out of my thoughts. “Do you need to see a doctor?”

“Oh, I’m fine. Really. Just a little bruised.” I shrug.

Fable smiles, though it’s faint. She still looks tired. “Thank you so much for taking care of our children last night. Drew and I appreciate it—you—more than you’ll ever know.” She grabs hold of my hand, giving it a light squeeze. “You’ve gone above and beyond your duties these last few weeks since you’ve been here. I hate that you’ve had to go through this, but it’ll pass. I know it will.”

I smile at her in return, but it doesn’t feel real. I hope I haven’t upset her. I hope she’ll still believe me in a week or two. Or even in five. I don’t want to have an affair with her husband. Despite the chemistry between Wade and I last night, I definitely don’t want to start anything with him either. A relationship, even a casual one, will be nothing but a distraction at this point in my life.

A distraction I absolutely don’t need.





It doesn’t pass. A week goes by and it’s all the tabloids can talk about. That one same photo is splashed everywhere. Every. Where. In black and white, in full on color, in HD—hell, there’s even a video that stupid TMZ somehow got of the two of us fleeing the restaurant with the children, looking like we’re together when we are so not. Unfortunately, luck isn’t on our side, and nothing big happens in the celebrity world to take their attention off of us.

And when I say us, I mean Drew and…me.

It’s ridiculous. There is so much speculation on the various gossip sites and magazines it’s embarrassing. I made the freaking cover of In Touch Weekly, me and Drew together in that photo where I’m in his arms, front and center on a newsstand in the middle of the supermarket, at the check out lines in Target and Walmart. Everywhere.

I hate it.

My phone has been blowing up with texts, missed calls, voicemail messages and constant notifications. People I haven’t talked to since high school are reaching out, asking me if it’s true, asking me if I really am having an affair with Drew Callahan.

It’s humiliating. My life has turned into a giant mess. It feels like it won’t ever stop. I’m afraid I could get fired, even though Fable has reassured me repeatedly that’s not going to happen.

Hiding away in my room on my day off is not going to solve any problems. But it’s like I can’t make myself get out of my big, comfortable bed. I’m starting to wonder if my butt is permanently glued to the mattress. Maybe I’ll become bedridden. Housebound. I’ll be considered a hermit, a freak, a weirdo, a girl who let one stupid rumor get out of hand and now there’s no way she can ever get away from it.

I thought my parents cutting me off was the worst thing that ever happened to me. This situation is even more awful.

A brisk knock sounds on my door and before I can utter, “Go away,” because that was what I planned on saying, the door swings open and Fable Callahan enters my bedroom. She stops at the foot of the bed, her expression stern as she watches me wallow in my misery in my messy bed.

From the look on her face alone, I know it’s going to be bad. She’s going to fire me. I’m sure of it.

“Are you going to stay in bed all day?” she asks, her voice surprisingly firm.

I grab my phone and check the time. 11:52 a.m. “Definitely,” I say as I set my phone back on the bedside table.

An irritated sigh leaves her and she comes to my side of the bed, reaching over to tear the covers off of me completely. “Hey!” I protest, but Fable just takes a step back, hands on her hips as she watches me.

“You need to get up.”

“I don’t want to.” I grab the covers and pull them back over me.

She lifts a brow in surprise. “You sound like Autumn. Next thing you’re going to say is I can’t make you.” Fable tugs the comforter back off of me, tossing it onto the floor. “I know it’s your day off and I should probably leave you alone, but enough is enough. You need to get out of bed and get on with your life. Plus, we want to talk to you.”