Shortcake*

Chapter 6: The Agreement

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After introductions, they all sat on the living room sectional. Nico and Frankie left the kitchen with drinks and dessert and sat at the bar. Cleo offered everyone coffee and a piece of the cake she had made. When everyone was seated comfortably with their cake and coffee, she sat next to her manager, and Haven got started.

"Our biggest concern with all this is the potential for Cleo to be embarrassed. So if there are any women in the background, secret girlfriends, anything like that, it needs to be disclosed now."

"No, there aren't." Link said adamantly. "Same goes for you."

"Nope." Cleo said easily. "There aren't." Link raised his eyebrow.

"So your relationship with Nico is... What exactly?"

"He's my best friend." Cleo shrugged. "And he's gay. Frankie is his partner." Link sat back and looked over at Nico, who smirked slightly as he met his gaze, and he realized Nico had been saying things to get a reaction out of him. It had fucking worked too, which was the worst part. The fact that Cleo was free to sleep with whoever she wanted without fear of ruining her career had pissed him off, especially since she never so much as looked in his direction.

"My point is," Haven pressed on. "As long as this agreement is in place, it doesn't matter how discreet you think you are; if you fuck around and it gets out, we will out you as a cheater and deny up and down that this is a fake relationship, at least for Cleo. I'm not putting Cleo's reputation or career on the line, she has a public persona that is very open and honest with her fans, so she will be committed one hundred percent to making this look as real as possible. If you can't commit to the same, this won't work."

Annette and Will both looked at him, and he nodded a little reluctantly. This was precisely what he needed, and as much as he hated to admit it, it would be perfect for his career and hopefully reset his reputation. Haven smiled. "Excellent. So to that end, Cleo will set up a bedroom for you here, and we would like the same at your place. We want the PDAs kept to a minimum, but be respectfully affectionate when they do happen."

"Respectfully affectionate?" Link couldn't keep the amusement off his face. "What does that entail exactly?"

"Don't grope me." Cleo responded bluntly. "Hug, kiss, hold hands, playfully swap my butt, but don't feel me up."

"That's fair." Will nodded quickly. "We need at least three days' notice for parties or public events."

"Agreed. We request the same." Haven said quickly. "At the end of this, when the press tour wraps up, Cleo will be leaving the country to spend a month alone on a private island out of the public eye. We would like to request Link do the same, and at the end of the month, there will be an amicable break-up."

"That's perfect." Annette nodded. "Should we come up with a joint statement, film it and release it this evening?"

After some back and forth on wording, Link sat next to her on the couch. She was seated naturally, one leg tucked under her and one knee up, angled toward him. He matched her relaxed posture, sitting with his legs stretched in front of him, splayed apart so that his thigh rubbed against her knee, and his arm was along the back of the couch behind her. Annette and Haven pull out their phones and set them up to film them.

"Hello everyone." Cleo's calm melodic voice washed over him, allowing him to relax even more and drop into the role. "Link and I hadn't planned on announcing this quite so soon, but given the recent story regarding him and Gabriella, we felt it was best to put the rumours to rest before it goes any further."

"The pictures from that story are over a year old, I did spend a weekend with Gabriella at that resort, and I'm not sure where the tabloids got those pictures or why they decided to release it now, but I was not with her on the nights in question. I haven't seen or spoken to her since she began dating Joey."

"I can confirm Link wasn't with her because he was with me both nights. Yes, the stories about our chemistry onset are true. The chemistry between us was so strong that we -" Cleo laid her hand on his thigh, and Link sucked in a breath, then used it and looked at her with love and lust radiating off him. "Decided to see if it translated over to real life."

"Cleo and I have been seeing each other for three months." Link smiled and switched his attention back to the camera. We have been pretending to hate each other on set because we wanted to keep this private until we figured out where it was going. Unfortunately, the recent story has forced us to come clean. This relationship is still new, and while we're happy we no longer have to hide it, we would like to request our privacy be respected as we continue to learn about each other."

"Which has been very enjoyable so far." Cleo brought her hand up to his cheek, and he automatically turned toward her and saw she was looking at him, her violet eyes full of amusement, so he leaned into it and brushed his lips across hers. She smirked and looked back at the camera. "So don't fuck this up for us." The last part was unscripted, but Link had to admit that it was a nice possessive touch.

Will and Haven released the videos to the media, and Link and Cleo posted it across their social media sites. Reactions were immediate and mixed. They watched them roll in as the video was shared and reposted everywhere. Some people said no way, she wasn't Link's type, but they were quickly drowned out by Cleo's fans who said she would never engage in a fake relationship to save someone like Link unless it were true. There was a faction who said Cleo was too good for Link and he would ruin her, but what shocked him were the large numbers, far more significant than any other group of people who thought they were good for each other. Cleo hadn't dated anyone since she became a star, and they thought she looked happy with Link, and they thought it was great that Link had found someone more appropriate for him.

Everyone got ready to leave after, including Link, but Annette, Will and Haven all shook their heads. "Link needs to stay here." Will said quietly. "The paparazzi will be waiting to film him leaving in the morning."

Cleo sighed in defeat, walked over to a drawer and pulled out a parking pass. "Here, you'll need this; you can't stay in visitors overnight." She also handed him a fob so he wouldn't need the doorman to let him up anymore. "I'll get the spare room ready." 

*Copyright: Stephanie Myrick, 2023. Posted to Wattpad ONLY*