Chapter 8: Hailey Must Make a Choice

That was not a stipulation that Hailey had expected or wanted. "I can't write about you?"

"No. Now that you are my girlfriend, pretend or not, I'm off-limits."

She had to think about this and she didn't have much time. With the plane landing, she only had a few minutes before it would come to stop where Noah would get out. She could stay on the plane and never see him again. That meant not getting any scoop other than he wasn't dating Cassandra. He could deny anything she wrote about him. Her credibility would be shot.

Or she could off the plane with him, as his girlfriend, but never get his story. She could get other stories. Could she sell this to her editor?

"Is it that difficult a choice? We can write up a contract and make it all legal. You'll know what I expect and vice versa," he said.

Noah sounded so reasonable, but it was her career on the line. This affected her more than him. She could lose her job over this. Unless she could convince her editor that Noah wasn't the great story they all thought. She would have an inside track on celebrities and that was much better than just one story.

"I'll do it."

A smile broke out on his face and she realized he'd been hoping she would say yes. He needed her almost as much as she needed him. He thrust out his hand. "A handshake will have to do for now. I can call my lawyer when we get to the house."

"House?"

"Yes, I've rented a house in the country, sort of. Suburbs maybe."

"There are a few of those that are close to the country," she said.

"I don't like living out of a hotel for that long," Noah said, settling back into his seat.

It was as if she'd taken a load off of his shoulders. Now the load was on hers. She needed to pretend that Noah Magellan was her boyfriend. And that she was his girlfriend. There was no precedent in her life for this.

"That makes sense."

He reached over and squeezed her hand. It was warm and large and some part of her wanted to curl up in it. She was too big for that, but it was a nice fantasy. "This will work out. I can pay you, too."

She swallowed hard. Payment? Her mind raced to the stack of bills in her apartment. Maybe she could make a dent, but what would she ask for? "Pay me?"

"You didn't think you'd do this for free?"

She had. She'd thought of the long-term benefits of making the connections through Noah. "I'll be selling the stories."

He shrugged. "You'll still be working for me. You get paid, Hailey. I promise it will be generous."

Generous would get most of her bills paid. Generous might even get that surgery, but she couldn't expect that. She could hope, but that didn't write checks. "Okay."

"We can hash this out at the lawyers. You'll want to have yours look it over also."

How cute that he thought she had a lawyer. She was lucky to have a place to live for some months.

The plane rolled to a stop when she had a thought. She looked down at the uniform she'd put on over her clothing. They were coveralls that she could easily remove, but there was a problem.

"You have a frantic look on your face. What's wrong?"

"The way I'm dressed."

"Those are coveralls. Do you have something else to wear?" he asked.

"I have some work clothing on underneath."

She rose and stripped off the jumpsuit. She knew what she was wearing was functional for work, for tracking down celebrities. It wasn't appropriate for dating a celebrity. She knew his dating history and they'd all been models or actresses. She would pale in comparison to them.

Noah looked her over and he seemed pleased with what he saw. His approval stroked her ego more than she wanted it to. She had always thought of herself as independent of other people's opinions, especially a man's. Guess that wasn't true.

She shook off the feeling. "I don't exactly look like someone who dates a celebrity."

He leaned to one side perusing her once again. She felt naked under his gaze and she did her best not to squirm. "How does someone dress who dates a celebrity?"

"This isn't funny."

He didn't wipe off his bemused smile. "Answer the question."

The plane had stopped and there was movement behind her in the cockpit. Any minute they would open the door and Hailey would have to step outside in her new role. She was playing a part, but her costume was lacking. She sighed. "You date models and actresses."

He grimaced but didn't deny it. "Okay."

"They don't dress like this. They don't go to work in pants from the thrift store."

Or Goodwill, which was where her current outfit had come from.

"What do you need?"

She frowned. "I'd love something designer, but I'd take something of higher quality than this, but I don't see a store on the runway."

The cockpit door opened making Hailey jump.

"The coast seems to be clear, sir," the pilot said. "Are you ready for me to open the door?"

"Miss Johnson here needs an outfit. Something higher end than what she is wearing," Noah said.

"There is a closet in the back of the plane. Feel free to take anything you need."

Hailey's eyes went wide. "You have clothing?"

The pilot shrugged. "We're a full-service private airline. We cater to the high end of the market. Sometimes that high-end spills champagne on their shoes or clothing. We keep things on hand for that."

Hailey wanted to laugh and she would have if she wasn't sure that the clothing wouldn't fit her. She wasn't model size. She wasn't huge, but she also wasn't tall either. "Uh, okay."

Noah smiled. "Thank you, Captain." He turned his gaze to Hailey. "Problem solved."

The problem would only be solved if she found something in her size.