Lights, Camera, Lies: Older Man / Younger Woman Instalove Romance Read online

  Lights, Camera, Lies

  Older Man, Younger Woman Instalove Romance

  By Haley Travis

  Edited by Rosemary Stewart. Cover Design by Lexie Renard.

  Copyright 2021 Haley Travis. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted or duplicated in any form whatsoever without express written permission of the author. This book is intended for sale to adults. All main characters are over 18. This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to actual people or specific locations or details is completely coincidental, or intended fictitiously.

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  ***

  CONTENTS

  Chapter One ~ Alice

  Chapter Two ~ Taylor

  Chapter Three ~ Alice

  Chapter Four ~ Taylor

  Chapter Five ~ Alice

  Chapter Six ~ Taylor

  Chapter Seven ~ Alice

  Chapter Eight ~ Taylor

  Chapter Nine ~ Alice

  Chapter Ten ~ Taylor

  Chapter Eleven ~ Alice

  Chapter Twelve ~ Taylor

  Chapter Thirteen ~ Alice

  Chapter Fourteen ~ Taylor

  Chapter Fifteen ~ Alice

  Epilogue One ~ Alice

  Epilogue Two ~ Taylor

  Other Stories and About the Author

  1

  _____

  Alice

  I’d run the numbers every which way I possibly could, but it always boiled down to the same thing. The best chance for my future was riding on my ability both to look good on camera , and pretend that a total stranger was the love of my life.

  Sure, no problem. Piece of cake.

  As I smoothed down my well-worn skirt, I tried to calm my breathing. I had managed to get myself out of all sorts of lousy financial situations before, and I could do it again. All I had to do now was focus, and hope for the best from the people who ran this crazy online game show.

  “Alice, you’re on in thirty seconds,” whispered Darlene, a blonde woman dressed in black that I’d met when I first arrived. She seemed to be the director. She adjusted her headset, then guided me to the edge of the stage.

  The set was in a television studio that looked like it hadn’t been touched since perhaps the eighties. Only the area actually being used to shoot had been cleaned, and the background wall still smelled of fresh paint. It seemed that this show was being thrown together at the last second on an absolute shoestring budget.

  As long as I got paid, I didn’t care about the end result. Sure, it would be nice to win, but I’d never been particularly competitive. As long as I made a good showing, and didn’t completely embarrass myself, I’d be delighted.

  Darrell Carson, the host of the show, strode onstage, waving madly as if there was an audience of a thousand, instead of the twelve or so people sitting on cheap folding chairs, already looking bored.

  “Welcome to the show, friends,” he exclaimed, flashing a megawatt smile that was even brighter next to his slightly orange tinted tan. His shiny dark blue suit looked atrocious in person, but on the monitor beside the camera it looked totally chic.

  “This is Lights, Camera, Lies – where total strangers pretend to be lovers. Whichever couple lies the most convincingly through our three challenges wins!”

  A few audience members chuckled half heartedly. Darlene whispered, “Don’t worry, we’ll sweeten the audio in post.”

  “It’s time to meet our next contestant,” Darrell continued, pacing around the small stage like a stand-up comic. “Let’s have a warm welcome for Alice!” His arm swept in my direction, waving me into the lights.

  Taking a deep breath, I rolled my shoulders back, lifted my chin and took careful steps over the cables until I was on the stage.

  “Hi, Darrell, so nice to meet you,” I beamed, feeling my cheeks stretch from the phony smile.

  “Alice, tell us a bit about yourself.”

  “Well, Darrell,” I said, keeping my chin up and shoulders straight so that I didn’t jostle my little lapel microphone, “I’m a part-time librarian who is training to be a cat therapist. My hobbies include propagating all sorts of ivy so that I can give plants to my friends for every occasion, and inventing new flavors of sugar cookies.”

  I flashed the camera a warm smile, then turned back to Darrell, who was grinning from ear to ear.

  “Excellent,” he nodded. “Wonderful lying technique. Now Alice, why don’t you really tell us about yourself?”

  I relaxed my shoulders and turned my smile down by half. “I’m an art student, who really wants to travel to Italy so that I can see some of my favorite artists’ paintings in person for my thesis research.”

  “But the ivy part is real, isn’t it?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Not in the slightest,” I said, surprising myself with a giggle. “I live in a tiny apartment with three other roommates, and my room has no daylight.”

  Darrell’s giant smile faltered for a second, and I realized with horror that he might think I was trying to play the pity card.

  “There’s tons of light in the living room though,” I said brightly. “So maybe I’ll make that lie come true someday.”

  He laughed brightly, patting me on the shoulder. “Wonderful. Folks, our studio audience is going to vote now on whether or not Alice will be paired as one of our three instant couples, so stay tuned for more.”

  “Clear,” Darlene announced.

  As I glanced to the audience, there didn’t seem to be any way for them to vote. Most of them were chatting quietly to each other instead of paying attention anyway.

  “Don’t worry,” Darrell said quietly. “You’re already in.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He leaned closer to whisper, “This show is on a super tight deadline, and there weren’t a lot of applicants. Just keep playing along.”

  I nodded, smiling, as if he had said something amusing.

  “Exactly,” he grinned.

  Stepping carefully over the cables, away from the bright lights, I found a chair in a far corner. I wasn’t exactly relieved to know I had already been chosen for the contest, now that I knew the whole thing was a bit sketchy.

  I didn’t like that they were lying slightly about voting, that there weren’t any other candidates. When I’d first arrived, Darlene assured me that there was a publicity campaign already in place that would ensure a huge online audience who would vote for the best liars.

  There were so many parts of this that I wasn’t comfortable with, but I was here now and I had no choice. I was using my reading week to focus on this show. It was the only thing I could think of where I could get a decent chunk of money for a few day’s work, while hopefully still having some free time to study.

  I couldn’t handle any more hours at the coffee shop, and really didn’t want to go back to cleaning at the sports bar.

  Forcing myself not to chew on my fingernails, I heard someone walking down the hall towards me, around the corner ahead.

  “Thanks so much, Taylor. I can’t believe you’re actually doing this.” It sounded like Gary, the twitchy man who had first let me in the back door of this weird building, and had checked my ID to confirm that I was over nineteen.

  “Only if I’m partnered with Alice,” a deep, raspy voice replied.

  The heavy footsteps came closer and as they came around the corner, my breath caught in my th
roat. Beside Gary was a massive man who looked a bit dangerous. Like maybe he was once in a bike gang or something. He was dressed plainly, in dark pants and a button down shirt that looked quietly expensive.

  He turned to survey the room, and I caught a glimpse of soft, warm brown eyes. They didn’t quite match his rugged face, which made him unusually beautiful.

  He looked over to Darrell, who was speaking with four people who were talking animatedly, as if they were making plans on how to win. They were already clearly divided into two couples.

  Which meant that if this gruff mountain of a man was going to be on the show, he really was going to be my partner, and we would pretend to be lovers.

  2

  _____

  Taylor

  Over the years I’d heard people go on and on about the lengths they would go to for family. It never resonated with me. Without siblings, the only family I had were my two strange cousins, and I wasn’t close with Gary and Darlene anymore.

  So when Gary called this morning, begging for me to drop by Grandpa’s old TV station, I almost hung up on him. Then I remembered that I wanted to take a closer look at this crazy old property, so what the hell.

  From the dilapidated control room, I watched Alice’s screen test. It was obvious that she wasn’t really comfortable in front of the cameras, but was forcing herself to do it.

  I needed to know why the gorgeous, sweet girl with the lustrous auburn hair and killer curves was going to put herself through this.

  Something in the way she moved, her little fingers twitching as she tugged nervously at her skirt, made my heart beat faster for the first time in years.

  I actually found myself having to adjust my snug pants. That rarely happened. I’d given up on women for a long time, but Alice’s sweet smile was sparking brand new emotions inside me.

  Looking around the room, I couldn’t find her anywhere. “Where is she?” I growled at Gary. “I’m only doing this stupid thing because…” I turned to see Alice sitting practically behind us.

  Instantly I pressed my face into a big smile. “This lovely girl here needs a fake husband.”

  I don’t know why that word popped into my mouth. It would have been much easier to play a couple who were just dating.

  Gary was occasionally a bit slow, but this time he seemed to catch what was going on. “Alice Miller, this is Taylor Wellington. He’s going to be your partner for the show.”

  She stood up quickly, barely coming to my shoulder as she shook my hand politely. Her little fingers were chilly, which I found oddly upsetting.

  “You’re cold. Do you need a sweater? A blanket?”

  “No, thank you,” she laughed lightly. “ I’m always a bit cold , especially when I’m nervous.”

  Without thinking, I took both of her hands in mine, rubbing them briskly. “I’ll look into getting you a warmer coat and some sweaters,” I said automatically.

  She seemed surprised, but not uncomfortable that I was holding her hands. When I reluctantly released her, she whispered, “Thanks.”

  Gary pulled me away to do the obligatory introduction clip, where I lied about being a dental assistant who collected fondue pots. It was the stupidest thing I could think of, but I noticed Alice laughing brightly from her seat.

  When we got to the part where I had to tell the truth about myself, things were a bit trickier.

  “Now, Taylor,” Darrell said, flashing that overly bleached smile and looking like more of a jackass than usual, “Why don’t you really tell us about yourself?”

  My eyes gravitated to Alice, who tilted her head, listening intently. It didn’t really matter what I said, it was going to be a partial lie. I just had to quickly think of something that she would find endearing.

  And would also be a plausible explanation for my current lifestyle.

  “I worked hard as an investment banker several years ago,” I said. “Now I work part time, babysitting my investments.”

  “That’s fabulous,” Darrell gushed. “Welcome to the show, Taylor.”

  I stepped out of the way, leaving him in front of the cameras to explain the next step. Through the dim light of the studio audience area, I saw Darlene giving notes to the camera woman, then sitting back in her director’s chair.

  “Well, folks, we have our three couples ready to go. We’re going to hit the ground running, as their first sneaky assignment takes place in just half an hour.”

  He paused for an audience reaction, but the bored people they had dragged in from a local café didn’t seem to give a damn.

  “The first challenge will be to convince a car salesman that they’re a real couple. Salespeople see dozens of couples each day, so should have fairly good instincts when spotting a phony. After each team selects a car, the unknowing salesperson will be pulled aside to choose which one is the fake couple.”

  Darrell paused again to refresh his grin. I swear, that man looked more like a sketchy magician than a regular person.

  “Little do they know, all three couples are contestants who just met today! But the opinion of a car salesman isn’t the only thing that matters. Our online voting will determine the point ratings, and the eventual winner. So stay tuned for more, as the contestants prepare for their first lying challenge, on Lights, Camera, Lies!”

  Pulling a chair over to sit beside Alice, I peered into those dreamy hazel eyes. “So,” I said, trying to soften my gruff voice, “We’re going to be a team.”

  She nodded. “Yes. And I’m sorry to say it, but I really do need the prize money.”

  I wanted to tell her I could just hand her any amount of money she needed, but maybe that should wait for at least a few hours. “Yeah. Going to Europe to study art. That could be expensive for a student.”

  She nodded thoughtfully, tucking her hair over her ear. “And there are some other expenses too.” She looked up at me brightly. “But that’s not your problem. It sounds like you don’t need the money, so why are you doing this?”

  I shook my head, raking a hand through my hair. I had to give her a plausible answer. Maybe a tiny drop of the truth would soften the lie.

  “Listen, don’t tell anyone,” I muttered, “But I’ve known Gary a while. He called me this morning begging me to help him out. The other two couples are apparently pretty boring,” I said, gesturing to the other contestants who were talking excitedly with the camera tech.

  Alice nodded, looking at me intently. “So they thought a giant guy with a younger girl might be an interesting dynamic?”

  “Exactly.”

  Before I let myself entertain any more dark fantasies about what I wanted to do to Alice when I finally took her home, I asked, “How old are you?”

  “Twenty.”

  I nodded. “I’m almost forty, not that it really matters.” I flashed her a wink. “So, shall I be the rich, domineering husband, and you’re my hot trophy wife?”

  Alice burst into beautiful peals of laughter. “Do you think that will work?”

  “Absolutely. People like being in on the joke. They’re going to catch a bit of extra footage before and after the challenges. So the audience will get to see us both as ourselves, and our characters. If we flash back and forth, it should be pretty hilarious. Don’t you think?”

  “Yes.”

  Picking up her chilly hands, I covered them with mine. “Do you really want to win?”

  She nodded eagerly. “Yes.”

  “Then I’m going to be your husband. Holding your hand and keeping my arm around you at all times. Kissing you. We’re going to agree on everything, except when it’s funny to bug each other a bit. Are you all in?”

  I nearly held my breath as I noticed she was staring at me strangely. Was she focused on my lips? To my great relief, she finally whispered, “Yes.”

  3

  _____

  Alice

  Being nervous in a new situation was natural. But there were so many new situations at once right now that it was a bit much to take.

&n
bsp; The brooch on my dress was both a camera and a microphone. Taylor had a similar pin on the lapel of his jacket. We’d been told that the security system had been replaced with high res cameras that could pan and zoom, so that we could be observed both inside and outside the dealership.

  All of this spy tech sort of gadgetry plus a brand new husband was a lot to deal with. Slipping on the fake diamond ring the studio had provided, I hoped it wouldn’t turn my finger green.

  Taylor had insisted on driving us into the car dealership even though it was only a few blocks away from the studio. It gave him a few minutes to quiz me on coffee and tea preferences, any food allergies, and any other life and death issues he should know about to play a convincing husband.