Authors: Clare Cole
"You're so sexy when you're feisty. What are you planning?"
"I need your Twitter and Facebook details. Can you email them over?"
Rick started tapping at the keyboard in front of him. "Sending them now."
"Great. You get in touch with Luke's mother and let her know what's happening. Let's beat these bastards to the punch."
To my fans...papers will reveal I have a son tomorrow. Please respect his privacy unlike the media. I’m the proudest dad on Earth!
Rick’s Twitter account went ballistic the next day with outpourings of support. I had timed his tweets and Facebook updates to hit the night before the newspaper story and to render the headline petty and offensive. They hadn’t pulled any punches. A long-range shot of Luke was accompanied by a damning headline: “ROCKSTAR’S ABANDONED SON - CRUEL TRUTH OF SELFISH BORRELL”.
Luckily, my gamble had worked. The "exclusive" had been revealed by us long before the newspapers hit the stands and the reaction on social media demonstrated the gulf between an old model of reporting and the savvy way the public was able to discern right from wrong when interacting with their idols.
Rick and I spent most of the next day responding to wave after wave of positive comments.
Go Rick! Press intrusion into a five-year-old's life is disgusting. Hope they are proud of themselves.
Luke's lucky to have an awesome dad like you. Don't let the bastards get you down! #pressintrusion
Does the media never learn? You've handled this with class and dignity. Your son can be proud!
"You do realise, of course, that everybody loves you now."
Rick kissed my shoulder as we snuggled in bed. He put the laptop to one side and stroked my cheek. "Well, that's blown it. I spend all these years cultivating this image and you screw it up in one fell swoop. Still, should be good for album sales. I'll get all the soccer moms now."
"Exactly. Every cloud and all that." I kissed his lips and felt the hard muscles of his warm body press into me as he held me close. "Can I meet your son one day?"
"Of course you can. He'd love that. I have to show him the busty redhead bombshell all the papers are talking about, don't I?"
"Damn right."
Rick sighed and turned serious for a moment. "Thank you, Amy. I mean that."
"My pleasure. Thank you for a whirlwind few days. Whether I like it or not, I'll be finding a new job now – and I'm not sure that's a bad thing."
"Hold that thought. You know what you're doing with social media and you still have lots of contacts in the press, right?"
I nodded.
"Okay. So how about being more than just my busty redhead bombshell girlfriend? How about being my busty redhead bombshell girlfriend press officer?"
I sat up and looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious?"
"Absolutely. I will warn you, the pay is shit. Only a couple of hundred thousand a year. Should be enough to pay that electric bill...and sort your parents out."
My jaw dropped. "Is this for real?"
"Don't get too enamoured with me. It's tax-deductible. Gotta get that bill down, remember?"
I slapped him on the shoulder playfully. "What was it Daffy Duck used to say in the Looney Tunes cartoons?
'You're despicable.'"
"If you say so. But I have this theory, you see. I'm a man and you're a woman. We both like each other very, very much and it's obvious
that may eventually turn to something else, if we give it time."
I kissed him softly on the lips and ran a finger down his toned abdomen. "Well, anything is possible…"
"Exactly. So how about we just say 'screw it'? Let's give this thing a try. It's time I started surrounded myself with people in my life who actually give a shit about me. And, from a less selfish point of view, it's time I gave a little more of myself to somebody else. Why be alone when we can be together?"
"So what are you proposing?"
"You're funny, sexy, beautiful and smart. And those are just your bad points. I want you in my life and on my team. Are you ready to take that leap of faith we talked about with me?" He held up his little finger and I hooked mine around it.
"I am. And I'll never let you down. Pinky promise. That's a huge jump, though. It's a long way down."
"True," he nodded. "But it's the only way you can learn to fly."
As we both sank into each other's arms, our lips and bodies entwined, we were ready to take on the world – and whatever it threw at us.
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