Travis's PoV

Skye sat on the bed, the glimmering skintight dress only accentuating every curve of her body as the knee-high slit showed off her toned legs. I couldn't help but stare as she spoke, drinking her in and realising that she was a better candidate for this lie than we could ever have imagined.

"You could have at least warned me, Trav." She finished her whinge, her eyes finally meeting mine and causing me to look back to her face. I sighed a little as I realised that despite my plan, this was harder than I imagined it would be. My advisor, Rudy, had been guiding me on this since the initial complaints had rolled in and they'd begun tarnishing my name. Women had gone to HR with complaints about my conduct and behaviour towards them, saying I flirted with them or made inappropriate comments. I denied every word of it but after a while, HR could stall no longer. It was hard for them because I was the head of this company and these women were just replaceable admin. They didn't want it to get out that my name had been slandered with these accusations, so they offered me an advisor. Rudy spoke with me at length about how I needed to act and what I needed to say. He told me how to present myself, how to deny all of the accusations and how to word my statement so that they believed me over these women. It worked. But as the news got out, the floodgates opened. Out of the woodwork came all these irrelevant people who had dressed up and tottered about but were offended when I commented on their outfit choice. It became newsworthy. Journalists gobbled it up and Rudy had a hard time taming these beasts - so he gave me a choice. Deal with it or disprove it. I chose the latter. He let me know that I needed to change, to get rid of this image by becoming someone's lifelong partner - someone who was respected enough that people would believe her when she said I was doting and loving and that these stories were just that - made up out of jealousy. Every day I scoured the offices trying desperately to find someone who I could work with and then, one day in a boring meeting about the projections for next year, I met Skye and everything seemed to fall into place. She was perfect; a long time employee who had worked up the ranks, who had stayed loyal to the company and was your typical 'girl next door'. Everyone would love her. I was meant to explain the whole thing to her straight away, fake the relationship and then get rid of her when the stories had been downplayed but it didn't quite go that way. We had a few dates and got to know each other and I begun to find her fascinating. Before me was a girl with big dreams and she was making her way to the top of them. As much as I'd assumed she'd be just another leggy lady who wanted the job to show off her pencil skirts, she was actually career driven and intelligent and I really liked it. Then time flew by whilst we were enjoying one another's company and suddenly it felt like it was too late for me to just spring it on her. It was all going swimmingly too, until Rudy said I needed to get engaged as the next step to this never ending farce.

"Skye, believe me I know. It was just a spur of the moment thing, you looked so elegant and carefree and-" I cut myself off. Should I continue the lie or should I tell her the truth?
Looking over at her, I knew I couldn't lie forever. It wasn't fair on either of us. I needed to come clean and I needed to do it now. She may be upset but she'd understand eventually, right? "Oh what the hell. It's a publicity stunt." Skye straightened where she sat, her eyebrows furrowing as her gaze shot over to me quizzically.

"Excuse me?"

"The engagement is a publicity stunt. Look, some old employees have come out with the ridiculous claims that I made inappropriate comments about them or behaved inappropriately towards them and my advisor told me I needed to prove that I'd settled down and that these claims aren't true at all. Skye, I really enjoy being with you and I really think you're amazing but I'm not ready to settle down - not yet. We just need to pretend, just for the cameras. After the claims have died down we can cancel the engagement if you don't want to go ahead with it." I could see her taking in every word slow enough to put the story together in her head. She didn't want to rush into an answer that she regretted and i appreciated that. Many people would have jumped up and bit my head off but she was calculating it all before she responded.

"Are the claims true?" She asked flatly. I gulped down the nerves as the scenarios replayed in my head.

"They may be, yes." I answered truthfully. "But it was before I met you and honestly you have helped me change into a better man. That's not for the cameras, that's the truth." I ran my fingers through my hair as I waited for her to reply. Her shoulders drooped for a second before she regained her composure.

"I appreciate the honesty. I think you've been nothing but good to me, so I cannot judge on these claims but I'll stick by you whilst you work this all out." Elatedly, I took a step towards her, my arms out wide to embrace her but she stopped me in my tracks with a single hand gesture. "But..." she continued "If any of this behind tarnishing my name, I'm out. If you start acting like that to me, I'm out. And If you try to shirk your responsibilities, I'm out. Understand?" I nodded instantly, shocked at her change in character but a sense of admiration struck me. She really was a complex lady and I wasn't sure that I wanted to carry on with the next steps Rudy had told me about...