“Hey, I've gotten us this far. It's your turn to contribute.”
She wasn't sold on the idea of bringing a fake boyfriend to the wedding. But for now, she'd play along with Ivy's scheme. After all, she had nothing to lose by continuing this crazy conversation.
“Fine, let me think.” Tory drummed her fingertips against her leg as she stared out the window. “Well, it's a fundraising event, right? So if they're willing to participate in it, maybe they're passionate about other causes too.”
“And you can offer to donate to one of their choosing in exchange for their help,” Ivy said, completing Tory's train of thought. After living together for four years, they knew each other well.
The whole idea was a crazy long shot, but desperate times called for desperate measures. And unfortunately, she didn't see herself getting involved with anyone between now and the wedding. “Exactly.”
“Let's go through the list and decide on a few possibilities. Do you have the website up?”
I've got nothing better to do.
“Give me a second,” Tory said, reaching for the laptop and typing in the website address.
A moment later, the official page for the event appeared. Along with the details about the evening and the foundation, there was a page showcasing headshots of each man and their short bios. Many of the faces she recognized, and a few she considered acquaintances.
“Wow, I can't believe Henry Blakey is doing it again.” She didn't know the man personally, but she'd seen him at various events, including the last auction. “Either he's a big supporter of the foundation, or he really enjoyed the last one.”
“If even half of what the media says about him is true, he doesn't make your list,” Ivy said.
On that, she agreed. The media portrayed Henry as the classic womanizing bad boy. But, based on the treatment her cousins and brothers had received over the years from the media, she knew none of it might be true or it all might be. In this case, the truth didn’t matter, though. No one, including Grant, would ever believe she was dating someone with Henry’s reputation.
“Who else can we cro—” Ivy stopped suddenly. “Shoot, Mom is at the door. I forgot she was stopping by. I’ll call you back later and help you finish your list if you want.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it. Say hi to your mom for me.”
“Will do. And let me know if you decide on anyone.”
After ending the call, Tory answered a text message from another friend before turning her attention back to the laptop. She might not go through with Ivy’s half-baked idea, but it didn’t hurt to see what bachelors would be there in November. And it wasn’t like she had anything better to do tonight.
Tory skipped the bios of the following two men. She was as acquainted with Kevin Casella as she ever wanted to be. She’d never met Bradford Mulligan, but by all accounts, he was a great guy who donated to various charitable organizations. So, for now, she’d put him in the maybe category.
Scrolling down the page, she paused at Junior Morris. Anyone with two eyes and a pulse would when a picture of him popped up. The man was incredibly handsome and rumored to be one of the nicest players in the NFL. Unfortunately, the last part was the problem. She had a rule about not dating professional athletes, no matter the sport they played or how great a person they were rumored to be. Grant knew that too, so he’d never believe they were dating, no matter how hard she tried to sell it.
With another bachelor crossed off, she moved on to the next one. Again, like the first four, she recognized his name and face.
“Duncan Ferguson, how did you end up part of this?” Tory scanned the bio alongside the picture.
It would be a stretch to say her cousin Alec's friend Duncan was an acquaintance. But she remembered him from high school. She'd been a junior the year Duncan and her cousin started at Phillips Exeter Academy. She knew little about his life these days, but she'd never heard anything negative attached to his name.
For now, she'd add him to the need-to-gather-more-information list too.
Five minutes later, her mental list contained four names. And out of them, Clay Bentley was the only one she'd never at least heard of before tonight.
“All right, Mr. Bentley, let's see what we can find out about you.”
After typing his name, she reached for her tea. Before she even took a sip, several results appeared on the screen, and she opened the first one.
A photo of Clay alone appeared. Although a great shot, her eyes zeroed in on one further down the page. In this one, Clay and another man, who had to be his brother based on the resemblance, stood next to Gregg Miller and an attractive sixty-something-year-old woman. While she couldn't recall ever seeing any of his movies, she knew Gregg had been starring in films and television shows longer than she'd been alive. She'd never read anywhere that the well-known actor had any children, yet both men in the photo were younger versions of him.
Pictures were great, but they wouldn't give her any background on Clay, so she skipped down to the brief article.
A representative for Clay Bentley, the oldest son of Gregg Miller and his wife Nancy, announced that Clay will appear alongside Anderson Brady inCodename Revenge. Although this is Clay's first starring role in a major picture, it is not his first time in front of the camera. Last year he appeared in episodes 10 and 11 ofThe Runner. And this year he played the reoccurring role of the mechanic, Jeff Winters, in the small-town dramaComing Home.Codename Revengewill begin filming in January.
Well, if any of the bachelors could pull off playing the role of her fake boyfriend, it would be an actor. And since he wasn't a household name yet, she shouldn't have to worry about fans following them around or, worse, disrupting Ivy's wedding. Unfortunately, she'd dated enough actors to know big egos could be even more of a problem than overexcited fans. She'd rather deal with Grant all week than an actor with an overinflated opinion of himself.
Since the next portion of the page focused on Anderson Brady, an actor she'd dated for a few months years ago and whom she still considered a friend, she moved on to the following site from her original search. Unlike the first one, this one provided everything from Clay's birthdate and where he'd grown up to what sports he played in school. According to the article, he and his brother grew up in Montana rather than near Hollywood because his parents didn't want their children living under the spotlight, which explained why she never realized Gregg Miller had any children. It went on to say Clay had belonged to a local 4-H chapter until he graduated from high school. Unfortunately, it didn't mention any charitable causes he supported, but hopefully, a little more digging would turn something up. For now, though, she'd leave him on the list and move on to Duncan Ferguson, the next unsuspecting bachelor.