Page 28 of Bi-Partisan

“Which it will,” she insists. “Have a little faith.”

“I’ll have more faith once I see some positive polling results.”

“Which I’ll have by tomorrow,” she says before turning her attention back to Adrian. “Anyway, unless Jamie doesn’t win the primary, you two would need to keep this up until probably late November early December at the earliest. If we lose the primary, we can phase this thing out earlier, just not too early or else, again, it’ll look suspicious. As for everything else, it’ll be up to you and Jamie to figure out.”

“I understand,” he says. He looks at me, and I can’t help holding my breath waiting for his decision. “Okay, I’m in.”

I let out my breath in a rush. “Thank you. Again, anything I can do to repay you—” I’m interrupted by the server delivering our meal.

“Actually, can I get a box for mine?” Mina asks before the server can walk away.

The server nods, and I give Mina a questioning look.

“Once I get this photo, I’m gonna head back to the office and let you two hammer out some of the details while you eat,” she explains. Then she pulls her phone out of her bag. “Okay, we’re going for a candid lunch date during the work day with friends sort of vibe. I want this post to say ‘this is a photo I already had on my phone,’ understand?”

Adrian looks at me, and I nod.

“Jamie, why don’t you put your arm on the back of Adrian’s chair, and Adrian, kinda turn toward Jamie and lean into him.”

We move into the pose, keeping our eyes on each other to sell the candid aspect. But even though Mina says it’s good, I can feel how tense Adrian is.

“Hey, Mina, can you give us a second?” I ask.

We lock eyes and after a moment, she nods in understanding. “Yeah, I have to use the bathroom anyway. Be right back.”

Once she is gone and the camera is no longer on him, he relaxes a little.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Sorry, I’m not really used to people taking photos of me. I don’t put my face on social media a lot,” he says.

“That’s alright. We can work with that,” I say, moving my hand to his shoulder to give it a reassuring squeeze. “We can try something that hides your face a bit, kind of like the photos already out there.”

“What do you have in mind?” He sounds skeptical, but he still relaxes a little more into me.

“Maybe you could tuck your face into my shoulder a bit, or like, pretend you’re whispering something in my ear,” I suggest.

“Like?”

“I don’t know, darlin’. But you didn’t seem to be at a loss for words the other night, so I’m sure you could think of something,” I tease.

He raises an eyebrow, and I can’t help grinning.

Then he leans in and puts his lips next to my ear. “Do you really want to open that can of worms right now?”

My breath catches, and although I know it’s probably a bad idea to fuck my fake boyfriend, an enthusiastic yes is on the top of my tongue, anyway. But Mina and her impeccable timing interrupt.

“Oh, that might be the one. Hold on,” she exclaims.

Adrian freezes, and I tip my face closer to him to block more of his face as she snaps the picture. We hold the pose as she checks the picture, then she gives us a thumbs up.

“Got it. This will be perfect.”

Chapter 10

Jamie

Song: True Colors – Cyndi Lauper

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