Page 1 of The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco

Chapter 1

Scouting for Boys

Three Months Later

“Aren’t you a vision,” Keynes drawled. “Skulking in the shadows, admiring your handiwork.”

Aria narrowed her eyes as the best man wandered off the dance floor toward her. His suit jacket was nowhere to be seen, his bow-tie hung loose around his neck, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up to reveal caramel skin dusted with tawny hair. He was grinning, and gorgeous enough to make a (vain) girl jealous.

“Fuck off,” she said.

He came to lean against the cool marble pillar beside her. The party swept on without them. “You first. Got a light?”

“Nope.”

“Doesn’t matter; I have. Got a cig?” The slang sounded preposterous in his private-schoolboy accent, but she’d gotten used to Keynes over the months since they’d first met. In fact, if this were primary school, he’d be her second-best friend by now.

Still, she glowered at him. “You’re interrupting my brooding.”

“That’s the idea, love. Got a cig, or not?”

“You know I have.”

“Yep.” He produced a lighter from his pocket—a sickeningly slick little thing, silver and gold. No common-or-garden plastic Bic for Mr. Olusegun-Keynes.

With a sigh, Aria hiked up the gauzy skirt of her sunshine-yellow gown.

Keynes averted his eyes with all the drama of a stage dame. “Behave yourself, madam. You know I’m immune to your wiles.”

“More’s the pity,” she muttered, snatching a cigarette from her garter. “I’ve only got one. We’ll have to share.”

“One, because?”

“Because your sister scared me into almost-quitting, and I’m trying to be good.”

“Don’t listen to her.” Keynes lit the cigarette as Aria held it to her lips. “She’s all talk. Once she’s had a few drinks—”

“Stop enabling. I should quit, and so should you.”

He plucked the cigarette from her fingers and took a drag. Then he said, smoke trailing from his full lips like dragon’s breath, “I have quit, love. But enough about me. What are you doing over here?”

Excellent question. Aria was usually the life and soul of any party—and this wasn’t just a party. It was her best friend’s luxurious wedding at a fancy Greek hotel. A wedding Aria had organised, with Keynes’s dedicated assistance, which made it the greatest celebration of all time because, you know, taste.

But it was all over now, and the prospect of long, uneventful months without a reason to force herself into Jen and Theo’s happy life was… unappealing, to say the least. Not that she’d ever admit that. No-one needed to know how pathetic she’d become.

So instead, she offered a secondary truth. “Scouting for boys.”

“Me too. But the pickings are slim.”

“They are not,” Aria snorted. She nodded toward a table of young men at the edge of the terrace, where the marble floor turned into La Christou’s glorious patio. They were clearly appreciating the atmosphere, lounging around with casual grace, drinks in hand. Part of Theo’s family; cousins, she thought. They shared his razor-sharp bone structure, and some of them were almost as handsome as he was. “They’re gorgeous,” she said. “Tell me they’re not.”

Keynes scoffed. “I’ve known those boys for too many years to take one to bed. I vaguely remember sharing a bath with the eldest.”

Right; because Keynes and Theo’s families were tight like that. Although it might be more accurate to say that Theo’s family offered Keynes and his sister a respite from their nightmarish home life. Tomato, tomato.

“But,” Keynes said, “any of them might do well for you, no?”

Once upon a time, she’d have thought the same. But that was before she’d learned the hard way just how dangerous her brand of ‘romance’ could easily become. “No-one here is doing it for me.”

---