Page 97 of Pretend Girlfriend

“I didn’t feel like hanging out with my family tonight. And I felt bad that you were all alone. So I ordered some food to go for both of us.” He held up all the bags.

“Jesus, did you order everything on the menu?”

“I got the surf-and-turf for me,” he explained while unloading the contents onto the table. “And I didn’t know what you wanted, so I got three different entrees. If you really want the surf-and-turf, I’ll share mine.”

I smiled at him. “That’s really sweet of you, but I actually just ordered room service.”

Landon shrugged. “Good thing all the food is included.” He opened one of the other bags. “I also ordered three different desserts. And the manager threw in two bottles of wine: a white and a red. What do you want first?”

Landon fixed me a plate of a little bit of everything: salmon, steak, pasta, and fried mozzarella sticks. While he did that, I sent the sexy photo to Theo and then turned Do Not Disturb on, just in case Landon saw him respond to me. The bar in our room only had two wine glasses, so he filled one with red and the other with white so we could share. We happily began munching on our feast while watching reruns of The Office on TV.

“I have some bad news,” I said after finishing the salmon and moving to the pasta. “I talked to Marisa earlier today. Or rather, she talked to me. She said she’s picking up a weird vibe from you and me. Like our relationship isn’t going well.”

“Shit,” Landon cursed. “I thought we’ve put on a pretty convincing show.”

“Me too!”

Landon loosened his necktie with one hand. “Should we dial up the romance around everyone?”

“Maybe. Feel free to grope my ass more in public.”

He let out a very long sigh. “If you insist. I’ll make that sacrifice.”

“You truly are a hero,” I said dryly.

He smiled and took another bite of steak. “Hey. I probably should have asked this before now, but… are you dating anyone?”

I stiffened. Why did he want to know if I was dating someone? Was he interested in me? The wine and painkillers were going to my head, because suddenly I felt a flurry of emotions: confusion, concern… and a little excitement.

“I’m not dating anyone,” I replied. “Why do you ask?”

He shrugged and answered while watching the TV. “It’s just that… you looked like you were taking a sexy selfie when I walked in. I just thought that maybe you were sending it to someone.”

Shit. Of course it was obvious what I was doing. I should have thought of an excuse before now.

“I’m not dating anyone,” I repeated.

Landon chewed his steak, swallowed, and then sipped the red wine. “What about that guy you saw two weeks ago?”

“What guy?”

“When your brother Jack told you about me. He said you were on a date with someone. I just thought maybe that’s who you were taking the selfie for.”

Theo. He was talking about the date with Theo. Which, incidentally enough, was exactly who I was sending the sexy photo to.

Why was everyone so damn observant today?

I took the wine from Landon and sipped. “That was a first date, and the night actually ended early. I haven’t… gone on a date with him since then.”

All of it was the truth, but I still felt guilty for lying about it. Which was dumb, because I didn’t owe Landon anything. He was just a random guy who meant nothing to me.

But that felt like a lie, too.

“Sorry for intruding. I was just curious,” Landon replied.

“It’s fine.”

“All right,” he said.

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