Page 55 of Surprisingly Us

A gorgeous, shirtless man with a six-pack—no, an entire case of abs—arms covered in tattoos, with a seductive smile winks back at me.Sweet baby Jesus.

Fake Dating the Bad Boy.That’s the title.How is that the title?And why is it making my palms sweat?

Oh, because that is my life right now.

I am literally fake dating a bad boy.

“That’s the e-book cover.” Chloe reaches into her St. Clair Press tote bag to pull out a stack of books.

“I love that you have your e-reader on hand,” Sophie says.

Chloe smiles. “It’s my emotional support e-reader.”

Emma laughs. “I didn’t know that was a thing.”

“I bet you have a travel sewing kit stashed in your bag.” Chloe nods to Emma’s oversized purse.

Emma’s laugh trails off. “Okay, yeah, I get it.”

“Not everyone is into man chest covers, so I have discreet paperbacks for everyone.” Chloe passes a book to each of us. “I want to share my love of reading romance with all of you.”

“Thank you.” I accept the book from Chloe and glance down at the cover. It’s a pretty shade of lavender with a sweeping font scrolled on the front. It’s in complete opposition to the sexy man chest cover Chloe just showed us.

Around me, the other ladies are celebrating the gift, eagerly examining its contents.

“You’re my best friend, Chlo. Did you know that?” Emma grins, reading the back cover.

Sophie sighs. “I don’t know if I can do this. I have a full-time job and twin baby girls.”

“Book club is also girl time. You’re still invited even if you don’t read the book.”

“It’s not necessarily the time to read the book. It’s what happens after. The last book you gave me made me incredibly horny. I’m already insanely attracted to Hunter. We have a lot of sex. When I read these books, it’s like I’m insatiable. Hunter loves it, of course, but I find it impossible to control myself around him and I end up getting nothing done.”

Hearing Sophie talk about her relationship with Hunter, their chemistry and clearly, very active sex life, makes me wonder what that would be like. Sex in general, but also sex with the man of your dreams. An image of Rhys pops into my brain. Clearly all the time we’ve spent together and this whole fake dating thing has tricked my brain into associating him with any talk of relationships and sex.

Emma giggles. “That’s not a bad problem to have.”

“It is if you’re trying to plan multiple weddings, not to mention my own.”

Chloe smiles. “Like I said, no pressure. Even if you don’t read it, book club will be a fun time to catch up and talk.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Emma asks Sophie.

“At this point, it’s tasks like final meetings with vendors and tracking RSVPs.” Sophie turns her attention to me. “Speaking of, you sent yours back a while ago with no plus one, but I’m curious if you would like to amend that now.”

“Wait, why?” Chloe asks, turning to look at me. “Who is your plus one?”

Sophie shoots Chloe a look of surprise. “Have you been living under a rock?”

“More like living under a stack of books,” Emma quips.

Chloe pins Emma with a teasing glare, but Emma pats her arm. “You know I love you for it.”

“She’s dating Rhys,” Sophie says.

“Rhys Spencer?” Chloe asks, her jaw dropping. “Oh my god. I must have been so wrapped up with work and Barrett, I missed this exciting news.”

With three sets of curious eyes all trained on me, I swallow a bite of my salmon and quinoa salad, then take a sip of water.

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