Page 4 of The Dating Contract

“SAMUEL!” Aaron’s voice rang through the confusion in the convention hall.

Oh. God.

If Leah could have walked away or done anything other than stand there, she would have.

But she couldn’t.

So she pulled her professional-agent, don’t-mess-with-me mask on—shoulders back, eyes focused, jaw stiff before turning in the direction of Aaron’s voice.

And of course Aaron caught her gaze and was now pointing.

The eyes were what she saw first; the same chocolate brown she spent high school drowning in. There was a slight grayish tint to his sideburns and the slightest trace of razor burn on his cheeks that hid cheekbones sharper than any word he’d ever uttered in her defense.

He wasn’t the same; nobody stayed the same after almost twenty years.

But in his eyes, Leah could see the boy who broke her heart all those years ago.

Damn him.

“Leah.”

Even now, Samuel Levine’s voice wrapped around her in ways she didn’t want to succumb to. But she shoved her emotions deep down inside of her, settled into a neutral state as she matched his glance with her own. “Samuel.”

It became a contest, and she refused to back down.Never let them see you sweat, they said.

Well.

She wasn’t letting him see her blink.

“Leah.”

She heard the under-the-breath reprimand in her sister’s voice. But Leah wasn’t budging.

“Who is she? Who is she?”

It started as a whisper, but the noise became louder; she could presume the cacophony of voices came from the line, a crowd of fascinated bystanders.

But all she cared about was making him blink first.

Samuel’s long lashes came down only for a second.

And yet, she could see the tension in his throat.

What was going on?

“She’s my girlfriend.”

Leah bit her lip to keep from screaming. Forced herself to stay still to keep from racing to erase the space between them and shaking him.

Which was when she saw the desperation in his eyes.

“Please.”

If it had been anywhere else, she would have turned away or thrown something.

But she’d never hear the end of it from her sister, and if she had to really think about it, she liked the idea of him owing her. Not to mention Aaron was clearly shit at crowd control, something that someone trading on the namethe hot soferdesperately needed.

So she assessed the room, and then headed to the space by Samuel’s side, right behind the table.

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