Page 6 of Where We Fall

I'm sure I'm overreacting to this news, but it feels so typical of my life. Just another person in this world who doesn't understand me or labels me as whatever they see fit.

I've heard it my whole life.

Marcus, the funny one, the idiot, the screw-up, the troublemaker. I'm normally pretty good at laughing it off, but I just can't do it this time. It generally doesn't crossover into business, unless it's a subtle joke from a sibling.

This is a client, and he thinks he has me figured out because I slept with someone and didn't call them.

And what about Maggie? She slept with me after only knowing me for a couple of hours. Why am I the prick in this situation?

After I grab my coffee, I head into my office and close the door. I need a second to myself.

And poor Lexi, getting dragged into this mess. I feel bad for her. She's too sweet and innocent to feel pressured into doing this to save my ass. Not to mention, I'm not sure she won't have the slightest clue how to pretend to be in love.

Come to think of it, neither will I. We're both in way over our heads.

I just hope that William doesn't want to talk our ears off. Maybe we can get away with a quick conversation where I introduce Lexi as my girlfriend, but he'll see right through us if we're with him for too long. Either way, I'm going to have to put a game plan together to figure out how to make this impossible fake relationship look real.

Chapter Three

Lexi

"You'rekiddingme,right?"Zoe asks over the phone.

"No, freakin' joke. I'm supposed to pretend to be his girlfriend. You should've seen the look on his face when he found out it was me he had to pretend to be head over heels in love with. It was pure disgust," I say as I recall our meeting this morning.

Zoe was my roommate in college and has remained a close friend of mine, even though she lives in New York City now. I call her about everything.

Ugh, just thinking about Marcus' reaction makes me cringe.

"Now you're just being ridiculous. Disgust is an awfully strong word. You're beautiful, even if you don't know it."

I sigh. "You know that's not true."

"I don't wanna hear it. I've seen you in your birthday suit; you've got a killer body. You just don't show it off enough."

"Well, either way, he clearly wasn't thrilled with the idea of havingmeon his arm at the event."

"Is he hot?"

"Zoe!"

"What? That's a perfectly legitimate question."

A small laugh escapes me. "Fine. Yes, he's ridiculously attractive. Completely out of my league, though, so don't even go there."

I know my friends love me and will always shower me with compliments, but sometimes I prefer honesty. And the cold, hard truth is that Marcus would never go for a woman like me. I'm okay with that. From what I can tell, he's a serial player with no intention of changing anytime soon.

I do, however, think that the client is being utterly absurd just because he found out one of the owners slept withonechick and didn't call her back.

I'm with Marcus on this one. Why ishethe bad guy here? She willingly slept with him after only knowing him for a couple of hours. If she had expectations for a man she knew nothing about, that's on her. I would never sleep with a man that soon in the first place.

Now Marcus has to grovel to this guy like he did something wrong.

And it's always these older, rich men like William Hansley who cheat on their wives behind closed doors but pretend to be superior. They withhold judgment on themselves, and instead, place it on everyone else around them.

If it sounds like I'm bitter, it's my mother's fault. After my dad left, the amount of remarks I've heard about the evilness of men could fill an entire book.

"I'm not even going to address that comment. Nobody is out of your league. Where is this event? Pleeease say New York!"

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